New Skoda Octavia review, test drive

In terms of space, there’s plenty. The new Octavia is clearly larger on the inside now, with the wheelbase a massive 108mm larger than the Laura’s. And the cabin feels noticeably wider too. There’s massive space in the front of the cabin and legroom at the rear feels as generous as an Audi A6! The seats match the rest of the cabin, and are large and remain comfortable over a day behind the wheel. The rear seats, however, would’ve done better with a bit more support. Otherwise, space and comfort are right up there with full-size luxury cars. There’s even plenty of cubbyholes and storage areas, be it bins for larger bottles or space for essentials like phones. The boot offers a very generous 590 litres and with the the rear seats folded, there’s a full 1,000 litres more.

One of the key differences between the new car and the old is the weight. The doors feel lighter to shut and the cabin lacks the heft and solid build of the earlier car. Weight saving, in fact, has been a key theme of the VW Group’s new crop of cars. The MQB platform, which this Skoda shares with VW and Audi, has been designed to be light and really efficient. Despite being larger, the use of high-strength steel has resulted in a weight saving of approximately 70kg, model for model. And this is good for performance, efficiency and tailpipe emissions.