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A Czech beauty

FLY ON ITS WINGS The Skoda has been appreciated for its solidity and sturdiness

The guys from the Skoda showroom in the city have serious misgivings about a woman taking one of the beauties on a test drive. That’s just an aside.

Apprehensions set to rest (for the time being), we are out on the highway in a bright red Skoda Octavia Rider (diesel), what a beauty! The insides are plush and spacious, worth every inch of space it occupies on the road. It has all the luxuries of the high end car that it is…adjustable steering wheel, seats that glide and slide…the whole works.

Back to the car, first things first as you slide into the car and the door closes nicely. It is not a bang but a smooth strong quiet thud. A solid strong beauty. Smooth ignition and the pick-up is great. You hit the pedal and you can feel the vehicle pick-up speed as it goes vroooooom. Nice. And, although the Skoda Octavia Rider that we are out in is a diesel car there is no racket associated with a diesel vehicle. But then, we are talking about a car in the luxury segment, so it better not make too much of a racket. A bit more about the car: Skoda Octavia is the first car from Skoda launched in India. It has been around for sometime now. It comes in eight variants such as Skoda Octavia L&K, Skoda Octavia RS, Skoda Octavia Elegance in 1.9 TDI Manual, Skoda Octavia Combi in L&K, Skoda Octavia Rider in 1.9 TDI, 1.8 Turbo & 1.9 TDI Automatic, Skoda Octavia Classic 1.9 TDi.

Steering back to the topic at hand, the Skoda Rider gives a mileage of around 20 – 22 kms per litre and the price of this beauty I am told, costs in the region of Rs. 12,00, 000. Realistic mileage in this traffic? That’s what I am told.

A minor detail for all those who ‘clutch ride’ (that is, if you constantly keep your foot on the clutch) there is a slightly elevated feature next to the clutch pedal to rest your foot on it. The technician constantly warns you against putting your foot on the clutch, “it is a turbo engine, and you have to take care.”

Have to say this – the boot space is, you can have a party in there, so much space. A couple of things that the makers of the car should have kept in mind when they ‘Indianised’ the car – the indicator controls and the horn. In Europe and other countries which have the luxury of good roads and orderly traffic – you need not honk too much. But we live and drive in a country where you can’t do without honking (frantically), you need to apply a bit more pressure to get some noise out. Not too much of an issue really, but it’s the indicator lever that is a problem. Ideal for the left handed, looks like the steering unit of a left-hand drive car was moved to the right side as it is. That would be a minus, it does not work for me. Other than that….‘Quiet’ a beauty!

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