Skoda Makes Octavia RS More Enticing with All-Wheel Drive

It's available with either a gasoline-burning turbo four or a potent diesel, with a six-speed manual or a DSG, and either in liftgate sedan/hatch or wagon variants.

If given the opportunity, we have to admit it'd be pretty high on our shortlist, but now the Czech automaker is making it even more enticing with the launch of an all-wheel drive version.

The latest addition to the Octavia RS line channels its power to all four wheels instead of just the front. And it's available in either bodystyle. Some purists might be disappointed that it's only available, however, with the diesel (not the potent new 230-horsepower gasoline engine) and only with the automatic dual-clutch transmission (and not the manual). Still with 181 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque driven to all four corners through the fast-swapping cog box, it'll run up to 100 km per hour in 7.6 seconds, and top out at over 226 km/h. All in a sleeper that could, at first glance, be mistaken for a European taxi cab.

You'll forgive us if, given recent developments, we don't take the fuel economy figures at face value. But those European buyers looking for a versatile performance diesel will likely need to look no further than the new Octavia RS 4x4. Now if we could only get our hands on one.