Five things I love about the new Skoda Octavia vRS – plus five things I don’t…
April 07, 2025 by Mat Watson
Car changing is a big deal
I recently reviewed the new Skoda Octavia vRS after spending a couple of weeks with it, and there’s a lot to like about this practical performance car.
The Skoda Octavia vRS has long been the go-to hot hatch for drivers looking for performance and practicality in one package, and it’s recently been given a facelift which brings more power and updated styling.
It’s just as spacious as ever, with loads of rear seat space and a massive boot. You also get plenty of standard equipment, and it’s comfy enough for daily driving – as long as you go for the adaptive dampers because they do a great job of soaking up bumps in the road.
It may not be the most desirable or fun hot hatch, but it is a very good all-round performance car which is well-worth shortlisting.
It’s packed with clever features as well, and here are some cool things I found during my time with the car.
1. Umbrella in the door
What do the Skoda Octavia vRS and the Rolls Royce Phantom have in common? They’re both powered by a 6.75-litre V12 engine.
Only joking! Can you imagine? What they actually have in common is the umbrella hidden in the door. Most modern Skodas have this feature, and it’s really handy when you get caught in a shower.
2. Simply clever storage
The Octavia vRS comes with loads of smart storage solutions. You get a removable cubby between the rear seats to stop stuff rolling around, and there’s a removable phone mount for the rear passengers so they can watch Carwow videos on the go. Other YouTube channels are available.
Up front you can get a little bin for the door pockets for your sweetie wrappers, and the cupholders have little grippers in the bottom so you can open a bottle one-handed.
3. Mess-free screenwash filling
We’ve all been there. You’ve run out of screenwash so you pop into a service station to buy more, only to find you don’t have a funnel. Chaos ensues and before you know it your entire engine bay is covered in sudsy water.
Not so in the Octavia vRS though, because it has a funnel built-in to the filler cap. Simply unfold it and you can dump the fluid in with reckless abandon.
4. Ideal for winter mornings
How many times have you come out to your car on an icy morning and realised you don’t have a scraper. That unused loyalty card in your wallet works briefly before falling apart, and you could try a discount card but it’ll only get 15% off (Stop rolling your eyes).
Well Skoda has thought of this, and the Octavia vRS has an ice scraper hidden away in the fuel filler cap. Ideal.
5. (Don’t) roll with it
The Octavia’s cavernous boot is great for loading a week’s worth of luggage, but a couple of shopping bags are likely to get lost in there. No one wants to get home to find all their groceries have rolled across the boot floor.
Well this is where the handy shopping bag hook comes in. It simply flips down from the side and is sturdy enough to support even the heaviest bag for life.
Five annoying things about the new Skoda Octavia vRS
Not everything about the new Skoda Octavia vRS is perfect though, there were some things which really annoyed me during my time with the car. Here are five examples.
1. Mode madness
Switching drive modes should be easy in a hot hatch. When a twisty country road opens up in front of you it’s nice to be able to quickly flick to sport mode. A button on the steering wheel is ideal for this.
But the Octavia vRS doesn’t have a button on the steering wheel. You have to press a button in the centre console, which is quite a reach from the driver, then look at the screen to select the mode you want.
2. Killing the fun
Skoda really doesn’t want you to turn off the stability control in the Octavia vRS. There’s no button to do it, you instead have to root around on the screen to switch it off. Not ideal if you fancy being a hooligan – although not on public roads of course.
3. The cost of safety
Rear side airbags are a £400 optional extra in this car. They protect the rear passenger’s pelvis and chest in a collision, and I just think passive safety features like this should come as standard. You shouldn’t have to pay extra to keep your passengers safe in an accident.
4. Rear window wiper
Speaking of options, the rear window wiper doesn’t come as standard. It’s a no-cost option to fit it, but you do have to actively tick the box or your car won’t come with one. It should be the other way around really, I bet a few customers will forget to select it and be disappointed when they find it’s missing.
5. Taking back control
The Skoda Octavia vRS is no longer offered with a manual gearbox, which isn’t really surprising as automatics are much more popular these days. What’s annoying though is that when you have the gearbox in manual mode to change gears yourself using the paddles, it’ll still change up automatically when you hit the red line. I’d prefer it if manual mode gave you full control.
Car change? Carwow!
Looking for a new set of wheels? With Carwow you can sell your car quickly and for a fair price – as well as find great offers on your next one. Whether you’re looking to buy a car brand new, are after something used or you want to explore car leasing options, Carwow is your one stop shop for new car deals.
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