Skoda Octavia – What you need to know

The mid-size, fourth-generation Skoda Octavia has copped a facelift and a raft of new features for 2024.

Available in three trim levels, Style, Sportline and RS, the Octavia boasts two four-cylinder, turbocharged petrol engine choices, automatic transmission and front-wheel drive right across the range, with prices running from $42,490 to $58,490 drive away.

Two sedans, the Octavia Style and Sportline are the starting point for the 2024 Skoda Octavia range, with both featuring a 1.4-litre engine driving an eight-speed auto transmission for a $42,490 driveaway price. Both variants offer as standard the following features:

Seven colours are offered, with metallic finishes adding $770 except Velvet Red metallic, which costs $1100.

Available in the Octavia Style sedan and wagon is the Luxury and Tech pack adding $5200 to the price. For that you get emergency assist, lane assist with adaptive lane guidance, memory and ‘tilt on reverse’ for the passenger door mirror, heated front and rear seats, leather/artificial leather upholstery, powered front seats with lumbar and memory functions, tri-zone air conditioning with humidity sensor including separate rear controls and five USB-C outlets.

If you sign up for an Octavia Sportline you may want to add the $3200 Premium pack that comprises emergency assist, adaptive lane guidance, DAB+ digital radio, powered front seats, heated front and outboard rear seats, three-zone climate control and five USB-C outlets.

And if the Octavia RS takes your fancy and you want it ‘with the lot’, tick the Premium pack box, for another $6600 on the table to enjoy the dynamic chassis control, CANTON premium 12-speaker audio system, head up display, powered front seats with cushion depth adjustment, lumbar, massage and memory functions, heated front and rear seats, memory, and tilt on reverse for the passenger-side door mirror.

Interior upholstery is trimmed in suedia/artificial leather with red stitching. The three-zone climate control is bundled up with a humidity sensor and rear controls. A sunroof is available for $1900 but only on the wagons.

The fourth-generation Skoda Octavia lineup incorporates the latest safety and driver assist tech.

Range-wide safety features include front, front thorax and side curtain airbags, along with a driver knee bag for lower leg protection and front centre airbag, as well as anti-lock brakes, rain braking support, rain-sensing wiper, an auto-dimming mirror, multi-collision braking, traction and stability controls, roll mitigation, trailer sway assist and hill holder.

Cross-diff and electronic diff locking are also standard to improve traction. Other standard features include steering assistance, adaptive cruise control with speed limiter, driver fatigue detection and a tyre pressure monitor. Helping you park is a reversing camera and parking sensors, front and rear.

Driver assist tech found in every Octavia variant incorporates emergency assist, vehicle exit warning, front assist that applies the brakes or performs an emergency stop in an unavoidable collision with a car, or if a pedestrian or cyclist attempts to cross the path of the car.

Then there are facilities like lane assist, front and rear parking assist, side assist including rear traffic alerts and manoeuvre braking at low speed.

Stepping up to the Octavia RS sedan or wagon snares side thorax airbags in both rows, a limited slip differential for even traction, a stop and go function for the adaptive cruise control, occupant protect system in the event of a sudden manoeuvre or possible collision, lane assist with guidelines, traffic jam assist and progressive steering.

Occupying the centre dash, the 10-inch colour infotainment touch-screen offers built-in satnav, voice recognition operation, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android auto, and an AM/FM radio piped through eight speakers.

All models get a wireless smartphone charging pad, Bluetooth music and phone streaming. The steering wheel features audio and phone functions. In the cargo area there is a 12V outlet, and two USB-C ports reside up front.

A 10.25-inch customisable virtual cockpit with instrument cluster is another standard fixture of the Octavia range.

Five USB-C ports and a digital DAB+radio are standard for the Octavia RS flagship.

Every 2024 Skoda Octavia comes with dual-zone climate control incorporating a humidity sensor. The front console incorporates storage and cupholders. A 60:40 split-fold rear seat features an integrated fold-down centre armrest with cupholders.

Ahead of the driver is a leather-bound, multi-function flat-bottom steering wheel with three spokes and gearshift paddles. Map pockets behind the front seats feature separate pockets for smartphones. Bottle holders are located in the door cars for both rows. Wagons have a cargo area light and an auto retracting cargo cover.

The comfort seats of the Octavia Style are trimmed in fabric, as are the sport comfort seats of the Octavia Sportline and RS, the mid-range and flagship variants gaining form-fitting side bolsters and integrated headrests. The upholstery is black fabric, and comes with red stitching for the RS models.

