SKODA has opened the order books for the sporty new Octavia vRS.
Prices for the Skoda Octavia vRS start at £22,990 for the 220PS TSI petrol hatchback with a manual transmission, and stretch to £25,270 for a 184PS TDI diesel with a self-shifting DSG gearbox.
The Octavia vRS is Skoda’s competitor for the mechanically similar Volkswagen Golf GTI, although the vRS is roomier. The petrol hatch can accelerate from rest to 62mph in 6.8 seconds and reaches a top speed of 154mph.
The vRS gets a new chassis set-up with a lowered ride height (12mm in the case of the hatch and 13mm for the estate estate) and multi-link rear suspension.
There’s also an electronic differential lock (XDS) designed to improve traction in corners, as well as a progressive steering system that varies the amount of lock required according to road speed.
The entry-level £22,990 petrol-engined hatchback vRS has a P11D value of £22,795. CO2 emissions are 142g/km and this model is in the 20 per cent company car tax band.
Diesels start at £23,260 (P11D value £23,205), with emissions from 119g/km of CO2 – which means 18 per cent in company car tax.