At the Bonneville speed week on the salt flats in Salt Lake City, Utah, speed is king. And a mildly modified Octavia vRS has claimed its crown as the fastest Skoda ever - by hitting a top speed of over 200mph. Behind the wheel of the record-setting saloon was intrepid journalist Richard Meaden, from our sister magazine EVO.
Dubbed the 'vRS Bonneville Special' the 500bhp machine achieved 195.69mph on its first run of the day, but on only its sixth official outing it clocked the 202.15mph time. According to Skoda, the team is now focusing its efforts on toppling the '2.0-litre production car' record of 216mph.
Considering the standard 197bhp vRS hits terminal velocity at 149mph, clearly some modifications were needed. Starting with a factory-fresh vRS, the ride height was lowered by 80mm and a new sub-frame attached to house a race-prepared intercooler.
Under the bonnet, the production standard 2.0-litre TSI engine was fitted with a much larger Gareett turbocharger, producing over 30 PSI of boost pressure, while standard unleaded was shunned in favour of hgh-octane race fuel. A reinforced roll cage, parachute and fire extinguishers ensured the attempt was as safe as possible.
For an alternative review of the latest Skoda Octavia Hatchback visit our sister site carbuyer.co.uk
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Sorry I don't believe this is the first ever Skoda to crack 200mph. Last year I was in an Octavia taxi on the autobahn outside Frankfurt and it definately managed more than that!........it certainly felt like it anyway, especially when all the traffic on a slip road came to a sudden stop. Mildly modified VRs? flippin 'eck, there will be yobbos all over the land getting their spanners out as we speak.
What about the almost standard MG Rover ZTT (estate car) which clocked 226mph 8 years ago, also at the Bonneville Salt Flats. This publication refused to report it stating that nobody would be interested, but the ZTT wasn't German was it?
They were correct - nobody would be interested because MG are yesterdays news..... And in the end they turned out to be garbage anyway which pretty well sums up the last 15 years of Rover MG's produce! Unless of course you were to buy a 75 or a ZT fitted with the diesel engine. This was a bit better as it was a 'German' engine sourced from BMW..... Not a K series piece of junk spraying coolant everywhere. Skoda however, are not German. They are made in the Czech Republic. They are however a wholly owned subsidiary of the VW group who are of course German.