I've got my first "new" Octavia this week, which I was quite pleased about as I've not driven one yet.
Overall I quite like the car, they still feel like a good sized car with a very useful boot and what I imagine to be perfectly acceptable rear legroom for most with a young family. Style wise I quite like it too
Interior is ok, even on what I assume is quite a low level model (crap diesel, no cruise etc) it's got decent infotainment type stuff and seems to have the maxi dot display, can only assume this is now standard? The actual trim is mainly ok but the steering wheel looks and feels incredibly cheap. Annoyingly this has no arm rest either
Actual fit and finish inside is a world away from my Civic, which on one hand I'd expect given my car has its roots in 2005 but is also a bit disappointing from a Honda point of view as it just reminds me how much of a better attempt can be made with little real effort or I assume cost given the Skoda price point - particularly thinking about the 9th Gen civic which imo is not much better than my own.
It lets itself down a bit in the handling department, whilst being reasonably tidy in most situations it's quite softly sprung so wallows about a bit, something I don't remember finding with the last model. I can only assume the vrs resolves this. The steering is also fairly terrible, the usual new car level of (over) assistance and lightness. This one has a 5 speed box, which I find a bit odd on such a new car and it feels like it could do with another ratio.
Last but not least the engine. My favourite ever diesel, the vag 1.6 tdi. They've given it a bit more power I think but still how can anyone find this engine acceptable? It's got absolutely nothing to give anywhere in the rev range, even less low down than most tdi's and is just generally completely gutless even for its indicated output. It's a bit laggy and I can just never find an acceptable rev range to try and aim for in any situation. The psa units of equivalent output are still much, much better than this even though they've had a while to try and sort it out now. Given that the same unit is used throughout the vag range I can't understand how they think it's an acceptable unit to use in the likes of an A3, where even the entry level 1 series unit is a significant improvement.
It's also gruff and annoying on the move - It was quite noticable even when just rumbling along the M3's section of 50 limits which I find totally unnaceptable given how new the model is. I know it's easy to criticise and not the same having a car for a few days compared with actually owning it - but i still cannot understand why anyone would want this engine
Overall I quite like the car, they still feel like a good sized car with a very useful boot and what I imagine to be perfectly acceptable rear legroom for most with a young family. Style wise I quite like it too
Interior is ok, even on what I assume is quite a low level model (crap diesel, no cruise etc) it's got decent infotainment type stuff and seems to have the maxi dot display, can only assume this is now standard? The actual trim is mainly ok but the steering wheel looks and feels incredibly cheap. Annoyingly this has no arm rest either
Actual fit and finish inside is a world away from my Civic, which on one hand I'd expect given my car has its roots in 2005 but is also a bit disappointing from a Honda point of view as it just reminds me how much of a better attempt can be made with little real effort or I assume cost given the Skoda price point - particularly thinking about the 9th Gen civic which imo is not much better than my own.
It lets itself down a bit in the handling department, whilst being reasonably tidy in most situations it's quite softly sprung so wallows about a bit, something I don't remember finding with the last model. I can only assume the vrs resolves this. The steering is also fairly terrible, the usual new car level of (over) assistance and lightness. This one has a 5 speed box, which I find a bit odd on such a new car and it feels like it could do with another ratio.
Last but not least the engine. My favourite ever diesel, the vag 1.6 tdi. They've given it a bit more power I think but still how can anyone find this engine acceptable? It's got absolutely nothing to give anywhere in the rev range, even less low down than most tdi's and is just generally completely gutless even for its indicated output. It's a bit laggy and I can just never find an acceptable rev range to try and aim for in any situation. The psa units of equivalent output are still much, much better than this even though they've had a while to try and sort it out now. Given that the same unit is used throughout the vag range I can't understand how they think it's an acceptable unit to use in the likes of an A3, where even the entry level 1 series unit is a significant improvement.
It's also gruff and annoying on the move - It was quite noticable even when just rumbling along the M3's section of 50 limits which I find totally unnaceptable given how new the model is. I know it's easy to criticise and not the same having a car for a few days compared with actually owning it - but i still cannot understand why anyone would want this engine
