Sunday 6th September 2015

Skoda Octavia vRS 230: Driven

Minor power boost and a trick diff that will surely be great on road... launched at a track

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There are many benefits to growing older. You get to tell people that places used to be all fields when you were a kid, and claim it was possible to have a good night out for an improbably small sum of money. But you also realise that history really does repeat itself.

Back in 1999, as a fresh-faced youngster, I was dispatched to one of my first press launches - that of the original Skoda Octavia vRS. This was held at the Hungaroring, and the combination of one of Europe's twistiest race tracks with a 180hp front-driven hatchback with modest grip levels was not a happy one. The whole event quickly became a festival of understeer, with the sound of tortured rubber probably audible in the centre of Budapest. In some dusty archive there's still a picture of me launching a vRS off a stripy kerb and towards a gravel trap, having completely missed an apex.

"Heard the one about Skoda on track?"

By the end of the event most of the cars seemed to have managed at least one off-track excursion. And I always imagined that, after being presented with the bill for broken splitters and undertrays, somebody senior in the HQ at Mlada Boleslav said words to the effect of "let's not do that again."

Been here before
Yet 16 years on I'm getting strong Groundhog Day vibes, at the launch of another Octavia vRS at another central European race circuit. This time it's the uprated 230 version of the current third generation, and the chosen location is the Slovakia Ring near Bratislava. But as with the original launch there's no road driving element, just eight laps on the track to try and work out if the revisions to this blue-collar performance hero justify the extra £2,520 over the standard vRS. Skoda clearly has a big budget for tyres and brakes...

The changes over the regular vRS are modest, and can basically be summarised as saying that this is the equivalent of the Performance Pack version of the Golf GTI, with the same 10hp power upgrade and clever electronically controlled differential at the front. This is almost identical to the Haldex coupling used for on-demand four-wheel drive systems, only with the electronically controlled clutch pack used to produce a locking effect when required. According to Skoda's head of chassis and powertrain, Martin Hrdlicka, the vRS 230 is a 10 seconds quicker around a lap of the Nordschleife than the standard vRS, that difference pretty much entirely down to the new diff.

10hp gain unsurprisingly hard to spot

A bit more
Mechanically, that's pretty much your lot. The vRS 230 also getting a ratio-varying power steering system as standard, unique 19-inch alloys and a slightly louder exhaust, but suspension and brakes are unchanged. The 230 also gets more kit, including leather seats with power adjustment at the front, standard touchscreen sat-nav, park assist and a lap timer function for the trip computer. It's marked by more black external trim, with the key for spotters being the black 'V' of the vRS badge, indicating this is the swifter version.

The vRS 230 is available as both a hatch and an estate, and with either manual or DSG transmission. The hatchback is the first Octavia to be fitted with a 155mph speed limiter, although that was definitely a call by the marketing department rather than engineering: the unlimited estate tops out at 153mph so it's not like the hatchback would be pushing 170mph without the restrictor...

Slovak wrung
Which brings us to the track, and the hope that the clever front differential should help to impose some discipline on this fast 3.7-mile long circuit - the same place that Honda launched the Civic Type R a couple of months ago.

vRS + VAQ = v. good?

The contrast with the Type R is a cruel one, because while the Honda seemed to relish being pasted around the track here with a chassis that offered impressive levels of adjustability, the Octavia takes to it with all the enthusiasm of a Frenchman turning to vegetarianism. I drive a manual estate for my first four-lap stint, and well before asked to make a big stop it's clear that the grumbling brakes have withstood several days of abuse. Progress is gentle on the first lap, following an instructor leading in another Octavia, and it gives the 230 a chance to demonstrate that it does seem to have slightly more front-end bite in slower corners than the standard vRS.

But as the pace increases so the 230's tyres start to struggle, and the front tyres are soon wailing like Australian cricket fans. Like the Golf GTI, the vRS has permanently on stability control that, even in its more aggressive Sport mode, doesn't allow any meaningful slip - or even to allow the Octavia to tighten its line on a lifted throttle. It's certainly quick enough, although I'd be fibbing if I said I could feel the extra 10hp, but it's also clear that the instructor is trying to limit disc temperatures with very cautious braking points. Soon it's getting nearly as understeery as the original vRS launch - I watch one of the 230s leave the circuit at an almost straight vector despite having 45 degrees of lock wound on...

Other stuff? The steering's ratio-varying wasn't noticeable on track, and the exhaust note did sound marginally fruitier - even making a few pops on the overrun.

Certainly not bad, but not at home here

Fish to marmalade
The DSG-equipped hatchback used for the second stint felt slightly less understeery - or maybe I'd just learned that there was not really much point in pushing it - but it didn't feel any more involving. Because, obvious point approaching, the vRS 230 is almost certainly going to be best sampled as a road car. Fun though hooning around on race circuits is, it's a shame that we didn't get to do that as well.

But we also suspect that relatively few buyers will choose it for its clever diff, fractional power increase or fizzy exhaust - rather the fact you can pretty much justify the entire extra cost on the basis of the added equipment: adding leather, park assist and the sat-nav to a standard vRS would cost £2,020. For perspective a vRS 230 hatch with the DSG gearbox is still £415 less than the cheapest five-door Golf GTI.

A sensible, likeable car then - but not one that really enjoys life on a racetrack.

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SKODA OCTAVIA VRS 230
Engine: 1,984cc 4-cyl turbocharged
Transmission: 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 230@N/A rpm
Torque (lb ft): 258@N/Arpm
0-62mph: 6.7sec (hatch), 6.8sec (estate)
Top speed: 155mph (limited) (hatch), 153mph (estate)
Weight: 1,345kg (hatch), 1,367kg (estate)
MPG: 45.6 (hatch), 44.8 (estate)
CO2: 142g/km (hatch), 143g/km (estate)
Price: £26,350 (hatch), £27,550 (estate)

[MadDog1962]

OK so it's not a car happy being thrashed around a race track. However, the current model Octavia is amazing value for money, and more than fast enough in the real world as a daily driver. Even the 180 Bhp version is a great drive.

The car rides remarkably well consider the low kerb weight and feels and looks like a quality product. A friend of mine has a vRS and is delighted with it and I've put at least a 1000 miles on my Dad's L&K turbo. Although I personally dislike the DSG, I'd seriously consider one if it was available where I live.