A BETTER KIND OF CZECH MATE (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 94

A Skoda Octavia was once the least sophisticated of all the Volkswagen Group's family hatchback products. But that changed with this MK4 version. Almost nothing was held back for this fourth generation version. It was still bigger and better value than most of its rivals, a Mondeo-sized medium range hatch for the price of a Focus-sized one. The difference with this MK4 design though, was that it was clever enough to change the way people thought about Skoda. Here, we look at the pre-facelift 2020-2023-era version of this MK4 design as a used buy.

Modelsword count: 21

5dr family hatch & Estate - (1.0 TSI, 1.5 TSI, 1.4 PHEV, 2.0 TDI - [SE, SE Technology, SE L, vRS)

Historyword count: 452

You can trace the Skoda success story of the last few decades back to the original launch of one model: this one - the Octavia, the fourth generation version of which was launched in 2020. By then, the Octavia had long been the Czech maker's best selling model. Back then it accounted for around a third of the company's total output and by 2020 over 6.5 million Octavia's had been sold over the previous quarter of a century, courtesy of production not only in the Czech Republic but also in India, Russia and China too. That was in addition to the further 363,000 'Spartak 440 and 445' Octavia models sold in the Sixties, that post-war model being one of Communist Europe's favourite family runabouts of the Cold War period. In all then, it was quite a legacy for this MK4 Octavia to live up to, hatch and estate versions of which were launched here in the Spring of 2020. Right from its very first appearance in 1996, the Octavia has been a car that's always super-sized its value proposition, offering more space than the class norm. For first and second generation versions, respectively, the 'Typ 1U' and 'Typ 1Z' models, that class saw competition amongst Focus and Astra-class family hatches. The MK3 'Typ 5E' model of 2012 took a step up in the world, still a family hatch-sector car but by then virtually big enough to compete with Mondeos and Insignias in the larger medium range segment. This fourth generation version continued to offer that kind of proposition, with increased dimensions and improved practicality. What changed though, was that the simple, straightforward virtues that had previously characterised Octavia ownership had been embellished quite a lot. In fact, Skoda claimed that this car could redefine sector standards for equipment and technology, much as its VW Group cousin the MK8 Volkswagen Golf had done - and in this case do so with a much stronger value proposition. This Octavia used all the same engineering as that Golf, shared also in 2020 with latest versions of the SEAT Leon and the Audi A3. So buyers got the option of Plug-in Hybrid and mild hybrid engineering. And a completely new digitalised cabin with the kind of media and safety tech that until late in this century's second decade, family hatch folk could only dream about. Plus there was striking fresh exterior design and a big step up in perceived quality, all of which delivered a signpost to the kind of direction the Czech brand wanted to go in the future. The MK4 Octavia sold in this form until Spring 2024, when it was lightly facelifted. It's the pre-facelift 2020-2023-era MK4 Octavia models we look at here.

What You Getword count: 474

Octavia design has always centred on simplicity - though this model line has previously been worked upon by some of the industry's most noted stylists. Where before, there was a slight feeling of the bodyshell being touch over-sized for its Golf-derived family hatch platform, in MK4 form this car seemed much better proportioned, both in hatch form and as the alternative estate. From the side, you get a better perspective on this MK4 model's slightly larger dimensions - the hatch version is 19mm longer than its predecessor and the alternative estate got a 22mm length increase. Which was enough to make both variants quite a lot larger than the class norm - the hatch for instance, was a full 311mm longer than a comparably-priced Ford Focus. And behind the wheel? Well there was a huge quality improvement from anything that Octavia owners had been served up before. In many ways, it was all rather grand - there were seven trim changes on the dashboard alone, one of them featuring a stitched finish, and wherever you look, squidgy soft-touch surfaces predominate. It's all another world from what you'd get in, say, a Focus or an Astra from this period - and that's before you start looking at a car whose original owner dressed it up with options. Get a car with a cabin dressed up a bit with leather upholstery and the optional coloured ambient lighting strips that flow across the central chromed trim panel and it all looks very up-market indeed. Especially given that large hi-tech screens predominated across this MK4 model's dash. Almost all variants got a set-up with a 10.25-inch 'Virtual Cockpit' customisable instrument binnacle screen and a big 10-inch centre-dash infotainment monitor. Conventional switches were largely replaced by capacitive touch buttons and most models got Skoda's 'Laura' voice control 'digital assistant'. In short, if you were waiting for a more sophisticated kind of Octavia, here it is. Yet it's still practical in here, with loads of space to store things and a very spacious feel. Let's consider the rear, a compartment you enter via wide-opening doors. Once inside, you start to really appreciate the benefits of this MK4 Octavia's unusually long 2,686mm wheelbase - that's 67mm lengthier than a Volkswagen Golf from this period. As a result, it's more spacious in the back than any other family hatch-segment model of this era - at least for legs and knees anyway. Raise the rather heavy rear hatch and you'll find yourself looking at one of this Octavia's major selling points. A huge aperture opens the way to an absolutely enormous 600-litre load area. Once the 60:40-split rear bench is folded, there's quite a step up from the boot floor. Still, just consider all the space you get - 1,555-litres in the Hatch, a figure that would rise to 1,700-litres in the Estate.

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