[Chethan B G]

Excellent Review!

• Notch-back feature is my favorite in an Octy - Very practical.
  
• Bi-Xenon's and ACC are nice features to have.
  
• Piano black around switches, are a welcome addition in place of Chrome inserts - This avoids reflections.
  
• Interiors have too much of beige, for my liking.
  
• Charging point for rear passenger will be missed - Car of this size should have 2 charging points.
  
• Remote for the Music system? - I do not know why this is omitted in VAG group of cars..
  
• Extended warranty is missing, as also for Jetta.
  
• Independent Multi-link suspension is a sad omission.
  
• Does the air-intake system, has an inter-cooler?

[SkyWalker]

prices are significantly higher than expected. I am surprised they are pricing this above VW Jetta. A great car, which will be at best a moderate success due to its pricing and Skoda brand.

[Zero Cool]

Consider my case gentlemen, For someone who has limited usage of the car (hence im hinting at a petrol), concerned more about space, gizmos and status...wont a Superb or a Sonata make more sense than the 1.8 Octavia? Agreed the autobox is an addon, but its not really needed. Plus Hyundai will offer better service anyday. The lack of projector lamps in the 1.4 totally kills it for me unless I look a segment bellow where I then compare it to Elantra which is gonna be more than a lakh cheaper, maybe more with all the discounts thrown in. Add to it that im not much of a racer boy, and even if I was I wont dare much with VAG's delicate and expensive systems.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Since there are two different suspension system how are they attached to the chassis? Are the chassis different based on the model? as in the rear mounting points for suspension?

The correct way to do this is to have 2 different floorpan stampings. 1 for each.
IRS has mounting points in the center and twist beam has them at the sides.

Doubles your tooling cost for that panel, but doable because their volumes are gigantic

[kryptonite]

Brilliant, highly detailed review! Rated it 5 stars, very well deserved

Originally Posted by suhaas307

The 1.4 delivers its peak torque of 250NM between 1500-3500 RPM. I'm assuming that post 3.5k revs, the torque tapers away. Peak power starts at 4.5k revs. Post 3.5k (up to 4.5k revs) the torque dips and the engine is still not spinning fast enough to make peak power. Hence the slightly noob question.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

There is no direct relation between torque and horse power. Rather than going into the physics of torque and power I'll give you one example which shows that both don't correlate.

Actually, not true. BHP = (Torque in lbft * RPM) / 5252. You could take any dyno graph to cross-verify the formula. On all VAG engines, you can in fact log engine torque @ crank in realtime under wide open throttle via the VCDS tool, then plot it on a graph to compute BHP at crank using the formula BHP = (Torque in lbft * RPM) / 5252.

Like how I did here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post2999342
and here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post3019272

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Remapping the 1.8 TSI would be out of the question.

I posted this on another thread. I'll explain here as well.

You can remap, and it is done all over the world on this engine/gearbox combination. To explain this better, I'll take my own car for example.

My Rapid's torque figures are rated at 250NM from 1500~2500rpm. What this actually means is that the engine's output averages around 250NM from 1500~2500rpm. If you actually look at my stock dyno graph, it peaks at 282NM @ 2100rpm. My Rapid's gearbox is the 5-speed MQ250-SF-02R and has a torque capacity of 250NM as well, but what this means is that - this is what it can handle on a continuous extended basis. Short spikes to higher outputs are easily sustained and it's designed to take it. The gearbox can handle more, for short durations, this concept is in fact built into the design, which is what enabled us to take it from 282NM(peak) to 327NM(peak) on my remap; and if you notice, 327NM isn't held for a long time.

I believe the 7 spd DSG's reliability issues are pretty much sorted, but that's not the point of this discussion. On the 1.8 TSI with 7spd DSG, from the figures I've seen, a typical remap peaks up to 320NM @ around 2500rpm, but again not across the rev range. By the time they hit 6000rpm, they're already down to 240NM, equating to about 200BHP. This is how the EA888 Gen2 mill doing duty in today's Indian Laura (250NM @ 1500-4500 rpm, 158 BHP in stock) is remapped from 158 to 200 BHP.

On the Gen3 motor in the 178BHP tune, torque figures are rated 250NM @ 1250-5000 rpm. If for example you insist that torque shouldn't be bumped up any further, then an experienced tuner (like Sid from Tune-O-Tronics) could also potentially increase horsepower this way - by just holding torque longer:

250 NM @ 5000rpm equates to 175 BHP.
250 NM @ 5500rpm equates to 193 BHP.
250 NM @ 6000pm equates to 210 BHP.
250 NM @ 6500pm equates to 228 BHP.
- Only an expert tuner with a Master tuning device can tune it the way you want it though.

Hope this helps. Cheers!

[asit.kulkarni93]

Great review Vid6639
One of the most awaited reviews of the year.
Btw is there any information whether they are stopping the Laura?
The Skoda India web page still shows the Laura.

[Hayek]

Fantastic review, Vidyut - even if you kept us waiting for a long time. The car itself seems great - as you said, barring the space, 1.8 TSi makes the Superb seem ordinary (only the electric passenger seat, rear window blinds and umbrella are selling points). And at Rs. 20 l OTR Bombay, it's pretty good value as well. Was surprised to find the 2.0 TDi Elegance priced so close to the 1.8 - had been expecting a larger price gap based on the difference in the Superb. Guess the torsion beam helps keep costs down. Did not realise that these are all new engines, had thought they were carried over from the previous generation. Clearly a car that throws the gauntlet down and deserves to succeed. If only buyers would abandon their SUV obsession though!

