2022 Skoda Octavia 140TSI Limited Edition Review

We’re big fans of the Skoda Octavia at DiscoverAuto. The Czech mid-size liftback and wagon are endlessly practical, good quality, good value for money and attractive offerings in the Australian new car market. They offer a lot that SUVs do – but they don’t have the lumbering dynamics and added fuel cost. There’s a new offering in the Octavia range, so is the 2022 Skoda Octavia 140TSI Limited Edition the best form of family motoring? Let’s find out.

Mid-size sedans and wagons have dwindled somewhat recently thanks to SUVs, but there is still some choice including the Octavia’s Superb bigger brother, Mazda6, Peugeot 508, Toyota Camry, Hyundai Sonata and Volkswagen Passat.

Price & Equipment: 7/10

While the Octavia range starts at $37,490 drive away for the base model 110TSI that we tested last year, this Octavia 140TSI is the top of the non-RS range and it’s priced at $51,490 drive away (the wagon is $1,500 more). 

That’s not cheap, but it is quite well equipped. Standard fare includes 19-inch alloy wheels, all-LED lighting, auto lights and wipers, leather upholstery with heated and cooled front seats, 12-way electrically adjustable front seats with memory and massaging functionality, a 10.25-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, digital radio, a 12-speaker Canton sound system, tri-zone climate control, four USB-C ports, a wireless phone charger, a digital driver’s display, keyless entry and start, heated and auto-folding mirrors, an electric tailgate and an alarm.

Surprise and delight features (or what Skoda calls its ‘simply clever’ features) include an umbrella in the driver’s door, a bin in the passenger door, ‘teeth’ in the cupholders to enable one-handed bottle opening, a larger opening for the washer fluid bottle to stop water spillage, a double-sided boot mat (plastic/cloth), a phone or tablet holder mounted on the back of the front passenger seat, a ticket holder on the windscreen, various hooks and nets in the boot and even blinds in the rear windows.

Safety kit includes 10 airbags, auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian, cyclist and intersection assist, lane keep assist with lane trace assist, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, driver attention monitoring, a heads-up display, automatic parking, a heads-up display, Matrix high beam functionality for the headlights, automatic post-collision braking, emergency assist and adaptive cruise control with stop and go functionality. 

Unlike other Octavia models, the 140TSI Limited Edition only offers colours as options. Colour options include our test car’s no-cost ‘Candy White’, while ‘Lava Blue’, ‘Graphite Grey’, ‘Magic Black’, ‘Moon White’ and ‘Brilliant Silver’ are $770 extra and ‘Velvet Red’ is $1,100 extra. 

Competitors to the Octavia 140TSI are lessening, but there are still some options available. The Mazda6 GT SP sedan ($51,650 drive away) is the Octavia 140TSI’s closest competitor – its exterior is bigger, but interior space is comparable – and the Octavia’s boot is much larger. The Octavia is also better equipped with Matrix headlights, cooled front seats, a digital driver’s display, a larger infotainment system with wireless smartphone mirroring, rear sun shades, an electric tailgate and wireless phone charging. 

But like pretty much every other car on the market, the Octavia costs more than it did even a year ago. The last time Skoda offered a mid-way point in the Octavia range – the 132TSI Elegance from the previous generation car – it barely hit $40,000 drive away loaded. More than $51,000 drive away for a non-RS Octavia is a bitter pill to swallow, though at least it doesn’t have annoying and expensive option packs like other Octavia models.

Performance & Economy: 9/10

Under the bonnet of the 2022 Skoda Octavia 140TSI Limited Edition is a 140kW/320Nm version of the Volkswagen Group’s ‘EA888’ 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine. Unlike lower variants in the Octavia range and their eight-speed torque converter automatic transmission, the 140TSI is mated to a seven-speed ‘DSG’ dual-clutch auto with paddle shifters for part manual control. 

The 140kW engine is excellent. Grunty in the low rev range – peak torque hits at just 1,500rpm and lasts until 4,180rpm – it sounds great when it’s revved and while it’s detuned compared with the 180kW RS and is therefore not as quick, it’s still pleasingly fast with a 7.4 second 0-100kmh/ sprint time. That’s only around half a second slower than the Mazda6 GT SP, despite its 100Nm and 36kW improvements over the Octavia. 

The seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission is typical of the DSG breed – not that intuitive at low speeds and it can get caught out slightly with some hesitation and downshifting before corners. But it’s a fast shifter while on the move (especially with the paddle shifters in use) and it’s excellent when having a spirited drive. The new joystick controller is quite easy to use as well and it opens up a lot of cabin space.

