Peugeot 508 GT v Skoda Octavia RS comparison review

What does it mean to be an individual? Apologies if that sounds like the opening line to a fragrance commercial, but it’s a question worth pondering. Cars, like clothes, are often an extension of our own personalities, so what kind of whip does one buy if they prefer to stray outside the norm?

Maybe it’d be helpful if we define what “normal” is, perhaps. These days, it’s either something with a tall ride height and all-wheel drive; or a small hatchback. The odds are also pretty high that it comes from Japan, South Korea or Thailand.

But that’s just from spreadsheet analysis of sales data. While it’d be an easy thing to say “Asian SUVs are all the same”, that would be a gross generalisation, and a fairly inaccurate one too. Ever seen a Nissan Juke?

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It’s subjective, but for me, the cars that I’d define as ‘unique’ are the ones that put character and emotion first, regardless of bodystyle. The best ones are those that don’t ignore every other criteria either; those things like driveability, comfort, performance and usability – the kinds of things that make you actually want to own a car, rather than simply admire it.

Two cars that should sit in the middle of that particular Venn diagram are the ones you see here: Peugeot’s 508 GT, and Skoda’s Octavia RS. Both are European, both are attractive mid-sizers with appealing design, both cost between $55,000-60,000, and both look like something a successful architect would drive.

And when it comes to standing out from the crowd, appearances definitely matter.

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Lingering stares from other drivers is just part of the 508 experience, and I have to admit that it cuts a suave figure when that black paint is gleaming.

The 508’s design is quite an about-face from the previous generation. While its immediate predecessor suffered from anonymous styling and a weirdly flat bum that made a Camry look exotic, the current-generation 508 is genuinely beautiful. I don’t normally use the B-word lightly, but I don’t think I’m overreaching here either.

After all, almost every day I drove the Pug someone would either stop me and ask what it was, or simply pull alongside and give an appreciative nod. Lingering stares from other drivers is just part of the 508 experience, and I have to admit that it cuts a suave figure when that black paint is gleaming.

Me? I think I’d prefer any colour but black – it mutes that distinctive tail-light blackout, and dark tones are a pain to keep clean anyhow. I’m not sold on the fang-like DRL graphic either – it seems unnecessary given how much attention the rest of the body gets – but it doesn’t ruin it either. The 508 is properly worthy of the B-word.

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Frameless doors are the portals to the cabin, and on the inside, it’s positively sculptural. That’s honestly the best word for it and, just like the B-word, the S-word is not one that I tend to overuse.

Peugeot’s so-called i-Cockpit layout puts a compact steering wheel in front of the driver and locates the instrument panel right below the windscreen, and it continues to be an acquired taste. For my modest proportions it’s more than palatable, however I can certainly see how taller and girthier folk would struggle to adjust to the steering column’s lower-than-average positioning.

Meanwhile, the low-slung seat, elevated centre console, high window line and the way the dashboard angles toward the driver give the 508’s driving position a sportscar feel that certainly meshes nicely with the sleek exterior, though I’m resolutely not a fan of the faux carbonfibre trim that stretches across the mid-dash. Besides looking out of place in a dignified sedan, since when was carbon trim supposed to be soft-touch?

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For the Skoda, the mere presence of the winged arrow badge on its snout will be enough to mark you as someone with a disdain for the mainstream. The average Joe doesn’t seem to know what a Skoda is, let alone know that they hail from the Czech Republic, but happily most seem to be complimentary of the way the Octavia RS looks.

Like the Peugeot, it’s easy on the eyes… but in a different way. With a new-generation model landing earlier this year, the Octavia lost the ungainly quad-element headlamps of the previous generation and gained crisply-creased sheetmetal that made it look very much like the Audi A4 feeder model that it is.

With the bodykit, wheels, and blacked-out grille of the RS, its sporting pretensions are obvious, and it’s here where the two cars begin to differ. The Peugeot is as elegant as a sharp tux; the Octavia RS is rather akin to yoga pants and a singlet.