Do you want power adjustable seats? For this item you’ll have to fork out for an option pack mentioned above, and the same goes for heated front seats.

LED adaptive matrix headlights light the way in the Skoda Octavia, complemented by LED daytime running lights and LED fog lights with cornering function. The tail lamps, puddle lamps, rear fog lights, the strobing indicators and interior lights are all LED.

How about a tilt and sliding sunroof? You can have one, but only if you sign up for a wagon and pay a $1900 premium. All Octavia variants come with powered, heated, auto-folding door mirrors with auto diming on the driver side

Are selectable drive modes a deal maker? This feature with Eco, Normal and Sport modes comes standard on the Octavia Sportline and RS models, along with 15mm lower sports suspension. Only the Octavia RS variant is equipped with dynamic chassis control.

Is privacy glass on the list? Rear privacy glass comes standard on all variants, with sedans also fitted with rear door window sunshades.

Gloss black trim for the grille, door mirrors and rear diffuser distinguishes the Octavia Style and Sportline variants from the Octavia RS. While the Octavia Style has chrome edging around the windows and silver roof rails on the wagon, the mid-grade Octavia Sportline continues the black theme for the badges, window surrounds, front spoiler, the wagon’s roof rails and the sedan’s rear spoiler.

Not only does the Octavia RS stand out with its distinctive 19-inch alloy wheels – one inch larger than the Style and Sportline – but the RS also comes with satin chrome dual exhaust tips, black window framing and badging and black roof rails on the wagon.

The Octavia Sportline and RS models sit 15mm lower than the Style variant, thanks to the sport suspension of the more expensive models.

Skoda is known for cleverness and innovation. In the Octavia you’ll find cargo hooks, shopping bag hooks, ticket and iPad type tablet holders, a cargo cover, a funnel for the windscreen washer bottle and even an umbrella compartment in the driver door.

Every Skoda Octavia runs a turbocharged petrol engine. In the case of the Style and Sportline variants it’s a 1.4-litre four-cylinder unit putting out 110kW and 250Nm.

Tied to this engine is a conventional eight-speed automatic transmission driving the front wheels.

The Octavia RS benefits from a bigger engine with a correspondingly greater performance boost. The 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder produces a peak of 180kW and 370Nm. Paired to it is a seven-speed dual-clutch (Direct-Shift-Gearbox or DSG) transmission, and once again, drive is sent to the front wheels.

The dimensions of the Skoda Octavia Style and Sportline sedan and wagons are 4689mm long, 1829mm wide and 1470mm tall (for the Style, 1455mm for the Sportline).

Throwing the tape measure over the Octavia RS models reveals the same length and width for the sedan as the other two, but with a lower height of 1455mm shared with the Octavia Sportline. The Octavia RS wagon is slightly longer at 4702mm, but is 1829mm wide, like the other variants. All sit on a wheelbase of 2686mm.

The maximum braked towing capacity is 1600kg with a towball download figure of 80kg. Cargo capacity in the five-seat Octavia sedan is 600 litres, expanding to 1500 litres with the 60:40 split-fold rear seat dropped. For the wagons, the 640-litre capacity almost triples to 1700-litres, when the rear seat is lowered.

The kerb weight varies from 1410 to 1575kg, depending on the model, with gross vehicle mass ranging from 1832 to 1876kg.

Even the basic Skoda Octavia Style feels upmarket, with its quality materials and excellent fit and finish. For those buying to a budget the fact there are two identically priced models in sedan and wagon shapes, with differing characters is a bonus.

It’s a matter of deciding which one floats your boat the most. All variants are well equipped with comfort and convenience features and plenty of safety and driver assist as well.

And while it’s a big step up financially to the Octavia RS model, it’s also a massive step up in performance, thanks to its bigger, more powerful engine. And the extra money buys sports tuned suspension, selectable drive modes and meatier brakes that amp up the driving enjoyment big time.

I’ll always take a wagon over a sedan for the added versatility and the Octavia RS wagon ticks all the boxes for me: comfort, style, performance, safety, infotainment and driver assist tech, and a fun car to drive for hours on end.

How much does the 2024 Skoda Octavia cost?
Skoda Octavia Style Sedan – $42,490
Skoda Octavia Style Wagon – $43,990
Skoda Octavia Sportline Sedan – $42,490
Skoda Octavia Sportline Wagon – $43,990
Skoda Octavia RS Sedan – $56,990
Skoda Octavia RS Wagon – $58,490
* All prices are drive away

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