Test Drive Skoda Octavia since 2008 -

Test Drive Skoda Octavia FL 1.8 TSI: on the step above

Skoda designers are characterized by the creation of machines on the step above. For example, the Flagship Superb refers to another class than VW Passat, on the basis of which it is created. Similarly, Octavia is larger than Golf. But it's not limited to the size.
At one time, my first acquaintance with the OCTAVIA model accounted for the Tour version, which seemed not too dynamic. On the other hand, the recent trips by Volkswagen with a TDI + DSG combination made a very pleasant impression on this parameter. It became interesting to me: and how the new automatic transmission developed by VW behaves in combination with other types of engines. The process of satisfying curiosity was the result of a trip to Skoda Octavia 1.8 TSI.
Let's start with the sake of which the test and was carried out with the behavior of the engine and the transmission. Diffirbov engine 1.8 Tsi sang already enough, and he really deserves them. Power 160 hp, in my opinion, best matches the car weighing about a thousand four hundred kilograms. Electronic throttle control reduces the harmful effects of the turboyama.
But about the gearbox should be spoke in more detail. The first thing that your DSG basic mode is paying attention to. At a speed of 60 km / h, it can work on the sixth gear. As a result, the calculation of the remaining mileage on fuel performed by the on-board computer is highly dependent on the driving mode, which initially leads to some confusion.
Judge for yourself. When departing from the place of residence, Octavia, the computer said that I could travel another 230 km. While I drove to the house (and a dozen kilometers did not go), this figure fell to 130 km (!). Apparently, the one who went to me did it very and very dynamically. Then she returned to the indicator of 180 km, then dropped 150 km and stopped changing, and remained stable for a very long time.
Naturally, it is necessary to pay for efficiency. At a speed of 60 km / h at the 6th gear, acceleration cannot be rapidly by definition. However, if the driver had a desire to be frozen or if the nature of the motion requires sharp accelerations, for this DSG has a sports mode. Everything is already different here, and the OCTAVIA dynamics is impressive. As part of the test, and, and what sin to hide, for your own pleasure I spent on the Moscow streets a couple of mini-races from the traffic light. Opponents in both cases performed cars with sports kit, temperamental drivers and very powerful engines. Both duels we won. Perhaps the underestimation of rivals (as a sports car Skoda Octavia is not quoted with us), but the fact remains the fact of both sports cars at the start quickly passed into the zone of review of the rearview mirror.
Nevertheless, I must say that when driving on the machine, the TSI + DSG-7 combination did not give such pleasure as TDI + DSG-6. And the point here seems to be in the figure 7. A very competent specialist in the field of automatic transmission once explained to me that for modern automotive engines (without taking into account the Monsters F-1 and the like) the optimal number of the boxes of the box is six. All that is higher, as they say, Ponte.
DSG-7 in sports mode allows you to quickly leave the start, but the first transmission is very short. When moving to the second stage, let it be small, but the delay. As a result, a clear feeling is created that, with a decrease in the number of transmissions, one acceleration would be faster. Perhaps this is just a feeling ...
However, the DSG-7 has a manual mode, and Skoda Octavia 1.8 TSI is equipped with stealing petals, which allows you to unscrew the engine to a red feature without being distracted by the transmission process. In manual mode, the overclocking dynamics becomes simply indecent for the city car and Octavia 1.8 TSI is precisely as follows, the charged version is Octavia RS.
 
Accelerating, always need to think how you will slow down. Here problems at Skoda Octavia 1.8 TSI is not. Its brake system fully corresponds to the dynamic of the car as a whole.
But the steering does not have that definition, which is possessed by one-platform Volkswagen Golf. The handle of the steering wheel is slightly larger, the inertia of the machine (due to the dimensions) too. However, the controllability of Skoda Octavia is quite enough to drive on the ordinary modes, the boundaries of which are installed traffic rules. To evaluate the work of the system of improving sustainability, I did not manage to the road were dry, but to look for a suitable place and organize movement with the drums simply did not have time.
 
Due to dry weather, it was not possible to appreciate the car spray. In the speed of dust settling, it can be assumed that the octavia will get enough quickly. However, the system of cleaners / wrathers of glasses works well. There is only alarmed that when the ignition is turned off, the janitors sometimes twitch it can talk about the non-correctly correct electric hammers of their drive.
We now turn to the sensations of sitting in the cabin. Skoda Octavia 1.8 TSI sound isolation reliably presses the engine sound in the base automatic transmission. In sports and manual modes, gusting is already heard, but it is an indispensable element of the corresponding driving style. No wonder the designers of different companies were abandoned by voice acting with hybrid and electric drive without racing sound, quick ride loses something.
 
The suspension fully corresponds to the state of Russian roads. True, she turned out to be noisy on Shcherbat asphalt, but the reason turned out quickly. Skoda Octavia 1.8 TSI, as is like a car with a sports character, a shift in the Continental SportContact 2 sports tires (size - 205/55 R16). They greatly hold the road, but, of course, somewhat increase the noise level in the cabin. Well, for pleasure you have to pay.
In the cabin nice. Pleased thoughtful little things, for example, turnover, located on the ceiling with a comfortable reach with the right hand. In the glove box there are niches with clips, where it is convenient to store the paper fit on the road. The lock of the glove box is located not on the door, but built into the construction of the torpedoes due to this door it became easier, therefore, with other things being equal, the design will last longer.
Parking assistance system works well. True, its sensitivity is able to swallow over the driver. Maneuvering on the parking lot near the grass, I could not understand what the parking sensors caught. It turned out that the source of the signal was ... the big burdock, which grew up in the middle of the cleaner. However, when parking is better to be restred, than to enter anything.
It is impossible to say good words to the Navigation and Media System Columbus. On the sound quality of sound, it is inferior to audio systems of more expensive cars only in parts of bass. But here you can not do anything: the more the volume of the cabin, the better the resonances at low frequencies.
 
But the management of the system is an excellent sample of intuitiveness. It was possible to tune in to the desired radio station literally for half a minute at the same time not to look into the instructions. In the same way, without a book, a route to the house was laid in a navigation system in a couple of minutes. Framing buttons and Touch-Screen informative. True, only for those who know the English language of the Russified version of the system yet.
The only one who seen in the cabin will defect the armrests of passenger seats. They narrow to the elbow, and keep their hands on them uncomfortable. Not too pleasant, albeit small, the victory of design over ergonomics.
 
In general, the salon due to the thoughtfulness and quality of the performance creates the feeling that you are in a higher class car. I have come to ride on top versions of business class cars that have been equipped not better than Octavia FL and this is still a compact, albeit slightly redesamed.
Summary. Skoda Octavia FL 1.8 TSI makes a pleasant impression. The dynamics of the car is good, equipment, quality of materials and the accuracy of fitting the elements of the cabin is clearly above the class than most cars of mass production. The Ambiente car costs 785 thousand rubles, the basic cost of installing Elegance 829 thousand rubles, the cost of the test car (Elegance with additional options) 1118 thousand rubles. A little expensive for a compact folk class, but the car is worth it.
Business autoclub thanks Skoda Auto Russia for the car presented on the test drive.
 
 

A source: Business Autoclub