We loved the Skoda Octavia RS, but if you need something a little more sedate and easy going, the entry-level 2022 Skoda Octavia could be the best option. Paul Maric gets behind the wheel to see if it's any good.
Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More Skoda content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/skoda
More Skoda Octavia content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/skoda/octavia
Skip Ahead:
Intro 0:00
Exterior 0:55
Interior 2:52
Infotainment 4:17
Safety Tech 6:25
Practicality 6:58
On the road 11:33
0-100km/h 14:03
Verdict 16:16
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#skoda #octavia #review
Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More Skoda content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/skoda
More Skoda Octavia content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/skoda/octavia
Skip Ahead:
Intro 0:00
Exterior 0:55
Interior 2:52
Infotainment 4:17
Safety Tech 6:25
Practicality 6:58
On the road 11:33
0-100km/h 14:03
Verdict 16:16
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#skoda #octavia #review
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00 G'day, I'm Paul. So I know that some of you love your SUVs, but there are some of you that don't love them.
00:05 And if you are after a big car that isn't an SUV and it won't break the budget,
00:09 Skoda has dropped an entry-level version of the Octavia on us. This is the 110 TSI
00:16 Ambition. This competes with things like the Toyota Camry, the Mazda 6 and the Hyundai Sonata. It's priced at just under
00:23 $35,000 drive away. Now if you do want a sportier version, we have reviewed the Octavia RS.
00:29 You can click up here to watch that. But today it is all about spending as little money as absolutely possible. Today
00:35 we're going to do a detailed review of this car. If you do want to skip ahead to other parts of the review,
00:40 you can use the time codes up on the screen or if you're on YouTube,
00:43 scroll down and use the chapters below. And if you haven't done so already,
00:47 subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon. That way you can find out every single time we drive a very white car.
00:55 Okay, let's talk exterior. You've got seven external colors to pick from and all but white is an additional
01:00 $770. That is a lot of sevens. I really like the design of the new Octavia.
01:06 I didn't love the previous gen that had the split lights and stuff. This recent facelift, I think really does it justice.
01:13 It looks really classy and it looks a whole lot more expensive than what it is.
01:18 You've got to remember that this is the base model.
01:19 These used to have like hubcaps and stuff on them when you bought the cheapest one they sold.
01:23 So this is an impressive setup.
01:25 I like the fact that you've got a classy looking grille there with a bit of chrome on the outside.
01:29 You've got chrome elements down the bottom there and that's where you have your fog light built in. Up the top here,
01:34 you have a full set of LED headlights. These look fantastic and give you excellent projection at nighttime.
01:40 Proudly worn Å koda badge over there. Then around the side here with our alloy wheels,
01:45 you've got a set of 18-inch alloy wheels. Pleasant design.
01:49 It's nothing too offensive and it is just sort of basic and straightforward.
01:53 I quite like this as well. That shut line comes across the edge of the body.
01:57 So you get this cool design that runs down the side of the car and kind of gives it a bit of character.
02:02 It's not just a boring looking sedan like some of them are in this segment.
02:06 I think this is a really neat setup. Although white, I think white is a little bit boring.
02:10 I would just go for one of the other optional colors.
02:12 Up the top here, you have an indicator built into that wing mirror. You've got privacy glass.
02:18 You've got a shark fin antenna. And if you come around to the back, you have LED taillights.
02:23 Now the interesting thing here is it looks like a sedan because you can kind of see that boot profile there.
02:29 This is actually a liftback. So slightly different from some of the other vehicles in this segment.
02:33 You can get this as a wagon as well for slightly more.
02:36 So you do have a lot of options there, whether you just go for this sort of sedan look or whether you go for the wagon.
02:42 They really do have you covered for all bases. Let me know what you reckon about the design.
02:46 Do you like it as much as I do or do you think they should have done something a little bit different?
02:49 I think it's a pretty smart looking car. We're inside the Octavia. So let's start with the key. You have lock, boot, unlock.
02:57 I don't know what this material is, like a rubber sort of material, which is kind of cool.
03:02 On the back you have the Skoda logo.
03:05 Now it would be a good idea if this was proximity sensing because there is a push-button start inside the car, but it's not.
03:11 So there are divots on the door for proximity sensing, but for some reason this car doesn't come with it in the base model,
03:17 which is disappointing. So you have to have the key out to unlock the car.
03:20 Then you can put it back in your pocket when you do start the car. What about the design?
03:24 So look, in terms of the colors, I think it is a bit dreary and that's kind of typical Volkswagen,
03:28 but you can see highlights like this
03:30 whiter sort of silver section here.
03:33 You can see LED lights that are configurable beneath that little section. And then in terms of the materials,
03:38 it's all very soft rubber style. There really aren't very many harsh plastics inside the cabin.
