Today Shed brings you one of his favourite all-rounders, a Skoda Octavia vRS. This is a late 2008 example. That could mean it has the indirect- plus direct-injection EA888 TSI petrol engine from the Mk6 Golf GTI which was supposed to replace the direct-injection-only EA113 at the end of that year. Then again, the last time Shed said that the EA888 had port as well as direct injection he was pulled up short by a PHer who said that they didn’t have that until 2013.
After careful reflection, Shed reckons that this is probably an EA113 because he thinks the switch to the EA888 engines didn’t happen until the 2009 Octavia refresh. Then again, again, the vendor says it has 18-inch wheels which would be right for a refresh car. Then again, again, again, the ad says the cambelt was replaced at 72,000 miles, suggesting it’s an EA113 as opposed to the 888 which was exclusively chain-timed. For extra confusion, the EA113 had both a chain and a belt, a belt going around the crank and one cam and a chain going from one cam to another.
Oh dear, what’s a man to do? Blunder on regardless, is the obvious answer. No doubt someone will come into the forum to explain just what an idiot Shed is. Which is fine, he welcomes constructive criticism. Just don’t expect him to remember any of it or get it right next time.
Ploughing on, Shed says that EA888 engines were more refined than the EA113s but that their cam chains didn’t always behave. The EA113 wasn’t exactly spotless itself in its belty chaininess mind you. The 197hp power and 207lb ft torque figures were the same for both engines but the 888 produced its maximum torque a fraction earlier at 1,700rpm instead of 1,800rpm. It didn’t matter a great deal as the torque peak in both engines was maintained all the way through to 5,000rpm, at which point (or shortly after it anyroad) the peak power chimed in, so you were cooking with gas either way. The petrol vRS was not a slow car, in either acceleration (0-62mph in seven seconds flat) or in the way it held the road courtesy of its multi-link rear suspension. More on that in a minute.
Talking of prone, which we were a minute ago, that’s a position which Shed and the postmistress can easily adopt in the back of any Octavia when the rear seats are down because they’re stupidly huge inside. The internet describes the Octavia as a small family car because it was based on the Golf platform, but somebody forgot to tell Skoda that.
Chassis-wise these cars felt quite firm in period but the normalisation of rock-hard ride quality caused by ever-larger wheels probably means that it would feel quite compliant to a younger driver now. At least one front shock will have been replaced at the 85-90,000 mile mark in 2019 after a serious fluid leak was noted by the MOT inspector, so it seems reasonable to assume that the other one was too, and probably the rears, why not.
As of now, this vRS has done 116,000 miles, representing an annual mileage of 7,000 or so. The interior reflects that light usage. We’re told that there’s a full service history up to 103,000 miles and that it’s never had a prang. The service and brake pad warning lights are on and the last MOT suggested that the next owner might want to look at one brake disc, one front tyre, and er one rear exhaust section. Tidying that lot up won’t cost a bomb and should create a nice base for plenty more miles to come.
The downside of 2004-11 Mk2 Octavias generally was their timing. Not the timing that determines how well the engine is running, we’ve had enough of that, but the timing of their arrival on the scene, which in the opinion of many coincided with a negative – to the consumer anyway – shift in the VAG quality/profit algorithm. In the usual way of these things, some vRS owners had no bother at all with their cars and would defend them to the death, but others were plagued by a variety of issues including but not restricted to coil packs, alternators, air con, PCV valves, rear wipers, and comfort ECUs that could fritz out (often as a result of getting wet).
That last one could cause all sorts of hilarity involving more or less anything that was supposed to lock or close. Batteries would eventually throw their virtual hands up and refuse to hold a charge. Alloys could become porous too, but Shed is sympathetic to that as he can get a bit porous himself after a few sherberts at the Frying Pan & Firkin. He’s feeling quite thirsty now after all this brainwork, so why don’t you pop in and buy him a drink? His is a large one etc.
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