[v.anand]

Originally Posted by Zero Cool

Consider my case gentlemen, For someone who has limited usage of the car (hence im hinting at a petrol), concerned more about space, gizmos and status...wont a Superb or a Sonata make more sense than the 1.8 Octavia? Agreed the autobox is an addon, but its not really needed. Plus Hyundai will offer better service anyday. The lack of projector lamps in the 1.4 totally kills it for me unless I look a segment bellow where I then compare it to Elantra which is gonna be more than a lakh cheaper, maybe more with all the discounts thrown in. Add to it that im not much of a racer boy, and even if I was I wont dare much with VAG's delicate and expensive systems.

Hyundai cars to German cars given the direct comparison, the former definitely wins hands down in the feature battle but German cars are cars first and features later. Hyundai can't dream of the driving dynamics of any European car and this one is from a VW stable. Quality, longevity and sense of purpose is its forte and chassis, refinement, power, efficiency is what wins the day for Octavia in my books. Choice is yours depending on the requirement but fundamentally Octavia is a better car. Another example is the build quality, look at the number of welds on the door of an Elantra or Sonata and compare it with Octavia or Jetta. They are one piece metal with no joints and hence the feeling of a vault.

Coming to the review, awesome one as always Viddy. Octavia seems to be a perfect car bar the suspension on variants other than 1.8. How different is this engine compared to the old 1.8 TSI in terms of feel? It seems to have two fuel pumps based on my service adviser's observation. What could be its benefit?

One of my disappointment was the door pad which is predominantly plastic where as fabric/leather insert in contact areas in the Laura. Smaller screen for the music system is the other grouse. Totally agree with your observation of better interior materials compared to Jetta. But why the difference in build between the two? The driver arm rest in the Octavia seems to be more useable than Jetta to add to the comfort levels.

The difference between Audi A4 and the D segment is further narrowed by this new Octavia and what with idrive like features in the entertainment system is a master stroke by Skoda. If only the service costs would be reduced to Japanese levels considering the enormous investment VW group has made in India.

Is this the best D segment car at present in India? In my opinion, the Octavia 1.8 TSI certainly is.

[auto_enthusiast]

Fantastic and Detailed review.

A five star rating for this wonderful review.

Can you explain what's the use of a net below the shelf ?

[sapeco]

Stunning review by the master of an absolutely gorgeous looking car

Skoda is back and with a bang. All depends now on whether the buyer thinks the pricing is value for money. i think Skoda should have priced it a couple of lakhs lower by having "Introductory pricing". This would have created the volumes the company is looking for at launch. Then as is the norm across the industry hiked it around 6 months down the line.

This car is a real good effort by Skoda.I really want to see the new Octavia do well in India. Skoda badly needs a reverse of its fortunes. But it all depends on the attitude of its Service network. Lets keep our fingers crossed and hope that improves too.

[Ph03nix]

Originally Posted by vivek_gaur69

Poor pricing of 1.4TSi.

Some calculation based on ex-showroom prices

1. 1 lakh for DSG (difference based on diesel variants).
2. 1.9 difference between Ambition and elegance(based on diesel)
3. 1 lakh between Ambition and Active.

1.8Tsi Active manual gear will be approximately 14.35 (18.25-3.9), which is around 40K more than 1.4Tsi. If you consider the suspension, then they are overcharging for 1.4Tsi.

Should have been at least 80-90k less than current prices.

Cheers.

That was my exactly first reaction when I saw the pricing on the base variant. Your calculation proves it.

[deetjohn]

The new Octavia looks great on the outside. But the car just got too much beige on the inside. The bits and pieces used on the inside looks great, too bad Skoda doesn't do one in all black.

Hope Skoda had pulled the plug on the Laura and given the Octavia more variants and a better entry price. Hate it when a manufacturer sells 2 generations side by side. And the lack of warranty cover is a joke!

Regarding the 1.8 TSI, think Skoda' plan is to launch the MT in the vRS. So, if the DSG box is the limitation, will we see a better torque curve in the MT? Hope so. And vRS interior should also look better compared to the beige fest here.

My dream Octavia will be the 1.8 TSI with MT, mutli-link suspension and black interiors with a 5 year warranty.

PS: Thanks for sharing an excellent review Viddy!

[nitinbose]

Nice review Vidyut!

Looks like they've removed the L&K variant and packed it to the elegance!

Though the new design looks really attractive, somehow I'm getting a feeling the build quality is becoming poorer. The Older Skodas had the tough structure, which I cant find in my generation and the new one looks more weaker - just my thoughts.

[Warwithwheels]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

The new Octavia looks great on the outside. But the car just got too much beige on the inside. The bits and pieces used on the inside looks great, too bad Skoda doesn't do one in all black.

+1 to it. Makes it looks too plain jane and will be a pain to maintain it in the long run. In comparison to the Octavia, even the Laura's interiors have a classy touch

[dkaile]

Great review Vidyut, Rated 5 star. But I was disappointed to see no manuals for the cracker of a 1.8TSI engine. Guess that makes my last years 17L Superb 1.8TSI MT a keeper now.