There should be a large image of the Skoda Octavia Combi when you look up ‘Estatecar’ in the dictionary. It does what a station wagon should, with practicality and comfort as the highest priority.
You’d think that the relevance of a traditional and gasoline-powered station wagon has been pushed downward in a market where customers are flocking to tall cars, electric cars and tall electric cars. This is also the case for the competitors, but not for the Skoda Octavia.
Skoda may have passed the torch from the Octavia to the electric Enyaq when it comes to Danish sales figures, but across Europe the Octavia is still the best-selling model in the range. Even with a large margin for the SUVs Kamiq and Kodiaq as well as for the Enyaq.
It’s hard to understand when you look at the trends and figures of the time – but it’s crystal clear when you drive the Skoda Octavia Combi. It is all you need.
A sharper Skoda
It is from the front that you can see that the Skoda Octavia has been updated for 2024. The headlights have been given a new LED pattern and a small bend that faces down towards a new radiator grill. The front bumper below has also been updated and, together with the grill and lights, ensures an Octavia that looks sharper.
Inside, a lot has also happened with the Octavia, which in terms of expression is moving closer to the Enyaq. Here you can now find a range of different so-called Design Selections with different materials, colors and stitching. In addition to more options, several of the materials are also more sustainable.
However, the cabin’s most important update is technological, with the Skoda Octavia now featuring a larger infotainment screen as well as a faster system thanks to better processors. A 10″ infotainment screen is available as standard, while the test car has the larger 13″ infotainment screen.
Still pretty, better usable
The test car has one ‘Lodge’– cabin for DKK 20,000, which provides soft Alcantara and smart trim strips. It is delicious but also expensive, and if you look beyond that type of lyre, you will still find a cabin that is exquisitely put together.
There is still a completely expected no-bullshit approach to the setup of the cabin, which still has rock-solid build quality. It is not impossible to find plastic from the cheap Skoda drawer, but it is well hidden away. Although in the best VW style there are no physical buttons for climate and temperature control, with the new infotainment system they have done what they could to improve operation.
The icons are larger, the menu structure is more manageable and the control of both air conditioning and assistant systems is easier. The icons for these are permanently located at the top and bottom of the screen. Add to that the fact that Skoda has been allowed to keep its physical push buttons on the steering wheel, and the touch button compromise is reduced.
The place in a station wagon
If you had to choose one unique selling parameter for the Octavia as a station wagon, it would be the space. Here, there is no design drive that eats away at the main space in the back seat, no SUV dimensions that eat away at the length and no batteries that eat away at the trunk capacity. A traditional estate car in the most literal sense of the word.
Even basketball-playing offspring can fit in the backseat behind ditto tall drivers. The opening of the rear doors is also wide enough for car seats, while the luggage compartment with its 640 liters accommodates careless parallel parking of clumsy prams.
Honors to mild hybrid
Skoda cuts the engine program in connection with this 2024 facelift and takes the consequence of the tax system that no longer caters to plug-in hybrid cars. There is therefore not a single Octavia with a charging cable in sight at Skoda Denmark. Petrol with or without mild hybrid, diesel and a single RS with the petrol engine from the Golf GTI are available here.
The mild hybrid technology is inextricably linked to the DSG gearbox and is available in a variant with 115 hp and one with 150 hp. It is the latter that holds up to testing, and from the first start I have only honors to spare for the addition of mild hybrid. The small electric motor eliminates the hesitation that the DSG gearbox can give from a traffic light.
The petrol engine is quiet and the gearbox moves gently through the seven gears without clumsiness. It agrees well with the level of comfort that the steering and undercarriage provide, even where a paved side street in Copenhagen does not throw off major vibrations.
The driving experience does not make any dynamic appearance, but instead runs on the large comfort blade, which is why I also doubt whether the additional price of DKK 20,000 from 115 hp to 150 hp is worth the money. The engine is pretty much the same and the Octavia invites you to take it easy no matter what.
The Skoda Octavia is not an electric car and can therefore easily be shamed for its visits to the petrol station. However, these visits will be rare, as even the big engine manages a nice 20 km/l and with careful driving can extend its range over 700 km.
The faithful guardian of tradition
Of course, the Skoda Octavia Combi is updated, but it still faithfully guards the traditional virtues that a petrol-powered station wagon stands for. This kind of thing has decreasing relevance here in Denmark, but if you look at Europe, there is still a demand for this kind of thing.
The decreasing relevance is of course due to the price, which in Denmark starts at DKK 289,995 with Essence equipment, which may not sound wrong. It is, however, with manual gear and with equipment deficiencies such as adaptive cruise control, adaptive lane assistant, the large 10″ screen for digital instrumentation, electric tailgate and heated front seats.
You have to go up to the Skoda Octavia Combi Selection before it makes sense. Here, in addition to automatic transmission, you get all the above equipment as well as an additional 3-zone air conditioning system, heated windscreen, keyless operation and 17″ alloy wheels. It costs from DKK 369,995, while the large 13″ infotainment screen, head-up display and the nice Lodge interior will push it just over DKK 400,000. So, the territory for a really well-equipped Enyaq.
Every 10th car in Denmark is now electric, and in August it was also the electric cars that sold best. There is therefore no prospect of Octavia taking the torch back from Enyaq. For those who are not in the market for an electric car in Denmark and the rest of Europe, however, the Octavia is everything you need in a car.
SPECIFICATIONS
Skoda Octavia Combi Selection 1.5 eTSI Mild Hybrid DSG
Motor: R4, 1,498 cc
Performance: 150 hp / 250 Nm
0-100 km/h: 8.6 seconds
Top speed: 226 km/h
Consumption: 20 km/l
CO2: 115 grams/km
Dimensions (L/W/H): 470/183/147 cm
Curb weight: 1,340 kilos
Draw weight: 1,500 kilos
Trunk volume: 640-1,700 litres
Price: DKK 389,995 (Octavia Combi available from DKK 289,995)
Private leasing (one-off payment/monthly payment): DKK 14,995/4,995 (Octavia Combi available from this price)
Tax basis, company car: DKK 352,379 (Octavia Combi available at this price)
