© gazeo.com 
It's a modern car running on modern fuel, but doesn't look out of place in Tallinn's historic district 
110 PS and 200 Nm are enough for highway cruising. However, on regular roads you may need to reduce gear to overtake - trying to do it in fifth may result in pressing the pedal against the floor without much happening 
Vilnius was the place where we learned to refuel with CNG on our own. Not that it was difficult 
In Tallinn we had to wait for a bus to finish refueling. Luckily it was nearly done when we came 
A payment terminal and no-one in sight - that's how you refuel in Estonia 
You've seen one CNG station, you've seen them all - at least in Estonia, where the modules are the same, just as CNG prices 
At first sight, you may fail to notice the car runs on anything else than petrol 
The pressure regulator is the key component of the CNG system. It looks nothing like an LPG reducer 
The heat-dispersing rings around petrol injectors are made of aluminium 
There's no spare wheel well under the trunk - that's where the CNG tanks are 
The tanks are protected from underneath by a plastic cover, easily removed after unscrewing a few bolts 
And here are the tanks in all their glory. They can hold up to 18-19 cubic metres of CNG 
Since there is no spare wheel, Skoda provides a tyre sealant... 
... and an electric pump 
The pre-facelift Octavia is a rolling definition of inconspicuous 
The G-TEC badge is the only thing giving the car away from the outside, but even that is a clue only to those in the know 
© gazeo.comIf you're queueing to refuel after three refuse trucks, be sure CNG pressure will be low and the station's storage will be empty, so you'll squeeze in less fuel than you normally wouldIt's been said too many times already that there aren't many enough CNG stations in Poland, but we're going to repeat it now and as many times as it takes until it changes for the better. Natural gas is just too good a fuel to just ignore it, especially when you can buy a brand new car, straight from the dealership, equipped with a factory-fitted CNG system. And it's one that will only cost you 3 to 5 euros per 100 km in fuel. Meet the Skoda Octavia G-TEC!
With single refueling range at 300-450 km (depending on driving conditions and style), the car only makes sense if you live near a CNG station and drive locally or if you're lucky enough to live in a country where infrastructure is well developed, e.g. Italy or Germany. Even though there's a regular, 50-litre petrol tank on board, just like on any other Octavia, emptying it on a regular basis is not what you want to do when you buy a methane-powered vehicle. And so, since we are based in Lodz, Poland, and the nearest CNG station is in Warsaw, 120 km away, we took the car on a trip to Estonia to review it properly.
Even though the 1,4 TSI engine has direct petrol injection, CNG is applied into the combustion chambers indirectly, via the intake manifold. However, petrol interjections are not required, because petrol injectors are mounted in special aluminium rings, which disperse excessive heat and protect them from overheating
Last, but not least, let's see if purchasing the G-TEC pays off. To buy it in Poland, you need to add over 11000 zlotys (approx. 2600 euros) to the price of the 1,0 TSI version. The 1,0 TSI costs 72580 zlotys, the G-TEC 84150 zlotys, both in Active trim (that's around 17280 and 20035 euros, respectively). The engine is different (with three cylinders instead of four), but its output is similar to that generated by the unit under the G-TEC's bonnet (115 versus 110 PS, whereas the regular, petrol-only 1,4 TSI generates 150 PS). Based on official economy figures (we haven't driven the Octavia 1,0 TSI), i.e. 4,9 l/100 km for the 1,0 TSI and 5,7 m3/100 km for the G-TEC, and current fuel prices in Poland (4,49 zl/l of petrol and 3,29 zl/m3 of CNG, i.e. 1,07 euro/l and 0,78 euros/m3), we concluded that the G-TEC only saves 3,25 zl/100 km (0,77 euros/100 km) and breaks even after covering... 356 thousand km! Try as we might, we won't convince anyone the car makes sense economically speaking. Pity, but it's true.
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