Auto Express – August 07, 2019

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk 7August 201947

VWGolfEstate1.0TSI115 Match

PRICE:£22, 925 ENGINE:1.0-litre3cyl, 113bhp

IFyougoforaVWGolfEstate,asimilar budgettoourtesttrio

buysanEstatein Matchtrim.This gets

adecentlevelofequipment, but

you’ll havetosacrificepower;

atthis priceit’sthe smaller

1.0TSI 115 engine.Atleastthe

605-litrebootisbig enough.

FordFocusEstate1.0T1 40 ST-Line

PRICE:£22,915 ENGINE:1.0-litre3cyl, 138bhp

WITH 575litresin its load bay,theFocusEstateoffersmore

bootspacethan theMéganeST,even

if it trails theother twocarshere.

ButtheFocus is the mostfun

cartodrive, sokeen drivers

should check it out.Sporty

ST-Line gets good kit,too.

KiaCeedSportswagonvsrivals ROADTESTS

Ontheroadprice/totalastested

Residualvalue(after3yrs/36,000)

Depreciation

Annualtaxliabilitystd/higherrate

Annualfuelcost(12k/20kmiles)

Ins.group/quote/VED

Costof1st/2nd/3rdservice

Length/wheelbase

Height/width

Engine

Peakpower/revs

Peaktorque/revs

Transmission

Fueltankcapacity/sparewheel

Bootcapacity(seatsup/down)

Kerbweight/payload/towingweight

Turningcircle/dragcoefficient

Basicwarranty(miles)/recovery

DriverPowermanufacturer/dealerpos

NCAP:Adult/child/ped./assist/stars

0-60/30-70mph

30-50mphin3rd/4th

50-70mphin5th/6th

Topspeed/rpmat70mph

Braking70-0/60-0/30-0mph

AutoExpresseconomy/range

WLTPeconomymin-max

WLTPeconomymin-max

Actual/claimedCO 2 /taxbracket

Airbags/Isofix/parksensors/camera
Autobox/lanekeep/blindspot/AEB
Climate/cruise/leather/heatedseats
Metallic/LEDs/keylessgo/pwrtailgate
Sat-nav/digidash/DAB/connectserv
Wirelesscharge/CarPlay/AndroidAuto

AEB=AutonomousEmergencyBraking.*Jointoptions.Inred=equipmentfittedtoourtestcar.InsurancequotesfromAA(Tel08001070680orwww.theAA.com)fora42-year-oldlivinginBanbury,Oxon,withthreepenaltypoints.ResidualvaluesprovidedbyCDLVIPData.

Figures

RESIDUALVALUES

OCTAVIA’S all-

round ability is

highlightedby

itsstrongresidual

values. It’ll hold

ontoahigher

proportionofits

value than rivals.

BOOTSPACE

DESPITEoffering

15 litres less

luggageroom

than the Kia Ceed

Sportswagon, the

Skoda’sbootisstill

huge and more

than practical

enough.

SAFETY

SKODAgetsfive

EuroNCAPstars,

but autonomous

braking is an

option–it’sone

ofthefewblack

marksagainstthe

Octavia Estate.

INFOTAINMENT

OCTAVIA’S

multimedia set-up

is the besthere.

Yougetenough

kit in SE Drive

spec, with good

connectivity

options,too.

INSURANCE

STRONG

standardsafety

kitcontributes

towards the

lowestinsurance

premiumforour

sample driver.

ENGINE

NEWTCe1 40

motormakes the

Mégane Sport

Toureramuch

moreappealing

proposition.

Performance

feels adequate.

LUGGAGE

STYLISH looks

impact practicality

slightly.Bootis

smaller than rivals,

while visibility is

also hampered.

Build quality is

good, though.

DRIVER POWER

KIAtook third

placeinourowner

satisfaction survey,

justtwoplaces

aheadofSkoda.

Renault trailed

well behind in

19th spotoverall.

EMISSIONS

HIGH emissions

put Kia in 30 per

centBenefit in

Kind bracket.It’s

also the priciest

car here,so will

be thecostliest

companycar.

ECONOMY

RENAULTreturned

decenteconomy

of36.2mpg.

However,all three

carswereclosefor

efficiencyontest,

so therewon’t be

much difference

in fuelcosts.

