Czech Please

With its 10/10 campaign Skoda has got many eyes focused on its Laura. After launching its premium model the Superb, the Czech-based company has launched its new Laura (which is sold worldwide as the Skoda Octavia). The company rates the car 10 on 10 and now it’s our turn (at CarWale) to give our rating to the Laura.

The Laura has undergone quite a few cosmetic changes. The new design looks more muscular and streamlined with crisp lines running along the sedan. The entire Skoda range has been spruced up to get the new family look.

The front grille has been copied from the Skoda Superb making it the new standard Skoda front grille. The curvy hood has now become smooth and the larger air inlet below the front with the hood has a bulge beginning from the Skoda monogram on the front grille which becomes broader as it moves towards the windshield. The increased spacing between the vertical slats on the front grille and a thicker chrome-lip above it grille, and the new bumper give the front end a more muscular look. The new headlamps are peeled back with the side indicator lamps moved back further, the fog lamps have been reshaped, and the new front fenders have lost their curvy design to form a step with the hood and not to forget the re-designed headlamp washers to match the styling of the headlamps. The new flowing headlamp lines don’t gel too well with the rest of the Laura’s taut, muscular design.

The profile of the Laura has undergone quite a few changes, with the now more prominent indicators integrated into the headlamps and the new body-coloured rub strips being the most noticeable changes. The side indicators are more prominent as the facelift Laura follows the new Skoda family look. The facelift gets larger side view mirrors and new wheels with the 2.0TDI L&K getting 16” and the rest of the pack getting 15”. The rear end of the Laura has undergone a few changes as well. The C-shaped tail lamps in the facelift looks more highlighted and the redesigned rear bumper sports reflectors.
The Laura TSI has nothing to differentiate it from its sisters, except for the tyres which are visibly taller than the 2-litre TDI’s. This appearance is mostly due to the smaller rims, whose design is identical to the TDI’s rims. At the back, a discreet ‘TSI’ badge hints at the new petrol engine at the other end of the car.
The Laura is available in five colours; Arctic Breeze (what you see on these pages), Candy White, Brilliant Silver, Magic Black and Cappuccino Beige. We miss the scarlet that the old Laura was available in – all the current colours are sober ones and mask the car’s sporty character.

The facelifted Laura’s interiors have been designed ergonomically and now have more features. The new variants have black and beige interiors with chrome touches on the steering, dash and gearknob.
If you have owned or driven a Volkswagen, you will feel at home in the Laura. The Laura shares a lot of its interiors with the Jetta. The new Skoda four-spoke steering wheel is used across the Skoda range. The fit and finish of the sedan is great and exudes quality. The Laura has a white backlit twin-dial instrument cluster with a digital multi-function display sandwiched in the middle. This displays trip distance, trip time, fuel consumption and distance to empty. The L&K variant has a 6.5” Touch Screen, with a 6-CD changer and SD/MMC reader integrated audio system with 12-speakers whereas the other variants have a “Swing” Music System with a single CD-changer borrowed from the Volkswagen Jetta and eight speakers. The single-disc player’s display looks plain when compared to the L&K’s touchscreen, but the white LCD is clear to read, easy on the eyes and the speakers belt out punchy bass and clear highs with no distortion no matter how much the volume has been turned up.

The Laura has spacious interiors to comfortably seat four 6-footers. The driver’s seat can be adjusted for room and height manually in the Ambiente and the Elegance variants and 12-way electrically adjustable seats in the L&K variant. There is enough space for three people at the rear, with no problems with knee room or head room. Shoulder space for three grown males might be a tight fit, however. Entry and exit for those with knee or back problems might be slightly difficult as the seats are quite low. The Laura has electrically folding ORVMs, the left hand side mirror has a convex curve for more visibility, with auto-dimming mirrors on the L&K. The Elegance and the L&K have heaters in the front seats.

The Elegance and the L&K variants have a dual zone climatronic air-conditioner, however, the Ambiente has a climatic air-conditioner. The other changes on the Laura are the wooden trim on the dash and door panels and black hazard light switches and tyre pressure monitoring system. The interiors of the TSI are beige with silver inserts, making it appear bigger and more pleasant than the old Laura’s forbidding grey and black interiors. Of course, this also means that keeping the interiors clean is a task best left to ‘someone else’. The TSI lacks some features of the L&K variant, like the fake wood strips, the steering-mounted audio controls and detailed multifunction display in the instrument cluster. The few complaints that we had were fogging of the windshield at night when the air-conditioner was switched on – this seems to be a common problem on a lot of Skodas and is apparently a problem with the air distribution. Our other complaint is that the reach of the headlamps isn’t enough if you drive at high speeds.

