It was supposed to have been our last chance. Just before the end of 2023, Skoda Ireland put in a call to remind us that when the latest update to the hugely popular Octavia was scheduled to arrive, in mid-2024, there would be no more diesel-engined sporty RS version.
There are just some cars that feel made for Ireland. They don’t come up all that often, as most of the big car makers tune and tweak their cars for the biggest markets There are just some cars that feel made for Ireland. They don’t come up all that often, as most of the big car makers tune and tweak their cars for the biggest markets – Germany, the UK, China, the US. Hardly surprising, really. Who’s going to allocate expensive engineering and development time for the sake of a few hundred Irish sales each year?
It manages to feel far more deft than you’d be expecting, too. The Octavia RS is not a dainty car – 1,500kg is lighter than any EV equivalent, but it’s still on the chunky side – but it can be made to dance with the alacrity of a semi-pro Strictly entrant when the mood takes you. The steering has a meaty weight to it, and while you have to give the nose a second or two to allow for the weight of the diesel engine up front, once it does so the RS seems to pivot nicely around your hips.
With diesel having little appeal these days, that’s perhaps not very surprising. The good news is that Skoda is currently working on an all-electric replacement for the Octavia, and given that there’s already an all-electric RS in the form of the Enyaq, maybe there’s hope for the future. The Octavia has been a huge part of that success, and amid the apparently insatiable clamour for SUVs, it’s still in the top-10 best-sellers list – actually the second best-selling car in Ireland at the time of writing, and that’s without even the newest updated model arriving yet – and has helped Skoda to second place overall in the Irish sales charts. The Czechs may even now be eyeing up Toyota’s first position.
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Source: aaroadwatch - 🏆 22. / 51 Read more »
Source: aaroadwatch - 🏆 22. / 51 Read more »