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The Octavia is more conventionally proportioned too, with a roofline that’s almost 50mm taller than its French rival and an overall length that’s shorter by a similar amount. No frameless door glass, either, but step inside and the cabin design is cleaner, edgier and more straightforward.

Even the transmission selector has been cut down to a tiny stub, such is the minimalistic approach of Skoda’s designers. Its spec sheet is anything but sparse though, especially with our tester coming fully loaded with the equipment-rich RS Premium Pack (see previous page).

Ergonomically, the Octavia makes more sense than the 508. A taller cabin confers better packaging, with headroom and legroom being abundant in both front and rear – especially the latter.

While rear seat legroom is roughly comparable between the two, the Peugeot’s roofline requires backseaters to stoop to enter, while our 6’2” colleague couldn’t sit straight without scraping the headlining. From a passenger’s point of view, the Octavia easily wins this match.

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But what about the driver? The Octavia RS openly brags about its sporting verve, while we’ve raved about the 508’s aptitude for corner-carving many times now. Which of these two has the most to offer the person behind the wheel?

With a 180kW 2.0-litre turbo under its bonnet that’s pinched from the Golf GTI, the Octavia easily out-muscles the Peugeot’s 165kW 1.6-litre. The 508’s lightweight EMP2 underpinnings do confer a weight advantage, with the Frenchman tipping the scales at 1430kg versus the Czech’s 1475kg, but a 45kg weight differential isn’t enough to allow the 508 to keep up – especially given it’s also 50Nm down on the Skoda.

It’s a shame Peugeot didn’t slot its own GTI-spec mill into the 508 – the dearly departed 308 GTi’s 200kW 1.6L would have worked wonders in its bigger sibbling. Alas, that engine is no longer with us.

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A difference in drivetrain philosophy also sets them apart, the Octavia using a fast-shifting seven-speed dual clutch auto capable of rapid-fire gearswaps, and the 508 GT using a conventional hydraulic eight-speed automatic that prefers less frenetic transitions between ratios.

Put the 508’s transmission into Sport mode and it behaves perfectly on a twisting road, holding gears between corners, downshifting when required and rarely giving you reason to reach for a shift paddle. Which is good, because those paddles are too small to easily locate when you’re trying to have a fun steer and are frequently overruled by the 508’s brain anyway, even when the drive mode is set to ‘Manual’.

But that’s no big deal, because the 508 GT’s chassis dispatches curvy roads with such a serene fluidity that trying to wring every rev out of the 1.6L doesn’t just seem untoward, but unnecessary. This is a momentum car, it flows from bend to bend with a level of grip and accuracy that’s hard to find in the mid-size segment, yet combines those traits with exceptional ride comfort on the open road.

And that front end truly is magnificent.

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The 508’s cornering character is profoundly different to the Octavia’s. Not only does the small-diameter steering wheel provide a far more direct interface with the front wheels, but the grip available up front is seemingly limitless. Turn the wheel until your kidneys are mushed into the seat bolsters, then turn it some more. Keep turning even harder, but the 508 seemingly doesn’t want to give up. It’s not a trick you can repeat in the Skoda.

‘Understeer’ appears to not be part of the French vocabulary. The real genius of the 508 isn’t its glamorous styling, but the fact it’s a 4.7m-long front-drive sedan that steers like a hot hatch. The Octavia’s steering is more inert by comparison, not giving up as much info about what’s happening with the front tyres – or as much grip.

Mind you, the front-wheel-drive Octavia RS is still a blast on the right kind of road – but for different reasons. Power delivery is instead its stronger suit, and it’s not so much the corners that are the most enjoyable, but rather the straights between them.

Its Goodyears hang on reasonably well when asked to turn, but they can’t grip as tenaciously as the 508’s Michelins and the front end breaks away into understeer on corners that simply didn’t bother the Peugeot. At least the onset of understeer is gradual enough to be easily managed.

