Skoda Octavia VS Hyundai i40
Skoda Octavia
Likes
- Value (including ownership)
- Safety
- Dynamics
Dislikes
- No rear seat power options
- Non-linear power delivery
- Requires premium unleaded
Hyundai i40
Likes
- Impressive ride and handling
- Diesel engine provides plenty of oomph
- Roomy
Dislikes
- Tiny display screen
- No AEB
- Tyre noise
Summary
Skoda Octavia
Skoda’s a bit like that brooding, low-key actor you know but sometimes struggle to recall. Like Jacqueline McKenzie or Ben Mendelsohn. Considered and respected but far from a preening red carpet showboat.
And the mid-size Octavia is the quintessential Skoda… for people seeking quality engineering and tech without feeling the need to make a boastful badge statement.
The fourth-gen Octavia has been in market here for three years and on the back of a recent safety upgrade this new SportLine model, offered in five-door Liftback and traditional Wagon form, adds extra design and specification spice for the same money as the existing entry-level Style.
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It lines up against traditional sedans and wagons like Toyota’s all-conquering Camry, established players like the Mazda6 and in-demand newcomers like the BYD Seal EV, not to mention the usual medium SUV suspects.
Stay with us on this first drive to see if this SportLine has what it takes to steer you towards the Skoda Octavia.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 1.4L turbo |
| Fuel Type | — |
| Fuel Efficiency | 5.8L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Hyundai i40
A wagon and not an SUV, eh? Respect. You see, when most people now think of a new car they think of an SUV, especially when they want something with a bit of cargo space. But not you.Â
And for thinking outside the box you’ll be rewarded with something that’s better to drive than most SUVs – like the Hyundai i40 Tourer in the Active grade and a diesel engine we’ve road tested here.
So, what are the strengths and weaknesses of this Korean wagon, and should you wait or buy it now? Read on to find out.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 1.7L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Diesel |
| Fuel Efficiency | 5.1L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Verdict
Skoda Octavia8.1/10
Is the Octavia SportLine your kind of automotive quiet achiever? It’s well-equipped and keenly priced with sleek yet understated looks, top-notch safety and a compelling ownership package.
It’s also fuel-efficient for its size and a refined, enjoyable drive. Before you go down that well-trodden mid-size SUV path I’d suggest adding this Skoda - Liftback or Wagon - to your new car short-list.Â
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accommodation and meals provided.
Hyundai i407.1/10
The i40 Tourer in the Active grade is great to drive, it’s practical, and should be low-cost to run. But you can bet the new version, due to arrive soon, will be, too. If you can wait, it's a safe bet the new i40 Tourer will have an updated look, improved safety equipment and retain all the good points of the previous model.Â
Would you buy the current i40, or would you be mad not to wait for the new one, coming soon? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Design
Skoda Octavia
The Skoda Octavia is a crisp, contemporary design combining firm character lines and carefully sculpted larger surfaces with a hint of the brand’s VW Group ownership peeking through here and there.Â
And it’s efficient aerodynamically with a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.259 for the Liftback and 0.287 for the Wagon.
The broad black grille is uniquely Skoda although the rear treatment is closer to generic premium Euro. Swap out the Skoda badging for four rings or a blue, black and white roundel and no one would bat an eyelid.
But the SportLine stands apart thanks to a gloss-black finish on the grille, mirror covers, rear spoiler on the Liftback and roof rails on the Wagon.
On top of that a rear diffuser and front spoiler have been added, the window surrounds are matt black and dual exhaust tips finish off the rear end.
The interior is dominated by a handsome multi-layer dash design with a 10-inch multimedia touchscreen in the centre and a 10.25-inch ‘Virtual Cockpit’ instrument display facing the driver.
The grippy ‘leather-appointed’, flat-bottom steering wheel has shift paddles lurking behind the rim, there are sporty alloy covers on the pedals and the roof lining is black.
The cloth ‘Sports Comfort’ seats look and feel great, the materials used are high quality and the Octavia shares its umbrella-in-the-door trick with Rolls-Royce, although it must be said, the latter provides two.
Hyundai i407/10
The i40 wagon looks good, I even caught myself doing that admiring 'look back' thing you do when you walk away from your car. Thing is, the current i40 has the ‘old’ Hyundai styling that dates it compared to the new i30, Sonata and Kona, which reflect the brand’s latest look.
This brings me to something you should really know – the newer, updated i40 will arrive in Australia soon, and it will be more in line with Hyundai’s current design approach.