The Laura has a massive boot space of 560 litres which can be accessed by a rear seat passenger while on the go through an opening behind the armrest or through the 60:40 rear seat split, and the boot can be opened from inside in case the doors don’t open and the passengers need to get out. This doesn’t apply to the doors, however – lock the doors once with the remote, and pulling twice on the inside door handle will unlock the door. Press the ‘lock’ button on the remote thrice, however, and no amount of door pulls or pushing of the ‘unlock’ button on the centre console will have any effect.

Engine

The Laura is available with three engine variants; the 1.8TSI, 1.9 TDI and the 2.0TDI. The Laura shares the 1.8TSI and 2.0TDI with the Superb and the 1.9 TDI with the Jetta. The Laura being a front wheel drive, the engine is placed transversely which powers the wheels through a 5 or 6-speed manual or six-speed DSG automatic gearbox.

The L&K comes with an oil-burning 16-valve, 139bhp 1968cc powerplant which produces an enormous max torque of 320Nm@1750rpm. The engine is noisy, a characteristic of all diesels using unit injector technology. The turbo’s extra shove is linear and sweet. Plant your right foot and the engine starts hauling the car down the road, however, there is certain amount of delay probably thanks to the tuning of the ETC (electronic throttle control) which smoothens the step in performance once the turbo starts doing its work. In our 0-100kph run the car took 10.8seconds and in the quarter mile run the Laura 2.0TDI took 17.3 seconds at 130.7kph.

The 1798cc turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine in the TSI variant is similar, but not identical, to the same engine that powers many VW-Audi group cars – it is shared by the Superb and A4 in our country already, and we’re hoping that VW India will slot it under the hood of the Jetta as well. The ‘TSI’ stands for a combination of ‘Turbocharged’ and ‘FSI’ – Fuel Stratified Injection – which is the VW group’s patented name for direct-injection gasoline engines. FSI helps the engine consume much less fuel under certain conditions like idling or cruising, which adds up to better overall fuel efficiency.

This engine has a lot to prove, because it goes head-to-head with Honda’s R18A from the Civic, and Toyota’s 2ZR-FE from the Corolla Altis. Both Japanese manufacturers have a built a reputation for delivering power and reliability with excellent fuel efficiency from their engines, so the 1.8 TSI has an uphill task. It is rated at 160bhp, which is more than both the Civic’s and the Corolla’s 130bhp, so it wins the ‘mine’s bigger than yours’ round with ease. It also feels a lot quicker than that number suggests, which is a pleasant surprise. Despite being a petrol engine, it has many characteristics that remind us of a diesel: it is turbocharged and maximum power is rated at 4500rpm, with the peak torque figure of 250Nm arriving at 1500rpm. It is redlined at 6000rpm, however, so there is a wide powerband and despite it being a turbocharged manual, turbo lag is never evident.

Fans of the now-discontinued Octavia RS have been waiting with bated breath and chequebooks in hand for this engine to arrive at our shores, and it doesn’t disappoint. This engine being a part of the acclaimed TSI range of engines that are sold worldwide (including the 1.4 TFSI engine from the same range, which has won the prestigious ‘International Engine of the Year’ award this year,) there are a lot of parts that can be purchased and fitted to increase power output. Power is nothing without control, however, so the TSI offers traction control but no ESP. An interesting feature we noted while testing was the electronic rev limiter that held the engine steady at 4000rpm even though the right pedal was pressed all the way to the floor when the car was stationary – once on the go, it revs to the redline (and slightly beyond) without hesitation. We are told that the engine is intentionally held at peak power to allow for a clean getaway from rest, and it certainly works – we managed a consistent 9.2 second run to 100kph from rest during testing. This acceleration doesn’t let up after that point, with the car passing the quarter mile in 16.6 seconds at 137.2kph.

The engine is quite capable of breaking the tyres’ traction if given the boot when in the powerband even in second gear, but the traction control keeps things in check. Even with the safety system turned off, the linear buildup of power will give the driver no unpleasant surprises that are usually associated with turbocharged engines. All hooliganism will be accompanied by a vibration-free muted growl from under the hood, while during normal usage, the only indication that the engine is ticking over is the tachometer needle. The engine is so quiet, we wouldn’t have a clue if someone replaced it with a nuclear reactor until we either revved it beyond 4000rpm and heard no sound or the driver started glowing in the dark, whichever came first.

