Latest news with #OctaviavRS
The Irish Sun
7 days ago
- Automotive
- The Irish Sun
Electric Skoda Elroq vRS is a spicy, mega comfy car with handling that unleashes inner ‘Stig' – but there's a downside
The Czechs will tell you it's the fastest Skoda yet - but they aren't quite right ROQ 'N' ROLL STAR Electric Skoda Elroq vRS is a spicy, mega comfy car with handling that unleashes inner 'Stig' – but there's a downside EVERYONE knows The Stig. He's the chatterbox racing driver from Top Gear. But did you know there's another Stig who makes him look a bit slow? Advertisement 7 Stig Blomqvist is the man who cemented Skoda's motorsport credibility Credit: Supplied 7 The cabin is nicely appointed with microsuede upholstery Credit: Supplied 7 It'll do 0-62mph in 5.4 seconds, one second quicker than a petrol Octavia vRS Credit: Supplied 7 What impresses most about this car is the handling Credit: Supplied Stig Blomqvist. Absolute rally god. He won the 1984 World Rally Championship at the wheel of an Audi Quattro. He's also the man who cemented Skoda's motorsport credibility by finishing third on the 1996 Network Q Rally, in the snow, in a front-wheel drive Felicia, up against fire-spitting four-wheel drive Imprezas, Celicas and Sierra RS Cossies. Advertisement Proper giant-killing performance. I remember sitting on a frozen tree stump in Kielder Forest watching the master in full flow. Some bloke called Colin McRae piloted a Fabia WRC in 2005 and, for the last 15 years or so, Fabia has been hoovering up trophies in the second-tier WRC2 and other international championships. The reason I'm telling you all this is because Skoda has properly earned the vRS — victory Rally Sport — badge it sticks on its spicy road cars. It's not a marketing gimmick. Advertisement It has years of motorsport expertise behind it. So we thought we'd try the latest vRS, the pure electric Elroq vRS, at the famous Sweet Lamb rally complex in Llanidloes, mid-Wales. 5 Things you need to know about the new Skoda Elroq It was a lot of fun. We bolted on some all-terrain tyres, added underbody protection (we're not animals), and dialled down the traction control systems and, er, that was about it. Advertisement Pull the pin. Elroq vRS is plenty quick enough off the line. The Czechs will tell you it's the fastest Skoda yet. But it's actually joint-fastest alongside the Enyaq vRS. Two e-motors, one on each axle for all-wheel drive, pump out a meaty 340hp. It'll do 0-62mph in 5.4 seconds, one second quicker than a petrol Octavia vRS, and top out at 111mph. Advertisement But what impresses most is the handling. For a heavy vehicle (batteries weight a bit), it corners tidily. The steering is light but accurate. The body is well tied-down, neither rolling on corners or floating when the road crests and dips. We tried the very green Elroq vRS on smoother, less dusty B-roads and it was just as pleasing. Fast or slow. Advertisement It should easily do 280 miles on a full tank and can recharge to 80 per cent in a 26-minute tea-and-pee break. 7 I remember sitting on a frozen tree stump in Kielder Forest watching the master in full flow Credit: Supplied 7 Skoda has properly earned the vRS — victory Rally Sport — badge Credit: Supplied The cabin is nicely appointed. Microsuede upholstery. Lime green stitching. The seats are mega comfy and will warm and rub your back. Advertisement The door pockets are carpeted. So nothing rattles. That 13in touchscreen is fast and easy to use. Mind you, I'm a big fan of the regular £31,510 Elroq, so the all-singing vRS was always going to be good. My only grumble is the price. We're talking £46,560. That's Mercedes CLA money. But at least you can release your inner Stig. Advertisement SKODA unveils an Octavia-sized electric estate called 'Vision O' next month. But it's exactly that, a vision. The real car's still three years away and it will co-exist alongside today's petrol and diesel Octavias for as long as they're allowed to continue. There's a dinky £22k EV called 'Epiq' coming in 2026, followed by a seven-seat EV that's previewed by the 'Vision 7S' concept. 7 Skoda's Octavia-sized electric estate called 'Vision O' Credit: Supplied Advertisement
