Skoda’s new Octavia Estate is massive. Although only 20 litres larger than the cavernous five-door version, the Estate is 110 litres larger than a Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer and outpoints anything else in the class at present at 610 litres. It’s also 90mm longer than its predecessor.
This model comes with the excellent 150hp 2.0-litre diesel engine. The 1.6 is cleaner and cheaper, but it’s just a £900 step up from its 105hp to 150hp, and there’s only an 11g/km penalty, although that is three BIK bands.
The big problem with the otherwise highly recommendable Octavia Estate comes from within. Skoda’s sister brand Seat has the Leon ST, which while 23 litres smaller for boot space is still pretty large, and it comes with a P11D £420 cheaper for the same engine and trim level.
It’s also 4g/km more efficient, enough to put it down a BIK band (worth £5 per month to drivers). The Leon’s RV is half a percentage point better too, leaving it 1.2p per mile lower than the very good Octavia.
