Should you desire the absolute fastest Skoda Octavia vRS, you’ll need to put your name down for the Octavia vRS 245. The dual-clutch DSG ‘box is no faster at shuffling through the gears than a human with the manual, and both cars can accelerate from 0-62mph in 6.6sec. The estate is marginally slower achieving the standard dash in 6.7sec.
Regular 227bhp Octavia vRSes are, predictably, slightly slower. The drop in 15bhp results in a 0-62mph time for the manual hatch of 6.7sec, and manual estate of 6.8sec. The 227bhp vRS’s acceleration actually suffers slightly when equipped with the DSG transmission, the hatch hits 0-62mph in 6.8 while the estate takes 7.0sec.
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The diesel vRS is slower than the petrol versions, but it’s hardly the sort of car you’d leave on the bench. The manual and DSG hatch accelerates from 0 to 62mph in 7.9sec, the manual estate 8.3sec, while the DSG estate takes 8.4sec. The fastest diesel vRS, however, is the all-wheel drive DSG version, that hits 62mph in 7.6sec.
The way the vRS delivers its performance varies from petrol to diesel – the former is naturally the revvier, more entertaining companion, always feels brisk enough for road use and its manual gearbox in particular is a slick-shifter. The DSG is a little tardy in comparison, particularly when asking for downshifts.
The auto ‘box, when you leave it to change gears by itself, doesn’t suit the diesel very well. It constantly chooses lower gears than seems necessary and never makes the most of the diesel’s mid-range grunt.