Scottish Sun
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Scottish Sun
I drove pure electric Elroq vRS at Sweet Lamb rally complex – it corners tidily & is mega comfy but there's one downside
The Czechs will tell you it's the fastest Skoda yet - but they aren't quite right ELROQ 'N' ROLL STAR I drove pure electric Elroq vRS at Sweet Lamb rally complex – it corners tidily & is mega comfy but there's one downside Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) EVERYONE knows The Stig. He's the chatterbox racing driver from Top Gear. But did you know there's another Stig who makes him look a bit slow? Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 Stig Blomqvist is the man who cemented Skoda's motorsport credibility Credit: Supplied 7 The cabin is nicely appointed with microsuede upholstery Credit: Supplied 7 It'll do 0-62mph in 5.4 seconds, one second quicker than a petrol Octavia vRS Credit: Supplied 7 What impresses most about this car is the handling Credit: Supplied Stig Blomqvist. Absolute rally god. He won the 1984 World Rally Championship at the wheel of an Audi Quattro. He's also the man who cemented Skoda's motorsport credibility by finishing third on the 1996 Network Q Rally, in the snow, in a front-wheel drive Felicia, up against fire-spitting four-wheel drive Imprezas, Celicas and Sierra RS Cossies. Proper giant-killing performance. I remember sitting on a frozen tree stump in Kielder Forest watching the master in full flow. Some bloke called Colin McRae piloted a Fabia WRC in 2005 and, for the last 15 years or so, Fabia has been hoovering up trophies in the second-tier WRC2 and other international championships. The reason I'm telling you all this is because Skoda has properly earned the vRS — victory Rally Sport — badge it sticks on its spicy road cars. It's not a marketing gimmick. It has years of motorsport expertise behind it. So we thought we'd try the latest vRS, the pure electric Elroq vRS, at the famous Sweet Lamb rally complex in Llanidloes, mid-Wales. 5 Things you need to know about the new Skoda Elroq It was a lot of fun. We bolted on some all-terrain tyres, added underbody protection (we're not animals), and dialled down the traction control systems and, er, that was about it. Pull the pin. Elroq vRS is plenty quick enough off the line. The Czechs will tell you it's the fastest Skoda yet. But it's actually joint-fastest alongside the Enyaq vRS. Two e-motors, one on each axle for all-wheel drive, pump out a meaty 340hp. It'll do 0-62mph in 5.4 seconds, one second quicker than a petrol Octavia vRS, and top out at 111mph. But what impresses most is the handling. For a heavy vehicle (batteries weight a bit), it corners tidily. The steering is light but accurate. The body is well tied-down, neither rolling on corners or floating when the road crests and dips. We tried the very green Elroq vRS on smoother, less dusty B-roads and it was just as pleasing. Fast or slow. It should easily do 280 miles on a full tank and can recharge to 80 per cent in a 26-minute tea-and-pee break. 7 I remember sitting on a frozen tree stump in Kielder Forest watching the master in full flow Credit: Supplied 7 Skoda has properly earned the vRS — victory Rally Sport — badge Credit: Supplied The cabin is nicely appointed. Microsuede upholstery. Lime green stitching. The seats are mega comfy and will warm and rub your back. The door pockets are carpeted. So nothing rattles. That 13in touchscreen is fast and easy to use. Mind you, I'm a big fan of the regular £31,510 Elroq, so the all-singing vRS was always going to be good. My only grumble is the price. We're talking £46,560. That's Mercedes CLA money. But at least you can release your inner Stig. SKODA unveils an Octavia-sized electric estate called 'Vision O' next month. But it's exactly that, a vision. The real car's still three years away and it will co-exist alongside today's petrol and diesel Octavias for as long as they're allowed to continue. There's a dinky £22k EV called 'Epiq' coming in 2026, followed by a seven-seat EV that's previewed by the 'Vision 7S' concept. 7 Skoda's Octavia-sized electric estate called 'Vision O' Credit: Supplied
