Skoda Octavia RS Liftback: Making family sedans great again

If you’re looking for a car that can do it all, there have been few options better than the Skoda Octavia RS. Originally the flagship of Skoda’s Australian launch offensive in 2007, the Octavia RS has won a very loyal fanbase thanks to its strong all-round ability: it’s a fast, very practical and safe car that proves that family cars don’t need to be boring. For the family person that’s had to say goodbye to sporty cars with the addition of children, it’s a great choice.

The latest version launched in Australia earlier this year armed with important upgrades such as more performance, more standard features and updated styling to keep it fresh. It’s also now more expensive than ever before and even for the cheaper liftback, it’s still an over-$60,000 purchase.

With all of that in mind, is it still an excellent mid-size sedan?

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Price and equipment:

Pricing for the Octavia range starts at $41,490 drive away for the entry-level Select liftback and rises to more than $65,000 drive away for an optioned RS wagon.

Pricing for the RS rose by $6000 for the facelift, though the previously-optional $6600 Premium Package is now standard equipment, adding kit such as adaptive suspension, heated front and rear seats, a head-up display, tri-zone climate control and electric front seats with memory and massaging.

New features have also been added, including a larger 13-inch touchscreen, a ventilated wireless phone charger with more power, a 360-degree camera, heated windscreen and steering wheel and all paint options (bar the $770 Velvet Red). Overall, while it’s more expensive, it’s also absolutely loaded with standard features.

2025 Skoda Octavia pricing (drive away):

Skoda Octavia RS standard equipment:

• 19-inch alloy wheels with adaptive dampers
• Eco, comfort, normal, sport and individual driving modes
• Dusk- and rain-activated automatic LED exterior lighting
• Rain-sensing automatic wipers
• Rear privacy glass
• Acoustic front side windows
• Heated windshield
• Keyless entry and push button start
• Electric bootlid with kick-to-open functionality
• Heated and auto-folding mirrors with automatic passenger side dropping in reverse
• Tri-zone automatic climate control
• Suede and synthetic leather upholstery
• Electric front seats with heating, memory and massaging
• Heated leather steering wheel with paddle shifters
• 10-inch digital driver’s display
• 13-inch touchscreen
• Wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Satellite navigation
• AM/FM/DAB+ digital radio
• 4x USB-C ports
• Wireless phone charger with ventilation
• 12-speaker Canton sound system
• Configurable LED ambient cabin lighting
• Head-up display
• Sun blinds in the rear side and rear windows
• ‘Simply clever’ features such as an umbrella and bin in the driver’s door, various boot nets, a double-sided boot mat and a two boot shelves

Octavia RS safety features:

• 10x airbags (including front centre and rear side units)
• Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian, cyclist and turning assistance
• Adaptive cruise control with stop and go functionality
• Lane keeping assistance with adaptive lane guidance
• Matrix adaptive high beam
• Blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert
• Driver attention monitoring
• Emergency assist (the car automatically stops if the driver becomes unresponsive)
• Automatic low-speed front and rear braking
• 360-degree camera
• Automatic parking
• Front, side and rear parking sensors
• Tyre pressure monitoring
• Alarm

The Octavia range earned a five-star ANCAP safety rating with scores of 89 per cent in adult protection, 82 per cent in child protection, 68 per cent in road user protection and 81 per cent for safety assistance.

Interior comfort, practicality and bootspace

As we’ve seen from various other Skoda products, the interior of the Octavia RS is difficult to fault. The quality is great, it’s very comfortable despite being the firmer sporty model and it’s also insanely practical with many clever touches. The RS is also appropriately sporty with red stitching, carbon-like trim and lovely sports front seats.

Centre of the Octavia’s cabin is a new 13-inch touchscreen with features such as sat-nav, wireless smartphone mirroring and DAB+ digital radio. While it doesn’t feature physical climate controls like the new Kodiaq, it’s still bright, quick and easy to use thanks to a row of shortcut physical buttons located below the screen to access menus to control the drive modes, climate and driving settings. The row of icons located permanently at the bottom of the screen for the temperature, heated seats and to access the navigation, smartphone mirroring, phone, media and home screen make the screen a doddle to use.

Similarly at the top of the screen are more icons for functions such as disabling the stop-start system and lane keeping assistance. Again, it’s quite easy to use and a big improvement on the pre-updated model – though we’d still like to see live services added for even more features.

Wireless Apple CarPlay worked faultless for our time with the Octavia, while the wireless phone charger was also quite effective. The 10-inch digital driver’s display is quite detailed with many views to choose from – including a map – though it could be easier to use. While we’re complaining, the 12-speaker Canton sound system could also be punchier.

