Skoda Octavia vs Volkswagen Touareg

What's the difference?

Once a solid mainstay on our roads, wagons have fallen out of favour somewhat as a result of the ever-growing popularity of SUVs and utes.

But is a wagon actually a better and more family-friendly daily driver than a bigger, taller SUV or ute? Perhaps.

And throw a mild-hybrid system into the mix and it could be an even more appealing purchase.

Skoda’s Octavia has built a strong following in Australia and now comes its new mild hybrid grade, available as a wagon or liftback.

So, what’s the Skoda Octavia Select mHEV wagon like as a daily driver for families?

Read on.

It’s big, it’s fast, it’s luxurious, Volkswagen’s Touareg has always been a stand-out large SUV.

This one, the full-fat R is the latest take on the halo Volkswagen model. It has big shoes to fill.

See, top-spec Touaregs in the past are hardly rivals to the Toyota LandCruisers and Hyundai Palisades of this world. They’re a different breed, with the first-generation Touareg powered by a variety of engines up to a 5.0-litre turbo-diesel V10, and the second-gen version packing petrol and diesel V8s in its upper levels.

They were the ultimate sleeper family SUV, ridiculous engines with rich VW Group lineage in a seemingly mainstream family-friendly package.

But this third-generation version can’t quite replicate the over-engined craziness of its predecessors. It has to think outside the box as emissions regulations crack down the world over.

This Touareg R is a plug-in hybrid. A performance-focused one at that. Can it hope to replicate the unhinged nature of its forebears and find an appropriate place atop the hierarchy of Volkswagen’s R models? Let’s find out.