The Irish Sun
17-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Irish Sun
New Skoda Octavia vRS is a 265bhp rocket ship but also a very practical sportscar
THE Skoda Octavia is a brilliant four-door car with a big boot — and it's fun to drive. But the Octavia's boot doesn't open like a regular saloon even though it looks like one. 6 SPICE UP YOUR LIFE: With 265bhp, four doors, a big boot and a handy hatchback-style opening boot all wrapped in a sporty saloon , the Skoda Octavia vRS proves you can have your cake and eat it Credit: Skoda UK Instead the boot lid opens the same way a hatchback does, adding to its useability. The boot offers 600 litres but fold the seats down for 1,555 litres of load-lugging ability. The sporty vRS model takes all this practicality and wraps it up with the fun and excitement of a potent hot-hatch. And as we've been basking in the recent warm weather, you'll be hot in the city and on the open road looking cool, cruising in your Octavia vRS. Key Facts: Skoda Octavia vRS Cost: From €56,020 Engine: 2.0-litre, four- cylinder turbo petrol Power: 265bhp Torque: 370Nm 0-100kph: 6.4 seconds Top Speed: 250kph Economy: 40.8mpg Real world: 40mpg Emissions: 159g/km Rivals: VW Golf GTI, Cupra BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 Power comes from a 2.0-litre, turbocharged, four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 265bhp and 370Nm of torque. This allows the vRS to scamper from 0-100kph in 6.4seconds with a very respectable top speed of 250kph. There are hot-hatches that produce more power, but the Octavia vRS is a little ripper and it's surprisingly quick in all the driving modes — even Eco. But it's Sport mode that really brings it to life, with a fruity note from the dual exhausts and a few pops and bangs thrown in for good measure. Most read in Motors 6 THE GREAT ESTATE: Octavia vRS also comes as an even more practical sporty estate called the Combi Credit: Skoda Ireland 6 BOOT SIZE: Big boot is 600-litres and up to 1,555-litres with the seats down Credit: Skoda UK It's front-wheel drive, though, so in the wet or with a too-heavy right foot, the vRS's traction control will be working overtime to minimise wheel spin. But in the dry, grip is really good and you can opt for Dynamic Chassis Control so you can fine-tune the suspension settings to suit your driving style. However, the Sports Suspension, which drops the ride height by 15mm, comes as standard. It looks like a proper sports car too. 6 WHEELS OF MIS-FORTUNE: The 19-inch alloys feature plastic aero caps that look a bit cheap Credit: Darren Liggett 6 BUCKET SEATS: Sports seats are superb and look like they're lifted out of a rally car Credit: Skoda UK My test car was painted Race Blue Metallic and all the vRS trim consists of sports bumpers with black inserts, black mirrors and black ducktail boot spoiler, vRS chrome exhaust pipes, red brake callipers and 19-inch 'Elias' alloy wheel. However they come with plastic aero covers that, in my opinion, ruin the look of the rims and make it look cheap, especially as there is a great-looking alloy wheel below. The interior is amazing; the seats look like they have been lifted out of a Skoda Fabia WRC2 car. They're also heated and covered in lovely Alcantara trim, with red stitching, vRS badges and lots of carbon-style trim that all adds up to make the vRS Octavia feel extra sporty and special. 6 SPORTY CABIN: Loads of faux-carbon trim, red stitching and plenty of vRS badging Credit: Skoda UK The 13-inch infotainment system is user-friendly and my test car came fitted with a banging, optional Canton sound system. It's actually pretty economical, Skoda have an official figure of 41mpg. Read more on the Irish Sun And on a long motorway journey taking it very easy, I did average 40mpg. But go full Stig mode and it's certainly not as frugal.
