Time was that most appreciative nods to a vRS-badged Skoda would go up in a cloud of choking black smoke as it disappeared into what you could only assume was the distance.
The diesel hot-hatch Fabia was more than a bit left-field when it came out in the early 2000s. It wasn’t the only quick diesel but it was the only quick thing available only as a diesel. If you wanted a nippy Fabia, you had to go for a diesel.
Well, today, the vRS has cleaned up its act and is looking to a plug-in future.
The range has expanded beyond merely the Fabia and the Octavia, too, and now includes the Enyaq. And that is important because it is only available as an electric and is the first electric vRS model.
Striking and imposing, yes, but unique in the sea of large coupés now so en vogue with manufacturers? No. It’s appealing, and bold enough in Tour de France course car red to turn heads, but visually Hyundai and Kia are pushing boundaries Škoda has no real need to go anywhere near. It has the safety net of reliable and steady VAG underpinnings.
That does cause a problem for a brand like Škoda when it comes to shared-platform electric cars. There is less that can be engineered in to create an identity with an electric car. In some ways, that likely plays into the vRS-spec car’s hands because it offers little touches the rest of the Enyaq range – and currently the VW range, too – can’t. Albeit for an £8k premium: the vRS starts at £44,754.17.
The small, flat-bottomed steering wheel juxtaposes the size of the car and offers a sporting edge. The steering feel is more direct than a car like this should really be able to and it can manoeuvre its heft with surprising ease – even with some Škoda bicycles rattling away on the roof.
It also has a fair stab at denying its tame performance figures, but such weight weighs, well, heavy. Its 2750kg delays the 0-60mph sprint to 6.5 seconds and restricts the top speed to 112mph. Mild figures in the current world but still quicker than that old Fabia. And the old fashioned kickdown is strong enough to get your attention. Nor will it ever really be stretched to anywhere beyond its upper limit, due to its size prohibiting any ideas of a trackday.
As a one-car solution the Enyaq vRS would certainly be right in contention. It has the aura of a performance car with the little vRS elements that are liberally dotted throughout, a comfortable ride that is noticeably stiff but not unforgiving and acceleration that comes with the electric territory. The range is more than you’d need, with 325 miles quoted, and it is brimming with kit – not least that Cycling Pack.
Those bikes aren’t included but nor are they a schtick. Instead they are a prerequisite nod (in our case for Vintage Velos) to the Czech marque’s long history with cycling that dates back to its founding in 1895.
And when the Tour de France gets under way on 1 July, it will be the 20th time it does so behind a Škoda course car. Three generations of the Superb have taken the role in that time, and since a test few stages in 2020, the honour has fallen to the all-electric Enyaq. All bar five stages were shepherded by electric power in 2022, with the Superb iV taking over for some mountain stages.
There can’t be many better cars suited to following the Tour.
