With the new iteration of Skoda’s popular Octavia liftback and Combi (estate) already in the market, the Volkswagen Group’s Czech division is now preparing the crown jewel of the series with the RS (vRS in Britain) performance models.

The first public appearance of the third-generation Octavia RS will take place at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, held from July 11 to 14, 2013, in the UK, but until then, we can show you the car through a very revealing set of spy pictures.

Skoda has ditched the traditional camouflage on the test car for some cheeky decals that include black stripes that imitate the non-existent bumper protectors, plus a cover up of the LED daytime running lights on the corners of the front bumpers, and the area surrounding the rear diffuser. Also absent are the black-colored decorative door strips, which were on the Octavia RS in the leaked configurator images.

All in all, though, and despite the bigger wheels with the chunky brake discs featuring red calipers, the rear spoiler, the twin trapezoidal exhausts, darkened headlamps and the modified front bumper with the bigger air-vents, the new RS will continue to be a discreet sports car.

For its motivation, the new MQB platform-based Octavia RS will likely borrow the VW Golf GTi’s 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine pushing out somewhere around 220 to 230 horsepower, channeled to the front wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox or an optional seven-speed DSG twin-clutch transmission.

Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoopS

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