Drivetrain

The Laura comes with 5-speed (1.9 TDI) or a 6-speed manual gearbox (1.8 TSI) or an automatic DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) 6-speed box. The Direct Shift Gearbox has a dual clutch where one clutch engages and disengages the odd gears (like 1, 3 and 5 and reverse) and the other for the even gears. This helps in seamless shifting as one clutch disengages; the other engages thus reducing the overall shift time. We sorely missed paddles behind the wheel which the VW Group uses on its Jetta. This gearbox is very responsive, allowing the 2.0TDI to go from 30-50kph in 2.5 sec and from 50-70kph in 3.2 sec.

The short, positive throws in the TSI will have you changing gears more often than you need to in the Laura TSI. The high torque figure means that you don’t have to change gears if you don’t want to – a 30-50kph time of 3.6 seconds in third gear shows how drivable the engine can be. Even in fourth gear, the 30-50kph slog is passed in 5.6 seconds without any protesting from the engine. The 50-70kph was dispatched in 5.9 seconds in fifth gear. Sixth gear is really very tall and will not be used in the city. On the highway, it helps lower engine noise and increase fuel economy.

Fuel Efficiency

The Laura TSI is better than the 8.9kpl figure suggests. The fault lies with us for getting such a low figure in this car, because you can’t help but drive this car hard if you like driving. The 2.0TDI manages to return 10kpl consistently, which makes it the prime candidate for those who want their laughs yet keep running costs down.

The Laura 2.0 TDI rides fairly well; though sharp bumps tend to filter through to the cabin. The smaller rim size on the TSI helps it cope with bumps better than the TDI. The McPherson suspension with lower triangular links and torsion stabilizer at the front end and multi-element axle, with one longitudinal and three transverse links, with torsion stabilizer at the rear jounce and rebound (movement when the wheel goes into and over the bump respectively)to keep the ride quality good at low and high speeds.

Like most of the European designed cars, the Laura handles well be it straights or corners. Accompanied by the good ride quality at speed and perky engine the car encourages to be pushed further. Cornering is fun and small driving errors are easily forgiven as the ESP in the TDI corrects them. The TSI may not have ESP, but the traction control helps keep things in check. One of our testers (CP) couldn’t resist driving fast in the Laura.

The Laura is a car for passionate drivers – the steering wheel of the Laura is light at low speeds making squeezing through traffic, turning and parking easy and at higher speeds, the steering weighs up giving the driver good feedback. The engineers at Skoda have been able to increase the steering angle by a couple of degrees by tweaking the suspension, thus decreasing the turning radius to 5.1m compared to the previous 5.4m. The Laura has a ground clearance of 164mm which is low, however due to the comparatively high and short chin, the probability of the Laura scraping its bottom is less compared to a few of its competitors.

Braking

The Laura has highly sensitive brakes and the brakes can handle the power well. The brake pedal is soft and progressive. To assist the driver for avoiding wheel lock-ups the Laura has Anti-lock brakes (ABS) and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD). In our braking test, the Laura came to a complete standstill from a speed of 80kph in 30.9 metres for both the TSI and the TDI.

Tyres

The 2.0TDI is shod with tyres of the size 205/55/R16, and the TSI with 195/65 R15. Both have Goodyear Eagle NCT5s which grip well on dry surfaces and even cut through water at high speeds with ease. The tyres are moderate when it comes to hardness and low on tread noise.

Safety

The Laura comes loaded with a huge list of active and passive safety features. The active features include ABS (Anti-lock Braking System), EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution), MBA (Mechanical Brake Assistant), HBA (Hydraulic Brake Assistant), ASR (Anti Slip Regulation), TCS (Traction Control System), EDL (Electronic Differential Lock), ESP (Electronic Stability Programme) and the passive ones include three-point seatbelts for all the five occupants and six airbags. The Laura got a little less than 4 stars in the Euro NCAP rating, with the Laura scoring maximum points in side impact test compared to its competitors in the European market due to the seat-mounted thorax airbags.

The Laura range begins at Rs 13.4 lakh for the TSI and tops out at Rs 18.2 lakh, ex-showroom, Mumbai for the 2.0 TDI L&K. The petrol will slug it out with the likes of the Civic and Corolla Altis, and the L&K will compete with the likes of the Jetta, Sonata Transform and even the base-model Accord on price. The TSI makes a very strong case for itself by being a brilliant driver’s car, yet with supple enough ride to take the family on a holiday. The L&K throws in a lot of goodies and impressive diesel economy as well, but it is priced uncomfortably close to the Honda Accord and the petrol Superb as well. Skoda’s after-sales and service reputation continue to haunt it like a bad dream, but don’t let that detract from the fact that the Laura is a brilliant car, capable of putting a smile on everyone’s face for different reasons. We’d pick the TSI because it’s such a bargain, but the diesel would be the ultimate cross-country mile muncher.