Practicality is also reasonable in the Octavia’s cabin with big flock-lined door bins with a bin on the driver’s side, the tray underneath the dashboard with the wireless charger and two USB-C ports, shallow cupholders with ‘teeth’ to open bottles with one hand, a removable phone holder, a box underneath the armrest and a tray underneath the headlight switch.

The rear seat is a great space with ample space even for two adults or three kids. Features include a central armrest with cupholders and a phone holder, a third climate zone, heated outboard seats, ample door pockets (again with flock lining to stop rattles), two USB-C charging ports, inbuilt window shades, map pockets with separate phone holders and a removable section that sits on top of the transmission tunnel with cup holders and more storage.

The boot of the Octavia liftback is humongous at 600 litres with the seats up and 1555 litres with them folded, which is comfortably more than some mid-size SUVs such as the Mazda CX-5 (438/1340L), let alone the i30 N Sedan (464L). Want even more space? The Octavia RS wagon with its 640L/1700L space is there if you need.

Alongside the electric tailgate with kick-to-open functionality, side storage and space-saver spare under the floor, the Octavia RS also features nets, dividers and hooks to secure cargo, remote releases to fold the seats, a ski pass, a double-sided boot mat (one side is carpet and the other is plastic to carry dirty cargo), a configurable tray that sits below the cargo shelf and even a sunshade that launches from the parcel shelf and connects to the tailgate.

Only a second level of boot floor would improve the Octavia’s boot, but its practicality is still very impressive. As you’d expect for a Skoda product, there’s been far more thought put into it – especially against the majority of mid-size SUVs.

Performance and economy

The Octavia RS uses the Volkswagen Group’s ‘EA888’ 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, in this tune making 195kW of power and 370Nm of torque. Power is sent to the front wheels through a seven-speed ‘DSG’ dual-clutch transmission that features both sport and manual modes for more spirited driving. Skoda claims a 0-100km/h sprint of 6.4 seconds and a top speed of 250km/h.

Skoda claims that the Octavia RS will use 7.0L/100km of minimum 95RON premium unleaded with claimed CO2 emissions of 159g/km and it features a 50-litre fuel tank. In our mostly urban testing, we achieved 8.6L/100km, which is not bad considering how fun the Octavia RS is to drive.

On the road

The Octavia RS has always provided a satisfying driving experience with fun dynamics and an excellent ride comfort for a sporty model. Using the same ‘MQB’ platform as many other Volkswagen Group products, it’s comfortable, refined and in this latest version, more dynamic than before as well. While a Hyundai i30 N Sedan gives more driver involvement and ultimately handles better, the Octavia RS is far more comfortable than the Hyundai and can also be adjusted in many ways to better suit more tastes.

One big change in the facelifted Octavia RS is that it now produces more power – 195kW versus the previous 180kW – and its soundtrack has been beefed up for a sportier sound. Skoda claims that it’ll hit 100km/h in 6.4 seconds but it feels quicker than that in real life with its punchy mid-range grunt. The seven-speed dual-clutch auto is also more refined than previous iterations, with very little low-speed hesitation and seemingly even quicker shifts.

Despite the louder exhaust system, the Octavia RS doesn’t do the loud pops and bangs as the i30 N, It’s classier and more grown up than that but still gives off a cheeky burble, and the EA888 still remains one of the best sounding four-cylinder engines around with a throaty roar throughout the rev range. It sounds far better than the Subaru WRX, that’s for sure.

The Octavia RS also features excellent active safety features that a lot of manufacturers could learn from. The active lane keep assist isn’t overbearing like some brands, the Matrix adaptive high beam is very effective and the adaptive cruise control is refined as well – though in the typical Volkswagen Group fashion, it annoyingly won’t undertake other vehicles on multi-lane highways.

Service and warranty

The Octavia is covered by a seven-year/unlimited km warranty with 12 months of roadside assistance that’s extended a further 12 months which each dealer service – more than Subaru and Hyundai’s five-year warranties.

The Octavia’s service intervals are once-yearly/every 15,000km, and a seven-year/90,000km pre- paid service pack costs $4200 ($600 per year), which is not much above the five-year service cost for the WRX.

Verdict: Should I buy a Skoda Octavia RS?

Overall, the Skoda Octavia RS continues to impress just as it has since it arrived locally in 2007 with its broad range of talents that continue to stamp it as one of the best daily drivers on the new car market. Aside from price, there’s not much to dislike about it: the Canton sound system could be better, there’s no rear wiper on the liftback and there’s no manual transmission for the RS globally.

For around the $65,000 mark, we can’t think of a more well-rounded car. Sure, a Camry would use a lot less fuel and is larger in the back seat, but is it as fun to drive or as practical? Not even close, and if you’re after a practical family car with some fun, the Octavia RS must be on your test drive list.

Octavia RS rivals

Subaru WRX
Hyundai i30 N Sedan
Toyota Camry SL