Skoda Octavia

Estate1.5TSI

150 SEDrive

£22,765/£22,765

£9,882/43.4%

£12,883

£1,262/£2,525

£1,859/£3,098

20/£723/£145

£342(2yrs)

4,667/2,686mm

1,465/1,814mm

4cylin-line/1,498cc

148/5,000bhp/rpm

250/1,500Nm/rpm

6-spdman/fwd

50litres/£150

610 /1,740litres

1,227/645/1,700kg

10.4metres

3yrs(60,000)/3yrs

5th/8th

93 / 86 / 66 / 66 / 5 (’13)

8.7/8.2secs

4.1/5.5secs

7.4/9.2secs

134mph/2,500rpm

48.1/35.4/9.3m

37.8/416miles

40.4-44.8mpg

8.9-9.9mpl

173/124g/km/28%

Seven/yes/yes/£380

£1,250/£460/no/£320

Yes/yes/no/£255

£595/no/£410/£410

Yes/no/yes/yes

No/yes/yes

KiaCeed

Sportswagon

1.4T-GDi3

£22,810/£22,810

£9,525/41.8%

£13,285

£1,353/£2,705

£1,930/£3,217

15 /£412/£145

£429(3yrs)

4,600/2,650mm

1,465/1,800mm

4-cylin-line/1,353cc

138/6,000bhp/rpm

242/1,500Nm/rpm

6-spdman/fwd

50litres/spacesaver

625/1,694litres

1,352/498/1,000kg

N/A

7yrs(100k)/1yr

3rd/7th

88/85/68/73/5(’19)

8.8/8.5secs

4.1/5.5secs

7.4/9.6secs

130mph/2,500rpm

46.6/33.9/9.5m

36.4/400miles

45.6mpg

10.0mpl

179/132g/km/30%

Six/yes/yes/yes

£1,100/yes/no/yes

Yes/yes/no/no

£570/no/no/no

Yes/no/yes/yes

No/yes/yes

RenaultMégane

SportTourer

TCe1 40 GTLine

£22,050/£25,650

£8,974/40.7%

£13,076

£1,307/£2,614

£1,941/£3,235

19/£430/£145

£449(3yrs)

4,626/2,712mm

1,457/1,814mm

4cylin-line/1,332cc

138/5,000bhp/rpm

240/1,600Nm/rpm

6-spdman/fwd

50litres/£150

521 /1,433litres

1,419/462/1,700kg

11.4metres

3yrs(60,000)/3yrs

19th/27th

88/87/71/71/5(’15)

9.2/8.2secs

3.9/5.7secs

8.1/10.3secs

127mph/2,400rpm

51.4/37.2/9.7m

36.2/398miles

42.8-45.6mpg

9.4-10.0mpl

180/131g/km/30%

Six/yes/yes/£400*

£1,360/n/£500*/£400*

Yes/yes/no/no

£550/£500/yes/no

Yes/no/yes/yes

No/yes/yes

Rivals

Otheroptionsin

thiscategory...

1 st^2 nd^3 rd

Results

SKODA

PRACTICALITYisagiven

intheOctaviaEstate;the

bootandinteriorspacearewell

matchedandthecabinfeelshighin

quality.Butthelevelofcomforton

offerisgreat,too,andwhenyouadd

theslickinfotainmentsysteminto

themix,thentheSkodaisthemost

comprehensiveandwellroundedofthe

threemachineshere.Thatit’llholdon

tothemostmoneyandbecheaper

torunthanitsrivalsisabonus.

★★★★★

KIA

THEKia’sextraboot

spacedoesn’ttranslate

intoallthatmuchmorepracticality,

whiletheCeedSWisn’tasquick,not

asrefined,andnotascomfortableas

theSkoda.Theinfotainmentsystem

andlevelofstandardkitonofferare

great,andboostedbytheextra

standardsafetytechwhencompared

withtheSkoda.It’sstillaverycapable

familyestatecar–butinnearlyevery

areaitjusttrailstheCzechmodel.

★★★★★

RENAULT

ADDINGtheTCe1 40

enginemeansthe

MéganeSportTourerismuchimproved.

It’scomfortable,too:acommodity

that’svaluableinanyfamilyestate.

However,itlacksthemostimportant

one:space.Eventhoughthecarlooks

great,it’snotasversatileasitstwo

rivals.GTLinegetsagoodlevelofkit

andshouldbeeconomicaltorun,but

inafewvitalareastheMéganecan’t

matcheithertheCeedortheOctavia.

★★★★★

ROADTEST

★★★★✩

SKODA

OCTAVIA EST

AUG 2019

a