03:44 So despite the fact you have cloth seats, it actually feels quite nice and premium inside here,
03:49 especially with this big infotainment screen and then the digital display ahead of the driver as well.
03:53 What about your touch points? So center,
03:55 nice and soft. And then on the door, it's soft as well. How soft is it?
04:00 Well, we've got our durometer. We've tested the main surfaces in this cabin.
04:03 If you want to see how this car compares to other cars we've tested before, have a look at the link in the description.
04:08 Build quality, what's that like?
04:10 Very good. It's actually really good. It feels like it's built like a tank.
04:16 Okay, let's talk infotainment. So you get this 10-inch infotainment screen. It's quite a decent looking setup.
04:23 It's that traditional iPad stuck to the dashboard style layout, but the features include things like proximity sensing.
04:30 So as your finger approaches, you can see those extra context menus turn up.
04:34 You've also got gesture control, which I think is the most useless feature ever. But anyway, it does it.
04:39 I like the fact that you can also increase the volume just by sliding your finger up and down like that.
04:44 You don't actually need to tap. You can tap if you want, but it's a much smarter way of doing it.
04:49 Then of course you can do that on the steering wheel too. In terms of radio, you have AM and FM radio.
04:54 There is no digital radio, which is a little bit disappointing.
04:57 I tend to use it a fair bit and it's just nowhere to be found here.
05:00 So I would like to see that. There is an eight speaker sound system.
05:03 The sound system is okay, but not amazing. It could be just a little bit better.
05:07 And then you also have the ability to bring up these extra context menus on the infotainment for shortcuts and also notifications.
05:15 You do have satellite navigation, but you have to have your smartphone paired.
05:20 And the frustrating part is that it just shows this screen that says the function is unavailable, starting navigation the entire time,
05:27 even though navigation will never start because it doesn't have inbuilt satellite navigation.
05:31 So on that front, in terms of smartphone mirroring, you have wireless Apple CarPlay.
05:35 I'll show you what that looks like.
05:37 There it is. So full screen integration, nice and sharp and very quick as well.
05:43 And this is what Android Auto looks like. Android Auto is wireless as well, which is excellent news.
05:49 So you can have just the map there, or if you go back to the main menu, it pushes the map over onto the left hand side.
05:55 Tiny bit laggy there, actually, that's quite laggy. So I don't know what the story is with that.
06:01 That's a little bit disappointing, I reckon.
06:03 Move on to the screen ahead of the driver. So another TFT display, and then you can also change what the display looks like.
06:10 So you've got a number of different options here to choose from.
06:13 And then you can also configure what sits inside each of those sections.
06:17 So you really do have a stack of configurability there.
06:20 And I think it's a really cool setup, especially for an entry level car.
06:24 Moving on to safety, you have autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection.
06:29 You've got radar cruise control, you have a lane departure warning and a lane keeping assistant.
06:33 Unfortunately though, there's no blind spot monitoring, which is pretty disappointing for a car in this day and age.
06:39 But on the parking front, you have reverse parking sensors and a rear view camera.
06:44 I'll show you what that looks like.
06:46 There it is there. It's a pretty grainy image. It's not the best picture in the world.
06:50 But you do have the ability to go to a super wide angle view.
06:54 And then you have a top down view here with the sonars as well.
06:58 Let's talk practicality and we'll start with your connectivity options.
07:01 So down here, two USB-C ports, which is nice and clever.
07:05 You also have a wireless phone charging pad.
07:08 This is great because when you have wireless smartphone mirroring, you really need a wireless phone charger to prevent you having to plug it in and get your phone charged.
07:16 So love that setup.
07:18 In terms of phone storage, you can whack it down there on the wireless charge pad, where it fits nicely inside your cup holders.
07:24 Cup holders, coffee. How does it go?
07:26 Excellent. Look at this. Slots in there nicely. No risk of spillage, which is good.
07:31 Same story with the bottle. Slots in there.
07:34 Actually, no, that's quite small.
07:36 It's sort of a little too small just for a standard size bottle, which is a bit weird.
07:40 But it does fit inside the door. The doors are carpet lined.
07:43 You've got a cute little bin there as well.
07:45 See if our big bottle fits inside the doors.
07:48 Yes, it does. Fantastic. That is great news.
07:52 On other storage, you have a bin just here next to the driver's knee.
07:56 Centre console that moves forwards and backwards with even more storage inside of there.
08:02 You have a glove box down here, which is reasonably sized and has air conditioning as well, which is cool.
08:08 And then finally, a sunglasses holder up the top.
08:11 What about comfort?
08:12 So you access all of the climate controls through the screen here.
08:16 You can either click 'Clima' or you can press it just here and it'll bring up your settings.
08:21 Now, it is pretty clever because you have Smart AC where you can just tell it what you want it to do.
