Post by Alex on Jan 8, 2024 14:07:14 GMT
Sorry for not doing an update sooner. The Octavia arrived in mid December and I've since managed just over 1200miles in it. I was on the motorway when it ticked over 1234 so couldn't quite catch it in time!
So far it's been perfectly competent. I'm still getting used to driving it as the regenerative braking is so much stronger than than Ioniq and the front assist system seems designed to slow you automatically for junctions and lower speed limits which I found rather disconcerting at first and having not worked out how to turn it off have become used to it. If I had a criticism I feel it could have better rear visibility and the lack of a parking camera doesn't help with parking (I ordered this but Skoda were not able to supply one). I've had to relearn parking by mirror which almost feels like parking blind. (Especially as the mirrors seem quite small). Unlike previous VAG cars I've driven the wing mirrors don't dip when you select reverse which is a surprising omission given Skodas 'simply clever' approach to car design. Not the end of the world of course and it's hardly as if I cannot park it but without the reassurance of the camera it just requires getting to trust the parking sensors and my instincts a bit more.
It's a very comfortable car to spend time in and as expected from an Octavia estate it is very roomy with a decent sized boot, albeit one made a bit smaller due to the battery battery pack. The other downside of that battery pack is also the reduction of the fuel tank to a mere 40 litres (I think, I've only been able to get 35 litres on a fill up but that's not on a completely empty tank). The interior looks good and the lack of HVAC controls on buttons hasn't been too big an issue as I've generally just left it set at 21°c and let it do its thing. The controls mostly feel good quality but old style VAG cruise control switch feels a bit cheap as do the buttons for the lights which have replaced the traditional wheel. I dont use either enough for this to bother me, however.
Performance wise it goes well enough given that it's a heavy car. In electric mode it's not a rocket ship but it does spin its wheels quite easily leaving junctions so I can see myself getting through front tyres quite quickly if I don't learn to modulate it a bit better. In hybrid mode it will pick up it's skirt and accelerate with a decent turn of pace, particularly between 40 and 60mph.
Economy wise it's somewhat disappointing if you particularly were expecting anywhere near the figures of regular hybrids (I have a fuel card so it's not an issue for me). Where the Ioniq did around 60mpg the Octavia does around 40 on a run. My old Golf estate (non hybrid 1.0 TSI) did around 45-50 so I thought it would at least match that. Maybe it will in time as it gets run in. I've charged it at the office a few times and it takes about 4 hours to fully charge. This has given a range varying between 29 and 35 miles. On the move this quickly drops but that might be due to the winter weather requiring lights wipers and HVAC to use a fair bit of electricity. Realistically so far I've managed just over 25 miles of driving from a full charge. Again, this will probably improve as we go into spring but use of AC in the summer will reduce this again. With the small fuel tank I'm going about 400 miles between fill ups with a bit of electric charging. Without charge it will manage about 350. The Ioniq managed 550-600 so this is a bit disappointing but not exactly the end of the world. The plus side of the PHEV system being officially rated as having a range of 42 miles is that the company car tax it attracts is about £100 less per month than the Ioniq so that's a nice bonus.
So good points and bad points. As a family workhorse it will do well I'm sure. I think it looks good and I really like the colour which I'm sure will only get better with nicer weather.
So far it's been perfectly competent. I'm still getting used to driving it as the regenerative braking is so much stronger than than Ioniq and the front assist system seems designed to slow you automatically for junctions and lower speed limits which I found rather disconcerting at first and having not worked out how to turn it off have become used to it. If I had a criticism I feel it could have better rear visibility and the lack of a parking camera doesn't help with parking (I ordered this but Skoda were not able to supply one). I've had to relearn parking by mirror which almost feels like parking blind. (Especially as the mirrors seem quite small). Unlike previous VAG cars I've driven the wing mirrors don't dip when you select reverse which is a surprising omission given Skodas 'simply clever' approach to car design. Not the end of the world of course and it's hardly as if I cannot park it but without the reassurance of the camera it just requires getting to trust the parking sensors and my instincts a bit more.
It's a very comfortable car to spend time in and as expected from an Octavia estate it is very roomy with a decent sized boot, albeit one made a bit smaller due to the battery battery pack. The other downside of that battery pack is also the reduction of the fuel tank to a mere 40 litres (I think, I've only been able to get 35 litres on a fill up but that's not on a completely empty tank). The interior looks good and the lack of HVAC controls on buttons hasn't been too big an issue as I've generally just left it set at 21°c and let it do its thing. The controls mostly feel good quality but old style VAG cruise control switch feels a bit cheap as do the buttons for the lights which have replaced the traditional wheel. I dont use either enough for this to bother me, however.
Performance wise it goes well enough given that it's a heavy car. In electric mode it's not a rocket ship but it does spin its wheels quite easily leaving junctions so I can see myself getting through front tyres quite quickly if I don't learn to modulate it a bit better. In hybrid mode it will pick up it's skirt and accelerate with a decent turn of pace, particularly between 40 and 60mph.
Economy wise it's somewhat disappointing if you particularly were expecting anywhere near the figures of regular hybrids (I have a fuel card so it's not an issue for me). Where the Ioniq did around 60mpg the Octavia does around 40 on a run. My old Golf estate (non hybrid 1.0 TSI) did around 45-50 so I thought it would at least match that. Maybe it will in time as it gets run in. I've charged it at the office a few times and it takes about 4 hours to fully charge. This has given a range varying between 29 and 35 miles. On the move this quickly drops but that might be due to the winter weather requiring lights wipers and HVAC to use a fair bit of electricity. Realistically so far I've managed just over 25 miles of driving from a full charge. Again, this will probably improve as we go into spring but use of AC in the summer will reduce this again. With the small fuel tank I'm going about 400 miles between fill ups with a bit of electric charging. Without charge it will manage about 350. The Ioniq managed 550-600 so this is a bit disappointing but not exactly the end of the world. The plus side of the PHEV system being officially rated as having a range of 42 miles is that the company car tax it attracts is about £100 less per month than the Ioniq so that's a nice bonus.
So good points and bad points. As a family workhorse it will do well I'm sure. I think it looks good and I really like the colour which I'm sure will only get better with nicer weather.
