Skoda Octavia TDI Range : SMOOTHLY DOES IT?

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Skoda's improved Octavia offers three torquey diesel engines to choose from. Are they up to snuff? Andy Enright reports

Nowhere is the pace of modern automotive development quite so obvious than in the field of diesel engines. Drive a diesel that seemed state of the art a couple of years ago and it no longer seems anything like as clever. This would seem to put the TDI engines fitted to Skoda's latest Octavia at something of a disadvantage, developed as they were from existing powerplants. The rest of the Octavia package has been shown to be well up to speed but what of these diesels?

Four engines are available. The first - and set to be the most popular pick - is a 103bhp 1.9-litre TDI. If you've got a bit more money to spend, the 1.6 TDI GreenLine model is highly efficient and the 138bhp 2.0-litre TDI is worth a look, offering a hefty slug more torque and power with decent economy. Finally, there's the 170bhp 2.0-litre TDI unit that powers the vRS TDI with a stonking 350Nm maximum torque. There are a few reasons besides the power advantage why the 1.6 or 2.0-litre engines are the informed choice. The units are a good deal smoother than the 1.9-litre engine, especially from standstill. The 1.6-litre engine uses common-rail injection technology while the direct injection 2.0-litre engines make the most of their bigger capacities by producing strong performance. If you were a private buyer choosing on-spec, the 1.9-litre TDI would appear a very sound choice. The engine is lively, accelerating the hefty Octavia body through 60mph in 11.6 seconds, and is supremely economical as well. Expect to notch up combined economy figures in the 53mpg ballpark. Combine that with a 55-litre fuel tank and you've got a car that can cruise over 645 miles between refills. Behind the wheel, it's a more mixed story. Skoda have done a very good job smoothing the TDI unit's notoriously spiky power curve. Older Volkswagen TDI installations felt as if you were driving a bungee cord, the lag and surge charcteristics hardly assisting dignified progress. The 1.9-litre TDI and 2.0-litre TDI 140 engines are also available with the 4x4 Octavia Estate and the later unit makes it into the Scout derivative.

"Skoda have a winner on their hands here"

The Octavia 1.9's powerplant is a good deal more measured that its predesessors - when you're up and running at least. Pulling away is another matter. If you use too few revs, the engine will stall with a violent thunk. Ladle just enough revs on and the engine will pull cleanly, albeit with a rather disturbingly resonant bass tone. Step a couple of hundred rpm above this threshold and the Octavia is afflicted by rather embarrassing wheelspin. Do a lot of stop/start driving and this will rapidly become a chore even though the manual transmission is positive and well weighted. The 2.0-litre TDI 140 model seems a good deal more flexible in the lower ranges and coupled with the DSG gearbox, makes a surprisingly entertaining B-road driver. It's just a shame you don't get the Audi's F1 style paddles. With 320Nm of torque to call upon, the 2.0 litre TDI surges through 60mph in 9.4 seconds and runs on to a top speed of 129mph. A combined fuel economy figure of 47.9mpg and 159g/km carbon dioxide emissions aren't a bad showing either. More eyecatching still is the 170bhp version of this engine that powers the vRS TDI. In this model, 0-60mph takes 8.5 seconds and there's a 140mph top speed but combined cycle economy of 48.7mpg and 157g/km emissions mean it's actually more frugal than the less powerful car. The Octavia's greenest option id the 1.6-litre TDI GreenLine with gets an outstanding 64mph and 114g/km emissions. All the latest Octavias benefit from Volkswagen's quest to endow the Golf chassis with Ford Focus-style driving manners. Even with the wick turned down a good few notches, it can't help but feel extremely capable when stitching a series of bends together.The steering feels like a good hydraulically assisted set-up but is in fact electro-mechanically assisted. Many of the early versions of this steering set-up felt unacceptably artificial but the Octavia's helm feels meaty and rewarding at speed, reverting to fingertip light at parking speeds. Impressive stuff. The multi-link rear suspension keeps the sort of bump and thump that often afflicts cars wiith more rudimentary torsion beam setups at bay. The rear overhang has been extended a little further to give the Octavia more of a `three box' profile. Like its predecessor, it boasts a practical hatchback rather than the boot its stub-tailed lines may suggest. The old Octavia was renowned for possessing one of the biggest payloads in class but the latest car comprehensively trumps it, available capacity going up by 36 litres to 560 litres with the rear seats in place. Bear in mind that this dwarfs what's on offer from a BMW 5 Series, a Jaguar S-TYPE, a Mercedes E Class or a Volvo S80 and you'll get some idea how huge it is back there. The Golf doesn't even compare. Fold the rear seats flat and you'll then get a yawning 1350 litres of available room. Not a car for the agoraphobic in other words and if you opt for the estate that seats folded capacity increases to 1,620 litres. Passenger room is similarly generous - and that's important since the prodigious luggage space of the original Octavia required rear seat passengers to pay in kind. The wheelbase of the latest model has been teased out by another 66mm, endowing it with admirable rear legroom even when the front seats are occupied by long limbed adults. Rear headroom is better than the swooping roofline would suggest, helped in no small part by a slightly more generous seat back recline than in many such cars. The fascia won't surprise too many, again being a development of the old car's styling themes. The `venetian blind' air vents and the no nonsense switchgear are recurrent themes but the quality has been improved still further. Whereas the old Octavia's dash was very well screwed together but made of noticeably cheaper materials than the Golf, the expensively slush-moulded finishes of the current Octavia bear comparison with the best in class. The Octavia 1.6 and 2.0-litre TDI models are very good cars indeed, the 1.9-litre model less so. The hefty £1,300 price differential between the TDI 140 and the equivlant 1.9-litre models probably underlines this fact. We'd opt for a 2.0-litre TDI 140 with the DSG gearbox knowing that it still looks ridiculously good value next to the smaller and less feel-good Golf but the vRS TDI is also extremely temptng. Skoda have a winner on their hands here but you'll need to be in the know to pick it.

Facts At A Glance
CAR: Skoda Octavia TDI range
PRICES: £14,190-£21,545 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUPS: 7E-13E
CO2 EMISSIONS: 135-157g/km
PERFORMANCE: [2.0 TDI 140] Max Speed 129mph / 0-60mph 9.4s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [2.0 TDI140] (average) 47.9mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: ABS, brake assist, twin front and side airbags
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height, 4572/1769/1462mm