Search Result

What other body style gives you both car-like driving dynamics and all the practicality a car owner could possibly need? None. Nada. Only a wagon can.
New

Perfection | Skoda Octavia Combi RS 2.0 TSI

I start all my wagon reviews by saying this: “If you’ve been reading Burnpavement articles for some time now, you’d know that I’m a wagon fan.”


The VRS (or RS) has long been the brand's performance hero car. Adopting the VW family's 2.0-litre turbocharged power unit used in the Golf GTi, it was always seen as the
New

The Smart Performance Sedan | Skoda Octavia RS 2.0 TSI

As a big fan of the Skoda brand, I was a little let down by the previous-gen VRS. But the latest one has made up for it.


Find a twisty road however, and it doesn’t take long to unearth the RS’s other talents. Whack the DCC up into sport, and the car becomes a highly effective, if slightly clinical, road devourer. The meaty yet quick steering is confidence-inspiring and makes accurate placing of the car an intuitive affair, and the body control lent by the DCC is exceptional. As with the RS245 and Mk8 GTI though, the crowning glory is the limited-slip differential, which mitigates any trace of untidy wheelspin as you power out of corners, a trait which the old GTI sometimes frustrated me with.
New

First Drive: 2022 Skoda Octavia RS

IN Skoda, Octavia, Octavia RS, Hot hatch, Sports saloon, Skoda Centre Singapore

The Skoda Octavia RS is back, and continues to offer the same incredible value and practicality. We take it out for a brief taster to see what it’s like


Look at the price of the A3 (S$187,635 as of December 2021), and you might balk at how much more it costs over its platform-mates. With that price tag, it puts the A3 S$30k over the Golf, and nearly S$50k over the Octavia!
New

The Posher Sibling | Audi A3 Sportback Mild Hybrid

IN Audi, A3, Sportback, Audi A3, A3 Sportback, Premium Automobiles

As the fanciest model to use the Volkswagen Group MQB Evo platform, is the A3 Sportback worth the extra dough? We check out what extras it offers over its siblings.


Carmakers have taken to christening their estate models with different names to stand out from each other. Audi, for example, uses Avant, while BMW calls it a Touring. Skoda terms theirs as a Combi, while its parent company Volkswagen refers to its variants as um, Variant.
New

The Critical Thinker's Practical Choice | Skoda Octavia Combi

IN Skoda, Octavia, Combi, Octavia Combi, Skoda Octavia, Octavia Combi, Skoda Octavia Combi, Skoda Centre Singapore

In a sea of SUVs, the seldom-seen station wagon smartly stands strong. And the Skoda Octavia Combi is one of the strongest there is.


Thanks to that, we’re massive fans of the Skoda Octavia. In fact, we liked it so much that we once had this 2006 Octavia wagon as the unofficial Burnpavement workhorse!
Happenings

5 Simply Clever things we love about the new Skoda Octavia

IN Skoda, Octavia, Combi, Skoda Octavia, Octavia Combi, Skoda Centre Singapore

The fourth-generation Skoda Octavia has just launched in Singapore with two flavours – liftback and wagon. Here’s five things we love about it!


Materials are not of Audi-level, as expected of course. But they do feel robust enough to last for many years to come. To some extent, it is less stressful and therefore more enjoyable to use practical interiors like these as a daily runabout, simply because you don’t have to concern yourself with having an immaculate interior.
New

A Compelling Case | SEAT Leon 1.0 TSI

Gone are the days where large capacity engines are needed for a car’s lively performance. The introduction of turbochargers has allowed even the base-model in any line-up to drive decently.


With this 252 bhp variant (the base model gets 190 bhp), Quattro is standard. The lovely new chassis platform known as 'MLB-Evo chassis' yields a car that is lighter, more playful and nimble on the road. Steering inputs are precisely executed and while a little on the light side, never feels vague. I’d dare say the combination of a strong power output and sublime handling almost makes this A5 quite S5-like! I enjoyed driving it more than I did the 3.0-litre S4.
New

Audi A5 Sportback 2.0 TFSI Quattro | Evolutionary

The second generation A5 is even better before. Based on Audi’s MLB-Evo chassis, the new car is both great to drive and practical to boot!


Now here’s another desirable wagon to add to the list above, and probably in the unlikeliest form too: Meet the Seat Leon ST, in FR-Line guise.
New

Quick Bite: Seat Leon ST FR-Line

IN SEAT, Leon, Leon ST, 2.0 TDI, SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI, Turbodiesel, Diesel, Spain, Wagon, Family wagon, Manual, SEAT Centre Singapore

Not exactly the sort of car you would expect to deliver both fun and practicality in one comprehensive package - this Leon ST is admirably full of surprises


Like previous versions, the vRS will be available in both petrol and diesel form, and gets identical mechanicals to the current Golf, which means either the 220 bhp, 350 Nm 2.0-litre TSI from the GTI, or the 184 bhp, 380 Nm 2.0-litre TDI from the GTD. To give an idea of how the Fastest Octavia Ever performs, the TSI version equipped with a 6-speed manual will do 0-100 km/h in 6.8 seconds and will top out at 248km/h. Stop-start, Brake Energy Regeneration and the optional 6-speed DSG gearbox should help fulfill Skoda’s claims of a 19% improvement in fuel efficiency compared to the old models.
Happenings

Czech-mate

IN Skoda, Octavia, VRS, Hot hatch, Wagon, Estate

With a new Golf out, comes a new Octavia. And as predictable as the GTI version is for the Golf, so too is the vRS for Skoda, in both hatch and estate form.


The AVH-X8550BT is Pioneer's top-of-the-line system. It's a double DIN multimedia receiver that has a full touch screen 7-inch panel. It features a VGA display with LED backlighting for a sharp and bright playback. Like most modern systems, it plays a wide range of media formats and more! The list includes DVD, DVD-R/RW, CD-R/RW, MP3, WMA, AAC (iTunes®), DivX® and Dolby® Digital Decoder.
The Pit

Pioneer Leads The Car Audio Game With Unparalleled Connectivity

IN Pioneer, Car audio, ICE, Multimedia receiver, MP3, IPhone, Mobile phone, Andriod, DVD, Bluetooth

It's been about 2 weeks since I've had the Pioneer AVH-X8550BT multimedia receiver in my car, and all I can say is that it's a pretty amazing piece of kit.


At first glance, if one can get past the looks and drive this car proper, he or she will be amazed at what the Octavia vRS can offer. What we have here is a near clone of Volkswagen's highly sought after hot hatch, in fact you can call it a Golf GTI in guises of either a sedan or an estate, each offering more boot space than a hatchback with the latter being the roomiest of them all.
New

Czech It Out! | Skoda Octavia VRS

IN Skoda, Octavia, VRS, Harvest Automobiles

Back in 2000, we drove Skoda's 150bhp Octavia 1.8T - which was a real riot! 10 years on, the riot's turned into a full-on violent rampage in the form of this Octavia vRS!



© 2015 BURNPAVEMENT