08:26 You can just select one of those options or you can go classic, which is just basically you choose what you want.
08:31 It has a dual zone automatic climate control system.
08:34 And in terms of the seats themselves, they are really quite comfortable.
08:37 Despite the fact that they're cloth, they sort of hug you in nicely and keep you in place.
08:41 They are fully manually adjustable, so no automatic adjustment.
08:45 Steering wheel is pretty cool.
08:47 It is a very sporty wheel with that flat bottom and it sits nicely in your hands.
08:50 The paddle shifters are easy to reach.
08:52 It also has tilt and reach adjustment.
08:55 And then on our reach test, yes, easy, all easy to reach, no dramas at all.
09:00 So we are in the second row of the Octavia.
09:04 What's it like here?
09:05 So my seat is pretty far back.
09:07 You can see there I have a reasonable amount of knee room.
09:10 Toe room is okay, but not amazing.
09:12 And headroom is pretty good.
09:14 You've got several tiers here for the mat pockets.
09:17 And then you may be wondering what this is.
09:19 It is a mobile phone or iPad holder.
09:23 And it is adjustable, so that will keep the kids nice and busy and off your back about how long the rest of the journey has to take.
09:29 You also have climate vents just here.
09:32 You've got a little bin down the bottom there as well.
09:35 There is no USB connectivity in the back here, which is a little bit disappointing.
09:39 In the center you have a center armrest with two cup holders.
09:43 That sort of folds out that way.
09:45 And our bottle fits in there randomly, but doesn't fit in the front.
09:50 You also have storage inside the doors as well.
09:52 They are carpet lined.
09:53 I should also point out that you have a ski port here to get you into the boot, which is a handy addition.
09:59 Isofix points on the two outboard seats.
10:01 And you also have top tether points along the back there too.
10:04 So it is a pretty nice place to be seated here in the back.
10:07 OK, cargo space.
10:09 Being a liftback, you actually get a decent amount of cargo volume.
10:13 So, power tailgate, which is good.
10:15 And the good thing about the liftback over a sedan is if this was a sedan, it would kind of open like that.
10:20 You wouldn't have a huge aperture here, but this opens up and you get plenty of room.
10:24 So you've got 600 litres of cargo space here in this configuration.
10:28 But I like the way that Skoda does things with this car.
10:31 So you've got features like your hooks on the side, which a lot of cars have.
10:34 But you've got this retractable hook here for holding shopping bags.
10:38 All of these side sections come out.
10:41 You have nets that you can deploy.
10:43 And if we have a look under the cargo floor, you have a full-size spare tyre with a jack nestled into there.
10:52 So that's not eating into your boot room, which is good.
10:54 You've got more hooks down the side here as well.
10:57 And then finally, you have an ability to drop the seats, which I'll show you in just a second.
11:00 But the bag goes in just there.
11:04 Now, I forgot our suitcase.
11:05 So unfortunately, we've only got this one here.
11:07 This is around the size of a carry-on bag for a plane.
11:10 So you can see there, there is absolutely acres of room.
11:14 Move this out of the way.
11:16 And I'll show you what it looks like when you drop the second row.
11:18 So get rid of this.
11:20 All right.
11:23 You drop the second row just by pulling these levers here.
11:26 Give that a pull.
11:27 And this one as well.
11:29 This expands the space to a little over 1,600 litres.
11:33 We've hit the road in the Octavia.
11:36 Before we get started on the engine, I just wanted to run you through this really annoying rattle that's coming from the boot.
11:40 We've removed pretty much everything from the boot.
11:43 We've taken away the cargo blind, the jack, the floor cover, everything, and it's still there.
11:49 So it must be coming out of the latch mechanism or something in that tailgate.
11:54 We had a similar issue with the Kia Stinger we used to own ages and ages ago.
11:57 So, yeah, a little bit frustrating.
11:59 But anyway, powering the entry-level Octavia is a 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine.
12:05 It makes 110 kilowatts of power.
12:07 That's the 110 TSI.
12:09 And 250 newton-metres of torque.
12:11 The excellent news is Australia has kind of become a bit of a dumping ground for some manufacturers with their older engine and gearbox combinations.
12:20 And the good news for us is that it means we don't get the entry-level with the dual clutch with this engine.
12:26 And that's great because I have driven the entry-level Skoda Scala with a similar engine, and that had dual clutch, and it really wasn't a very impressive gearbox.
12:34 So I'm glad that instead we have an eight-speed torque converter automatic.
12:38 And that means that it is incredibly smooth.
12:40 You don't get that jerkiness and that sort of hesitancy that you get sometimes with dual clutch gearboxes.
12:45 So big bonus there.
12:47 What does it feel like behind the wheels?
12:49 So I'll give it a little kick here.
12:51 It's nice.
12:52 It's super eager.
