BHPian Pancham recently shared this with other enthusiasts: Prologue Back in 2015, a friend and I casually walked into a Skoda dealership in Topsia (Kolkata) enquiring about the Octavia. The sales guy asked us to check out the TDI and offered a reasonably long test drive. As I took a left turn from Science City towards Salt Lake/Metropoliton (people from Kolkata would know) and pressed the accelerator, I experienced euphoria. Whooshh!! The 140 bhp engine pushed me back in the seat immediately. The SA was explaining the car, but his words started fading in the background. I was in love!! Again. This time with the Octavia. I realised I had a guilty pleasure – Turbo diesels with good torque. By then, I had had a fling here and there with the Cruze (2011) and 320d, but this seemed more attainable. Although the price of the Octavia was way beyond anything I could pay in 2015, but at least I had a goal – my next car. We enthusiasts love to look forward to our ‘next cars’. Currently, I don’t have any – but back then, there were few, and the Octavia was on top of that list. I left the showroom hoping that in a few years an Octavia could happen. Circa 2019 As we age, our priorities change. So did mine. In 2019, I was still eyeing the Octavia. A 1.8 TSI this time. I was smitten by the petrol; however, gearbox issues kept me on the fence. I got my ex-girlfriend’s father to buy one. It was a company-maintained car, so easier to maintain. He still has it and enjoys driving it even now. I also got a good friend to buy an almost new 21k run Octavia L&K for 19L. Crazy deals during Covid but I just couldn’t get my hands on one. Slowly, priorities changed. Both of us (Octavia and I ) had moved on in life. Having moved to Delhi, my quest for adventurous drives took over. I started looking for 4x4s. Test drove the new Octavia in 2021 (gave another shot at this long-lost love story) but ended up buying the Compass. Octavia was always my first love, but as they say, the timing was just not right. In fact, she moved out of the country (~ Papa Skoda stopped sale of Octys) and I settled for someone else. Sigh!! Present Day! You cannot stop the corporate majdoor from using office WiFi to access Team Bhp. Between meetings, you do end up scrolling and OH MY GOD!!! It was like – my long-lost love was in the city for a few days and wanted to meet up. Destiny!! After all these years – there she was – only faster, better, and hotter. And the location was BIC!! We were told she was taken (all 100 units sold), but then why meet up now? Who knows – maybe she was another opportunity (a few units left to be picked up?). After all these years, I had goosebumps for a car. I did not make any effort to hide my excitement. Read GTO’s guidelines line by line and shot a PM to Omkar immediately. 12 hours later – I received a PM – You are in!! D-Day! This was on a weekday so I had to take a day off from work. My girlfriend was shocked. I forgot the last time she had asked me to take leave and we had a moment from the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Tumhara – Kal to kal hai Arjun, humara aaj ka kya?. I was in trouble. Had to explain to her that this was important. An Octavia RS in BIC – once in a lifetime opportunity. Somehow managed the situation and I was all set. A Thursday afternoon with my long lost love! I finished some office work in the morning and left my home in Gurgaon at around 10:30. It was a long drive. 75kms + 2 hours. Not bad when you consider there were bhpians coming from Kerala and Mumbai. I had never been inside BIC but always driven past it on the expressway – so it was double the excitement for me. Being a die hard F1 fan, I wanted to check out the remains of the facilities of what was once (and still) one of best tracks in the world. But before that – some traffic. Also, wrist check for watch enthusiasts. Then there were signs. There were so many old, discolored signboards that gave you an eerie feeling. The overall facility was being maintained, but it gave you a feeling of a ghost track with empty motor homes, paddock, and so on. Once inside, I quickly registered and was made to sign a bunch of forms/affidavit. There was food, coffee, a video game simulator, and a stall that could make customized caps. They had unfortunately run out of caps (although there were some ‘reserved’ for special ones) and I don’t think any of the team bhpians got any. We learnt there were 16 of us from the forum and a few others who have booked the car and are waiting for delivery. You will be in awe the first time you see this view The best part in all of this was meeting the bhpians. When you have a bunch of forum members under one roof it’s always so much fun. I had never met any of them before, but the camaraderie was something to write home about. We made jokes, discussed how the forum has evolved, and how excited we were for the drive. I met Khan Sultan and mod Aditya for the first time. We had lunch. I ate lightly because I knew what was coming. Shortly after, we were quickly briefed by Aditya and Rayo. I was part of Batch 2. Each batch had 4 members. I think they had some car issues because of which we were given Kylaqs for the moose test, slalom, and autocross. We also had our first lap on the Kylaq. I was happy that I was getting to drive a manual car on the track. The Drive We were given a balaclava and helmets for the track. You cannot drive on the track without wearing a helmet. Period. The instructors were all from Rayo Racing. Niranjan was in our car. We boarded the Kylaq for the instructor’s lap where he drove, and we learnt where the braking points were, etc. He was fast, as expected. Kylaq was fast – which was unexpected. Bhpian Pratyaksh (P) was with me. Three of us completed the lap and then it was our chance. It was a bit rushed because there were many people waiting to drive, we were given enough time