Studied impartiality may well be a desirable in any vehicle review but I'm afraid I'm going to fail you on this score. I love the Skoda Octavia vRS. That is, I love the petrol-powered 197bhp version that I've had the good fortune of racking up a few thousand miles in. When Skoda announced a diesel version of its sportiest Octavia, I was at first a little sceptical, expecting it to be a badge-engineered version of their 140bhp 2.0-litre TDI model. Fortunately I was wrong, and this engine is good for a hefty 170bhp.

This means that the diesel Octavia is going to feel even quicker through the midrange than its petrol counterpart, a car that rarely feels anything other than respectably rapid. Whereas there's a tinge of guilt and a quick scan to the fuel gauge when really pressing on in the petrol model, the diesel car assuages this sense of remorse with a combined fuel economy figure of 48.7mpg. Naturally, you won't get anything like this figure if you drive with the throttle pedal welded to the bulkhead but progress in a more measured fashion and you'll achieve a typical touring range of 589 miles per tankful. As a result, this is the sort of car where it's quite easy to forget which side the fuel filler's on when you pull into a filling station.

The vRS package has proven a popular one amongst Octavia buyers and includes deeper bumpers, a boot spoiler and 17-inch Zenith alloy wheels, the Octavia vRS looking purposeful without appearing as if it's returning from Max Power Live with a teenage driver who's just maxed his dad's credit card. Other details include green brake callipers, Cat's Eyes reflectors in the rear bumper and vRS badging on the tailgate. The interior also benefits from some subtle upgrades with deeply bolstered sports seats, a three spoke steering wheel and aluminium-effect trim to lift the somewhat sombre Octavia fascia. Black rooflining and a leather-trimmed gearknob complete the interior package.

"This diesel Octavia vRS offers a big helping of capability for the money"

If you owned one of the first generation Octavia vRS models (which only came with petrol power), you'll find with this second generation model that the rear overhang has been extended a little further to give the Octavia more of a 'three box' profile. Like the old vRS, the latest car boasts a practical hatchback rather than the boot its stub-tailed lines may suggest. The old Octavia was renowned for possessing one of the biggest payloads in class but the latest car comprehensively trumps it, available capacity going up by 36 litres to 560 litres with the rear seats in place. Bear in mind that this dwarfs what's on offer from a BMW 5 Series, a Jaguar S-TYPE, a Mercedes E Class or a Volvo S80 and you'll get some idea how huge it is back there. The VW Golf (whose design platform this car shares) doesn't even compare. Fold the rear seats flat and you'll then get a yawning 1,350 litres of available room. Not a car for the agoraphobic in other words and if you opt for the estate, that seats-folded capacity increases to 1,620 litres.

Passenger room is similarly generous - and that's important since the prodigious luggage space of the original MK1 Octavia required rear seat passengers to pay in kind. The wheelbase of the second generation model has been teased out by another 66mm, endowing it with admirable rear legroom even when the front seats are occupied by long limbed adults. Rear headroom is better than the swooping roofline would suggest, helped in no small part by a slightly more generous seat back recline than in many such cars.

When it comes to the vRS TDI, there's also an estate version offered, priced at £19,620. Built on the same platform as the hatchback model, the Octavia estate eschews the current trend for long wheelbase estate versions and instead concentrates on offering solid value for money and practical interior solutions rather than headline grabbing gimmickry. A split/fold rear bench isn't the most exciting feature but it can free up a huge amount of space - some 1,620 litres all in - and even with the seats in place, there's 580 litres available to stuff with bags. That's fully 32 litres more than the old car despite the latest model looking a good deal sportier.

The 2.0-litre direct injection diesel that powers the Octavia 2.0 TDI PD vRS is an impressive piece of engineering. With 170bhp under the bonnet, this car certainly doesn't hang around. The headline figure with this model isn't the power output but the maximum torque output of 350Nm. The BMW 330i, the Ford Focus ST, the Mercedes SL350, the Porsche Cayman S, and the Subaru Impreza WRX all fail to top this figure.

Torque is simply defined as rotational force and it's best to think of it as the engine's muscularity. With this sort of torque on tap, you can rest assured that this Skoda isn't going to get sand kicked in its face. Acceleration figures from rest never do a diesel car justice and the 0-60 figure of 8.2 seconds sounds brisk rather than concussive. A more indicative test is the 30-70mph time through the gears and here the vRS is quick enough to give many of the cars listed above a real scare.

With a top speed of 140mph, the Octavia will have no issues about cruising at British motorway speeds and even on the cut and thrust of a two lane derestricted autobahn it has more than enough mumbo to jet up to speed after dispatching a dawdling artic. The great thing about this powerplant is that the torque is almost omnipresent. That maximum figure is available from just 1,750rpm, little more than tickover. Running costs are kept on the manageable side while a 157g/km emissions figure will mean this car will figure on the wanted lists of many business users with a £20k budget.

A diesel option for Octavia vRS customers looks set to prove extremely popular. The petrol model has achieved almost cult status, despite the attraction of the mechanically similar Volkswagen Golf GTI and the diesel model seems to have even more appeal, offering trademark Skoda pricing with performance, practicality and running cost compromise that's tough to beat. Factor in the added equipment that's part of the vRS package and you have a car that's a dead cert for success.