Our new way of looking at the Skoda Octavia facelift is to imagine it has fangs coming out of its lower jaw, like the orcs from the Warcraft movie. And there's no model more savage than the Octavia Scout, which lets its beard and body hair grow out.
Geneva was its motor show debut, as it was for the Octavia RS. And now, Skoda has started promoting the Scout. The driving and off-road footage we are showing you is undoubtedly going to find its way into the next promo clip or some stupid email your dealer sends you. However, the more mature audience can appreciate it even without funny lines or a rising score.
Skoda buyers are very serious people, but those who get the Scout are even more somber. They ignore the constant urge to show off in the latest crossover and just get a raised wagon because it drives like a car.
We'd like to say it's also an affordable choice, but we can't. The cheapest 2017 Octavia Scout is €32,110. However, most buyers will opt for the €33,510 diesel version. Skoda has operated only minor changes to the engine range, but now three of the four drivetrains comes with a DSG gearbox. Oh, and you can't have it with the 1.6 TDI.
So that suggests Octavia Scout buyers are after comfort and speed. But once the going gets tough, the raised wagon has what it needs to deal with the situation. While the Peugeot 3008, which won car of the year, is only available with front-wheel drive, the Octavia Scout has standard 4x4.
In normal road conditions, the system sends all the power to the front wheels because this saves fuel. However, it has special drive modes to deal with snow, rocks and loose surfaces. The ABS has been re-tuned for these conditions and brakes are used to mimic the workings of a mechanical diff.
The black plastic body kit doesn't instantly turn this into a trail-hugging machine. But it might protect the paint from being chipped by flying stones. Likewise, 30mm taller suspension and underfloor protection will keep vital components by being stoned to death.
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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