Škoda upgrades Octavia- Škoda Reviews and Awards

If you're under 40, there's a good chance the name Škoda may not mean a lot to you. This Czech car company is one of the world's oldest. It began to make cars in 1925 and sold them in Australia on and off between 1949 and 1983.

Škoda looked for a western European car partner in 1989. It eventually formed an alliance with Volkswagen in 1991.

In 2000 VW took over complete control of Škoda, though the Czechs still have a solid degree of independence in design and engineering. Indeed, Škoda still thinks of itself as being a Czech car company.

Škoda re-entered the Australian market in 2007 with the mainstream sedan and wagon Octavia.

Octavia’s styling is neat, though perhaps a little on the conservative with a touch of Eastern European flavour to it. Though based on the underpinnings of the Volkswagen Jetta/Golf, Octavia has been stretched in most dimensions and so is more Passat than Jetta in size.

The March 2009 release of a facelifted model that includes significant new choices of Volkswagen engines and transmissions.

Major exterior changes give the Octavia a more aggressive, cleaner appearance, particularly at the pointy end. There's new headlamps, front fog lamps, bumper, a new radiator grille frame, larger side mirrors and the side mouldings are now painted the same colour as the sheetmetal.

Down the rear end there's a new bumper, tail light covers and 'Octavia' lettering. Inside, it's more of the same: fine tuning of the basics. The most apparent of these is a new four-spoke multi-function steering wheel, and the instrument panel now has easy to read white illumination. In the rear pew there's now a compartment in the centre folding armrest.

The TSI 1.6 engine is sourced from the Volkswagen Golf though the technology is a little dated.

But the real action is now with a 1.8- litre TSI and 2.0-litre TDI liftback and wagon. The sporty TSI petrol has sixspeed manual as standard and an optional seven-speed DSG transmission.

The seven-speed DSG has a torque rating up to 250Nm while the sixspeed DSG found in the 2.0-litre TDI diesel is rated to 350Nm.

We drove the 1.8-litre TSI wagon with the DSG transmission and the 2.0-litre TDI mated to a six-speed manual. Both cars impressed with their road holding, low NVH and fit and finish.

The 1.8 litre petrol boasts 118kW of power and 250Nm of torque, available through 1500rpm to 4200rpm. Volkswagen's DSG transmissions feature dual clutch technology and offer savings in fuel efficiency and emissions in both petrol and diesel variants. The diesel returns 103 kW or power but has truckloads of torque with 320Nm on tap between a low 1750rpm and 2500rpm.