LAWRENCE CHEUNG
lawrence.cheung@haymarket.com
THERE ARE TIMES when being a jack of all trades can get you far in life, but a potential downside is that when you need to excel in one particular area, you can end up missing the mark. The Skoda Octavia vRS is a great example of seemingly being all the car you’d ever need, and yet it can leave some drivers a little cold when it comes to excitement in the hot hatch class.
The rest of the Octavia line-up received a mild update earlier this year, and this performance version has now undergone a similar level of treatment. So, other than tweaked headlights and bumpers, the vRS looks the same as before, with minor details setting itself apart from regular versions, including red brake calipers and black exhaust pipes at the rear.
There are more than just visual tweaks, though. To liven up the driving experience a little further, the turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine produces a touch more power, rising from 242bhp to 261bhp – matching the output of the closely related Volkwagen Golf GTI. This is enough to cut the 0-62mph time by 0.2sec (6.4sec for the hatchback and RIVALS 6.5sec for the estate version).