2025 Skoda Octavia RS review: Quick drive

The Skoda Octavia RS has always offered a great mix of everyday usability and practicality, along with a decent turn of pace and smooth handling, so the arrival of a heavily upgraded version is a big deal. For the latest version, a midlife makeover for the fourth-generation model that launched in 2020, the looks have been tweaked, the infotainment has been improved, and the peak power has been increased by 15kW. We took the revised RS in wagon form for a good thrash across the Isle of Man, on large sections of the world-famous Snaefell Mountain Course that forms the route of the annual TT event, to find out if it’s still near the top of its class. How much does the Skoda Octavia cost? Pricing for the revised 2025 Skoda Octavia range was announced in October, but only for the entry-level Select liftback and wagon, which arrive in Australia this month. While pricing for the latter remains unchanged at under $44,000 drive-way, the former actually gets a $1000 price cut compared to the base Style liftback it replaces. Prices for the updated 2025 Skoda Octavia RS range haven’t been announced ahead of its arrival next March. The outgoing Octavia RS with 180kW and a smaller infotainment system is priced at $56,990 drive-away as a liftback and $58,490 drive-away in wagon form. We’re hopeful the new RS won’t come with a sticker-price hike, but we’ll wait to see whether Skoda Australia maintains its position as a sub-$60,000 mid-sized performance car bargain. To see how the Skoda Octavia lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool What is the Skoda Octavia like on the inside? Wonderful, with a lovely blend of sporty-looking textures and materials, a neat integration of tech, some real visual interest to the dashboard fascia, and more practicality than you could shake a (very big) stick at. Chief weapon in the armoury of the new RS is the 13-inch infotainment system. This is a vast improvement on what went before, with intuitive menu layouts, swift responses to finger prods and swipe inputs, and a general graphical orderliness that’s easy on the eye. Of course, if you don’t like it, then both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay can be configured to the main screen wirelessly. Better still, Skoda insists on retaining physical buttons, so while we can’t say all of your dealings with the settings onboard the Octavia RS will be carried out in a touchscreen-free fashion, it’s reasonably intuitive to use on the move thanks to the bank of shortcut switches above the central air vents, one of which is the drive-mode selector. For this updated car, there’s also a handy 15-Watt wireless smartphone charging pad in the cubby area of the transmission tunnel, while the look of the 10.25-inch digital instrument panel has been sharpened. Elsewhere, material quality throughout the Octavia’s passenger compartment is just brilliant, while the racier styling cues of the RS – the contrast red stitching on the sculpted bucket seats and swish door cards, the carbon-look finish to the centre of the dash, and the use of Dark Chrome for all the metallic surfaces – set the cabin off a treat. And then there’s the space within. There is entire hectares of the stuff. Rear-seat passenger room is generous almost to a fault, whether you’re in the liftback or the wagon, and even taller guests won’t struggle with knee- or headroom. Beyond this, the boot of the regular Octavia RS is a colossal 600 litres with all seats in use, rising to 1555 litres with the second row folded away (the backrests are split 60:40), but the wagon is equipped with nothing short of a cave for a cargo bay – 640 litres with all seats occupied, 1700 litres at its maximum. What’s under the bonnet? There’s just the one choice: the familiar 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine. This, in a variety of guises, has powered many products in the Volkswagen Group for many years now, and continues to do so with distinction today. In this Skoda application, it has a matching set of numbers to the latest Volkswagen Golf GTI: 195kW and 370Nm, delivered to the front wheels via a seven-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic transmission and an electronically controlled limited-slip differential. Raising the output of the 2.0-litre engine in the Octavia RS from 180kW previously to a new peak of 195kW has trimmed the 0-100km/h times of both body variants by two-tenths of a second. As a result, the liftback can do the sprint in 6.4 seconds and the wagon is just behind at 6.5 seconds. To see how the Skoda Octavia lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool How does the Skoda Octavia drive? As long as you remember that the Octavia RS has always been positioned as a rapid yet comfortable and approachable car, rather than an out-and-out terrier of a hot hatch with rigid suspension and a serious attitude problem, then you will adore this big Skoda. More pertinently, that additional 15kW of power has really liberated an extra dimension to the Octavia RS. We’ll get the negatives out of the way initially. First of all, there is no manual option any longer, although that’s long been the case in Australia. This 2.0-litre drivetrain is solely equipped with the seven-speed DSG and that does rob a small degree of driver-car intimacy from the experience when it comes to hurling the RS along a twisting, deserted road – especially as the paddle shifts on the otherwise-splendid three-spoke steering wheel are of the typically stunted and malnourished Volkswagen Group plastic stub type. See Alfa Romeo’s cars for how you do proper paddle shifts