Skoda Octavia VRS 2.0 TDI CR

Spring is on the horizon, hooray. Daffodils are blooming, woodpeckers are drumming in the woods to create nest sites, but it is still perishing cold and wintry as I write this. The last overnight snow-fall where we live in the south-east is only a few days past, although it was mercifully short lived and had melted by tea-time. I crave some better weather to enjoy the performance of our Octavia VRS, but until then I’m relishing some features the car has that have been proving very handy through the winter months. It is a joy to go out to an icy car in the morning knowing that it is equipped with door mirror demisting, for a quickly cleared rearward view.

No need to fumble around wiping the glass, leaving it inevitably smeary, when the car does the job much more efficiently for you. Front and rear screen demisting is pretty efficient too. Some cars take a while to clear the glass, but the Octavia does it quite quickly. And then there is the onboard ice-scraper. Yes, the Octavia, like some other Skodas, including the new Fabia, comes equipped with its own neat little ice-scraper that is permanently housed in a tailored slot just inside the fuel filler flap. This is such a simple, low-cost, invaluable little detail that I’m amazed it isn’t a regular feature on every new car sold. It’s so handy to know that wherever you go at this time of year, the car’s own ice-scraper is carried with you. Yes, I know they can be bought quite cheaply, but they never seem to be where you want them when needed except for this one with its own permanent home.

This month’s motoring in the Octavia has included a couple of longish trips, but also lots of shorter ones. Fuel consumption remains at least eight mpg below the official figure. That’s disappointing, but realistically the figure that the car returns in everyday driving. Even so, it isn’t too bad for a car with a distinctly sporty nature to be returning mpg comfortably above the 50-mark. It does reflect what a long way fuel consumption has progressed in recent times. This is a car with a 181bhp power output, 280lb ft of torque, and a 0-62mph acceleration time just a notch above eight seconds. In that context, consumption in the lower 50s to a gallon is actually pretty fair and reasonable.

I’m finding that the Octavia’s cavernous 590 litre boot is both a boon and a temptation. While it is wonderful to have all that room in the back for whatever you might want to carry, it tends to encourage bad habits. I was slightly shocked the other day to open the boot and realise what a lot of unnecessary kit I’d left in it. Carrying unnecessary weight around with you is not helpful for minimising fuel consumption, so as soon as the weather is a bit less chilly, the boot must undergo a rigorous turn-out and spring-clean. Roll on the nicer weather!