Czech car brand Skoda’s RS badge will turn 40 next year and the brand wants to make the 40th anniversary of the RS badge very special.
Czech car brand Skoda’s RS badge will turn 40 next year and the brand wants to make the 40th anniversary of the RS badge very special. The RS badge made its debut in 1975 when Skoda introduced the 130 RS rally car, which won the 1977 Monte Carlo Rally’s 1,300cc category. The Skoda 130 RS coupe came with a power output of 140 Bhp and featured a 1.3 liter carbureted petrol engine. Since then, Skoda has used the vRS badge on many cars including the brand’s most famous model, the Octavia.
The MQB Skoda Octavia vRS used as an example
Next year, Skoda will outfit an Octavia vRS with the Golf R’s 2 liter turbo petrol engine in a 280 Bhp state of tune, 20 Bhp lower than what the engine manages on the Golf R. Along with the big boost in power output, the anniversary special Octavia vRS will also get sporty suspension to match and alloy wheels to stand out from the rest of the vRS range.
Presently, Skoda sells the MQB platform based Octavia in two vRS trims, the petrol powered version with 220 Bh-350 Nm and the 2 liter diesel powered version with 180 Bhp-380 Nm. Both these cars are front wheel driven. Likewise, the 280 Bhp anniversary special Octavia vRS petrol will be front wheel driven and will not adopt the all wheel drive layout from the Golf R, say media reports.
So that should make the Octavia vRS of 2015 cheaper than the Golf R. The car will be equipped with a 6 speed manual gearbox. Skoda has always launched vRS models of the Octavia in India. The first two generations of the Octavia had their high performance vRS models eventually arrive into India. The same could be the case with the latest MQB Octavia’s vRS model.
What we need to wait and see is whether we get the 280 Bhp, 2015 Octavia vRS or either of the petrol or diesel powered, lower spec Octavia vRS that is on sale internationally presently. If you’d like us to take a guess, we’d go with the latter as a 280 Bhp Octavia vRS might be too pricey for India.
Source: Autoforum