in an affordable performance car. And if you absolutely push the Skoda to its limits, then you are ultimately going to find its chassis isn’t as honed and polished as something like a Honda Civic Type R’s or Hyundai i30 N’s. Even though the RS has 15mm-lower, sports-tuned suspension when compared to any other Octavia, it’s still a set-up with a degree more comfort-promoting squidge in it than you’d find on many comparable hot hatchbacks. Perhaps one key manifestation of this is that with the additional power of the upgraded four-cylinder turbo engine, we had one or two occasions – leathering out of a junction, for instance, or accelerating hard from 50km/h while on a lumpy ascent – where the front wheels were scrabbling desperately for traction, even with all the electronic aids switched on. There were previously 4×4 versions of the Octavia RS, and this one would be even better with the rear wheels handling some of the grunt as well as the fronts. In general, however, it’s a super-sweet thing to get on with. It might not be the most thrilling performance car you’ll ever drive, but the Skoda is still seriously capable in the bends, keeping admirable control of its body and its 19-inch wheels, and maximising what grip it has to fantastic effect. The steering is beautifully judged too, with enough feel, weighting and natural response to make minutely adjusting the Octavia’s stance in corners an involving affair. That differential makes a difference to traction out of bends, too, and there’s even an enticing noise to the RS thanks to a sports exhaust with a bit more bark than previously. On the flipside, as an everyday proposition, the RS works as well as any other Skoda Octavia. Or, in other words, it’s one of the most comfortable and relaxing sporty cars you can drive, when you’re not in the mood for a thrash. There’s an option to fit Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) adjustable dampers, which our test wagon had, but honestly the standard suspension offers up a fabulous balance of pliancy and control, and as DCC is likely to be a four-figure option it’s just not worth it. But in terms of the cosseting nature of the ride, the way the car isolates its occupants from wind and tyre noise, and the general discretion of the drivetrain when you’re not on it, the Octavia RS is genuinely first-rate. What do you get? Australian specs for the 2025 Skoda Octavia RS ‘Mk4.5’ hasn’t been set in stone yet, but the pre-facelift car was generously equipped – if still capable of being fitted with some expensive and desirable options – and we would expect the same of the updated model. One of the highlights will be the Matrix LED headlights with the ‘Crystallinium’ detailing, which means those new daytime running lamps up front, featuring signatures that jag sharply down to frame the shape of the radiator grille. This one feature is going to be the easiest way for an enthusiast to immediately spot they’re looking at the 195kW RS and not the old model. Our European-spec test vehicle was fitted with a wealth of stuff as standard, which we’ve outlined below. Skoda Octavia RS highlights: To see how the Skoda Octavia lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool Is the Skoda Octavia safe? This generation of Skoda Octavia picked up a full five-star ANCAP safety rating when assessed for the 2021 model year, and we’d expect the updated RS to be no less secure than that. Strong scores for adult occupant protection (92 per cent) and child occupant protection (87 per cent) were bolstered by solid performances in both safety assist (79 per cent) and vulnerable road user protection (73 per cent). Again, the list below is what was fitted to our European-spec Octavia RS, and we’d hope for something broadly similar in cars for Australia. Standard safety equipment includes: How much does the Skoda Octavia cost to run? Skoda Australia’s excellent seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty is brought to bear on the Octavia RS, as it is on every other model the company sells. Skoda’s servicing package is linked to roadside assistance. If you opt for the capped-price seven-year, 105,000km package with your new Octavia, then every time you take it in for service you get another 12 months of roadside assistance. One quick note regarding our on-test fuel consumption of 13.1L/100km. That was under some extreme and prolonged duress, the likes of which you’re unlikely to be able to replicate anywhere in Australia outside a racetrack. A more representative and sedate drive the next day in the RS liftback returned a far more acceptable 8.9L/100km. To see how the Skoda Octavia lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool CarExpert’s Take on the Skoda Octavia We have a few minor reservations about the 195kW Skoda Octavia RS, but only a few. There are more outright exciting hot hatches available; there are some front-drive traction issues at the ragged edge; the end of a manual transmission option globally is a shame; and it could probably do with the ‘Smart Dials’ from its bigger Superb and Kodiaq siblings. However, none of these ‘issues’ are in any way dealbreakers, and beyond that we’re not sure what more you could want from an everyday performance car than what the latest Octavia RS delivers. It’s fast, assured, comfortable, practical, good to look at, lovely to sit in, and just generally fantastic in all regards. The 2025 updates have simply polished what was already a glittering, rapid road car in the first place. Interested in buying a Skoda Octavia? Get in touch with one of CarExpert’s trusted dealers here MORE: Everything Skoda Octavia Pros Cons