2018 Skoda Octavia – Indian Blue Book Overview
Skoda Octavia – Timeless Elegance
The face lifted Skoda Octavia certainly lays claim to being one of the best executive sedans in the country and at a comparatively reasonable price point. Skoda has refreshed the Octavia, arguably its most popular product in India, sometime back.
The 2018 Skoda Octavia gets several styling updates and tweaks that give it added the appeal of its own. The front fascia has several updates with the headlamps being divided into smaller components which have the high and low beams in separate pods. The lamps positioned on the far extremities take care of the low beams and the high beams are the inner pods. The driving lamps are positioned under these lamps on the bumper.
There are all-LED lighting elements and this has ensured better illumination along with lowered energy consumption. Emissions have also come down by approximately 1 gram per kilometre. There are adaptive headlights which adjust spread and brightness while there is a black mirror finish for the grille along with a chrome strip for the lower bumper and subtle hood contours.
The car is wider than before and looks even more premium now. The cabin is plusher with the two-tone upholstery theme and black and beige combination. There are plastic inserts for the door pads. The fascia is new on the central console and there is a new touchscreen unit that gets the capacitive touch. This is positioned within a black bezel and the air conditioning controls are brand new and stylish.
Skoda Octavia uses the 1.4 litres and 1.8-litre turbocharged direct injection petrol engines. The former makes 150 PS and 250 Nm while the latter churns out 180 PS and 250 Nm. The former is paired with a 6-speed manual transmission unit while the more powerful engine is mated to a 7-speed DSG transmission option. The power-to-weight ratio stands at 131 PS for every ton.
The transmission offers a more refined experience and there are faster shifts as well. The new Octavia offers improved driving experiences and performance. The 1.4-litre petrol engine is more economical although the 1.8-litre petrol engine is the one to look out for if performance is the criterion.
Skoda Octavia – Cubism and the tradition of Bohemian Glass
The EA288 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine from the Volkswagen Group also continues for the Skoda Octavia and this gets 6-speed manual and DSG automatic transmission options. The fuel efficiency figures stand at 21 and 19 kilometres per litre respectively. There is an increased rear track and this ensures higher stability. The rear track has gone up by 30 mm for the 1.8 TSI variant due to the multilink axle.
The rear track has gone up by 20 mm on the 2.0-litre diesel version for accommodating the compound link crank axle. Body roll is on the lower side although it is sometimes evident during city driving. The new Octavia gets a bigger touch screen unit along with Android Auto, MirrorLink and Apple CarPlay along with hands-free parking and 12 sensors for easy parallel parking by itself.
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There is the Boss Connect feature where rear passengers can use a native smartphone app to control the navigation and audio systems. With two fast charging points for rear passengers along with air conditioning vents although temperatures and blower speeds cannot be controlled along with the panoramic sunroof.
There are 8 airbags for the Style and Style Plus variant along with dual front and side airbags for the base Ambition variant. There is multi-collision braking, hill hold and a plethora of other safety features. The new Octavia is a much better car than its previous version and that’s saying a lot going by the high standards and benchmarks set by this model.