Car Review

ŠKODA OCTAVIA

Reviewed by Ted Macauley

The four-wheeled Estate car market place is awash with great deals, cars to suit every pocket and taste with economy a crucial priority. And right at the top end of all that is my unfailing choice as a bargain....the mainstay of the Skoda line-up, the fine and dandy Octavia Estate.

It is the Mk 4 in the splendidly, generously spaced hatchback and estate forms and shapes, with a newly stretched length between the front and rear axles, bequeathing our deserving custom far more interior space than its predecessors. A wee bit longer too, so that it can accommodate extra safety add-ons and carefully thought out driver aids, to make it even roomier than before.

Over the past decades Skoda’s clever backroom bods have carved out a distinctive niche - and the Czech firm has now set itself an enviable reputation for sensible, and the comfiest of cars that are much, much more spacious, with elbow room aplenty, especially for the driver who will genuinely feel the benefit on the longest of treks either on smooth motorways or bumpier by-passes and country lanes.

Despite having the same power output as before, as lots of you will realise, the 148 bhp diesel fitted to the Octavia Estate has been throughly and heavily revised with vastly improved CO2 emission and welcome fuel economy. Performance is strong, with acceleration feeling a good deal brisker that its claimed 8.8 sec to 0-62 mph time. The engine is so versatile and responsive that you don’t have to thrash it to stir a reasonable uplift in its pace. Take my advice: ease off the accelerator pedal now and again and our Octavia, good as gold and only too ready to please, can even “coast” along a gear to save fuel. That can tot up to around 50mpg on a mixture of roads, including plenty of motorway driving, with 60mpg possible at a steady cruise with a dainty and light touch of the right foot.

You will gather this is an offering with plenty to offer. As for space? Wow! It is as roomy as can be. A six footer like me will have no trouble sitting behind the leggiest driver with inches and inches of head room to spare. It’s smartened up innards have replaced the rather dowdy interior of the older version with a range of contemporary improvements.

The quality is impressive to say the least, with plenty of useful and decorative moulding around the dash and on the armrests and all the doors, with lots of chrome detailing to lend it a welcome and bright glow. The entry-level SE First Edition models come with an 8.25in infotainment touch screen, with all manner of useful driver aids and helpmates. Cleverly and thoughtfully, the screen is positioned higher in the dashboard display than previously, so you don not have to take your eyes quite so far to view it.

The screen icons are large, so you can hit them relatively easily while on the move.What else? Ah yes! The boot. That is its ace card. It revels in loads of space, dwarfing its rivals...640 litres...with handy hooks, cubbies and loads of separators to keep your luggage and cargo from rolling about too much.

What more can I say?

AS SEEN ON TV

Your local car body repair expert Major Panel Damage? Dents? Paintwork Scratches? Bumper Scuffs & Cracks?

BEFORE BEFORE BEFORE BEFORE

AFTER AFTER AFTER AFTER

Don’t lose out on your no claims bonus, call for your free estimate today!

FREE COLLECTION AND DELIVERY FROM YOUR HOME OR WORKPLACE FROM YOUR HOME OR WORKPLACE REPAIRS COMPLETED AT OUR CAR CARE CENTRE IN WOKING 01932 336999 email mark.hunter@chipsaway.co.uk or visit www.chipsaway.biz

*Length of repair will be confirmed at time of quote SAME DAY REPAIRS GUARANTEED*

We now accept all major credit & debit cards

crosswordpuzzle

Solutions Page 33

Clue: 9 Across

Join FREE at your local library!

Clue: 21 Across

Across

1 Plot (6) 4 Western US state (6) 8 Raid (5) 9 Pharmacist (7) 10 Comes back (7) 11 Soothsayer (5) 12 Solaced (9) 17 Performed in a play (5) 19 High and dry (7) 21 Small wood (7) 22 Structure supporting power cables (5) 23 Texas city (6) 24 Free of charge (6)

Down

1 Hunting expedition (6) 2 Unorthodox believer (7) 3 Municipal leader (5) 5 Graceful and refined (7) 6 Imitating (5) 7 Dessert (6) 9 Usual (9) 13 Mrs. Guy Ritchie (7) 14 Close-fitting Elizabethan jacket (7) 15 Brought up (6) 16 Handsome youth (6) 18 Spin round (5) 20 More mature (5)

Copyright © 2018 Simply Daily Puzzles Clue: 7 Down

Clue: 14 Down