15/07/08

• Price17,390
• We like...Value, space inside
• We don't...Gearshifts when in 'auto' mode

We like the Octavia. But when the DSG - Direct Shift Gearbox - is aboard, is it at its best?We’d recommend a Skoda any day, because they’re socking good value. But, whichever model you’ve an eye on, the real bargains are to be found at the cheaper end of the line-up.

But what about those times when Skoda gets clever and offers something new. Do similar rules apply? The car we’ve got here is one such. It has a Direct Shift Gearbox, or DSG for short. This, says, Skoda gives ultra-quick gearshifts and the ease of an auto gearbox, but none of the power loss or excess fuel consumption you’d otherwise take for granted with a self-shifter.

DSG has two clutches. It predicts which gear of the six offered you’ll need next, picks it and then changes when the time’s right. The result, says Skoda is a smooth, fast gearchange. Power from engine to wheels is scarcely interrupted.

The driver can leave it in ‘D’ as you might any auto or push the lever across the gate to use the Tiptronic, which allows manual changes by nudging the lever forwards or back. This gearbox may be new to Skoda but it comes courtesy of the make’s parent company, Volkswagen. So DSG already features in umpteen VW and Audi models. That bodes well. Most of the teething troubles will have been sorted.

Well that might be. But, whether we drove gently or hard, DSG in ‘auto’ setting hesitated its changes just sufficiently for us to notice. Enough to matter? Yes. We believe autos should be perfectly smooth but this, for us, wasn’t.

Still, it promises to take you further per gallon than a manually geared Octavia and at 9.6sec for 0-60mph, it's quick enough. Here it’s teamed with the VW Group’s excellent 2.0-litre 140bhp diesel and is good for 51.4mpg best overall, which is terrific. CO2 emissions are low, too.

Otherwise this is an Octavia hatch like any other – tough, nicely made and good to drive, but strictly no frills. You’ll not find stereo volume buttons on the steering wheel as you will in most of its rivals, nor auto-on headlamps or wipers. What you will find is a pleasant, durable and well finished cabin.

The Skoda’s longer than the Volkswagen Golf on which it is based but shorter than, say, a Ford Mondeo, so it’s very roomy for a small hatchback or a little cramped for a family car, although its boot is big. It drives smoothly and neatly, with its ride biased towards comfort rather than performance.

Our Ambiente is one above the entry model, the classic and has everything you’d want, pretty much. Alloy wheels, air conditioning a smart cabin and a good CD-radio are all present. The only omission that might surprise is curtain airbags. These are an option at extra cost, although front and side airbags come within the price.

We’d own one, any day. But try DSG well and long before you buy and remember that it adds £1310 to the price of the manually-geared car. For us, gears we pick and a clutch pedal is where we’d go.

• Engines2.0 PD
• Power140bhp
• 0-60 mph9.6sec
• Economy47.1
• CO2g/km158
• Insurance groups9E
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags4
• Seats5

Motors.co.uk value verdict: