Skoda Drive Experience debuts

When you purchase a new car, particularly a car with a performance bent, you know in your subconscious that a significant amount of the heart aspect of this purchase will go largely unfulfilled.

With road rules and policing as they are, the chances of driving in a spirited manner Down Under are very limited. Thus it is not often you get to touch the floor behind the accelerator during normal day-to-day driving situations. It is the realisation of the dream to use your car to its potential that makes a track day so exciting.

Having just rolled my new RS Octavia 245 wagon under the carport in recent weeks, it was a thrill to head down to Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for the first ever Skoda Drive Experience. With organised exercises all day to help learn more about the art of driving fast, this was bound to be informative, fun and a little daunting.

Overcast but dry is perfect weather for driver training, and our line-up of cars spread right across the Skoda range. From the whippy Fabia Monte Carlo, through Octavia, Superb, Karoq and Kodiaq SUV including the yet to be released Skoda Kodiaq RS Diesel.

Excitingly our first driving drill was learning to corner at speed using a Superb Sportline, and one of only two Kodiaq RS vehicles in the country. The latter is an amazingly nimble performer, hitting the turn and brake points was easy and the high vantage point enabled the easy spotting of the apex and next corner layout.

And, through some Skoda trickery, it definitely does not sound like a diesel. As remarked by many on the day, it sounds wonderfully rorty under acceleration.

Next it was time to throw the fun Fabia around the wet skid pan. It is amazing that with a little tuition, and even a small amount of practice, just how your techniques can improve and times around the tight course reduce.

Driving the Karoq through the skid pan course twice, once with the traction control on, once off, certainly also highlights just how well these modern driving aids work when vehicles -- even an SUV with higher centre of gravity -- are driven on the edge.

We drove a slalom course in Kodiaqs before clearing the track of cones for some hot laps in each of the Skoda range.

This was the highlight, particularly as a new owner of a RS Octavia. Driving ‘my car’ around the race course with expert advice from a professional, as fast as I could go, was an exhilarating thrill.

Manufacture sponsored track days are a wonderful idea. Owners feel a sense of pride about their choice of purchase, get a chance to truly see how their car can perform, and - importantly – learn a lot about the best way to drive them.

Skoda is not the first to do one and it won’t be the last. But if your car brand delivers you the opportunity, you’ll be mad not to jump at the chance.