Tuesday 24th May 2016

Skoda Octavia vRS 230 Estate: PH Fleet

Two track days, multiple trips to the dump and a Welsh road trip are just the start in a very busy month!

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When I introduced the latest addition to the PH Fleet, you may remember that it had just 60 miles on the clock and I had only been responsible for three of them. That's definitely been addressed this month!

Once over the initial excitement, I was a little underwhelmed with the car's performance. I knew it was box fresh, but it felt worlds away from the claimed 230hp and was really reluctant to rev. I had established a 5,000rpm rev limit for the first 500 miles and kept telling myself to give it time. Once past 1,500 miles I started to panic and wondered if I'd been given a duff engine. I also noted that the fuel economy was pretty dire, averaging just 25mpg, even on a long run.

From track to tip - a true multi-purpose vehicle

Despite more miles being covered, whenever I got the chance to drive the car without something attached to the back or without large items of furniture rattling around in the huge boot, it just felt a bit flat. Even as the odometer ticked past 2,000 miles it just didn't feel quite right. There was only one thing left to try... To the race track!

And so I found myself at a sunny Donington Park courtesy of our friends at Bookatrack. With a nicely warmed engine and after a few exploratory laps, I set about "running the car in a bit". By which I mean "gave it a good kicking". Once I'd finished, three things had happened: firstly, the engine was unrecognisable from its former self. It felt urgent, rev hungry and capable of propelling the car up the road with an impressive amount of eagerness. Job jobbed!

The second discovery was that fuel economy was significantly better, both on the way home from Donington and since. The final revelation of the day was that despite being capable and surprisingly fast on track, the car required a very smooth and gentle approach to navigate Donington Park's GP circuit. This was primarily because the much lauded VAQ 'diff' was not performing quite as expected. I've driven several other VW group models fitted with the same hardware that gave a much more convincing impression of a mechanical limited-slip differential. It just seemed to lack a bit of bite and precision, especially on the hairpin at the bottom of the Melbourne Loop.

Just what is going on with the VAQ?

Perhaps Skoda has altered the calibration, but this seems like an odd move given that the vRS 230 is its most driver focused car to date. Maybe the longer wheelbase and increased mass of the vRS estate are to blame? We're trying to get hold of a SEAT Leon Cupra ST for a bit of comparison testing, given it is the most similar car in the VW stable.

Despite this, as a road car the vRS is very good. The PH team recently took a group holiday to Wales for a weekend of driving, eating barbeque food and some insignificant twin test... Once it was loaded up, I soon forgot that the car is so large, as it felt every inch the hot hatch on the way to Anglesey. OK, so it isn't in the same league as the recent crop of mega hatches, but it is fast, capable and great fun to drive. The only fly in the ointment is a slightly brittle slow speed ride and the grabby brakes so typical of VW group cars. Overall though, I'm impressed.

But you can't go to Anglesey and not head to the circuit, right? We had actually booked gentleman racer, track driving tutor and all round good guy Mark Hales to give some of our younger members of staff a bit of tuition. We arrived at the Bookatrack day and knew we were going to have fun - the sky was bright blue and track was bone dry. The Skoda was probably a bit less happy to be there, given it had been nominated as the tutor car. But after more than 200 track miles and (thankfully) no mishaps, the car felt better than ever on the way home. The only evidence of its track adventures were multiple black splodges of molten rubber, a well used front left tyre and some finger nail marks in the dashboard on the passenger side. Perhaps more impressively, despite many clamouring to drive the more exciting cars we had in attendance, everyone who tried the big grey Skoda enjoyed it.

Donington and Anglesey in a month - good work!

Finally, some housekeeping. It was originally mentioned that I'd chosen the £200 option for 'Heated front and rear seats'. It turns out that the vRS 230 comes as standard with heated front seats, and this option should be called 'Heated rear seats'. There are probably several better ways to spend the £200, but my dog is at least grateful of the seats on chilly mornings.

So it's been a packed few weeks - as I arrived at Heathrow the other day the car was showing 3,820 miles. Not bad work for a month! Perhaps the most telling thing is that as I handed over the key, I felt a genuine pang of concern for the car's wellbeing. Worse still, I asked the guy to be careful and to not kerb the wheels. Embarrassing, but proof that the car has definitely made an impression. I'm already looking forward to getting back into it next week, and then I can start planning its Le Mans sticker kit.

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FACT SHEET
Car: 2016 Skoda Octavia vRS 230 Estate
Run by: James
On fleet since: April 2016
Mileage: 3,763
List price new: £29,910 (Basic list of £27,800 plus £550 for tow bar, £765 for Adaptive Cruise Control, Crew Protection Assist for £150, Heated seats for £200, Simply Clever package for £85 and Meteor Grey paint for £360)
Last month at a glance: Fast Octavia takes a hectic month in its stride

Previous reports:
Yes, really, a grey Skoda estate on the PH fleet

[rtz62]

Mirroring your experience, my TDi version is on around 3,200 miles and taking some time to feel like it has the full amount of gee-gees under the bonnet.
However, the majority of my mileage is doing the skool (sic) run, 7 miles each way from cold, so perhaps not surprising.
As an aside, I'm glad I didn't tick the box for Meteor Grey, mine is the dark metallic grey and to me suits it far better....

[rtz62]

Just a quick 'add' to my previous post, the Skoda salesman actually made me feel like I was the only customer that mattered without being in the least bit pushy.
And 'Service Reception' were outstanding, not only making me feel like I was their only customer, but also sorting out the problem I had with the Sat-Nav, and emailing me a video record of the work done.
I can't compliment Gordon Lamb Skoda at Chestefield highly enough, especially after the appalling treatment I had at another nearby Main Stealer.
Re the paint, although it wouldn't be my choice, I did park next to one in Meteor Grey, and upon returning with my kids they much preferred it. Mind you, at 10 and 9 they haven't much life-experience or taste.....