Å koda Octavia vRS blows past 200 mph at Bonneville

Filed under: Motorsports, Sedan, Skoda, Racing



There are places you expect to find a Škoda, and places you don't. European streets, for example, fall squarely into the former category. Dried up lake beds in the United States, however, belong firmly in the latter. But someone forgot to tell that to the people who make the Czech Volkswagen derivatives.

In between ripping the top off the Fabia for the Wörthersee show and preparing to enter the British Touring Car Championship, that cadre of lead-footed Škoda personnel announced their intention to take the Octavia to the slat flats at Bonneville. The occasion was the tenth anniversary of the automaker's vRS performance brand, and while their target - breaching 200 miles per hour - may have seemed distant to anyone who's ever sat in the old Jetta with new clothes, they got theirs.

The world's fastest Škoda achieved an official run of 202.15 mph four days ahead of schedule at the [currently ongoing] Bonneville Speed Week. The Octavia vRS with which they did it was aerodynamically optimized, dropped closer to the ground, reinforced with a roll cage and other safety equipment and fitted with a larger turbocharger and intercooler. Otherwise, however, it's the same Octavia vRS available at dealers overseas.

Far from calling it a day and heading back to the Czech Republic, Škoda's Bonneville team are sticking around in pursuit of the 2.0-liter production car land speed record, which currently stands at 216 mph. We'll be watching, but in the meantime you can follow the jump for the full press release and scope out the images in the gallery for more.Continue reading Å koda Octavia vRS blows past 200 mph at Bonneville

Å koda Octavia vRS blows past 200 mph at Bonneville originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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