Skoda Octavia RS Gen 1 v Mk 4.5: 20 Years, Same Soul? | evo India

In 2004, the Skoda Octavia vRS arrived in India with a 1.8-litre turbo petrol, 150 bhp, and a price tag of ₹13.3 lakh. It was the first turbo-petrol car in the country. The first time Indian enthusiasts had access to something genuinely fast at a relatively accessible price. And it was the first road car in the world to wear the RS badge. Not bad for a car that Skoda used as a gamble to prove a point. In 2026, the Skoda Octavia RS Mk 4.5 arrives with 265 bhp, a VAQ differential, DSG gearbox, 0 to 100 in 6.4 seconds and a price of ₹50 lakh. Twenty-two years of progress in one car. Same three letters. Completely different world. In this video, the two meet for the first time. The Gen 1 Skoda Octavia vRS — a genuine legend of India's performance car scene — against the Mk 4.5 Octavia RS, the most powerful and most complete version of the nameplate ever sold here. We drive both back to back, talk about what made the original so significant, why the new one costs nearly four times as much adjusted for today's money, and what the RS badge actually means in 2026 when a Harrier EV does 0 to 100 in 6.3 seconds. The Gen 1 is analogue, unfiltered and still fast. It has lag, it has feel, it has mechanical sensations that the new car simply cannot replicate. The Mk 4.5 is smoother, quicker, more complete in every measurable way. But which one actually puts a bigger smile on your face? The answer is not as obvious as you might think. The RS story in India runs deep. 100 units of the Mk 4.5 sold out in 20 minutes last year. A Kodiaq RS is coming. And all of it — every bit of excitement around those three letters — traces back to one car that cost ₹13.3 lakh and rewrote what a performance car in India could be. 0:00 Introduction 0:35 Skoda Octavia vRS Gen 1 history in India 1:01 The RS DNA & evolution 1:33 Skoda Octavia vRS Gen 1 2:43 Skoda Octavia vRS Gen 1 driving impressions 3:36 Skoda Octavia vRS Gen 1 handling 5:54 Importance of Skoda Octavia vRS Gen 1 6:44 Skoda Octavia RS Mk4.5 7:30 Skoda Octavia RS Mk4.5 driving impressions 10:28 Skoda Octavia RS Mk4.5 involvement 11:54 Skoda Octavia RS Mk4.5 handling 14:14 Skoda Octavia RS Mk4.5 soundscape 14:52 Skoda Octavia RS Mk4.5 refinement 16:10 Price factor 17:21 The Skoda and RS story in India #evoIndia #SkodaOctavia #OctaviaRS #SkodaAuto #performancecars #sedans #performancesedan #cars #carevolution #thenandnow Want more #ThrillOfDriving videos? Subscribe to the evo India channel: https://bit.ly/2VfzioP Read our stories here: https://evoindia.com/ Buy #EvoIndiamagazine here: www.evoindia.com/magazine Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evoindia/ Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/evoindia/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/evoindia Official merchandise on 100kmph: http://www.100kmph.com/evoindia