Traction-limited and on the soft side, the Octavia vRS TDI is therefore unlikely to tempt too many committed hot hatch enthusiasts. However, for the driver who needs diesel and is looking to upgrade into something that feels reasonably serious and is, in most circumstances, very capable indeed, the Skoda offers broad appeal.
At less than 1450kg, this Octavia vRS is not a particularly heavy car, and the engine’s torque duly made short work of the severe gradients that often have similarly powerful cars labouring away on Millbrook’s Hill Route.
However, at maximum attack, the drone of the engine quickly becomes tiring and for this reason alone there’s little satisfaction to be had from wringing the car’s neck.
When given the opportunity to show what it can do, free from speed limits and other road users, the chassis is similarly unambitious. It does demonstrate hints of adjustability on turn-in, but thereafter remains fairly inert and, as on the road, scrappy and prone to understeer if you don’t get the application of power right on the way out of bends.
Again, warmer Tarmac and grippier tyres would help its cause, but fundamentally the car feels set up for security rather than dynamism.
Comfort and isolation
Without the optional DCC adaptive dampers, the car’s suspension tune exists as a compromise, albeit one Skoda will have attempted to optimise. As ever, the concern is that the suspension has been optimised for smoother European roads than our own, though happily this doesn’t seem to be the case.
In effect, what the Skoda gives away in ultimate handling precision and body control, it gains in usability and in its forgiving gait. There is an edge to the ride quality, and anyone expecting to find the cushioned waft achieved by the larger Skoda Superb will be disappointed, but overall it rides more serenely than its performance-infused superficial character would suggest.
Indeed, we’ve sampled the DCC dampers on the petrol vRS, and while they offer some improvement in outright comfort in their softest setting, the difference with the passive set-up isn’t night and day. Certainly, you are more likely to want the DCC dampers for the benefit they provide on B-roads, rather than motorways.
Of more concern are the Lamborghini-esque 19in wheels. Despite the soft, generous bucket seats, they still impart a slight prickliness to the ride quality, whichever suspension you have, with the effect particularly marked at lower speeds. They also generate plenty of road roar, as picked up by our testing microphones.
