The folks at AutoForum are not ashamed of their national automaker. In fact, they're outright proud of Skoda and the models it makes. They tested the 1.2-liter engine on the Rapid and found it had more than the claimed power, then took it onto the Nurburgring and now they're doing similar stuff to the Octavia RS.
The third generation Skoda Octavia RS is based on the same architecture as the new Golf GTI, but you can have it with a diesel engine as well, the one from the GTD. Confusing? Not really, it just means that you can buy a good family estate like the Octavia Combi and also have a powerful diesel engine that produces 184 hp.
People have said that this engine feels like the one in the GTI from two generations ago. They weren't lying either. AutoForum used the Skoda Octavia Combi RS TDI to set a timed bridge to gantry lap time of 8:53 despite heavy traffic on the track. Believe it or not, this is the exact same time set by the VW Golf GTI of 2004, now two generations old.
What's even more amazing is that the RS TDI achieved a fuel economy of 15.5 l/100km while doing this, with two people and cameras onborad. Even a small 1.6-liter basic engine would burn 15 l/100km if you were really gunning it.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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