Skoda Octavia 110TSI Ambition Estate 2016 Review

Skoda 110 TSI Ambition Estate
Road Test

Skoda, the Czech car company owned by Volkswagen, has been around in Australia since 2007. In that time its bulwark has been the Octavia, the medium-sized passenger car that derives a great deal of its technology and mechanicals from the Golf, but puts it all into a bigger package. Now Skoda Australia is intent on filling that volume with extra gear and value, chucking more safety and comfort equipment at the Octavia, especially the base model Ambition being tested here.

Quirky, weird, different, cheap and cheerful. Ah yes, we’re talking about Skoda then.

But the automotive brand of university professors, hippies (same thing really) and car buyers so determined to avoid trendiness they’ve trended toward the Czech subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, is changing.

No more is it acceptable to simply draw in a few thousand bohemians (did you see what I did there?) per year. Skoda wants to be a ‘playuh’ and this realignment of its biggest selling model, the Octavia, is an example of how it is going about that.

We’ve covered the overhaul, which is all about upping the equipment level here.

It comes in the wake of Skoda’s recent attempts to bolster resale by providing a guaranteed buyback price through its finance arm simplifying the buying experience with nationwide drive-away pricing and equipment packages and introducing fixed price servicing to allay concerns about running costs.

Mostly, what Skoda is doing is preparing the way for a fleet of SUVs that start landing in 2017, led by the seven-seat Kodiaq. It’s not expecting a huge sales climb out of the Octavia, or any of its passenger cars, but even to maintain the status quo ever-better offers have to be made.

Until those SUVs start arriving the Octavia is the main game in town for Skoda, which as has already been pointed out further up doesn’t mean that much at the moment. In the moribund medium passenger car class, it ranks only seventh, way behind the Toyota Camry and about half the sales of the Mazda6.

Here we are driving the entry-level Ambition, which is the primary beneficiary of the update. Making adaptive cruise control with autonomous emergency braking and Front Assist (to avoid low speed rear-enders) standard is a big step forward for the entire Octavia range, while Ambition now has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto standard via Skoda’s SmartLink connectivity system. Outside, the swap from steel wheels to 17-inch alloys certainly brightens things up.

All up, with other items including a reversing camera with rear parking sensors, upgraded audio with 6.5-inch touchscreen and eight speakers (four more than before) also added to the Ambition mix, Skoda is claiming $4270 in extra value added to the sedan (hatch) for a $500 price rise. For the wagon we’re testing here the rise is $700. Add another $2300 for the seven-speed DSG – which most people do – and our car is $26,990 manufacturer list price or $28,490 drive-away.

There are some signs the Ambition is the base model. It has non-climate air-con (with tiny symbols on the dials that are hard to read), a keyed ignition and an orthodox parking brake on the left side of the centre console. But it does include seven airbags, tyre pressure monitoring, two ISOFIX anchorages in the rear seat, a security blind and black roof rails. The Octavia has a five star ANCAP rating (2013) that comes with the package and the spare tyre is full-size, albeit a 16-inch steely.

This pricing and equipment line-up is seriously good value. There isn’t an entry-level medium-sized wagon that comes close to it on price. In fact, there aren’t even that many medium wagons out there any more, such is our obsession with SUVs.

This third-generation Octavia has been around since 2013, so its core tech is still up to date. Like the Golf – and plenty of other models – it rolls on Volkswagen’s MQB modular front-wheel drive architecture and powered by a turbocharged turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine of just 1.4-litres in capacity that produces a sizable 110kW and 250Nm –roughly equivalent to a decent 2.0-litre naturally aspirated unit.

Introduced into the Octavia in 2015, it’s a terrific engine; smooth, strong, quiet and remarkably economical, running on 95 RON the average was just below 7.0L/100km during our test with the aid of an unobtrusive idle stop system.

The letdown is the way the DSG prevaricates at low speed. If you’re indecisive with the throttle at tip-in then it will sometimes be the same, doing a great impersonation of politician responding to a hard question. You find yourself absolutely planting the throttle and chirping the tyres when launching onto a roundabout or intersection for fear the gearshift is going to have an internal debate. Not good.

But once rolling along it’s a terrific gearbox, shifting adroitly and smoothly. It holds gears longer in Sport mode and manual shifts – which are made via the lever (no paddles) – are quicker and slicker than many so-called ‘sports’ cars. However, it will change up for you, but as that doesn’t come until 6000rpm when the engine is making peak power (against a 6500rpm redline mind you) it’s not a big issue.

The drivetrain’s sweetness is backed up by the Octavia’s tidy on-road behaviour. Combining a MacPherson strut front-end with a torsion beam rear suspension and electric-assist steering, it grips and points well, with good body control and benign responses when driven with a bit of enthusiasm.

The letdown this time is the ride, which is just too firm in the rear, maybe to compensate for heavy loads. At low to middling speeds it doesn’t feel like the shock absorbers are doing much work. Nor that the suspension tuning crew has gone any where near a rough road of the sort we get in Australia and laughingly call highways. Go further up the Octavia range and the rear-end is an independent multi-link and it would be good to have it in the Ambition too. Make it an ambition maybe…

At low speeds in shopping centre car parks and the like, the Octavia is pretty easy to manoeuvre. It will ‘walk’ along on zero throttle and there is only a little friction in the steering. Parking is aided by the new reversing camera and sensors, but the view out through big windows is pretty good too.

Inside the Octavia Ambition there is an obvious perception of quality. Everything looks and feels good and importantly this is also a quiet cabin to ride in.

The driver is well looked after with a seat that manually adjusts through a wide range, a reach and rake adjustable steering column and a good-sized left footrest. All outboard seats are large and firm, the instruments simple and clear, the touch screen easy to operate – you can swipe it like a smartphone.

The level of fit and finish is exceptionally high and the uniformity of predominantly dark trims a far cry from some other cars that are a hodge-podge of different colours and grains. Then there are the little things that please like useable door grabs, rubbish bin in the driver’s door pocket, phone container that fits into a cupholder and a glovebox lid that swings open slowly and evenly rather than banging into your knees.

The main issue is the siting of the touch screen, which should be higher in the centre stack and as close to normal eyeline as possible.

Cabin space is exceptional with plenty of room in the rear seat for outboard adults. The commodious boot opens up from 568 to 1718 litres. The only drawback is a step in the floor when the 60:40 bench seat is lowered (a simple process). Storage space in terms of door pockets, bins and cupholders is plentiful too.

This really is a decent vehicle that just makes lots of sense for the money. If the DSG was tuned better at throttle tip-in and the ride not quite so brittle, then it would go from good to great.

Even so at this price being good is more than good enough. If ever a niche seller deserved a wider audience, this is it.

2016 Skoda 110 TSI Ambition Estate pricing and specifications:
Price: $26,900 ($28,490 drive-away)
Engine: 1.4-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder
Outputs: 110kW/250Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual clutch
Fuel: 5.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 123g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

Also consider:
Ford Mondeo wagon (from $35,040)
Hyundai i40 Tourer (from $32,490)
Mazda6 wagon (from $33,790)