Skoda Octavia 2013 - NV sedan test drive
Love on the schedule
We find out what the new Skoda Octavia is good. We will not walk around the bush. The new Skoda Octavia is wonderful. She, perhaps, is not only the best of cars on the new Volkswagen platform MQB (which is Volkswagen Golf, Audi A3 and Seat Leon), but also the best life car. The best! If not for one but. Of course, Skoda Octavia is slower than Bugatti Veyron Supersports, its trunk is not as large as that of BelAZ, but the price is higher than that of Tata Nano. With this car, they will not turn to you on the street, and Angelina Jolie will not leave Pitt's delirium for you. But she rides wonderful, perfectly equipped, comfortable and practical, and at the same time it costs quite sane money.
The new Octavia looks impossible simply. But this is its genius to begin with practicality. The new Skoda Octavia, with the dimensions of a swollen golf class, has a huge wheelbase of 2680 millimeters in version 1.8 TSI and 2686 for everyone else. More perhaps in specially elongated cars, such as Peugeot 408 (2717 millimeters). And this means that Octavia is one of the most spacious in the classroom: even the volume of its trunk is incredible 590 liters. This is more than the mentioned Peugeot 408 (560 liters) and even Skoda Superb (565 liters), and the trunk of the Opel Astra sedans (460 liters) or the Ford Focus (372 liters) look almost lady cosmetic bags! 
The number of all kinds of hooks and nets (the latter, however, only for a surcharge) in Octavia simply rolls over 
Unfortunately, if you fold the rear seats, there will be no even floor, but it is not only about numbers. Octavia in the trunk has a practical bilateral rug (on one side of the pile, on the other, rubber) and a myriad of hooks and nets for luggage fixation. And do not forget that Octavia is a hatchback, which means that if possible take five refrigerators (bicycles, strollers, aircraft bombs) at a time, it is preferable to any sedan. 
And that's not it. Skoda Octavia under the front seat has a place for a reflective vest that is mandatory in Europe and, possibly, mandatory in the near future with us. Previously, it had to be put in the door pockets, in a glove compartment or in a glass, and now for him there is its place. 
For a reflective vest, its own niche 
In addition, you can order additional drawers under the seats for the surcharge 
The score, alas, is not enough only small glasses will fit into it 
A corporate holder for a phone or player in a cup holder. Doubtful thing 
But special garbage pockets are brilliant! True, they are very small 
Skoda is almost the only brand in the Volkswagen concern, which has preserved a standard USB input: do cars of other brands use a connector of their own type, to which you need to buy a little adapter? And how do you like the brilliant invention of Skoda engineers built in the doorbell pockets for garbage! Like a person who is tired once a week to shake millions of candy wrappers and checks out of the car, I declare this brilliant! Why have no one thought so far before? After all this, trifles such as an ice scraper built into the gas station (like Skoda Rapid) seem to be something for themselves. Passengers are also good. Behind the armrest with two cup holders. Liter bottles of water fit into the door niches. The glove compartment, however, is not enough because of the stupid invader, the CD chamber, who ate the lion's share of its volume. Down with CDs, everyone has long switched to flash drives and playing music from smartphones! 
The glove compartment is cooled, but the CD chamber eats the lion's share of space 
A 220 volt outlet (a maximum of 150 watts) and heating the rear seats for surcharge but, honestly, we were just waiting for the superpractic from Skoda. But the equipment, in the case of Skoda, the Table of Ranks in the Volkswagen group blurred a little. Previously, Octavia did not have completely banal things, for example, ceiling handles with a microlift. But now you can order almost everything that partners in the concern has. An advanced multimedia complex with a 7-inch screen or Canton audio system with 10 speakers and subwoofers has the latest Seat Leon, but Octavia please! The automatic retention system in the lane or a system that automatically slows down the machine before unexpected obstacles is also available. 
Of course, just like a Skoda Octavia in the same way as Volkswagen Golf or Audi A3. But most options you simply do not want to. Here, for example, is it fundamental to you, you will have a handbrake or ordinary electronic? There will be no adaptive shock absorbers, like Volkswagen Golf or Audi A3, but to be honest and are they needed? But the LED headlights would be useful, but so far this option is so road that it is easier to illuminate all the roads in your area at your own expense. The only thing that can really be regretted is about the absence of a rear view camera in Octavia. 
