Friday 2nd October 2015
Octavia vRS goes 4x4
A spin of the MQB platform roulette wheel results in a new diesel four-wheel drive vRS
Well somebody had to do it. At some point one of the Volkswagen Group brands would be compelled to start talking about the 2.0-litre TDI engine again, after that little mild controversy in the 'States.
The spinning bottle obviously stopped on Skoda, which has just told us that it will be offering a new four-wheel drive version of the
Octavia vRS, available in both hatch and estate forms, and exclusively fitted with a DSG transmission and the 184hp version of the familiar 2.0-litre TDI, although in fully-legal-honest-guv Euro 6 form. (We thought this was one of the engines that Volkswagen group announced it was suspending sales of yesterday, but Skoda says all Octavias are already Euro 6 compliant.)
Perhaps the surprising thing - other than the timing of the release - is that Skoda hasn't done it sooner. The vRS has always sold in respectable numbers, but the first- and second-generation versions went through their entire production runs without spawning any additional variants. Whereas in the last month we've driven the new 'performance packed' vRS 230 and now have the TDI 4x4 as well.
The obvious question is when we can expect to see the Golf R/Audi S3 rivalling 300hp four-wheel driven version. And the answer to that, sadly, is probably not. At the launch of the vRS230 Skoda's chassis and powertrain boss Martin Hrdlicka told us that Skoda will always struggle to justify the extra cost that Volkswagen group charges it for the higher-output engines, hinting that SEAT gets a more favourable deal. Which is a shame; a 300hp four-wheel drive Octavia wagon would tick a lot of boxes.
Sales of the vRS TDI 4x4 start in November and it will cost £27,315 as a hatch and £28,515 as an estate, a £1,450 supplement over the front-drive versions. Skoda has also announced it will be increasing the price of all vRS variants by £400, although the Amundsen sat nav system - which was previously a £755 option - now comes as standard.
