On a shoestring. Bobsleigh and Skoda Octavia Scout

Pavel KARIN, photos by Skoda press office

Stuck in the snow in front of the office in my Renault Logan, I burned out the clutch and finally realized what the Skoda Octavia Scout is for. And shortly before that, weaving along asphalt serpentines near Turin at the wheel of an all-wheel-drive Octavia with ground clearance increased by 17 mm, I felt like that camel from the joke who doesn't need tuning in a zoo.

First, I didn't ride a Skoda, but a bobsled — a sports sled. A year ago, having learned from Sport-Express about the silver of Russian bobsledders at the Turin Olympics, I took it calmly — just sliding down a hill. Now I found myself in the same four-seat sled driven by a former member of the Italian bobsled team. We were at the start of that very Turin track.

At first, the bobsled only slightly trembled on the small bumps of the Olympic ice. But after the first turn, it became clear — this is g! That is, the acceleration of free fall. The sled began to relentlessly accelerate, the G-forces increased many times over... By the middle of the distance, our crew was flying along the chute almost upside down — 90-degree banking is common here, and a couple of times we even grazed the barrier with the side. On the left-right-up sequence, I was as if thrown onto a ring with a heavyweight, and I took a series of three punches. The rest of the distance I sat, gritting my teeth, cursing, and clinging to the handrails with a death grip. According to the Italian, we were racing at about 125 km/h, experiencing G-forces up to 4 g — like in Formula 1, but in three dimensions! And yet, judging by the time, we lost to the Russian crew by about five seconds.

In short, I gained immense respect for bobsledders.

And for the Skoda Octavia Scout wagon?

Inside — new combinations of trim materials and an off-road grab handle in front of the front passenger

Translated from English, Scout means "scout." But the Skoda folks didn't have to scout anything. Off-road modifications of passenger cars have been produced for a long time — just recall the all-wheel-drive Subaru Leone wagon of 1972. Now, car-based crossovers are gaining popularity — Subaru Outback and Volvo XC70 have been selling better over the past three years (in Russia, sales grew 3–6 times), followed by Audi Allroad... And now — the Skoda Octavia Scout.

It was made according to a well-known recipe — developed bumpers, plastic cladding on sills and wheel arches, engine protection. The plastic is mostly unpainted — so you can safely brush against bushes and snowdrifts without fear of scratching the paint. And the only "technical" difference of the Scout from the regular Octavia Combi 4x4 wagon is the ground clearance increased by 17 mm: from 163 to 180 mm.

Everything else is the same. Both the gear ratios of the six-speed manual (no automatic is offered for the Scout) and the multi-plate Haldex clutch in the rear-wheel drive, which locks when the front wheels slip... Except the springs and wheels are bigger — 17-inch instead of 16-inch on the top Combi. Two engines to choose from — petrol 2.0 FSI (150 hp) and turbodiesel 2.0 TDI (140 hp).

Although the "scout armor" added only 60 kg to the car's mass, the acceleration of the diesel Scout can't be called brisk. On winter Pirelli Sottozero tires, the wagon very accurately handles asphalt corners, but it slides mainly with the front end. On Italian roads, not the smoothest in Europe, the suspension seemed a bit stiff to me. Moreover, on the biathlon track in Sestriere, where I managed to drive on snow, the shock absorbers a couple of times "bottomed out" on rebound — the suspension travel of the Scout is still "car-like."

By the way, even with the stability control system turned off, the Scout rather sluggishly engages the drive to the rear wheels — under throttle, the front axle slides outward of the turn. Not a hint of excitement.

But a couple of days later, spinning in a snowdrift near the editorial office, I quietly envied the Scout — that's where all-wheel drive and 17 mm of ground clearance are not superfluous! And the price for the "scout armor" at first glance is reasonable — $2700 relative to the Octavia Combi 4x4. Considering that even in the base, Russian Scouts will have dual-zone climate control, stability control, heated height-adjustable front seats, and a CD/MP3 radio, then...

All would be fine. But the approximate price of the base Skoda Octavia Scout 2.0 FSI wagon is $35,990. A better-equipped Toyota RAV4 crossover, and with an automatic, is $290 cheaper! And for an extra $3000, you can get a Subaru Outback with a 2.5 engine (165 hp) and permanent all-wheel drive.

This year, the Czechs plan to sell about 6,000 Octavia Scout wagons in Europe, and in our country, Scouts will appear in early May. But of the 274 "Russian" Octavia Combi sold last year, only 45 were all-wheel drive. With such a pricing policy, it's easy to burn out. Or, as they say in Russia, to be left with nothing...

External differences from the regular Octavia Combi 4x4 wagon — ground clearance increased by 17 mm and plastic body kit