to make ourselves comfortable before starting. You have to be slow in the pit lane – just like F1. I wondered if this was where Hamilton, Vettel, and other greats had driven. Before I could finish my thought and I was out of the pit lane. Downshift to second, and the next couple of minutes were a racket!! You take Turn 1 in second gear and then there is a long left-hander which leads to blind right turn. The track is so much fun!!! Tires squealing, you finish the blind turn, and you start the long straight. I hit around 165kmph on the straight and then you brake hard for turn 4, which is a right-hander. The Kylaq was surprisingly good. Not once did I feel uncomfortable. The speed was not neck-breaking but enough to make you have fun on the track. We slowed down before pit entry. The buzzers in the pit lane go off when you enter, and we stopped in front of Rayo, who was in charge of pit signal duty. Next up – the Octavia. I asked P to go first as I wanted to learn the track a bit more. He drove fast. It was fun until I looked outside. The thing is sitting in a fast car in a track is fun until you start looking at the trees outside. I started feeling a bit nauseous and focused on the road ahead. He had 3 laps and they ended pretty fast. It was my turn – slightly nervous and nauseous, I took the wheel. We had the red Octavia – my favourite colour in the RS. This is it!! Hello, my love!! Adjusted my seats and off I went. Maintaining 60kmph, as soon as I exited the pit, I slammed the accelerator. We went BAM!!! Like a dart, the car leaped forward and before I knew I was taking a sharp turn 1. The instructor reached for the grab handle. Tires squealing, I took the long left-hander. Wait!! It did not feel long this time around. I was hurling through the blind right turn – heart in my mouth but I knew I needed a good exit for the long straight. The car rocketed through the long straight. I touched 214-215kmph when I hit the brakes hard. My instructor asked me to press the brakes harder. Turn 5 and 6 were sharp and fun. Turn 9 was a bit tricky, and Turn 10 is a bit confusing because of the separate Moto GP line. We were asked to go wide in Turn 10 and go straight into Turn 11. Track layout for reference: The next few minutes, I drove like a maniac. The car was an absolute beast. Honestly, it is hard to give an honest account of how the car would drive on Indian roads (which most of us will use it for). But I will try and outline a few observations from the track for the benefit of the readers. 1. Acceleration was brutal but linear. This is a no-nonsense fast car. It delivers exactly what you see on paper. The car is faster than anything you would have driven on this side of 50L (in terms of recent existing cars in the Indian market). Having said that, delivery is linear and well-behaved. Will it impress your co-passengers when you slam the accelerator? Yes. 2. As expected, the gear shifts are lightning quick and are perfectly mated to change exactly when you want them to which without any drama. I enjoyed the shifts so much that I did not care to use the paddles. 3. The brakes were amazing but had become very hard. We really had to stomp on the brakes to reach full potential. But coming down from 215kmph to 60-70kmph, the brakes did a fine job despite all the abuse it had been taking. We were told the car had new pads fitted in the morning. Having said that, I had a hard time gauging the braking points (and feel) given how hard the brakes were. 4. There was slight body roll, but nothing to worry about. Honestly, we were doing insane speeds, which we will never do in our daily lives. The track demanded the car to go that fast, and it did. The roll did not make it uncomfortable. If I remember correctly, the first long left in Turn 2, we were taking that curve at 125kmph +. So, on a day-to-day basis, I doubt this will be a problem at all. 5. The tires in our car were Pirelli 19-inchers (I think 225/45s). I don’t think these were stock, but they held up well through out pretty well. 6. Your neighbors might not complain!! The car is not very loud but has a distinct exhaust note. When it was crossing the long straight, there was a boom sound which could only be heard in a track I believe. Slalom, Handling and Moose Test The three laps ended fast, and once I got out of the car, Omkar pointed at the smoking wheel,s which was quite fun to see. Once done with the track experience, we were chauffeured in a new Kodiaq to the track parking area for the moose test, slalom, and autocross. It was a bit underwhelming, especially after driving the Octavia, but boy, we were wrong. The instructor took us for a trial round and we were shocked (and a little more nauseous). Bhpiyan Karan said, ‘yaar paneer nahi khana chahiye tha’ (we should not have had so much paneer). Lol! I could not believe what the Kylaq was capable of. Before the round had you told me that a car could take such a sharp turn without braking, I would have laughed it off – but oh my!! The Kylaq broke all laws of physics. The moose test was an eye-opener, but the autocross experience was jaw-dropping. I literally three-wheeled my way around the track. We took a group picture after this – all happy faces. I was pleasantly surprised by the Kylaq. Kudos to the new owners of this wonderful machine. We even had suggestions to organize an autocross event for bhpians in collaboration with Rayo racing – not a bad idea!!! We ended the day with more laughter and chit chats!!! Bhpians Aditya, Khan Sultan, and Dhruvritzed I would like to thank Team BHP and Skoda for organizing such an event!! We got to test the car (albeit for a short while) along with other journalists, and that is special. I hope Team Bhp keeps organizing more such events for us members. Thanks again to GTO, Aditya, and others!!! Adios from the track!!! Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
