New Skoda Octavia vRS 2024 review: a fantastic and fast family car

Verdict

More power and a superior interior make the fourth-gen Skoda Octavia vRS facelift one of our favourite high-performance hatchbacks. It’s neither searingly quick nor outrageously entertaining, yet it has more than enough pace and poise than anyone could need on the road. Strong in all departments and notably weak in none, it’s a fantastic, fast family car.

You know what you’re getting with a Skoda Octavia vRS these days – with almost 46,000 examples of the rapid Czech motor sold in the UK across the previous three Octavia generations and the pre-facelift Mk4 too, its appealing blend of practicality, easy-going manners and admirable on-road pace has made it a big hit for Skoda since it first appeared in 2001.

So, for this updated version of the fourth-generation car, the company has wisely decided not to be too drastic with its midlife update. However, the changes Skoda has wrought are worthwhile and only polish what was already a gem of a performance car to an even higher lustre in the process.

Like any other Octavia, the vRS now has revised exterior looks. As it’s the flagship model, this means it gains the LED Matrix headlights with ‘Crystallinium’ signatures. In plainer speak, that basically equates to fancy, angular daytime running lights being standard-fit.

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Other vRS signifiers continue, such as meatier bumpers, lots of black body detailing and model-specific badges fore and aft, plus a set of attractive 19-inch ‘Elias’ alloy wheels in the arches for good measure.

Available in both hatchback and estate car bodies, almost everything about the vRS looks good, with our only slight grumble being the way the small, round ‘real’ tailpipes at the back are visible in the big rhomboid exit finishers.

Inside, a new and improved 13-inch infotainment system is drafted into service. Skoda has also jazzed up all the interior trims and the upholstery, while further fitting a 15-watt wireless smartphone charging pad and a snazzier 10-inch digital driver’s display.

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Coupled with an age-old Octavia trait of vast interior space – rear leg- and headroom in the vRS is generous to a fault, while the boots on both cars are massive (600 litres for the hatch, 640 litres in the estate) – it adds up to a passenger compartment that’s superior to that found in a Volkswagen Golf GTI in every conceivable way. A bit embarrassing for VW, we’re sure you’ll agree.

Mention of that German hot hatchback brings us onto the main technical update for the Octavia facelift, which is that its 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine has been brought into line with the Golf GTI ‘8.5’, which means the vRS now packs a peak of 261bhp. 

Torque remains at 370Nm and the only transmission choice is the DSG twin-clutch seven-speed auto, driving the front wheels via an electronically controlled limited-slip differential. Performance has been improved with a 0-62mph sprints two-tenths quicker than pre-facelift models, with the vRS hatch capable of a 6.4-second run and the estate just behind at 6.5 seconds.

Despite the output boost, those times are slower than the Golf, mainly due to the fact the Octavia vRS weighs more in either format, as it has a physically larger body. But as ever with on-paper stat battles, they can be ignored because the devil is in the detail.

Its stretched shell means that the Octavia has a 45mm-longer wheelbase than the GTI, which couples with the 15mm-lower sports suspension and the increased mass of the car to result in a driving experience which is, plainly and simply, superior in the Skoda.

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Sure, it remains a little buttoned-down dynamically at the absolute limit, and while it’s by no means the fastest hot hatch you’ll ever drive, it’s more than swift enough to have a few moments where the traction of the front wheels is interrupted.

Otherwise, its tautly controlled yet comfortable ride, supple body and wheel control, deeply pleasing and informative steering and the effortless access the Octavia vRS affords its driver to the engine’s reserves of power and torque all add up to a wonderful, involving and rewarding performance car.

Yes, you can option up 15-mode Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) adjustable dampers if you must for a chunky £1,185 but having briefly sampled a standard-suspension vRS hatch back-to-back with our DCC-equipped estate, we’re not sure the tech is strictly necessary.

Fixed-rate dampers or not, we think the updated Skoda Octavia vRS is the finest combination of cultured everyday comfort, coupled with absorbing dynamic talents that you can get in this class right now. And yes, we’re including the VW Golf GTI when we make that assertion.