The i40 is also up against some hot-looking rivals. The Mondeo is gorgeous, the Passat is stately, and the Commodore also looks stunning. To be honest the i40 is the least attractive of that lot form where I’m looking. It’s also about the same size as that trio at 4775mm long, 1815mm wide and 1470mm in height.
My mum would call the interior of the i40 Active smart looking, but she doesn’t mean tech-smart, more school dance smart, and if she ever said that before you went to a school dance you’d get changed immediately.
Yes, it looks smart in a tidy, stylish way, but that tiny screen, cloth seats and ordinary plastics lower the tone compared to the Premium's more 'premium' interior.Â
Practicality
Skoda Octavia
At a fraction under 4.7m long, just over 1.8m wide and close to 1.5m tall, with a close to 2.7m wheelbase the Octavia SportLine Liftback and Wagon are at the upper end of the mid-size category.
At 183cm I’ve got plenty of breathing room in the front, the low-level dash helping to deliver a spacious feel.
For storage, there’s a generous area under an extendable, height-adjustable armrest between the seats, twin cupholders in the centre console, bins in the doors with enough room for large bottles and a decent cooled glove box. There’s also Skoda’s signature lined rubbish bin in the driver’s door.
In the back, sitting behind the driver’s seat, set to my position, I’ve got plenty of room for my feet, legs and head as well as enough shoulder room for three full-size adults on cozy, medium length journeys.
Adjustable ventilation is welcome and storage options include map pockets on the front seat backs, big door bins, oddments storage under the air outlets and a pair of cupholders in the fold-down centre armrest.
Connectivity and power runs to two USB-C outlets, a 12-volt socket and a wireless charging pad up front with a second 12V in the boot. No USBs or 12-volt for back-seaters, which is a miss.
Speaking of the boot, with all seats up the Liftback offers a competitive 600 litres of storage space, expanding to 1555L with the 40/20/40 split rear seat folded. Those numbers grow to 640 and 1700L in the wagon. Plus, there’s a rear seat ‘ski-port’ style door in both.
A space-saver spare sits under the floor, the tailgate is power-operated and for those keen on towing the Octavia is rated up to a 1.5-tonne braked trailer with trailer stability control standard.
Hyundai i408/10
The i40 wagon nails the practicality category. Storage space is excellent with a deep, wide console bin under the centre armrest, and there’s another big well in front of the gear shifter.Â
There are large pockets in all the doors with bottle holders, two cupholders up front and another two in the fold-down rear armrest, plus another storage area in there, too.
The i40 Tourer’s 506 litre cargo capacity is good, but can’t beat the Passat’s 650 litres, while it matches the Mazda6 wagon’s boot space.
Rear legroom borders on limo territory and even at 191cm I can sit behind my driving position with about 50mm of space between my knees and the seat back. Headroom back there is also extremely generous.
The rear doors open wide, making for an easy exit or entry, too.
Price and features
Skoda Octavia
With the aim of giving the Octavia a value-focused mid-life boost, the SportLine adds some racy extras outside, inside and underneath and we’ll cover them in detail in the Design and Driving sections.
For now, it’s important to note it all comes at the same price as the already well-equipped, entry-level Style. That is, $40,590, before on-road costs, for the Liftback and close to $41,890 for the Wagon.
And to support this new variant’s arrival, national drive-away pricing has been set for both at an extra $1900 and $2100, respectively ($42,490 and $43,990).
Aside from that, the Sportline boasts a handy standard features list, the highlights being dual-zone climate control, adaptive cruise control, 18-inch alloy rims, auto LED matrix headlights, a power tailgate, a 10-inch media touchscreen (with voice recognition) and 10.25-inch digital instrument display, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, keyless entry and start, auto rain-sensing wipers, a reversing camera, built-in nav and eight-speaker audio.
An optional ‘Premium Pack’ ($3200) adds power adjustable front seats (with lumbar and memory function), heated front and rear (outboard) seats, ‘Adaptive Lane Guidance’, ‘Emergency Assist’, digital radio, tri-zone climate control and additional USB-C outlets. A panoramic sunroof is available on the Wagon for $1900.Â
‘Candy White’ is the single no-cost paint colour, with ‘Black Magic Pearlescent’, ‘Graphite Grey Metallic’, ‘Moon White Metallic’ or ‘Race Blue Metallic’ adding $770 to the price-tag while ‘Velvet Red Metallic’ steps up to $1100.
