If you're someone looking for some serious performance along with a practical family sedan with generous cabin space and do not mind spending more on fuel and the company's after-sales service, then this is all the car you'll ever need. We at MotorBeam got to sample the car and here is our word on it.
The recently launched Skoda Octavia RS is unlike any of the previous RS' we've seen from the Czech automaker.
This true-blue Octavia RS is, of course, the more deserving of the RS badge than any other.
In terms of looks, the RS does differentiate itself from the regular Octavia.
You get the signature Butterfly grille and the quad LED headlights up front but in addition to those you also get a vRS badging and an aggressive and sportier-looking bumper with large air-intakes and LED fog lamps.
The India-spec Octavia RS gets 17-inch Hawk Anthracite alloy wheels with red-coloured brake calipers which adds drama to the otherwise plain side profile.
The rear section gets a boot-lid mounted spoiler and dual stainless steel exhaust tips.
Overall, all these enhancements do the required justice to the RS moniker.
Step inside the cabin and you'll notice there are changes here as well.
The interiors are done in such a way that they match the sporty exteriors of the sedan.
There is a flat-bottom leather-wrapped steering wheel with RS logo and red stitching and behind it, you will find the slightly tweaked instrument dials.
You get Alcantara leather upholstery, sports seats with RS moniker and red stitching, 9.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and MirrorLink connectivity, sporty aluminium pedals and red stitching on the gear lever and handbrake lever as well.
Other equipment you get are a panoramic sunroof, 2-zone automatic climate control, Ambient Lighting, 12-way electrically adjustable driver and passenger seats, driver's seat memory function, keyless entry, engine start-stop button and rear AC vents.
Talking of seat comfort, the front seats literally hug on to you while under-thigh support in the rear bench is lacking.
That said, there is no dearth of space at the rear. The legroom, headroom and shoulder room is generous.
The boot space at 590-litres makes this a practical family sedan as well.
Under the hood, the Octavia RS gets a 2.0-litre TSI (yes, this time no retuned versions of 1.4 or 1.8-litre engines) engine packs in 230 PS of power between 5500-6200 RPM and 350 Nm of torque between 1500-4500 RPM.
While this isn't frighteningly quick, it is by all means thrillingly fast. 0-100 km/hr comes up in just 6.95 seconds (on the VBOX) and the top speed is limited to 250 km/hr.
Helping the motor transmit all the power to the front wheels is a 6-speed DSG gearbox.
The gearbox works seamlessly with the powertrain and by the time you realise, you're in the next gear.
The motor is an absolute hooligan in the sports mode and you will often find yourself fighting with steering to go where you point it to go.
Drive the car sedately and you will not find yourself visiting the gas station often but drive it the way it's meant to be driven, fuel-efficiency is somewhere around 6-7 km/l.
The RS sits around 14 mm lower than the regular Octavia and gets wider rubber.
That said, the suspension is stiffly sprung. In terms of ride, the car glides over undulations but when you come across sharp bumps and potholes, you can really feel the stiff ride.
The steering is very accurate and provides real time feedback, which is super fun on the twisties.
Body roll is limited and the brakes do a stupendous job of bringing the sedan to a halt.
Hard tap on them or just lightly breathe on them, they know what to do exactly.
With this kind of performance on offer, Skoda is not compromising on safety.
The German carmaker is offering 9 airbags, Dynamic Chassis Control, front and rear parking sensors, automatic headlights and wipers, ABS with EBD, Traction Control, ESP, Cruise Control and a rear-view camera.
While after-sales experience hasn't been all that good, the automaker is working on making it more transparent and trustworthy.
So, for whom is the Skoda Octavia RS for?
Well, if you're someone looking for some serious performance along with a practical family sedan with generous cabin space and do not mind spending more on fuel and the company's after-sales service, then this is all the car you'll ever need.
Leaving apart the poor after-sales service of Skoda, there is hardly anything that you can fault with the Octavia RS.
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