Skoda is in the process of incrementally updating its Octavia range. Just two months ago, it revealed the revised core model. Yesterday it unveiled the new Octavia RS performance model. Now it’s time for the new Octavia Scout.
The Czech equivalent to Audi’s Allroad or Volvo’s Cross Country range, the Scout treatment elevates the Octavia into a more rugged vehicle capable of veering off the beaten path.
It’s based on the revised Octavia Combi wagon, but features a ride height increased by over an inch. That affords the Octavia Scout respectable (if not quite SUV-like) approach and departure angles of 16.6 and 14.5 degrees, respectively. Add to that standard all-wheel drive with an electronically controlled hydraulic multi-plate clutch and you’re looking at more soft-road capability than most cars on the road.
That point is driven home by the contrasting lower body protection. And of course the Scout benefits from all the enhancements applied to the standard Octavia, including upgraded infotainment and safety tech, and the restyled front end with the reshaped (if divisively styled) LED headlamps.
Buyers will be able to choose between three four-cylinder turbocharged engines, including a 1.8-liter gasoline unit rated at 180 metric horsepower and two 2.0-liter diesels at 150 and 184 ps, respectively.
Between the new Octavia Scout, the VW Golf Alltrack, the Seat Leon X-Perience, and the Audi A4 Allroad, the Volkswagen Group now offers a wide array of ruggedized soft-roaders to give Volvo and Subaru a run for their proverbial money. We just wouldn’t count on Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche, or Lamborghini to follow suit any time soon.
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