Overall, pretty good value for the category, even before you start factoring in the SportLine extras.
Hyundai i407/10
There are only two grades in the i40 range - 'Active' and 'Premium'. And when it comes to engines you again have two choices - petrol or diesel. The latter adding $2600 to the price.
If you’re looking for the most affordable way into an i40 wagon go for the Active. Listing at a base price of $35,690, 'our' i40 Active Tourer diesel had one option – 'Ocean View' metallic paint, adding an extra $595.
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The Active grade costs $9160 less than Premium, and as much as I’d like to say that top-spec car is pretty much the same, with some shiny bits of door trim added, I’d be lying.Â
The Active really does miss out on some decent stuff – the screen is the smallest I’ve seen since I wore a digital watch, at 4.3-inch (the Premium has a 7.0-inch), there’s air-con but not climate control, there’s keyless entry but not a proximity key or push button start.
The Active doesn’t get a power tailgate with a handsfree function like the Premium, or tinted rear glass, or a digital speedo, or a panoramic sunroof, or a power adjustable driver’s seat, or heated seats, all of which are standard on the Premium grade.
Yup, the Active may be as base grade as you can get but it still comes with paddles shifters, LED daytime running lights, an electric handbrake with auto hold function, front and rear parking sensors, cloth seats and 16-inch alloy wheels.
A list price nudging $36K may seem high, but don’t’ forget you’re paying more for the diesel engine. There’s good reason to spend the extra on the diesel, too – which I’ll explain below.
The i40 Active Tourer diesel undercuts the $39,040 Ford Mondeo Ambiente diesel wagon, while the Volkswagen Passat 140TDI wagon only comes in the mid-spec Highline grade for $49,990 (and is a bit ‘next level’ by comparison), while the Mazda6 wagon in Touring spec with diesel engine is $41,440.Â
Other rivals? Yes, the new Holden Commodore Sportwagon diesel is $38,890. So, compared to its rivals the i40 Active Tourer is a bit of a bargain.
Under the bonnet
Skoda Octavia
A 1.4-litre all-alloy, direct-injected, turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine sits under the Skoda Octavia’s bonnet, sending 110kW/250Nm to the front wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission with ‘Tiptronic’ sequential manual shifting accessible via wheel-mounted paddles.
Hyundai i407/10
This is another area in which our test car impressed with its 1.7-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel and seven-speed dual clutch auto transmission.
At 104kW, it may be less powerful than the petrol (121kW) but its 340Nm of torque gave it the shove to accelerate impressively from 1750rpm (idle is 800rpm).
The engine and dual-clutch combination performs beautifully; smooth even at low speed in traffic, and shifting down intuitively to make best use of engine braking.
Efficiency
Skoda Octavia
Skoda’s official combined cycle fuel economy number for the Octavia SportLine is 5.7L/100km for the Liftback and 5.9L per hundred for the Wagon, the 1.4-litre turbo four emitting 180g/km of CO2 in the process.
On the launch drive program covering urban, B-road and freeway running along the coast south of Sydney, NSW we recorded an average of 6.4L/100km in the Liftback. Not too shabby for a non-hybrid in this class.
Worth noting the minimum fuel requirement is the pricier 95 RON premium unleaded, though. Â
You’ll need 45 litres of it to fill the tank which translates to a theoretical range of around 790km… roughly 700km using our real-world number.
Hyundai i407/10
Hyundai will tell you the i40 Tourer diesel will get 5.1L/100km over a combination of open and urban roads. The trip computer in our test car said it was averaging 7.4L/100km. Still, that’s not bad mileage.
Driving
Skoda Octavia
Skoda says the Octavia SportLine will accelerate from 0-100km/h in 9.0 seconds, which isn’t ferociously fast but far from sluggish at the same time, especially for a roughly 1.3-tonne vehicle. And the fact peak torque (250Nm) is available from 1500-4000rpm makes it easy to drive with plenty of oomph through the mid-range.
Worth noting, while the urge is there, the turbo four’s power delivery isn’t always linear, more often from step off, with the engine at times taking half a beat to respond to a squeeze of the accelerator pedal before the power arrives.
