2013 Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI SE (Part 2)

Other than that, steering wheel controls ($252.30) are the only really essential omission from the SE spec. I found that hitting exactly the right part of the touchscreen when driving could often be achieved only by bracing my fingers on the dashboard first.

A failure to strike the touchscreen with channel-changing accuracy was often a consequence of the car’s biggest flaw: the rocky urban ride. There’s no doubt that the beam axle is a big step backwards for ride quality on poor roads. True, the Octavia is not a road rocket that demands independent rear suspension from a handling point of view, but it does show on broken roads.

Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI SE Engine

It’s compact enough for tight city streets yet has a massive load-carrying capacity and a smooth, punchy and frugal engine

It’s also true that when the Octavia was loaded (which was often), the ride improved significantly, but when it was unladen it could thump and bang, with some of the road and suspension noise amplified by the cave-like boot space.

However, the front end of the car was an object lesson in refinement. I have long been keen on the potential of downsized petrol engines, not just because of the poor refinement of some diesels but also because I’ve long been concerned about urban pollution, most of it caused by less than factory-fresh diesel engines.

Although one Autocar staffer thought the Octavia’s engine was short on torque, what it really lacked was the traditional surge of torque, at times feeling more like a particularly healthy normally aspirated engine. Indeed, really stretching it out on uphill motorway slip lanes (a good place for full-bore acceleration) showed that the smooth-spinning engine had surprising reserves.

Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI SE Interior

At the other end of the equation, the engine was also capable of remarkable economy. Not long after the car was delivered, I took it on my benchmark 225-mile journey from the centre of London up the M1 and M6 to Lancashire. In the previous Octavia, I couldn’t crack 44mpg. Right out of the box, the Mk3 Octavia’s computer hit 50.9mpg as I came off the very end of the M1.

On more meandering A-roads and 1930s boulevard routes, the economy would leap. A 10-mile run at no more than 40mph between a fuel station on the A3 and Autocar’s Teddington HQ gave an indicated 64mpg. Even on my commute from central to south-west London, it would return over 40mpg.

But, for me, this Octavia is all about its extraordinary carrying capacity. The combination of an uncannily deep boot and extra loading bay length was a godsend to me over the time I had it. Buying furniture on eBay, carrying half a ton of tiles, disposing of a decade of household files and shifting builder’s rubbish, the Octavia could almost swallow anything.

Indeed, on the last day before the Octavia returned to Skoda, it really excelled itself by accommodating - just, admittedly - a massive bookshelf, which was promptly delivered to a charity shop.

Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI SE Badge

What it does need is a false boot floor. The step up from the deep boot floor to the folded seat backs makes carrying anything fragile - which needs fully supporting - very difficult.

Over Christmas, I borrowed a Ford Mondeo, which put the Skoda into an interesting perspective. The Ford has a superior ride and ride refinement, but it is also so wide that it’s a positive disadvantage in urban areas. And the Mondeo has a much shallower boot. The Skoda is far easier to use in the city.

Overall, this Octavia was a worthy, efficient and reliable workhorse. The brakes were impressive and it was decently refined in terms of wind and tyre noise. It could be reasonably fleet in urban situations. Nothing rattled or failed, aside from a headlamp bulb. Seemingly, the only fault was our inability to turn off the steering assist system.

Designed to alert the driver to any drifting out of lane at higher speeds, it would apply corrective lock if it judged your lane-change technique to be suspiciously lazy. The upshot was that you could often find yourself fighting with the steering. However, the same semi-autonomous system had an uncanny ability to detect driver fatigue.

There’s no doubt VW has ensured that there’s a bigger gap in perceived quality between the Octavia and Golf this time around. A five-door Golf 1.4 TSI - which gets the less powerful 120bhp engine - costs $ 33,867.07 and you do feel that the VW has a distinct edge on finish and polish, especially inside.

Ultimately, though, the Octavia is a unique proposition. It is compact enough for tight city streets yet has a massive load-carrying capacity and a smooth, punchy and remarkably economical petrol engine. Ironically, if Volvo was still building cars as impressively practical as this, the company would probably be twice the size that it is now.