If ever you were in any doubt as to whether advertising works, czech… sorry, check out how many Skodas you see with roof racks attached, usually with a bicycle sticking out of them.

MORE Read more on theu00a02017 Skoda Octavia RS230

Skoda has been the official car of the Tour de France since 2004 and sometimes it seems as though a love of lycra is a prerequisite for a Skoda purchase. Thankfully, that’s not the case, as it would be a shame if the Octavia was restricted to MAMILs (Middle-Aged Men In Lycra, for those curious).

2017 Skoda Octavia RS230 steering

It actually got to the point that I was disappointed when test cars needed driving as it meant I couldn’t drive the Octavia. But what makes it so good? Firstly, there’s its practicality.

During its stay with MOTOR, DJT-72Y hauled towels and boards to the beach, furniture for house relocations, go-kart tyres, bicycles and more. At 588L seats up and 1718L seats down, the boot is both extremely roomy and hard-wearing; about the only way to improve it would be to find a way to make the rear seats fold completely flat or perhaps away completely.

2017 Skoda Octavia RS230 interior

Massive points for the manual handbrake, too. One of the Octavia’s strengths is its ride quality. It can get jiggly over poor surfaces, an inevitable consequence of 19s with 35-profile tyres, however the ease with which it absorbs bumps and lumps is rare among performance models in this day and age.

Subaru Levorg GT-S vs Skoda Octavia RS230

This softer setup did result in a slight lack of body control when really driving hard, but the times I wished for the adaptive dampers’ Sport mode were few and far between. One thing I often wished for was the ability to deactivate traction control.

2017 Skoda Octavia RS230 wheel

The RS230 is a manual-only proposition, limiting its appeal in auto-loving Australia, but it’s difficult to see how a dual-clutch would make the car more amenable. The clutch and gearshift are light and the engine has easily enough low-down urge to walk off the line.

The 2.0-litre turbo four-pot backs this up with heaps of mid-range grunt and only begins to feel breathless towards redline. Fast, practical, good value – the RS230 ticks almost every box, which might make the fact just 70 were imported into Australia seem like bad news.

2017 Skoda Octavia RS230 testing

We’re not too keen on the new split headlight look, but if we had to choose between that and wearing lycra…

Liked: Manual; ride quality; space Disliked: Non-killable ESP; cheap plastics