Nothing dramatic, however, and the ‘Shift-by-Wire’ eight-speed auto transmission is smooth, with ‘Eco’, ‘Normal’ and ‘Sport’ modes available, the latter holding onto ratios longer on the way up the gears and shifting down more readily when an extra burst of acceleration is required. And if you want to take full control, ‘manual’ shifts via wheel-mounted paddles are satisfyingly quick.Â
Suspension is strut front with a ‘compound link crank-axle’ at the rear, the latter being Skoda-speak for a torsion beam.Â
The SportLine’s suspension is 15mm lower than the Style’s with springs and shock absorbers re-tuned for sharper dynamic response. Yet, despite that and the standard 18-inch rims shod with low-profile tyres there’s no penalty in terms of ride compliance.
Even over coarse B-road surfaces the Octavia remains comfortable and composed. The steering is nicely weighted and road feel is good, with a nice connection between the front tyres and hands on the wheel.
Pressing on through the curves the car is stable and balanced with the (225/45) Bridgestone Turanza rubber gripping hard. And if you really have the bit between your teeth an electronically-controlled diff lock helps put the power down effectively.
Braking by ventilated discs at the front with solid rotors at the rear and under the pressure of some steep, twisting and fairly rapid descents stopping power is solid. The pedal is progressive on application and when easing off.
Under the heading of miscellaneous observations, engine noise is agreeably low, especially for a small capacity turbo-petrol engine, the sports front seats are supportive and comfortable over lengthy stints behind the wheel and a lateral slider located below the central multimedia screen to control audio volume is a neat ergonomic solution.
In the midst of the current arm wrestle between the design cleanliness of an on-screen volume control and the simple effectiveness of a physical dial the Octavia’s slider, while still a haptic-style operation, represents a safe and practical middle ground between the two.
Hyundai i407/10
A comfortable ride, impressive handling for the class, and a great engine and transmission mean the i40 Active Tourer diesel is engaging and enjoyable to drive.Â
The driving position is excellent, the seats are large but supportive, and the pedal feel is spot on. The i40 Tourer is way better to drive than it needs to be and would embarrass some cars from more prestigious brands.
It’s not all perfect: the cabin could be better insulated with wind noise obvious at 90km/h and tyre rumble intruding on course chip roads; visibility is hampered by those slanted A-pillars and the reversing camera image is next to useless thanks to the business card-sized screen in the Active.
Safety
Skoda Octavia
Safety is one of Skoda’s strongest suits so no surprise the Octavia scored a maximum five ANCAP stars from assessment in 2019.Â
It includes active crash-avoidance tech highlights like AEB (with pedestrian and cyclist detection), a surround-view and reversing camera, ‘Park Assist’, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist, rear cross-traffic alert, rear parking sensors, tyre pressure monitoring and fatigue detection.Â
If an impact is unavoidable, there are eight airbags on-board, including a front centre and driver’s knee bag which holds up well in 2024 and shows how far ahead of the passive safety game the Octavia was when it launched here in 2021.
There are three top tethers for child seats across the second row, with ISOFIX anchors on the outer positions.
Hyundai i406/10
Hyundai’s website says the i40 Tourer scores the maximum five-star ANCAP rating. That’s true, but a bit sneaky because that ranking was given to the car back in 2013, and a lot has changed in terms of safety equipment in five years.Â
AEB, for example, is becoming common. So is rear cross traffic alert and blind spot warning, along with adaptive cruise control. You can’t get any of this advanced safety equipment on the current i40, not even the top-spec Premium.
Don’t get me wrong, the i40 is extremely safe with its suite of airbags, plus traction and stability controls - it’s just that the bar for safety has been raised higher.
The new i40 is expected to come armed with more up-to-date safety equipment.
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If you’re fitting child seats you’ll find two ISOFIX mounts and three top tether anchor points across the rear row. It’s great to see a full-sized spare wheel under the boot floor, too.
Ownership
Skoda Octavia
The Octavia is covered by Skoda’s seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, which is two years up on the majority of the mainstream market.
Roadside Assist is complimentary for the first year, renewed annually if you have your Octavia serviced at an authorised Skoda dealer.
The main service interval is 12 months/15,000km, which is in line with most of the competition and Skoda offers five- and seven-year service packs, the latter equating to $393 per workshop visit, which isn’t out of line for the segment.
And through Skoda Choice you can opt for a Guaranteed Future Value offer ranging up to five years and currently at a 6.99 per cent rate.
Hyundai i408/10
The i40 Tourer is covered by Hyundai’s five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. Servicing is recommended every 15,000km/12months at a capped price of $339. A servicing plan is also available for three years ($777), four years ($1136), and five years ($1395).Â