Telegraph
22-03-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Automatic gearboxes are taking the joy out of old-school driving
If you buy a new car, chances are you'll have the option of getting an automatic gearbox – and more people than ever are plumping for self-shifters. Automatics now make up nearly a third of cars on UK roads, with the number of auto transmissions more than doubling in the last decade. While 400,000 new cars were automatic in 2014, 10 years later the number had tripled to more than 1.3 million. So does the rapid adoption of automatics mean we've fallen out of love with driving? Or are we just shifting with the times and taking what the car-makers give us? Above all, does it mean we're abandoning one of the fundamental aspects of driving? What's behind the boom in sales of automatics? Some makers now only sell automatics. Mercedes-Benz, Genesis, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lexus, Maserati, Rolls-Royce, Subaru and Volvo no longer produce cars with manual gearboxes. You'll notice these are predominantly makers of large, premium and, in some cases, luxury models. Skoda believes the shift to auto is customer-driven. The firm's Pietro Panarisi said: 'The UK is a market where customers enjoy a higher specification car and the automatic is part of that. Even on the [sporty] vRS models, most buyers take the automatic to the point where we no longer offer the Octavia vRS manual.' A Volvo spokesperson added: 'It's partly down to customer demand, partly down to technology. We sell generally larger premium models, and drivers of those don't want manuals. But also the majority of our cars use (petrol-electric) hybrid technology, and that doesn't suit a manual gearbox.' With ever-more electric vehicles that don't have a gearbox on our roads, the number of cars that take care of gear-changing themselves will only grow. The power of the manual gear-change There is a certain joy about changing down a gear in advance of a bend and then holding that ratio as you sweep round the corner; only when the revs exceed the point that you know is the car's sweet spot for torque do you change up. In the right car it sounds great and maximises the engine's available power. The joy is total control over the vehicle: it's a visceral thrill that delivers emotional pleasure. The manual gear-change also benefits fuel economy compared with the old-school 'slush-box' automatics. You can short shift, which is changing gear when the revs are only just high enough to cope with the next ratio. Again, it's a control thing: you're using your judgement, skill, experience and knowledge of the car to save fuel. Porsche still offers a manual gearbox in its 911 Carrera GT3. The head of the company's GT division, Andreas Preuninger, said: 'For me personally, it has always been super-important to have a manual gearbox. 'A manual gearbox is lighter, which helps with fuel efficiency and reduces emissions. It also allows for more horsepower because the internal resistance is significantly lower than in a PDK [semi-automatic] transmission.' Driver trainer Rod Williams from P555 agrees, adding: 'On a pure, focused driver's car, I like manuals because you can do what you want with them.' Meanwhile, Toyota's David Crouch says of its rally-based hatchback: 'We would sell every manual GR Yaris we could get our hands on.' Where the automatic hits back Formula 1 Grand Prix cars are semi-automatics. Rather than stirring a stick as the late Sir Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart and James Hunt used to, drivers now pull steering wheel-mounted paddles to change gear. The clutch is a hand-operated lever used only to get the car moving. The reason this system was introduced in 1989 by Ferrari was two-fold: it enabled drivers to keep both hands on the wheel at all times (vital when you're cornering under extreme G-forces) and it prevents them from missing gear changes and over-revving the engine. The latter isn't a problem for the average road driver, but the former point is relevant, particularly with the advent of – and increasing reliance on – in-car screens. Modern automatics also use less fuel than manual cars. In many models, the automatic gearbox has seven or eight gears, so there's more likely to be an appropriate ratio for the speed you're doing. Computer control also enables the modern auto to swap cogs at the perfect point to reduce emissions and fuel consumption. Automatics are more relaxing and safer, too. Williams says: 'With an auto, you keep your foot on the brake pedal when you're stopped so the brake lights are on. With a manual, you're supposed to put it in neutral and apply the parking brake when you're at a standstill so your signal to the rest of the world disappears. 'Also, automatics are so good now you're always in the right gear. With busier roads, that helps you to concentrate on what's going on around you.' Have we forgotten how to drive? This really depends on how you define driving. If it's simply getting from A to B without crashing, then the automatic gear-change is a bonus. Equally, if you assume Formula 1 drivers are the pinnacle of motoring (as is often argued), the absence of a gear lever has merely given them more bandwidth to perform other tasks vital for driving cars scarily fast. Former Williams F1 team technical director Patrick Head once said: 'Some people tell me F1 would be better if the drivers still used stick shifts. But that's a bit like saying: 'Isn't it a pity we don't still walk around in clogs?'.' Meanwhile, Williams agrees that you can't reverse the march of technology. 'I don't believe it's about forgetting how to drive. I don't think the younger generation will have the same driving involvement that we had because cars have advanced so much in so many different areas,' he says. 'And many younger drivers coming along question things on cars. Just because something like a manual gearbox is what the older generation had doesn't necessarily mean younger drivers want it. They just want to go from A to B as easily as possible.' So, are you a (clog-wearing) manual gearbox lover? Or raring to embrace automatics and the march of technology? Have your say in the comments section below.
