New Skoda Octaviat India review pics

Quick Review: New Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDi DSG Elegance

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“The Legend is Coming Back!”

This is precisely what the invite that we got for the media drive of the new Skoda Octavia read. More often than not, we pay little attention to such taglines and dismiss them off as yet another attempt by the marketing guys to act clever. However, the aforementioned tagline did manage to invoke memories of the good times we have spent with the 5th gen Skoda Octavia (the first Octy for India) and we were quick to wonder if the latest generation Octavia would repeat the success story of its forebear.

The 2013 Skoda Octavia is being expected to step into our car market early next month and we recently spent a couple of days testing the latest gen Octy in the picturesque Himachal and on the splendid roads of Chandigarh.

Following is our First Drive Impression of the diesel variant of the new car. Check it out to know if all the rumpus surrounding the new Octy is justified.

Design

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We can go on talking in length about the new car’s styling. However, here is a brief summary of the 2013 Skoda Octavia’s exterior design.

Urbane, contemporary and chic are the words that best describe the car’s front end. Worth mentioning here is the fact that while the car’s front fascia manages to look as modern-day as that of any mid-size European sedan, the car retains typical Octavia design cues such as rectangular headlamps and centrally located hump on the hood.

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The headlights are angled slightly upwards at their terminal ends. This, along with the DRLs, help with imparting the car’s front end an aggressive look. Also helping with matters is a well defined crease flanking the headlights and running right into the front bumper. The design cues from VisionD Concept can be found in abundance on the bumper of the car. The slim central air-dam and the angular fog lamp housings have been directly lifted from the much publicized concept.

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When viewed in profile, initial impression is that of the car being really loo……ong. Compared to the last gen Octavia (aka Laura), the rear windows have definitely grown in surface area. The rear window on the new car also features a quarter panel with a pronounced black cladding around the aft portion. The top of the line Elegance variant is shod with very tasty looking ten spoke alloy wheels.

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Rear is where the car has got the minimal drama. The rear of the new Octavia has striking resemblance with that of the smaller Rapid sedan. When compared to the outgoing model, the new Octavia’s bumper is more angularly cut out and the boot seems to be taller than before.

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The C-Motifs in the tail-lamps, which made its first appearance way back in 2005 on the taillights of the Roomster, shout Skoda and further help the car with boasting of a familiar look.

Summing it up, the exterior of the new Octavia looks athletic and very classy. On the same time, it has this understated sense of purpose that the Octy has always been famous for. We love it!

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The interiors of the new Octavia are as contemporary as the exteriors. The car comes with a dashboard design that is characteristic of most entry level luxury German sedans and the usage of soft touch plastics further elevate the premium-ness quotient. The new Octavia gets a classy four spoke steering wheel which comes draped in leather and sports the new Skoda logo.

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The usage of high quality wood inserts, along with ample usage of chrome on the knobs and around steering mounted buttons, further enrich the visual appeal of the interiors.

Cutting the long story short, it can be said that the interiors of the new Octavia are very pleasant on the eye and manage to impart a hint of clinical precision that some bigger and pricier German limos are known for.

The flipside? Well, you might be disappointed if previous Honda Civic like interiors are what you have been looking for. (We weren’t)

Motoroids Rating: 4/5

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