The attractive and spacious Skoda Octavia SE hatchback. Picture by Jennifer Burton.
ROADTEST FACTFILE
Car...Skoda Octavia
Model...SE 1.6-litre TDI CR hatchback
mpg (comb cycle)...62.8 mpg
CO2 emissions...119 g/km
Price...£15,935
Loaned by F. H. Winter and Sons, Havenstreet
WHERE do you find a good-sized family car with a generous boot, which will only cost £35 a year in road tax and does an excellent 62.8 mpg on a combined cycle?
The answer is the new Skoda Octavia SE with the 1.6-litre turbo diesel engine, which I recently borrowed from Island Skoda dealers F. H. Winter and Sons.
Over the years, the Octavia has won numerous awards for its extraordinary blend of good value and practicality, but now Skoda has made one of its favourite models even more desirable by rendering it very economical indeed.
On the outside, the Octavia SE is a beautifully proportioned family car with plenty of space to pack in all the children’s clobber and still fit the results of a mammoth shopping spree in the boot.
Yet despite its size — and the addition of a sprightly 1.6-litre engine — this model gently sips its fuel and puts out a low carbon dioxide emissions figure of just 119g/km.
According to the team at F. H. Winter and Sons, this is the model their customers have all been asking for.
Its green credentials alone might win you over, because a parent switching to this car should find they save quite a bit of money, when compared to driving around in most other family cars of this size.
But if you are the sort of person who values a car’s looks, comfort factor and equipment levels too, then you should be pleasantly surprised.
The new Octavia benefits from an improved exterior, which marries classical good looks and elegance with more dynamic lines, plus a newly shaped front grille.
Inside, the Octavia sports new upholstery, new sound systems and new steering wheel, to ensure there is a more sophisticated feel to the interior.
The cabin is spacious with plenty of head and legroom in the back and the list of comfort, functional and safety features is now even longer too.
Throughout the range, there are ABS brakes with sophisticated anti-skid systems, plus driver and passenger front and side airbags, electric front windows, air conditioning, a height-adjustable driver’s seat and steering wheel, a passenger airbag deactivation switch, Isofix child seat fittings and much more. The Octavia SE adds remote central locking, an alarm system, rear electric windows with a child safety switch, wheel bolts with anti-theft protection, a touchscreen radio with six-CD changer and MP3 compatibility, four additional loudspeakers and many other features.
Optional extras on the SE include cruise control, a steering wheel fitted with a Bluetooth-compatible system, rear parking sensors and front fog lights.
To drive, the new Octavia has a sleek, assured feel on the road — it handles well and is surprisingly easy to manoeuvre, despite its generous dimensions.
The 1.6-litre TDI engine is lively and although it is not designed to be a speed freak, it manages the 0-62mph sprint in a respectable 11.8 seconds, is capable of a maximum speed of 118mph and provides plenty of overtaking power. If you like towing, it can pull a decent maximum of 1,400kg (braked), too.
The Octavia range starts from just £11,995 and as well as the economical SE, there is also the GreenLine, which does 64.2mpg on a combined cycle and kicks out just 114g/km emissions.