Skoda claims that the Octavia 140TSI will use 6.1L/100km on a combined cycle, and we achieved 6.4L/100km on a combined cycle – the Mazda6 GT SP claims 7.6L/100km but it never gets even closer in the real world. The Octavia must use a minimum of 95RON premium unleaded and it has a 45-litre fuel tank. 

Ride & Handling: 8/10

Using the same MQB platform as many other Volkswagen Group products, the Mk4 Octavia impressed us so far with mature dynamics and a more complete feeling than the Mk3 Octavia it replaced. The Octavia 140TSI shares more with the RS – including large 19-inch wheels and independent rear suspension – than the entry-level 110TSI, which has an inferior torsion beam. But the 140TSI is the luxury Octavia, so while it’s not as sporty as the RS, it rides well and is extremely comfortable and quiet as well.

The rest of the dynamic package in the Octavia is quite good. While the steering isn’t the last word in feel, it’s well weighted and the ride quality (and body control) is excellent despite the large 19-inch wheels. The handling isn’t as good as the RS, but it’s still fun to chuck into corners. Road noise levels are relatively low as well, while visibility is reasonable too.

Interior & Practicality: 9/10

As we said in our Octavia RS review, the new generation car’s interior is a big step up in both design and quality compared with the previous model – though there are some parts that need refinement, such as the 10-inch touchscreen. First, the quality inside the Mk4 Octavia is generally quite good – there’s liberal use of soft touch materials, including a fabric piece on the dashboard, and everything is well screwed together. 

Even the harder materials lower down are textured nicely, and the new speaker grill shaping on the doors is much more interesting than the rather basic layout of the previous car. While the stubby gear level may look weird at first, it’s great in hand with a precise and expensive feel. 

Centre of the Octavia’s cabin is a 10.0-inch touchscreen that’s well featured with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation and digital radio. The system is quick to respond to touch, but the screen quality is a little lacking and the layout is not intuitive to use – especially at speed. Changing the temperature, for example, takes a few too many steps. The digital display in front of the driver adds an expensive feel, though its layout too takes too long to get used to.

It’s a practical cabin, though, with storage areas almost area including large flock-lined door bins, a big box under the central armrest, somewhat small cupholders with a cover, a large glovebox and a big tray underneath the dashboard with a wireless phone charger. 

Space in the Octavia is excellent for a mid-size sedan – occupants in the rear seat will be more than comfortable with ample head- and legroom. The rear seat is also well featured with a separate climate zone, heated outboard seats, window shades (both side and rear), an arm rest with cup holders, two USB-C charging ports and sectioned map pockets. 

The boot of the 2022 Skoda Octavia 140TSI Limited Edition is arguably its biggest weapon against the SUV with a huge 600-litres on offer (which expands to 1,555L with the seats folded – or 123L more than a Mazda CX-5). But unlike a lot of SUVs, the boot is clever too – there’s a double-sided (one side is cloth, one side is rubber) boot mat, various hooks and nets, tabs to fold the seats, a moveable umbrella holder, storage on each side and even some dividers that can hold valuables. A space saver spare wheel lies underneath the boot floor.

Service & Warranty: 8/10

Like other Skoda products, the Octavia 140TSI Limited Edition is equipped with a five-year/unlimited km warranty with 12 months of roadside assistance that’s topped up a further 12 months with each scheduled dealer service to five years in total. Five years/75,000km of servicing the Octavia 140TSI costs $2,783 ($556 per service) while a pre-paid service pack is a reasonable $1,550 ($310 per service), and that also includes five years of roadside assist.

The Mazda6 GT SP also has a five year warranty but that includes five years of roadside assistance. Its 10,000km service intervals are 5,000km less than the Octavia and five years/50,000km of servicing costs $1,805 ($361 per service) – buyers travelling more than 10,000km per year will pay more. 

The 2022 Skoda Octavia 140TSI Limited Edition DiscoverAuto Rating: 8.2/10

The 2022 Skoda Octavia 140TSI Limited Edition is a great addition to the local Skoda range that takes the Octavia to a more luxurious level than before. It builds on the strong foundations of the regular Octavia range with a higher quality and better equipped interior, a quiet and comfortable driving experience – it’s more settled than the 110TSI and less racy than the RS – and a refined yet grunty turbocharged petrol engine. 

Like all cars, it’s not perfect and most of that centres around the value equation. It’s very well equipped, but at over $51,000 drive away, it’s also expensive to buy – especially when a loaded Octavia 132TSI barely hit $40,000 drive away in 2014. But high entry point aside, the Octavia remains a strong option in the mid-size category and continues to prove how irrelevant SUVs are made by offerings in this segment.