With 191,900 items delivered final yr, the Octavia consolidated its place because the best-selling Skoda. It is getting a nip and tuck for 2024, an replace that brings styling revisions, a much bigger show, and a streamlined engine lineup. The Czech model can be unveiling the flagship RS, full with the extra sensible wagon physique fashion and a bit of additional oomph.
A extra spacious different to the lately up to date Volkswagen Golf, the Octavia will get new matrix LED headlights that look a bit like they’re melting. The brand new lights have an adaptive glare-free excessive beam and will probably be an optionally available characteristic on the lesser trim ranges however commonplace on the RS. The latter has misplaced the separate decrease lights that Skoda had been mounting contained in the bumper for the reason that second-generation Octavia RS facelift launched in 2009.
37 Pictures
The rear has been largely carried over, though the optionally available design for the taillights now sends a little bit of an Audi vibe. The 2024 Octavia comes with a refreshed array of alloy wheels various in dimension from 16 to 19 inches, together with daring colours like Phoenix Orange and Mamba Inexperienced. The font used for the make and mannequin have been discreetly revised whereas the RS brand on the entrance and rear is larger now.
Predictably, the cabin has been largely carried over, apart from a brand new infotainment system with an enlarged display screen that includes a 13-inch diagonal. Even the bottom mode now has a 10-inch digital instrument cluster and dual-zone automated local weather management. Skoda has up to date the trim and fabric choices whereas retaining the ventilated and massaging entrance seats out there at an extra value.
Surprisingly, the engine lineup has some obvious emissions as a result of there isn’t any point out of a plug-in hybrid, though the Golf eHybrid is sticking round. As well as, the Octavia RS is barely going to be provided with a gasoline engine, which means that the two.0-liter diesel that was provided with front- and all-wheel drive is not any extra. Maybe the demise of the two.0 TDI within the sporty model is not any large shock seeing as how diesels have fallen out of favor in Europe. A lot in order that pure electrical vehicles outsold diesels in Europe final yr for the primary time, in line with knowledge revealed by the European Car Producers’ Affiliation (ACEA).
A efficiency diesel is a distinct segment mannequin, and with emissions rules getting stricter, the dying of the oil-burner Octavia RS is sensible. In any case, the mechanically associated Golf GTD can be gone. Skoda shouldn’t be saying a phrase concerning the Octavia RS iV plug-in hybrid both, regardless of the actual fact VW will proceed to promote a Golf GTE.
The common Octavia has misplaced the three-cylinder, 1.0 TSI engine, which means the lineup now kicks off with the bigger 1.5 TSI. The four-pot unit is on the market in commonplace and mild-hybrid configurations and you’ll select from both 114 hp and 220 Nm (162 lb-ft) or 148 hp and 250 Nm (184 lb-ft). The non-electrified variants include a six-speed guide gearbox whereas those with 48V expertise get a seven-speed, dual-clutch automated transmission. The 1.5 TSI fashions are completely front-wheel drive.
The flagship, FWD-only Octavia RS makes use of an upgraded 2.0 TSI engine now making 261 hp, an additional 20 hp in comparison with the pre-facelift mannequin. It matches the grunt of the new Golf GTI and affords 370 Nm (272 lb-ft), a torque determine that continues to be unchanged. The clutch pedal is nowhere to be discovered, echoing Wolfsburg’s DSG-only sizzling hatch.
Come 2025, Skoda goes to introduce an all-wheel-drive gasoline model with a 2.0 TSI dialed to 201 hp channeled to each axles through a DSG. It is a rise of 13 hp in comparison with the earlier mannequin provided with this engine. Torque stays the identical, at 320 Nm (236 lb-ft).
In the meantime, a diesel engine continues to be out there, a 2.0 TDI with both 114 hp and 300 Nm (221 lb-ft) or 148 hp and 360 Nm (266 lb-ft). The previous sticks to a guide gearbox whereas the latter is an auto-only affair, with each having a FWD setup.
Going ahead, Skoda is adjusting the trim construction by promoting the 2024 Octavia in Essence, Choice, Sportline, and RS flavors. A luxury-oriented Laurin & Klement shouldn’t be out there.
With VW already saying the next-gen Golf goes to be utterly electrical, we could possibly be wanting on the last replace for the Octavia within the combustion engine period. Since shifting beneath the VW Group umbrella, Skoda has delivered greater than seven million items of its hottest automobile, throughout 4 generations. To this quantity, we will add the 360,000 examples of the unique rear-wheel-drive Octavia offered between 1959 and 1971. An Octavia-like electrical wagon is scheduled to go on sale in 2026.
The possibilities of seeing Skoda in the US are slim to none as former VW Group CEO Herbert Diess dominated it out in an Ask Me Something (AMA) session on Reddit a few years in the past. It is an actual disgrace for the reason that Octavia RS Combi could be a wonderful all-rounder in America’s rarified automobile section. That is principally a Golf GTI wagon, best for a one-car storage. VW does promote a costlier Golf R wagon with 315 hp, AWD, and a DSG in some markets, however that one too is a forbidden fruit right here.
