1 Aug 2010
In August 2010 Skoda rolled out revised versions of its Octavia. Reducing the entry price of its medium-sized contender by $2000 to $24,990 while increasing its engine performance and reducing fuel consumption were the main tweaks.
The Octavia 90TSI was the new entry point to the Skoda range and the replacement for the 1.6 MPI, available in hatch and wagon, and with either a six-speed manual transmission or a seven-speed DSG gearbox.
The VW Golf-sourced 1.4 litre TSI turbocharged four-cylinder developed a peak of 90kW at 5000-5500rpm and 200Nm of torque at 1500-4000rpm.
Fuel consumption was quoted as 6.7 litres per 100km combined for the manual and 6.5L/100km for the DSG. CO2 emissions were 158g/km for the manual and 152g/km for the DSG.
Standard safety equipment on the Octavia range included six airbags (dual front, front side and side curtain), ESC, ABS, EBD, and ASR.
Also standard was semi-automatic air-conditioning, remote central door locks, front and rear power windows, 15in alloy wheels, leather steering wheel, eight-speaker AM/FM tuner with CD and MP3 player and aux input, cruise control, trip computer and height-adjustable front seats and adjustable lumbar support.
The two diesel models – with 77kw/250Nm and 103kW/320Nm respectively – featured improved fuel economy and reduced emissions from early 2011, gaining common-rail fuel injection in place of the existing pumpe duese system.
The 77TDI manual combined fuel consumption was also reduced from 5.3 to 4.9L/100km (DSG: from 6.3 to 5.1L/100km) and CO2 emissions from 140g/km to 129g/km (DSG: 167 to 133g/km).
The 103TDI manual fuel consumption was reduced from 5.7 to 5.1L/100km (DSG: from 6.4 to 5.5L/100km) and eCO2 emissions from 150g/km to 134g/km (DSG: 169 to 143g/km.)The sporting RS line-up remained unchanged (it had an earlier makeover in mid-2009), retaining the 147kW/ 280Nm 2.0-litre petrol-four or the raucous RS TDI that pumped out an unchanged 125kW of power at 4200rpm and 350Nm of torque from between 1750 and 2500rpm.
In March 2011 Skoda also gave the jacked up, 4x4 Scout model the six-speed DSG automatic gearbox it always needed. The Subaru Outback-rival retained the 2.0-litre TDI (103kW/350Nm) from the previous versions.