12:53 The gearbox is very smooth, and it's attentive as well.
12:57 So if you do get stuck into it, it drops down a gear nice and quickly.
13:01 Everything happens as you'd expect it to.
13:03 There are no surprises here.
13:05 So, yeah, it's a really nice and competent package.
13:08 Now, what about fuel economy?
13:09 So the official figure is 5.7 litres per 100 kilometres.
13:13 Let's have a look at what we're sitting on.
13:15 We are currently on 5.8.
13:18 So it's pretty much bang on exactly where it needs to be.
13:21 So impressive effort there.
13:23 It is worth noting there on fuel economy that it does require 95-round premium unleaded petrol.
13:27 Now, we don't have any drive modes, so to speak, but you do have the ability to shift gears manually using the steering wheel.
13:33 You just pull that lever back, and you can see it starts diving back through the gears.
13:37 Or you can put it into sport mode.
13:40 So one pull of the gear lever there puts it into sport mode, and immediately it's far more eager with gear shifts, and it's ready to downshift earlier.
13:48 You can hold gears longer as well, so that you can sit higher in the rev band to get out of corners.
13:53 So it's a good setup, and I think it suits the characteristics of this gearbox.
13:57 Skoda doesn't have an official 0-100 time, but we've put it up against our stopwatch, and this is how it went.
14:03 Let's talk about ride.
14:16 They don't have any adaptive damping, but what they've been able to do is give this an incredibly cushy ride.
14:21 And it's cushy to the point where if you do get sort of those continuous undulations on country roads like we have here, it kind of sits up for a little while.
14:30 So it is on the more comfort side of comfortable, and that's not such a bad thing.
14:35 With a vehicle like this, you do want it to be nice and comfortable as opposed to being sort of firm or harsh.
14:40 They've really dialed in all of the comfort that you need.
14:43 Now, what about your handling?
14:44 So, pop this back into Sport.
14:46 We've got a couple of corners coming up here.
14:48 I don't expect this to be an amazing handler, and with the suspension as soft as it is, it kind of has a fair bit of body roll.
14:55 But it's very predictable, so even as the pace picks up, it sweeps along nicely, nothing untowards happening, and the engine is really eager.
15:05 It has all the punch that you need.
15:07 It's happy to lean on the torque band when it needs to, and it's always there for you to pick you up out of corners.
15:13 Steering's nice and direct as well, and the brake pedal feel is good.
15:16 So even though you won't be using this as a sports car, dynamically, it's actually quite impressive.
15:22 Now, what about road noise?
15:23 I've spent a fair bit of time in the car now, and I've done a lot of highway driving as well, and the road noise in the cabin is pretty good.
15:30 So there is a bit that comes in through the tyres on coarse-chip surfaces, but for the most part, it's a pleasant environment to be seated in, with the exception of that annoying rattle out of the boot.
15:39 Let's talk visibility.
15:40 So, out the front, it's excellent.
15:42 Wing mirrors could be a tiny bit bigger, and there is no blind spot monitoring either, which is disappointing.
15:47 You really have to just mind your P's and Q's and make sure you get your head checks done nice and early.
15:52 Out the back, it's a super narrow window.
15:55 That's one of the downsides of this hatchback setup, so it is a little bit tricky to see out the back with that tiny little envelope.
16:02 Finally, if you do need a tow, there's a 1500 kilogram brake towing capacity and a turning circle of 11.1 metres.
16:09 11.1 metres is okay. It could be a little tighter for a front-wheel drive car, but that should be fine for getting in and around the city.
16:15 Okay, Skoda Octavia.
16:17 Look, to be honest, this is going to sound like a bit of a cop-out, but I found this car incredibly hard to fault.
16:22 Outside of maybe, I don't know, the infotainment system being a little bit fiddly, for this kind of money, it feels significantly better than the competition.
16:31 You just get everything inside the cabin, and if you do want a little bit more, you simply step up a notch to the next level up.
16:37 But if you are on a budget and you are conscious of how much money you're spending, this uses barely any fuel.
16:43 It's got stacks of room inside for the family. You can get it as a wagon as well if you want, and it drives beautifully with that 8-speed auto.
16:49 So, I don't know, it's just a really nice car. So, if you are in the market for one, it gets Paul's tick of approval.
16:55 Let me know in the comments section below, have you bought one? Did you go and buy an RS, or did you go down at the entry level like this one here?
17:02 If you have an older Skoda, what's it been like in the long run? I'm really curious to get your feedback.
17:07 Let me know down there in the comments section.
17:09 If you did enjoy this video, please make sure you like it and share it with your mates, and if you haven't done so already, subscribe to our channel,
17:15 so you can find out every single time we publish reviews on cars that I like.
17:19 But, until next time, take it easy.
17:21 Thank you.