Skoda adds more powerful Golf GTI engine to Octavia RS

VW sibling Skoda beefs-up its RS wagon and sedan — the practical, cut-price version of the Golf GTI hot hatch.

The Skoda Octavia RS shares its underpinnings as the VW Golf GTI.

SKODA has refreshed the Octavia RS — which shares its underpinning with the Volkswagen Golf GTI — with the latest hardware borrowed from the German brand.

The RS versions bring hot hatch performance to the Octavia sedan and the more versatile wagon.

The Czech brand has installed the beefier 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo (180kW/370Nm) that was previously only available on the more expensive Octavia RS 245. The RS pair were using the detuned version of the same engine (169kW/350Nm)..

Cut-price performance: The Octavia RS comes at a significant discount to the Golf GTI.

Skoda also followed the Golf GTI’s move in making the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox the sole transmission, foregoing a six-speed manual transmission option.

Prices for the Octavia RS start at $39,990 (before on-road costs) for the sedan and $41,490 for the wagon.

A sub-$40K price tag represents a discount of more than $5000 on the better known — and mechanically identical — Golf GTI.

The higher-spec RS245 is from $45,490 for the sedan and $46,990 as a wagon.

Load-lugger: The Octavia RS Wagon is more versatie than a regular hatch or sedan.

The extra features in the RS245 include adaptive damper control, a larger 9.2-inch touchscreen, 10-speaker audio and two extra airbags among other upgrades.

However, the RS and RS245 go without several key safety features that are standard on the GTI, including lane keep assist, blind spot detection and traffic jam and emergency assist. Some of these features come in a $2800 options pack for the RS.

Customers can also upgrade to the brand’s virtual cockpit for an extra $700.

The upgrades Octavia RS range goes on sale locally from October.