When you think about it, the landmark VW Golf has been responsible for more new cars than ought to have been possible. Without it, we would not have had the ‘new’ Beetle, Audi TT, Seats Leon, Altea and Toledo, VW Eos convertible, Audi A3, or even the Skoda Octavia, among an array of Golf-based variants. It lies beneath the new Skoda Scala. Yet, in pre-MQB platform days, the Octavia was Skoda’s slant on Golf: same platform, bigger, more accommodating bodywork and smaller price tag.
Somewhere in the political mish-mash of the past few years, sometime high-value, budget brand Skoda has been escalated by its VW parent into some form of price parity. In some ways, it is understandable. After all, when VW commenced its lengthy process of acquiring Skoda from the Czech government in 1991, its factory workers were paid just one-tenth the hourly rate of VW employees just across the border; they now have wages parity with Germany. As a long-time proponent of Skoda, albeit with access to highly preferential deals, I recall paying £8,500 for my first (THE very first!) Octavia sold in the UK, in 1998. The car tested here, 21 years later, is a mid-range Scala 1.5SE that is listed at £24,390.
To be fair, its base price is £21,255, to which are added £415 for the 17.0-inch diameter alloy wheels, £255 for the ‘black dot’ decorative cabin trim, £1,450 for the exterior design pack, £410 for the keyless entry and start/stop, with metallic paint factoring-in another £595. The model is mid-range because it is powered by the first-rate, 1.5-litre TSi turbo-petrol engine that features two-cylinder shut-off technology and develops a wholesome 147bhp. Emitting just 113g/km CO2 and a readily achievable 45.6mpg (WLTP figures), its 0-60mph time of 7.9s and a top speed of 136mph, driving through a 7-speed DSG automated-manual gearbox (no manual option), are excellent figures for a 4.2m long, 1.3-tonne hatchback.
Scala’s interior consists of a satisfying blend of high-quality, tactile ‘soft-touch’ and textured plastic finishes, with neatly trimmed cloth seat material and bright LED cabin illumination. It is a roomy passenger compartment, matched by 467-litres of boot (expandable to 1,410-litres), with typical Skoda space in abundance. Yet, the car’s exterior design veers on the safe side of anodyne. Remove the brand badges and you might struggle to tell what it is…there are no such issues with Octavia.
Interestingly, an aspect that I put down to most owners’ mobile-phones having an equivalent app, sat-nav is not fitted to the test car. However, it does feature a decent mix of connectivity options and incorporates lane-keeping tech, low-end LED headlights, a multi-function trip computer and manual air-con as standard, alongside the ‘Simply Clever’ ice-scraper/tyre tread-depth measure (retained within the fuel flap) and the umbrella concealed within the driver’s door.