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But never mind. Lean on the accelerator and enjoy that torquey engine and its strong midrange thrust, as well as the whip-quick gearchanges of its dual-clutch. In ‘S’ automatic mode that transmission preferences lower gears and even performs neatly rev-matched downshifts if you rapidly brake for a corner, keeping the engine within that torque-rich 1600-4300rpm window for the inevitable re-application of throttle. It’s clever, unobtrusive and very, very user friendly.

The only blot on the Octavia’s backroad experience is the WRX impersonation its artificial sound enhancement does in Sport and Normal mode: after a few hours on the road that electronic exhaust rumble had definitely overstayed its welcome. Mercifully, you can switch it off in the Individual drive mode, while still retaining all of the other sport settings for engine, gearbox and chassis.

The Octavia doesn’t have a singular focus on performance, though. Dial its drive mode selector to Comfort and it becomes quite amenable over average suburban roads, with a nicely settled posture at highway speed once the adaptive dampers are slackened off.

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The depth of customisation is also more impressive than the Pug – rather than binary ‘Firm/Soft’ options for the suspension, the Individual mode gives you a slider that allows more graduated adjustment of the damping. Note, however, that those adjustable dampers only come with the optional RS Premium Pack – along with a bunch of other tasty tech that justifies the considerable expense of that option.

There’s a fair bit of tyre noise on coarsely surfaced highways, which is a problem it also shares with the Peugeot, but overall the Octavia doesn’t quite match the Peugeot’s plushness when the dampers are set to ‘comfort’.

There’s still a sensitivity to small bumps that wouldn’t faze the 508, though bigger lumps and undulations in the road surface are handled well by the Skoda’s suspension. Even Sport mode is reasonably civilised, and while the steering weight is artificially boosted in Sport mode, it’s not obnoxiously heavy.

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So, which car wins? If the goal was to find a car from outside the mainstream, then they both fit that bill. If you just want exclusivity, then get the 508: at time of writing, just 56 had been sold this year. Skoda sells almost double as many Octavias per month.

But objectively speaking, the Octavia RS wins.

The Skoda will be more things to more people. It’s not just about the fact it’s got a power and torque advantage over the Pug, but it feels every bit the feature-rich range-topper that it is. Couple that with a spacious and well-built interior, a more sophisticated infotainment suite, exceptionally versatile packaging, and a driving experience that can be tailored to your individual taste, and the Octavia RS becomes a Swiss Army knife.

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The 508 GT, meanwhile, manages to stop just short of true greatness. Cabin materials aren’t as appealing as what’s found in the Octavia, its rear-seat packaging compromises its utility, and a few more kilowatts and Newtons would surely help better justify its $57K retail sticker.

Yet, it’s a beautiful thing to look at and has stage presence that can’t be equalled by the Octavia, plus it’s an absolute joy to drive. The 508 GT is a wonderful car and I adore it, but on balance I must concede that the Octavia is the more sensible choice.

Then again, when has defying the norm been a sensible choice?

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Options ticked

At $47,790, the Octavia RS is almost a cool $10K cheaper than the 508 GT. However, the Skoda in standrd trim is far from a spec-for-spec rival to the Pug.

To get the Czech to the same level, option boxes must be ticked – specifically, the box for the $6500 RS Premium Package. Do so and the Octavia RS gains powered front seats (with a massage function for the driver,) heated front and rear seats, three-zone climate control, a 12-speaker Canton sound system, parking assist, heated exterior mirrors, a head-up display and – most importantly – adaptive dampers.

Most of those features are standard on the 508 GT, with the exception of a HUD, retractable rear sunblinds and third climate control zone. With the adaptive dampers being so central to the Octavia’s flexibility, make sure you opt for them.

Skoda Octavia RS and Peugeot 508 GT specifications