FAST STEAD

This Skoda Octavia RS 230 is fast enough to blow your mind but not its engine

-  KARAN SINGH

AS THE POSTER CAR FOR A LOT OF tuners in India, there’s plenty of go-faster bits and tunes available for the Skoda Octavia RS 230. But there’s one tuner that stands out — Harmonixx Tuning. They’ve been the brains behind some of the fastest Octavia RS’ in the country and for good reason — they’ve got a track record for making them faster, and doing so reliably.

“For me, reliability was a huge issue,” says Manu Jose , who owns this Octavia RS. He bought the car due to a stroke of luck back in December 2017 and from day one, the plan with the RS was to spice it up, “because I knew the engine was reliable,” he adds. Muneem, a friend of Manu who runs Galaxy Accessories in Cochin got him in touch with Rahul from Harmonixx Tuning and the two got talking about possibilities for Manu’s RS.

The very first upgrades were the Black Diamond brake pads and Black Diamond slotted and drilled rotors. Manu has to be one of the first owners we’ve featured here who has actually started their build with the brakes. With just 7000km on the odometer came the Stage 1 APR ECU tune and an intake upgrade. “The difference from stock to Stage 1 is incredible,” says Manu, perhaps referring to the more linear and instantaneous power delivery. Of course, that was just the beginning.

BUILD COST

This Skoda Octavia RS 230 cost approximately `8 lakh to build, excluding the cost of the car and includes the following parts