The 2017 facelift for the Skoda Octavia is right around the corner. For me, this is reason enough to introduce you to the car as well as to the new ap-Sportfahrwerke coilover-kit for the car. The Octavia is called „elegant with a bit of sportiness“ on the german Skoda website. Well, I think it`s time to take a closer look if this is true.

First of all, some of you may ask – why is he testing the 4-door sedan and not the station wagen? The answer is simple: The ap coilover-kit is available for both, the sedan as well as the station wagon and having the choice – I just like sedans. I was born at a time when people who were not really into cars or could/wanted not to spend much money for their rides just drove small cars, family dads did drive sedans, people who were building their own houses bought station wagons and almost only the rich and beautiful could afford convertibles and sports-cars. Sportutility, Activity-vehicles and stuff like that were not even planned. Most of the marketing guys who invented this many years later were still in kindergarten back than and they were probably painting their cardreams with crayons on old wallpapers.

But back to the car: The first choice is already a tough one. Skoda offers 15 different engines from 90 – 180 horsepowers. And even more than that, you may also choose the RS model. But I am humble today. I just take the 1.6 liter TDI green tec at the www.autopark-emmering.de. My test car is a little bit older than 3 years and is offered there for 12.980 Euro. That would even fit my tiny budget.

Entering the car gives me a first good impression. I think it looks way nicer than the older Octavia II. Sporty seats partly covered in leather and a renewed center console with some fine black gloss paint.
You know, being a car-tester these days is not always easy. Today, there are not many cars left who are really bad and on the other side, you don`t get all that flashy fun cars every day, so most of the time you will have to test – just another regular car. But sometimes this „regular cars“ have something special, something which makes them more interesting than many competitors and guess what? The Skoda Octavia is on of this regular cars and it offers a very special extra to me! It has so much space! 590-1580 liters luggage space volume. 635 kilograms vehicle load capacity. Sounds good? It is but the best is still to come. After adjusting my driver-seat to my 1.97 meters of body size I discover that there is a lot of space left for people at the backseats. Real people can actually sit behind my, not only babies, hobbits and goblins. This is really something special, especially for a mid-range-car. Honestly – great job Skoda!

Anything else? My test-car comes with heated front-seats, a two-zone air-conditioning, bending-light, parking-sensors and a nice big display including Bluetooth, an „o.k.“ audio system and a voice command. Only a navigation system is missing.

The 105 hp diesel engine is pretty ok for a every day driver. It has no big advantages or disadvantages – it is one of these „I bring you from here to there“ engines. To me, it even feels a little bit quicker than 105 horsepowers in a car of this size. The 5-speed-manual-gearbox does a good job and fits the engine. In short words: gearbox, brakes and steering – everything fits a rock-solide mid-range car with a little sporty touch. If you want to increase that sportiness you may want to get an ap coilover-kit. It is characterized by the perfect combination of an uncompromising performance and dynamic lowering without suffering on comfort. This is possible by the ap engineering that combines an optimum balance between sporty driving, comfort and safety. Via the aluminum spring plate, the Skoda Octavia sedan can be lowered at the front by 35 to 65 mm. At the rear, the ap damper and ap springs are separated due to the constructive design. For this reason, the desired lowering is set via a separate adjustment plate. In accordance with the TÜV certificate, 30 to 60 mm of lowering are possible on the rear axle. The setting of the lowering of course is made while the kit is installed. The suspension manufactured in Germany has components of galvanized steel with an extra sealing for ideal weather resistance. The recommended retail price of the new ap suspension for the Skoda Octavia III except for the RS models and station wagon) is 659,00 €.

Text: Andreas Leffler
Pictures: Andreas Leffler