Without a doubt it's the petrol version of the Skoda Octavia vRS. It gives you the full hot hatch driving experience, being the most agile in corners and the fastest in a straight line. It's the only model available with a manual gearbox, meaning it's also the cheapest – further confirming why it's our top pick. 

The Skoda Octavia vRS is a hot hatch based on a regular family car, so it competes with the likes of the slightly flasher, but more expensive and mechanically identical Volkswagen Golf GTI, loony-tune but more focussed and quicker Honda Civic Type R, sweeter handling Ford Focus ST and a host of other models including the Renault Megane R.S., Hyundai i30 N and Peugeot 308 GTI.

The Skoda Octavia vRS' plastic quality is amongst the best in class with soft materials used up top, while sturdier surfaces are found in the lower half of the cabin. None of them feel cheap. 

The Alcantara trim is also worthy of a second mention, it's finished with red stitching and represents a pleasing contrast to the fake stitching you see moulded into the plastics of other cars this price – it's a sporty touch in the combination with the tasteful carbon-fibre look trims. We're also a big fan of the metal door handles which aren't enclosed into the doors like they are in other cars. The Skoda Octavia vRS even looks nice at night thanks to mood lighting that's fully customisable. 

The Skoda Octavia vRS feels properly constructed too –  with even gaps between trims, you get the sense they'll feel just as solid 100,000 miles down the line. That goes for most of the switchgear, as well. The stalks behind the steering wheel operate with an oily smoothness and the indicator self corrects with a satisfying thunk. The only bit we're not so keen on is the single row of buttons that have a clicky, hollow action that's unsatisfying. 

The most significant changes made in the new Skoda Octavia vRS can be found in the infotainment. You get a 10.25-inch digital instrument binnacle behind the steering wheel that can mirror the sat-nav's maps on the car's big screen and also has a unique sporty display in this vRS model.

Instead of being integrated into the centre console, the screen now sits proud of the dashboard – with the pretty Alcantara trim flowing in behind it – so it's perfectly positioned for your eyes. They'll be in for a treat because the graphics are well defined and colourful and this sense of modernity is backed up by the fact that the screen responds to gestures like pinch and swipe, quickly.

Sat-nav is fitted as standard and the Skoda Octavia vRS also comes with a year's subscription to Skoda's connected services, so it can do things like route around congestion and check fuel prices at petrol stations on your route. 

It's a good system, but you'll probably revert to using the standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. They allow you to use your phone's apps – for functions such as nav and music playback – mirrored on the car's big screen. Unfortunately, our car's screen froze on more than occasion with our phone connected. On the upside, your phone's voice activation system is much more reliable than Skoda's. 

Options worth considering include the £335 wireless phone charging – it's placed under the tray in the centre console – and upgraded £590 Canton stereo. It's a 610W system with 12 speakers and a subwoofer in the boot, to offer up Dolby 5.1 surround sound, although it doesn't have the crystal clear clarity of the very best systems. 

Something that distinguishes the Skoda Octavia vRS from the mechanically identical Volkswagen Golf GTI is that you can have it as a hatchback or as an estate.

Both cars have loads of room for adults up front and while the driver's seat doesn't place you low enough to make you feel snug in the cabin, it's not so high that it makes you feel like you're sitting on the car rather than in it. The 'vRS' branded, diamond-stitched sports seats are tastefully done – giving a sporty flavour without being OTT. They also give you a decent amount of lateral support without clamping to you, like your mother after lockdown lifts. 

The back seats are also spacious and the Skoda Octavia vRS should be commended for being a car that offers a big boot, but not at the expense of passenger space. Its rear doors open wide to make access easy and, once you're sat in place, there's space to slide you feet under the seats in front. You also get plenty of headroom even in cars with the space-eating sunroof (£1,175). Something minor, but worthy of note are the small neck-height cut outs in the front seats that makes the back seats feel a hint less claustrophobic. 

You get the best view in the middle of the back seat but, as is often the way, its firm bolstering makes it feel like you're straddling a tree trunk. Three up, elbow and hip room will be tight, but there's plenty of space for everyone's feet. The larger rear windows on the estate version of the Skoda Octavia vRS also mean they feel a tad brighter and airier.

The main reason you'll choose the Skoda Octavia vRS estate is for its larger and more practical boot over the hatchback. It provides a huge 640-litre capacity – up from 610 in the old model – and a flat, square shape. You also get a pair of sturdy fold-down shopping hooks and sectioned off smaller storage areas on either side that'll be handy for bottles of engine oil and screen wash. Opt for the Skoda Octavia vRS PHEV though and boot space drops to 490 litres to take into account the extra space needed for the batteries.

Another useful feature are the back seats that fold down by yanking a couple of latches at the front of the the boot. The seats fold down almost completely flat so you can slide long heavy cargo into place. It's worth noting that the £185 space saver spare wheel doesn't impact boot space, while the £180 adjustable boot floor gives you a flat floor from the boot opening to the backs of the front seats. 

An electrically operated boot lid comes as standard and it can be closed remotely using the key fob - emitting a nanny-state warning tone as it does it. It negates the need for the footery hands-free boot release (£190) which opens when you waggle your foot under the rear bumper. 

While the Skoda Octavia vRS we drove was an estate model, the hatchback's 600-litre boot is large for a car this size and very practical, if lacking the more useful shape of its boxier sibling.

