Bonneville, August 19, 2011: The Octavia RS made history with 600 horsepower.
Although the Octavia RS may not be the most thrilling performance car on the market, it is a great choice for buyers who are looking for more practicality than what the Volkswagen Golf GTI can offer. Skoda UK’s technical centre went to work with a second-generation model to try to break the Bonneville Salt Flats record for a production car powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine. The entire process took less than two months.
The 600-hp Octavia RS, which packs nearly two-and-a-half times the power of today’s gasoline-powered model, was born. The 2.0 TSI engine was fitted with a Garrett turbocharger, a water-injection pump, and a beefier intercooler, race oils, and a remapped electronic control unit. The turbo four-pot received a larger radiator, new engine mountings and upgraded injectors.
It produced approximately three times the power of the stock engine. The gasoline engine was connected to a Superb GreenLine gearbox and fitted with a limited slip differential. The car was lowered 80 millimeters (3.1 in) and placed on 15-inch steel wheels with aero-optimized covers. Goodyear Eagle Dragway Special tires were used.
The record-breaking car reached 227.080 mph (366 km/h), on August 19, 2011. Now, the car is fully restored to commemorate the record’s tenth birthday. It is obvious that it was not easy to transform a sensible family hatchback with front-wheel drive into a car capable of going faster than a Porsche 918 Spyder.
If you are curious, the world record for a piston engined car at Bonneville Salt Flats was set by George Poteet’s Speed Demon (with 3,156 horsepower) on August 14, last year. It averaged 470.015 mph (756.415 kilometers/h). Its top speed was 481.576 miles per hour (775.21 km/h).