Skoda Octavia RS

Skoda Australia has revealed pricing and specs for the 2019 Octavia RS, now available exclusively with a dual-clutch transmission and the more powerful 180kW engine tune. The car will be offered in RS 2.0 TSI and RS 245 grades as a sedan or wagon, sending 180kW and 370Nm to the front wheels through a seven-speed DSG. An electrically-controlled limited-slip differential is standard across the range, too.

Customisation is in vogue at the moment, but choice can be seriously confusing. In our new configurator challenge, we’re going to let the CarAdvice team loose on a manufacturer’s website to create their ideal spec of a certain model. For this edition of the Configurator Challenge, we’re designing our perfect Skoda Octavia RS. Let us know what you think in the comments, and which cars you’d like to see next!

One of this year's more polarising debuts, the newly facelifted 2017 Skoda Octavia, has been detailed further in new images today. Could the Volkswagen-owned Czech brand be reacting to debate drummed up in the comments sections of auto sites across the web? 'Here's some sunny new shots, maybe that will help…'

There will be no all-wheel-drive Skoda Octavia RS offered in Australia. The Czech brand's new AWD version of its diesel-powered Octavia RS has launched in Europe, but local showrooms won't see the new version, which adds rear propulsion over the standard front-drive model. The AWD model weighs more than the FWD version, but it's quicker from 0-100km/h, too, at a claimed 7.6 seconds for the sedan and 7.7sec for the wagon (0.3sec faster than the FWD versions).