The most powerful Skoda Octavia vRS ever is now on sale

There are changes afoot at both ends of the Skoda Octavia lineup in the UK. From August you’ll be able to buy not just a more powerful Octavia vRS, but also a turbo diesel version of the jazzed-up Octavia SportLine, which joins the current pair of 1.5-litre petrols.

The big news for the vRS is a 20bhp boost in power, for a 262bhp total that makes it comfortably the most powerful Octavia vRS the company has offered. While the engine is effectively the same as before, the new power output shouldn’t cause any undue stress, as the same unit is used in Volkswagen Golf Rs and Audi S3s making more than 300bhp.

A seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox is standard (there’s no manual any more, DIY-shifting fans) and a VAQ electro-hydraulic differential lock helps manage power to the ground through a set of 19-inch alloy wheels. In hatchback form, Skoda claims a 6.4 second 0-62mph time, with the estate a tenth of a second slower; fuel economy is 40.8mpg and 40.3mpg combined respectively.

Externally the updated vRS gets subtle styling tweaks to its front and rear bumpers and a new vRS logo on the radiator grille, which has a black surround to match its window trim, door mirrors, rear diffuser element, and tail pipes. On the estate, you also get black roof rails.

Inside there’s a three-spoke, leather-trimmed sports steering wheel, aluminium pedal covers, and sports front seats with electrically adjustable lumbar support and a massage function. A 10-inch virtual cockpit instrument display, 13-inch infotainment touchscreen, and a head-up display are all standard, as are three-zone air conditioning and a boot that opens if you wave your foot under the rear bumper.

vRS models sit at the top of the Octavia range, but if your budget doesn’t stretch to the £38,670 for the hatch or £39,775 estate, the visually pepped-up SportLine may be of interest with its lower £32,255 starting point.

That’s for the 148bhp 1.5-litre TSI petrol hatch, though alongside the updated vRS, Skoda has added a 148bhp 2-litre TDI diesel to the SportLine range. This splits the difference in price, at £35,775 for the hatchback and £36,805 for the estate, but you will benefit from 60.6mpg economy (59.9mpg in the estate) and lower first-year vehicle tax (VED) and BIK company car tax ratings.

Standard SportLine kit includes 18-inch alloy wheels, metallic paint, and gloss black trim much like that of the vRS. The interior gets sports seats, a dark headlining, and carbon-effect door inserts, so again matches the vRS quite closely for visual appeal.

Otherwise though, it’s the same Octavia we know and love, with a 600 litre boot (640 in the estate), a smart cabin layout that’s perhaps a tad over-reliant on touchscreen functions, and pricing that usefully undercuts its Volkswagen Group stablemates, if not by as much as it used to. Order books for both the revised vRS and diesel SportLine open on August 14.

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