Mark Drives the ŠKODA Octavia Scout

Having settled on a wagon, the next question would be which variant? Wagons typically come as either ‘regular’, ‘sport’ or ‘offroad’. I’ve been trying to avoid saying ‘I’ve been lucky enough to…’ as by now you all know I’m a jammy git and I don’t need to keep repeating that, but I really have been in quite an unrivaled position recently whereby I’ve had the chance to spend a lot of time with both the sport and offroad options within ŠKODA’s range. Namely, the Octavia RS (I really need to write a blog post for this) and the Octavia Scout.

So: ‘sport’ or ‘offroad’ wagon?

The Octavia RS is an incredible machine and was an absolute delight to drive. But… I recently went on a family holiday to Mt Lyford following the biggest dump of snow that I’ve ever experienced, and I happened to be in the Scout at the time. As I was churning through the snow, ploughing a path for the Subaru Outback and Holden Colorado that followed behind (the Colorado genuinely tried to pass, slipped, then fell back into the safety of the tracks that I was creating) it occurred to me that there was no way I would have taken the RS on the same trip. If nothing else, it just wouldn’t have been able to take the snow chains that I’d hired at the last minute.

The Scout saw my family safely up the hill despite the challenges thrown at it. As I was closing the curtains of our wood cabin, looking through the window into a dark and chilly forest blanketed in snow, I peered through the gloom and tapped the unlock button on the Scout’s remote. Out in the darkness, the Scout lit up like a Christmas tree, with LED lights projecting ahead and to the rear with the puddle lights under the wing mirrors illuminating the sides. Sorry to be all nostalgic but it took me back to walking through the Welsh mountains and getting lost, with horrendous weather coming in and the sun going down, finally returning to the car – the last one in the car park – at night and feeling so happy to be safe again.

So, as hard as it is for me to say this given the incredible driving experience I had in the Octavia RS, I’d have to take the Scout. But then I’m saying that as someone who can jump in an RS from time to time to satisfy the urge!

What’s this then? A Holden?

Just as an aside, I have to address this. On my trip to Lyford, just as the snow storm was coming in, I stopped at a hire place to pick up some snow chains as backup.

Two older Kiwi blokes at the hire place walked out to check out the Scout to double check the wheel sizes. As they approached the car, they said “What’s this, then? A Holden?” Slightly in disbelief I said, “A Holden? No, it’s a Scout.” Their response: “Is that ŠKODA? Oh you won’t need chains then, mate. It’ll break down before you get there.”

Amazing. If you’re reading this and have got this far way through the article, then you’re probably not the ones that need to hear this so I won’t go on too much. But if you still think ŠKODA is a vehicle brand that ‘breaks down all the time’ then I’m not surprised you also instinctively think any wagon you see is a Holden. Come on. It’s 2019, mate.

Anyway… back to the car!