Skoda Octavia vRS hits 365 km/h at Bonneville

A Skoda Octavia vRS built by Skoda UK has become the fastest 2.0-litre forced induction production car in the world after breaking the land speed record at the Bonneville salt flats.

Around 447 kW propelled the supercharged Octavia to 363 km/h – the average figure taken from two separate runs of 360.8 km/h and 365.7 km/h.

“That is a fantastic result, which we did not anticipate in this fashion. Our goal was to smash the 200 mile mark on the speedometer. Now we have set a new record and have clearly exceeded our goal,” said Robert Hazelwood, director of Skoda UK.

“This result is the achievement of the people who have spent the last couple of weeks and months working tirelessly to prepare the vehicle for the drives at Bonneville. We are all very proud.”

The ‘salt spec’ Octavia, which featured a larger turbo built by Garrett and ran on high-octane race fuel, was built to celebrate 10 years of Skoda’s vRS performance division. Driven by British journalist Richard Meaden, the speed it set on the famous five mile stretch beat the previous record of 347.6 km/h set in 1998. During Bonneville’s Speed Week, Meaden was able to break the ‘double ton’ (200 mph) a total of six times.

Look for more in-depth coverage of the feat in the November issue of Wheels.