Skoda Octavia Scout relaunched, but only for emergency services

Skoda has brought the Octavia Scout back to the UK, albeit with a slight catch. The rugged specification is now only being offered to the emergency services, the cars coming readily equipped with all the necessary clobber to allow first responders to do their jobs.

The formula is near-identical to the previous-generation Octavia Scout. The body has been raised by 15mm, for a total ground clearance of 161mm. Skoda has also fitted its rough road package, which adds tougher suspension springs, a rear axle skid plate and a unique chassis setup that it says makes the car “even better equipped to handle unpaved terrain”.

Skoda has made a few body modifications, too, such as dedicated front and rear bumpers, black plastic cladding for the wheel arches and some “Scout” badges for the front wings. Further tweaks, such as emergency decals, strobe lights, sirens and radios can also be optioned and fitted in-house, through Skoda’s “one-stop-shop” service.

Inside, the Octavia Scout features dual-zone air conditioning, a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, an infotainment system with a 10-inch screen and five USB-C ports. There’s also a host of safety equipment, such as front and rear parking sensors, adaptive cruise control and lane assist.

As the Octavia Scout is based on the estate model, there’s also 640 litres of boot space with the rear seats in place, which Skoda says is enough to hold all the equipment required by any police force, fire and rescue service or paramedic team.

There’s two engines to choose from, both based on the same turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel unit. The cheapest model has 148bhp, while the flagship variant produces 197bhp. In-keeping with the Scout’s off-road focus, both options are also only available with four-wheel drive.

The Scout is also the only model in the Octavia range to feature Skoda’s off-road function, which fiddles with the ABS, traction control and gearbox mapping to give the car the most amount of grip off-road. The package is completed with a hill descent control setting and an automatic belt tensioning system.

Now read our run-down of the world’s best and worst police cars…