While most hot hatches come with one engine option, in the Skoda Octavia vRS you get three – you can choose from petrol, diesel or a plug-in hybrid. 

The 245PS 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol is the most conventional option and the only one which comes as standard with a six-speed manual gearbox. While it doesn't have a headline-grabbing power figure, it is extremely flexible with maximum torque (370Nm) available from a little over tickover. It gets from 0-62mph in 6.8 seconds (6.7 with the DSG) and hits a top speed of 155mph. 

It does it with maturity, however, sure you get a more focussed engine note in Sport mode, but the manufactured pops and bangs you get out of some hot hatches' exhausts are noticeably absent, here. 

If you want to ramp the maturity levels up another notch, the diesel model of the Skoda Octavia vRS is worth considering but only if you do most of your driving on the motorway.  With 200PS, the 2.0-litre four-cylinder is the most powerful diesel ever fitted to the Octavia – with 16PS more than the old version – it gets from 0-62mph in 7.4 seconds (6.8 if you specify four-wheel drive) but that's only half the story because its 400NM of torque translates into effortless overtaking. 

The diesel is also the only model available with four-wheel drive, it's a £1485 option but with considering if you have a caravan to pull because it raises the Skoda Octavia vRS's maximum braked trailer towing weight from from 1600 to 2000kg. 

The final option is arguably the most sensible of the lot. Called the vRS iV, it's a plug-in hybrid with a 1.4-litre four-cylinder petrol that's boosted by an electric motor to produce 245PS – it gets from 0-62mph in 7.3 seconds and hits a top speed of 139mph. Surprisingly, its 400Nm torque figure and the instant get-up-and-go of the electric motor means it gets from 50-70mph 2.2 seconds quicker than the petrol model – handy when you're joining a motorway.

It's the hybrid's ability to travel up to 39 miles on electric power alone that makes it a compelling option if you live in a city – it could mean you can commute to work for a fraction of the cost of a petrol or diesel Skoda Octavia vRS. Plus, its low CO2s (no more than 36g/km) mean it is exempt from paying the London Congestion Charge. It takes 3.5 hours to charge from a wall-mounted charger or five hours from a three-pin plug. 

This is one of the Octavia vRS' biggest strengths because it is one of the easiest hot hatches you could live with every day. It's light controls might not offer megaphone levels of communication, but feather weight pedals and steering that offers little resistance in comfort mode makes it a very relaxing car to drive in town and cover distances in.

By the same token, while the exhaust doesn't give the big-grin pops and gurgles offered by some rivals, it won't make you feel like a prat or get wearing. In fact, noise in general is very well hushed, at a cruise all you notice is the extra thrum created by the vRS larger 225-section tyres. Engine roar is also well contained, particularly true if you have the DSG gearbox – its extra gear meaning the engine's barely audible at the legal limit. 

Another option you might consider if you do lots of motorway miles is the £1020 travel assistance pack. Add this pack and the Skoda Octavia vRS will more or less drive itself – it can steer around corners, take over when you're stuck in queuing traffic and can even set your speed in accordance with the limit if you want it to. It's the kind of tech that makes long journeys much less of a chore. 

The Skoda Octavia was awarded a five-star rating for safety when it was crash tested by Euro NCAP in 2019 and the vRS models gets extra kit that makes it even safer than the standard car. 

These include its matrix LED headlights. These clever headlight units use multiple LEDs – rather than a single bulb – to light up the road, and the car's ability to operate them individually means it can cast dark spots over other cars while the keeping the road around them fully illuminated.  It means you can use the full beams all of the time. 

Adaptive cruise control – which can accelerate and brake the car for you on the motorway – is another feature that comes standard on the vRS model. Factor in its full complement of airbags (including one for your knees), lane assist and automatic emergency brakes and it's fair to say the Skoda Octavia vRS is very safe. 

Skoda has a great track record for reliability, regularly ranking highly in the HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index. The previous generation car proved to be very reliable and since its launch, there hasn't been any major issues reported with the latest model. 

The Skoda Octavia vRS ranges from insurance Group 24 (diesel and PHEV) to Group 25 (petrol), so you can expect the car to cost an average of about £750 a year to insure if you're in your 40s or £560 if you're in your 50s. By comparison, a more hardcore hot hatch like the Honda Civic Type R sits in Group 40 and will likely cost at least £100 more to get covered.

Thanks to its tiny CO2 emissions figure of 26g/km, the iV hybrid is the cheapest model to tax in year one and costs £140 every year after that, £10 cheaper than the rest of the range. The diesel model (130g/km), meanwhile, costs £175 and adding the optional four-wheel drive increases that to £215 (145g/km). The priciest model of the lot is the petrol, its 157g/km emissions figure means it costs a substantial £540 to tax in year one. This is lumped into the on-the-road price when new, though, so the first owner will take care of that.

There are no glaring omissions on the Skoda Octavia vRS' specification list. All models look sporty but subtle thanks to their 19-inch alloy wheels and revised front and rear bumpers. Hatchback models also get a discreet lip spoiler.

The inside follows the same recipe, so you get Alcantara on the dashboard, aluminium pedals and sports seats with red stitching – significant upgrades that raise the vRS above the rest of the range. You also get plenty of toys including adaptive cruise control, a 10-inch sat-nav/10.25-inch digital instrument screens, heated seats and a heated steering wheel, keyless entry, auto lights and wipers, as well as an electrically operated boot.