Jon Quirk accumulate at a mile in our Octavia, with a trip to the Lake District and the Alps in the last month to add some 2,000 miles to watch
Mileage - 3059
The first report
Well, the new car smell does not last long in our Octavia. That's what happens when you decide to drive three friends and they rot mountain gear 200 miles to the Lake District for a canyon scramble (activities where, for some reason, people jump to the bottom of glacial rivers in the pursuit of fun) and then a further 700 miles Chamonix in the French Alps.
Why? Simple, really. It became a family car and I am not aware of having a child, I wanted to put the Skoda Octavia Estate with strong practicality tests with my own adopted family of London - one that does not involve dragging them around the retail park will be bored out of their skulls. We are not a real family, after all.
estate car may not be very interesting to see (Volvo V90 and Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake excluded), but the space and practicality are the main criteria in which a car like this life and death; buying an estate car without loading area cave would like to have a gin and tonic without the gin. And I really like gin.
Fortunately, a capacity of 610 liters moonlight Skoda help us as Big Yellow Self Storage containers. On paper, it offers more space than the equivalent Ford Mondeo Estate (525 liters), Mazda 6 Estate (506 liters) and even the BMW 3 Series Touring (495 liters). Just a lot pricier Volkswagen Passat Estate features a more spacious boot (650 liters).
Until now, the boot has done more convincing as an echo chamber, accommodating just under the floor spacesaver tires and some old clothes I always forget to bring down at Age UK. However, for the adventure alpine us, it was convenient to swallow four backpacks of 40 liters, the items in the suitcase of travel, four pairs of shoes, four ice axes and, after a brief visit to Dijon, enough mustard France to cover worth several years' of Sunday roasts. All while still being able to use parcel shelf cover and keep our goods world-famous chocolate away from prying eyes.
By rights, we should have our first argument after 30 minutes down the road, but there was not much to complain about. IPhone USB cable is easy to install and does not interfere with one driver control; touch screen infotainment system is quick to respond and allows multiple Bluetooth devices to tune without fuss; clear navigation instructions and confusion-free; even the back of comfortable accommodation for two adults, with no human rights violations. The parade is no small achievement to make a big difference in a trip like this, and you will be amazed by how many cars still get the simple things wrong.
That said, I have been quite surprised with how busy the trip feels (and sounds) - I went for a 18 inch rims Skoda, not 22s - and how cold, early start can make the first wheel of the gearbox DSG as clumsy and operated on for me in the morning , Ford Mondeo Estate is mechanically refined and much quieter at speed, but I'll take quality cabin Skoda, cosseting seats and ergonomics are outstanding every day of the week. Only after playing our entire music collection twice and our conversations became so tired that we would like to know if someone could get high on the smell of the fresh asphalt, whether we call it a day of driving.
Fully loaded and with 2,000 more miles on the clock, Octavia average 42mpg in diet autoroutes 80 mph, and proved to be comfortable, mediocre and unexciting; the opposite of a few days spent walking in the 4,000m Mont Blanc, lugging around cracks like a bunch of nervous inmates all roped together.
Next month, I'll look for new sensations closer to home in the form of a long bike ride stupid, but at least it meant I would finally get to attack a mountain bike on the roof rack is optional.
Key specs:
- Model: Skoda Octavia Estate SE L 2.0 TDI 150PS DSG
- Price: £23,730
- Price as tested: £25,621
- Engine/gearbox: 2.0 diesel / six-speed DSG
- Power: 148bhp
- Torque: 251lb ft
- Top speed: 134mph
- 0-62mph: 8.5secs
- Economy: 54.3mpg
- CO2/BIK tax liability: 117g/km/23%
- Boot space: 610/1740 litres
Optional equipment:
An exhaustive list of everything fitted to our long-termer, and the price of each item
Moon white metallic £535
Sunset Glass £200
Roof bars £169
Lockable bicycle carrier £110
Temporary space saver spare wheel £127
18-inch Golus alloys £400
Front parking sensors £350
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