Octavia salon is pleasant. Everything was improved. The branded devices are now white, and the splashed numbers are not arranged so tightly and therefore are well read. Chairs on the standardized frame of the MQB platform are wonderful. Noise insulation is not perfect, but very good. And one would think that Skoda Octavia is an ideal family machine for boring people who need cars for trips from point A B, and they are interested in the size of the woman’s chest only to understand whether she can feed offspring. But no! Octavia is a machine that is interesting to drive! Motors? They are wonderful! Even the 105-horsepower 1.2 TSI is lucky so that there are always no complaints about the dynamics! 1.4 TSI with a capacity of 140 forces is even better, and acceleration with the 1.8 TSI engine is almost at the level of the hot-hatch Skoda Octavia RS of the previous generation. There are also diesel engines. The youngest, with a capacity of 105 horsepower, could not be tried, but the top 150-horsepower engine is good: the dynamics with it is hardly noticeable than that of gasoline octavia with a 1.8 TSI engine, but it is more economical. And at the same time does not vibrate, like most other diesel engines. 
Mechanical gearboxes (five or six steps depending on the modification) are more than good, the lever walks clearly, the moves are quite moderate, and at first the long -term clutch pedal facilitates the life in traffic jams. DSG boxes yes, we said it a little worse. They themselves are previous: 1.4 TSI, 1.8 TSI and 1.6 TDI are laid a seven -speed robot with two dry clutches, and a two -stage two -speed diesel with wet. In the DSG drive, he is lazy as a buscrcking at the test, and constantly shifts the programs on the principle of the higher, the better. In a ducking urban traffic, this is inconvenient, so you have to either wield it with steering licenses, or switch the box to the sport-mode in it, it does not experience the nerves with a constant hum of the engine working at the limit of the engine, but simply works adequately. But there is no stupid system Start-stop (this is the option) and thanks for that! Of course, Octavia is not managed as well as Italian supercars, but it is able to enjoy even on a winding serpentine: the steering force on the steering wheel is always very believable, the chassis is responsive, and the handling is almost neutral even Audi A3, it feels more strongly! 
The suspension is generally pleasing: of course, it is harsh and, which is especially unpleasant, loudly loudly. On large pits, she rumbles unpleasantly, and there is no feeling of energy intensity. But on irregularities, the situation is better, and the rolls are minimal in corners. As with other Volkswagen cars, the MQB modular platform, the multi -link rear suspension is now laid only the most fat versions with powerful 1.8 TSI engines (180 horsepower) and 2.0 TDI (150 horsepower) the rest are content with a modest half -dependent beam. But in reality, the difference in the behavior of cars is almost impossible to notice! Both that and the other is good. By the way, a system that changes the reactive force on the steering wheel, the reaction of the motor to press the gas pedal and so on is available as an option. Not to say that there is no difference between the usual and sports regime, yes, in sports the steering wheel really becomes harder, and the motor is more responsive, but in general, this is not a particularly necessary toy in Octavia. No need to overpay for it. 
Octavia has a beautiful but restrained design, adequate motors and a rich salon, a cool chassis and good equipment. It has a lot of practicality to the pleasure of driving. And what, then this is the best car on Earth? No. After all, Octavia is good to such an extent that for completeness I want something more, for example, all-wheel drive and a large road clearance. All this will appear on Skoda Octavia Scout, she definitely has every chance of becoming an ideal car for life. The Volkswagen Jetta sedan alternative in Russia costs from 702 thousand rubles for this money offers a machine with an atmospheric engine with a 1.6 liter with a capacity of 105 horsepower. An additional payment for a machine gun is almost 50 thousand rubles. The option with a 122-horsepower engine 1.4 TSI costs from 729 thousand, and with 150-horsepower from 803 thousand rubles. Opel Astra is significantly cheaper: prices for a 115-horsepower car start with 685 thousand rubles. The option with a machine gun costs at least 725 thousand, and the modification with a 140-horsepower turbo engine 1.4 is estimated at 790 thousand rubles. The most powerful version is equipped with a 180-horsepower 1.6 Turbo engine and costs from 904 thousand. The Ford Focus sedan is even cheaper from 542 thousand truth, with only a 85-horsepower 1.6 engine. A version with a more powerful 105-horsepower engine is more expensive than 641 thousand, and with a PowerShift robotic box it will cost 676 thousand. Focus with a 125-horsepower engine costs from 665 thousand, with 150-horsepower from 718. There is also a two-liter 140-horsepower diesel, it is estimated at 743 thousand rubles. Source: Motor magazine [March 2013]
