1 Feb 2016 09:41

Our sister publication Autocar drove the snappily-named Skoda Octavia vRS 2.0 TDI 184 DSG 4x4 recently, and was wowed by its capability and flexibility.

We found a whopping saving of £4476 off the list price of the all-wheel drive Octavia vRS, bringing the price down to mid-spec Octavia territory.

The car Skoda Octavia vRS 2.0 TDI 184 DSG 4x4
The saving £4476
The discounted price £22,539
The online broker autoebid.com

For

Being a four-wheel drive hot hatch has its advantages: the AWD Octavia offers improved grip and all-terrain capability.

Being one of the most expensive Octavias on sale has its perks: it comes well equipped, with sat-nav, 18in alloys, xenon headlights and climate control as standard.

The running costs associated with the vRS’ 2.0 TDI engine betray its hot hatch dynamics. Skoda claims 57.7mpg and 129g/km CO2 from the Octabia vRS 2.0 TDI 184 DSG 4x4.

Against

Unfortunately, all-wheel drive has its drawbacks, too. Emissions, although impressive, are higher than in the standard vRS, and you won’t get as far on a full tank of fuel.

The extra weight associated with all-wheel drive means that the vRS doesn’t quite match the spritely handling of its hot Volkswagen Golf or Seat Leon cousins.

Should I add any options?

It's one of the most expensive cars in the Octavia range, and is well kitted out, so we’d leave it as-is and enjoy the £4476 saving.