Legacy is difficult to maintain. Especially across generations. You see this often. A generation builds something, another squanders it. If we had to explain this in car terms, it would actually be quite easy by taking the Skoda Octavia RS, or vRS, as an example. The first-gen was the first true affordable (sort of) modern performance car India ever got. A turbocharged engine in an age where we were tripping over 1.5-litre Honda VTEC and 1.3-litre G13B and 1.6-litre G16B Suzuki engines was a revelation. Very quickly, people understood the true potential it had. I still remember my first go in a modified one that made 400hp. Never had I ever been in something so brutal, something so vicious and something that left “real” performance cars for absolute dead.
The second generation, not called the Octavia but the Laura (yes, please laugh now) in India as it was sold in parallel with the first-gen Octavia, also had an RS version when the facelift came around. And it was really cool too. But only to look at. Sure it had the nicer bumper, the spoiler, the cool seats, but underneath it all, it was exactly the same as the standard petrol-turbo 1.8-litre Laura and that is why it never really became a cult classic. For years, people tuned these older platforms to make big, big horsepower. 300, 400, 500, even more. It was easy. But as a stock, out of the box car, this is where the legacy faltered.
Then came the third gen. The 2-litre EA888 was, is, and will always be one of the greatest engines ever built in my opinion because of how versatile it is. Even I bought one. Used, of course. Tuned up to 320hp, mine was a gnarly little beast. Spitting out flames on the overrun, cracking like a rally car and emptying my wallet faster than I could say “bhaiya, 100 octane, full kardo” (brother, 100 octane, full tank please). And then it went away. The lore remains, truly engraved into the annals of Indian motoring history, backed by phenomenal resale value. To some, this is where the Octavia RS peaked. This is when it’s legacy, both as box fresh factory products with both the RS230 and the RS245 was at it’s peak.
So when Skoda announced they were bringing it back, everyone was overjoyed. It was meant to be the perfect follow up act to the legend of the MK3. Only 100 units have come to India for now. Only 100 lucky people will know what it feels like to drive one of the best front-wheel-drive cars in the world. And although I am nowhere near wealthy enough to buy one, the fact that I got to wring its neck around the Buddh Circuit is a big green flag day for my 2025.
I am going to get straight to the point here. Very, very few cars make you aware of how good they are in one single corner. Frankly, it has been ages since that happened to me. In the last few weeks, I have spent time with both the Mini Countryman JCW and the Golf GTI, former at the track and latter in the city, and although both are really good cars, both take just a little bit of time to sink in. This did not. The size of my smile into T1 at the BIC on my very first lap out there (you can watch the video on our YouTube channel) is proof of how this is. It turns into a corner with real finesse, gets out of the corner with just enough drama and best of all, sounds actually good while doing so. Of course it could have had a nicer exhaust note, but then what would us men spend our money on in the aftermarket tuning scene, right?
The Octavia RS feels livelier than the Golf. Probably because of its slightly longer wheelbase. Probably because the car runs on a set of very, very good Bridgestone S005 tyres. There is just a little hint of understeer, most of which can be sorted out by opening the wheel a little bit and getting off throttle just enough to have the car swing around to the exact angle that you need, all without being on the razor’s edge. It is forgiving as much as it is quick, and that is a rare feat. What I found could have been better though are the brakes. They lacked feel after just a couple of laps and while a track is the most extreme circumstance you can throw your car into, I would assume the same issue to crop up on public streets too if driven really hard.
The engine then. Still the EA888, although I am sure the ultra-obsessed friends of mine on the vRS India owner’s group could probably tell me the exact code that this has over the last generation. The fact of the matter is, it is more powerful, albeit just 20 more horsepower. But it feels a lot more sorted. A lot more responsive and surprisingly, a lot more torquey too. I am glad Skoda dropped the idea of the 1.5-litre hybrid mill that they briefly offered on the RS. That would have been an absolute disaster in India with the kind of love and affection people have for the 2.0. But there are some negatives, the gear lever for example, and I have said this before, is just weird. And frankly, India should have received a higher spec product with Dynamic Chassis Control in it.
And DCC is not the only thing we have missed out on. It does not get electric seats, or cooled seats, both of which one expects as standard on a Rs 60 lakh car. It does not get a sunroof either. But there are two flip sides to this. Yes, there will be a big number of people who would have liked some sort of sunroof to make the car feel a little more upmarket and nicer (all vRS versions in the past have had them), but then there will be another group of people, hardcore enthu-cutlets, who would never want a sunroof to keep both the weight and centre of gravity down. Of course, it also reduces complexity in general as there is one less thing that needs constant service and a possibly massive bill if there is a failure.
So let us discuss the way this looks. Positives first, superb selection of colours on this new one. Right from the insane green to the evergreen reds and blues to the sinister black. My head would have had the black car, but my heart will always want red. The car looks good too, just like how the standard Octavia looked good too. You also get the tell tale larger front bumper, more pronounced side skirts and the sportier rear bumper with the dual exhausts. But the new RS misses out on something major, something every RS has always had and every standard Octavia owner saw and regretted not having, that iconic boot spoiler. Gone is the larger spoiler, replaced by a more subtle gloss black plastic lip spoiler that looks a little like the ducktail spoilers you see on every modified BMW 3 Series in the world. Frankly, this is a massive miss.
And so are the wheels. While I am glad we got the larger 19 inch wheel option for India, they frankly look like some aero wheel from an EV maker’s portfolio. The aero plastic cap thingy is just such a random add-on and frankly, the previous gen did the wheel game so much better. In fact, every RS wheel in India is hotly wanted in the aftermarket as they achieved legendary status amongst VW Group fanboys. I do not see the same happening with this one. That said, since most people are anyway going to be modifying them, might as well add fuel to the fire.
At Rs 50 lakh ex-showroom, if you even get to buy one of the first 100 that is, the Skoda Octavia RS is no longer the cupric performance bargain it once was. It now is an expensive toy for someone probably middle aged who has a major ongoing mid life crisis. But that is not a bad thing. These might depreciate more than the predecessors but frankly, if I could ever afford one, I would immediately snap it up. This is one of the best cars I have driven this year so far. Top 3? Maybe not. But damn near close. If I wanted a GTI that badly, you cannot even imagine how horrible I feel having sold my Gen 3 RS last year. Sigh.
