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Design and Interior

First impressions is that the Octavia does look like a pretty sizeable car. And the measuring tape does reveal that the new car is 19mm longer, 15mm wider and 9mm higher than the previous generation model, although the wheelbase remains unchanged. 

It is also significantly bigger than the Mk8 Volkswagen Golf on which it is based on, which is no surprise given that the Octavia is effectively a sedan body style while the Golf is of course a hatchback. In any case, the table below illustrates the difference in dimensions for comparison.

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	New Skoda Octavia	Old Skoda Octavia	Mk8 Volkswagen Golf
Length	4,689mm	4,670mm	4,284mm
Width	1,829mm	1,814mm	1,789mm
Height	1,456mm	1,447mm	1,491mm
Wheelbase	2,686mm	2,686mm	2,619mm

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The Octavia’s styling is pretty much unmistakably Skoda, with the large imposing grille up front flanked by slim LED headlights. At the rear, the letters ‘SKODA’ across the boot lid lets you know very clearly what you’re driving, while the roofline slopes down slightly towards the rear to give the car a rather sporty stance.

There’s a reason for that, because the Octavia is actually a fastback, as it has always been. This means that the boot opens up like a hatch, and results in a much bigger opening for you to load items into the cargo area. Speaking of which, the Octavia offers an impressive 600 litres of boot capacity, a figure that outnumbers even some station wagons. If you want even more space, the Octavia has a wagon variant of its own, of which we’ll have a full test drive review on it soon.

The interior of the Octavia does feel rather upmarket, with the test car’s Style trim featuring a 10.0-inch infotainment touchscreen (the lower-spec Ambition gets an 8.0-inch item) in a rather minimalist look interior. A row of buttons just below it allows for quick access to commonly used functions such as the climate control and driving modes, and the overall look is one of effective simplicity.

Rear passenger space is generally excellent, and is about on par with most of its rivals, with plenty of room to fit three full-sized adults in comfort. The roofline does impinge on headroom a little bit, but it’s not significant enough to be uncomfortable, and most average-sized adults will have no problems sitting in the back of the Octavia.

If there’s any quibble with the Octavia’s cabin, it’s that some of the plastic materials do feel a bit cheap, notably the manual seat adjustment levers, which feel like they could be broken off easily. Also, the infotainment system can be a bit confusing to operate initially, but it does get better once you figure out how to access the various features quickly, sometimes via the row of buttons below the screen. Or you could simply use the standard wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto functionality and bypass the in-car system altogether.

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Page 3: Driving Experience

1. Introduction
2. Design and Interior
3. Driving Experience
4. Conclusion and Competition

Pages: 1 2 3 4