Rotub* 

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from Alexa on behalf of Mediacom. She wanted to know if I would be interested in test driving a Skoda Octavia Scout 4×4 103TDI for one month. The first thing I thought was... what's the catch? After relaying a couple of emails and a phone conversation, I became increasingly excited about having this so-called Skoda to drive around for four whole weeks.

Why me?

When I had a look into what a Skoda Octavia Scout actually was and what it looks like, the first thing that popped into my head was "its a family car". The reason I was chosen for this project I believe is to break down the barrier between Skoda "Occys" and outdoors-type people. Now having spent just over 2 weeks using the vehicle I can understand why they are trying to reach such an audience! It could be used as a family car but I wouldn't describe it as a family car.

First impressions

Receiving keys to such a good looking car was surreal and for the past couple of weeks I have felt like royalty in disguise.

If i am to be honest, I was pretty worried about the size of the vehicle. In photos it looks large and bulky but while it looks chunky... when you actually drive it, it doesn't feel big and I have had no problem driving it in tight places such as Newtown or busy carparks as originally expected. When things do get tight the reverse parking sensors that indicate how close you are to a wall or object behind you is incredibly nerve settling!

Surfing

This car is ideal for surfers. The backseats roll down opening up a massive area for boards to be thrown in without a single additional thought. As a bonus, Occys come with heated seats - I can't explain my appreciation for this feature, it is one of my favorites. This time of the year, at 5am in the morning driving to and from the beach.... it is can get quite chilly outside and my Occy has made getting out of bed that much easier knowing that I can jump in, turn on the heated seats and be comfortable. While it is not a necessity, it is something you can not say no to when you know it's available!

I still have a couple of weeks with the car and with semester break coming up soon I am hoping to get some more quality time with it before handing it back and heading off to Guatemala in July!