Skoda seems to have been a brand with a low sense of existence in the minds of consumers for a long time, and due to the relationship under the Volkswagen Group, almost every segment of Skoda's models under the background of highly platform production has a corresponding Volkswagen brand model to correspond to it; this also makes today's consumers' impression of Skoda almost entirely "appendages" of the Volkswagen brand.
But it is undeniable that Skoda's new cars can often take the latest technology platform and corresponding configuration upgrades of volkswagen group before the domestic joint venture Volkswagen brand, such as the Skoda Speed, which took the lead in entering the "b8 era" that year, and Skoda's new masterpiece in the a-class car market this year - Skoda Octavia pro.
Skoda Octavia pro was born in the Volkswagen Group's mqb evo platform, in the definition of compact cars, Volkswagen Group has used the new platform of the model only FAW - Volkswagen Golf 8, Audi a3 and Skoda Octavia pro, in other words, in the field of "non-luxury positioning of sedan sedans", Skoda Octavia pro once again with the Volkswagen Group's latest technology composition to walk in front of Volkswagen's Sagittar and Lingdu.
As a new home car product focusing on "digitalization", how does the Skoda Octavia Pro perform?
The tone of youthfulness is the main appearance trait that this generation of Octavia pro wants to express. The overall design still continues the design language of the previous Vision IV concept car, but the Chinese design team has played a key role in the design of this car; the forward grille is still a more classic Skoda brand label style, but combined with the exquisite size of the light group and the sharp front line, it can not only reflect the style of "Czech crystal cutting", but also make the front face as a whole present more localized young cars Visual effect.
After the domestic Octavia pro after a certain degree of lengthening, the body length and the current Sagittarius consistent, reached 4753mm, wheelbase also reached 2730mm, these two values than the overseas version of the Octavia Rs to significantly improve, its purpose is also very understandable, naturally for the car to ride space and further enhance the size advantage, so that this car in the fiercely competitive market segment has a higher voice.
But the design after the extension also has a positive help for the appearance, the stretched body side lines present a slender slipback shape, coupled with the use of the right angle elements in the rear of the car, for the exquisite sense of the body to do more embellishment, but a little regret is the "bilateral double out" of the fake exhaust decoration, since the Volkswagen brand are consistent with this design, if you can "become real" in Skoda, you may be able to open up the brand image difference between Skoda and Volkswagen to a certain extent.
After all, it is a model born from the mqb evo platform, so the performance of the octavia pro is almost without any skepticism, and the advantages and disadvantages of the Volkswagen sedan are almost all "inherited", such as the vertical space layout is very reasonable, and the width is enough, the general family user 3-4 people travel without too many problems, but the rear central platform that more than ten centimeters of uplift height also exists.
However, compared with the conventional Volkswagen sedan, the biggest feature of the Octavia pro is the hatchback design, which also makes its carrying capacity better than many sedans of the same level, especially after the rear seats are reclined, if you want to check in some large items such as flat-screen TVs, there will not be too many difficulties, coupled with high-end models with electric tailgates rare in the same level of joint venture models, in general, the spatial convenience of the Octavia pro is an advantage worth affirming.
The more noteworthy part of the interior part is that the technology configuration is very complete. The laterally stretched center console is undoubtedly the current trend of automotive design, and the full LCD dashboard and large multimedia screen are surrounded by a large number of soft materials, and decorated with leather materials, which also makes the interior atmosphere seem less cheap.
The display accuracy of the full LCD instrument panel is not obviously different from the configuration used by Volkswagen models such as the 8th generation Golf, and the hud head-up display is rich in content, including navigation paths, position calibration when lanes are maintained in an auxiliary open state, and speed limit traffic signs are presented in a concise manner.
The 12.1-inch central control screen compared with overseas models has a size improvement, in addition to the built-in application software for deep localization adjustment, presumably this is also a key part of this generation of Octavia pro "digital" promotion, the overseas version of the columbus system replaced by CNS 3.0 Skoda intelligent car connection system, with voice interaction, online entertainment and navigation functions and support for independent smart phone app remote control functions, and with smart parking, smart home and other functions, Mainstream wireless charging and mobile phone interconnection are also not absent.
Although from the perspective of function expansion and touch feedback, as a joint venture brand, Skoda has spared no effort to optimize the car machine system like its own brand, but octavia pro's intelligent car machine basically covers the functions used daily, which undoubtedly enhances the convenience of future car owners in the use process.
In terms of powertrain, it is the golden combination of volkswagen group's classic 1.4t turbo engine + 7dsg dual-clutch transmission, but this almost "all-purpose" powertrain is placed on the Octavia pro but shows a slight difference; unlike the high smoothness pursued by the Volkswagen brand's several "famous models" with very high sales, in the early stage of the power combination, this car seems to deliberately create a certain enthusiasm, and there will even be a slight "channeling" phenomenon at the beginning. With the deepening of the throttle, there will even be a more obvious sense of frustration, which may be a negative phenomenon for many people.
But in fact, the throttle opening of the Octavia pro is not very difficult to adapt, after a short drive, you can smoothly feel the power point of the powertrain, and the "channeling" at this time has become a positive auxiliary that makes the overtaking action more neat.
Chassis tuning style will be more crisp than Volkswagen's competitors of the same level, the performance of the daily driving when the sense of road will be clearer and more direct, the suspension support in the corners is tighter, there is not much looseness, compared to the Volkswagen that has no fun once it is started, the Skoda Octavia pro is a choice that can be called a certain driving pleasure, which is more in line with the sporty positioning that the appearance strives to create.
On the other hand, the focus of digital labeling is the intelligent driver assistance system, octavia pro's driver assistance system configuration is more comprehensive, including adaptive cruise, traffic sign recognition, lane keeping assistance, active braking and parallel assist, etc., intelligent experience is still slightly insufficient compared with many independent brands, but in the long-distance driving process can still alleviate driving fatigue to a certain extent.
From the perspective of the vertical relationship of this product line of Octavia, the upgrade of Octavia pro is undoubtedly quite comprehensive, not only taking care of the spatial performance and youthful design language, but also improving in the intelligent driving configuration and scientific and technological auxiliary functions, it can be said that the Octavia pro under the new platform is a more thorough and successful vertical replacement; from an objective point of view, the home attributes of octavia pro are very worthy of affirmation, and the quality control ability consistent with the public, the quality control ability and aftermarket reliability of this car are almost beyond doubt.
However, it should not be ignored that the market pressure of Skoda Octavia Pro will be relatively large, mainly because of the following two points: one is undoubtedly the market competition environment is too fierce, throughout the joint venture brand A-class family car market, almost every well-known manufacturer will have a key layout in this market segment, not to mention the "downward compression" of the entry-level models of luxury brands, and the "upward exploration" of a number of independent brands in this hot range; the second is the influence of the Skoda brand itself. Under the influence of Volkswagen halo for a long time, Skoda itself has a "sense of subsidiarity" in the minds of consumers, not to mention that within the Volkswagen Group, the A-class car product camp has long formed a competitive relationship with each other, so it seems that the "living space" of Skoda Octavia pro is not too generous.