The Skoda Octavia vRS comes in petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid flavours. Do any of them stand out in a crowded hot hatch class?

PROS:

+ Great interior space

+ Massive boot

+ Decent performance

CONS:

- Engines are too quiet

- Not as fun to drive as rivals

- Plug-in-hybrid lacks kit

Verdict: Few hot hatches are as practical as the Octavia vRS. But if you place emphasis on driving, there are rivals that aren't much less spacious but are quite a bit more entertaining.

2021 Skoda Octavia vRS review: the five-minute read

When it comes to family hatchbacks, it's hard to overlook the Skoda Octavia: it offers so much more space than the competition, and usually for less (or at least very similar) money. But is the same true of the Skoda Octavia vRS hot hatch?

Well, it has much tougher competition here, because it not only has to be practical but also great fun to drive. This time around, brilliant hot hatches like the Honda Civic Type R, VW Golf GTI, Renault Megane RS and Ford Focus ST are in the Skoda's way.

And the Octavia doesn't really stand out from the pack in terms of design. Sure, it gets a more aggressive body kit, larger alloys and moodier exterior accents to mark it out from the Octavia range, but it's all a bit tame compared with some of its lairier rivals.

The same goes for the vRS's insides. There's a set of sportier seats with red stitching, shiny sports pedals, a sports steering wheel and red ambient lighting, but it's still relatively sensible as interiors go. Still, that'll be to some peoples' tastes and everything is extremely well put together.

The vRS gets a great infotainment system too. You get a 10-inch touchscreen system that's bright and responsive and includes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus some fine digital driver's dials also thrown in.

And of course, the Octavia continues to offer a staggering amount of space for the money as a hot hatch. Four tall adults can stretch out inside and even three adults across the back seats won't grumble too much. Add to that its almost comically large boot and no other hot hatch comes close for practicality.

But a hot hatch also needs to be good to drive. The Octavia vRS comes with either 245hp 2.0-litre turbo petrol, 200hp 2.0-litre diesel or 245hp petrol-electric plug-in hybrid power, so you get a varied choice, but only one is worthy of hot hatch status.

That's the petrol, which generally feels the quickest of the bunch and is the only engine to come with a front differential to help put its power down more efficiently through the front wheels. However, no vRS feels hugely fast, and our biggest gripe is none make a great noise when you're pushing on either.

The vRS isn't the most entertaining hot hatch in the bends, either. The PHEV model doesn't even get sports suspension, but even in the diesel and petrol with it as standard, you'll be outmanoeuvred by the Civic, Megane and Focus. Still, the vRS is comfortable on all sorts of roads and very easy to drive in town and on the motorway.

So, if you want decent pace but lots of space, the vRS will be right up your street. But for those after serious cornering ability, there are better hot hatches available.

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Extended read…

2021 Skoda Octavia vRS interior and infotainment

Skoda is causing problems for Volkswagen. Gone are the days of jokes about rust and reliability – people have clocked that you can get VW quality for lower prices and comparing a VW Golf GTI and Skoda Octavia vRS side-by-side is proof of just that.

Everything in the vRS's cabin is very well built, there's Alcantara, dense plastics and piano black accents, not to mention the ambient lighting which makes everything seem even classier after dark. It's comparable with a Golf GTI but betters a Civic Type R, Megane RS or Focus ST.

OK, so the Skoda's isn't the most exciting design, but some will prefer that. Only some sports seats with red stitching, shiny sports pedals and flat-bottom sports steering wheel mark out the vRS from the rest of the range. But then again, most sporty trim levels throw things like this in these days anyway, including Skoda's very own Sportline one.

The vRS does get a great infotainment system, though. Well, as touchscreen systems go, anyway. You get a 10-inch touchscreen as standard that's bright and responsive and includes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The driver's dials are also digital as standard and are some of the best-looking and most configurable around.

An upgraded Canton sound system is a relatively cheap upgrade but well worth it if you like your music, and wireless smartphone charging is reasonably priced too if yours has the capability and you like the idea of it.

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2021 Skoda Octavia vRS practicality and boot space

Quite simply, if you need to go quickly, have lots of space and not spend too much money, not much does all that better than a Skoda Octavia vRS.

Just like the standard Octavia it's based on, four tall adults can stretch out inside and even three adults across the back seats won't grumble too much. Add to that its massive boot and no other hot hatch comes close for practicality. We're talking 600 litres in hatchback form, which is more than 200 litres larger than a Golf GTI's.

It's a clever boot too, with hooks, cubbies and you can split the rear seats in a 60:40 configuration and fold them down for an even more cavernous load space.

Skoda has also included a very generous glovebox, massive door bins front and back, a couple of decent cupholders between the front seats, a cubby at the base of the dash and another large one beneath the front central armrest. In short, you'll

2021 Skoda Octavia vRS engine

Skoda gives you more choice than most manufacturers when it comes to the vRS and what engine is fitted to it.

The Octavia vRS comes with either 245hp 2.0-litre turbo petrol, 200hp 2.0-litre diesel or 245hp petrol-electric plug-in hybrid power, so you get a varied choice, but only one is worthy of hot hatch status.

The diesel is fine if you want strong low-down pull, but it doesn't have the sort of high-revving performance that most will prefer. Similarly, the PHEV vRS runs silently on electricity (up to 43 miles) when you want it to and deploys that punch together with its petrol engine to feel quicker than the diesel from a standstill, but never feels truly sporting.

Only the petrol engine gets close to what a hot hatch should feel like. It likes to be pushed hard and feels strong across its rev range, and is officially the quickest vRS in a sprint to 62mph in automatic form.

On that note, the petrol is also the only model that gets the option of a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic – the other engines comes with an auto 'box only. Only the diesel can be had with either front or all-wheel drive.

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2021 Skoda Octavia vRS driving

It's the same story with the way the Octavia vRS drives: only the petrol feels like a proper hot hatch.

That's because of its engine, but also because it's the only model that comes with a standard differential on its front axle, making it easier to deploy its power to the road and in turn feel faster and more fun to drive. It's also the lightest, so feels the most agile in that sense too.

The diesel isn't far behind, but its engine has less character and it feels a little less sharp when cornering. The PHEV misses the differential and doesn't get the same lowered sports suspension as the other cars, plus has the highest kerb weight, so feels the most cumbersome of the three to hurl down a country road.

All models come with switchable driving modes to make things more focused when you want, but in truth, even in Sport mode, no vRS will see which way a Civic Type R went cross-country. A Golf GTI, Megane RS and Focus ST all provide more fun on the right road too.

Still, all vRS models are comfy and easy to drive in town – although you can add optional adaptive dampers to soften off the suspension even further. They all make great motorway cruisers too.

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