AJR77

A comparison of an ABT tuned Seat Leon 2.0 TFSI against and a RS3. Again there is a difference in the WLTP RS3 having slower 0-60 numbers (4.2) and the what the 0-60 Pre-Face-Lift 362hp version (sub 4) quoted by EVO.

There was no factory for option for electrically fold-able wing mirrors (as previously said) both can be pushed in manually. My mother has to manually fold her Fabia's mirrors in each time it is put in the garage and it does not take any effort to pull in. So it could be that yours hasn't been used or the mirror has been previously damaged and the plastic is not aligned. It might be worth taking them apart and cleaning the plastic and inspect them for damage.

It looks like WLTP changes to the 2.5 engine has muted its performance.

My mother decided to keep the Fabia and pay off the finance and bought the car outright as the trade in offer matched the outstanding finance so it meant there was no value in the car when it came to trading it in against another car. Looking at the Fabia as it is there is a lot to recommend about it. It has plenty of space for a small car and is really comfortable to drive everyday. As a car in 2019 it is just too old now (Fabia was released in 2007 with a lot of bits from the mk1 Fabia) to be recommended with the segment moved on quality and specification with second hand values of newer models becoming affordable. But singling out the vRS version it does offer something different which isn't currently been done by other manufactures, which is a quick comfortable small hatchback that isn't really that "sporty". Manufacturers marketing departments promote hot hatch as being good on a track which probably means uncomfortable on the road. I still think the engine does offer something special. Comparing the Fabia to my daily driver which has over double the BHP and 0-60 in less than half the time, when I do drive the Fabia on a long journey on all types of roads it more than enough and refined for the job. I still enjoy driving the Fabia it's fun and it doesn't go silly speeds but is enough power to over take safely on public roads. So I think if someone is a current owner of the vRS Fabia and is happy with it I don't think there is anything on the market that offers the all round warm/hot hatch performance and comfort so I would say keep it even for the engine. For someone that was looking to buy a small hot hatch I would say shop around as there are faster more sporty small hot hatches on the market without the reliability issues of the vRS.

Carwow timed the new A45s 0-60 at 3.9 sec. Compared with their times of for the FL previous A45 at 4.8 sec and FL RS3 at 4.2sec. Both of these times seem slower than what it should be.

I did like the 105hp version of the 1.6. With 185lbft and manual gears it was a fun little car to drive. I didn't know the quoted hp was so conservative but the power and low end torque felt just right for the Fabia and getting 638 miles from a tank was a bonus as well.

A Revo stage 1 is quoting 125 hp to 129 hp and torque from 207lbft to 220lbft for the 1.6 TDI CR 105PS. Price for Stage 1 is £478.8 inc vat but sometimes they have a limited time discount sale on. On the Revo site it says that the ECU does need removing to flash:- All 1.6CR ECUs need to be removed from the vehicle and opened in order to flash with Revo Performance software. Not all Revo dealers have the ability to unlock this ECU type, please speak to your local dealer for more details

Here is the 2011 brochure as a PDF. Fabia_Brochure_2011_07.pdf

Found a 07/2011 Brochure Partial leather upholstery (cloth, leather and artificial leather not available on S, Monte Carlo, vRS or excluding GreenLine II). Must be ordered in conjunction with a three spoke, four spoke or MFSW. with RRP of £600.00 Both the SE and Elegance grade had the same style of leather and fabric in 2011:-

Looking at the 08/2014 b edition of the brochure it has the following: Partial leather upholstery is available on SE and Elegance grade with RRP of £610 and must be ordered in conjunction with a leather three spoke or MFSW.

All VAG cars up until a few years ago used their own interface cable for Apple and USB devices. At the time USB sockets fitted to VAG cars were only used for charging a devices and does not interface with the MMI. Here is the one I use with my iPod.

The styling doesn’t really say Mercedes, it’s a bit too loud. I think a performance Mercedes should be restrained in styling but I’m guessing this is what their hot-hatch customer’s want with attracting younger buyers that are able to get into finance agreements. I think the A45s would work better as a new version of Nissan Pulsar GTi-R instead of using the GLA as an INFINITI Q30. Looking back at was available with this performance only few years ago and the Evo X FQ-440 MR (basically a tuned car with a limited manufacturer’s warranty) that would require a 1,000 miles oil change and then a service every 4,500miles. Now the same performance is available from the showroom with standard warranty and yearly service. This looks like the golden age of the performance hot-hatch when it comes to power and reliability so the next generation might be very different. So, this could be last hurrah for the petrol only hot-hatch with legislation and customer demand changing what is feasible to sell in the next 10 years.

Prices are now:- Sportback £46,285 Sportback Sport Edition £50,285 Saloon £47,285 Saloon Sport Edition £51,285 Sport Edition has got what use to be options are now standard and is not available to order as option equipment on the standard version. These include Super Sport seats and Sports Exhaust which most cars were optioned with when ordered.

A review by FYD of the Pre-facelift RS3

Audi's 2019 Model Year line up on their UK website looks very small with no RS models listed at all. With limited engine available across the range of existing models. The 2019 Model Year RS3 is available to order outside of Europe though. WLTP has really decreased the availability of models for VW.

I looks like its a mistake quoting 376hp instead of 400ps (395 bhp) as both UK and German Audi website quotes are still quoting these numbers so it might be a typo from the A Class AMG hp numbers. Reported at the end of August there are no RS3 deliveries for Europe until NLTP is tested https://uk.motor1.com/news/263701/audi-rs3-production-halted-europe/

In September I took part in Vmax 200 runway run at RAF Cottesmore in Oakham, Rutland. It was a really good day with some really fast cars (Koenigsegg One:1 hitting 245 mph). It gave me the chance to see what an RS3 could do when there was no road restrictions in place. I was generally happy with 0 - 60 of 3.8 sec and maxed out at 172 mph at the braking zone. Here is a video of my car loosing badly to a tunes RS7 but shows my fastest run of the day Another video showing my car loosing to a tuned 500hp M4 but I did have a very good start with launch control

I'm not really a fan of the way that the DAB interface works on the Amundsen. To navigate the stations they are grouped by mux rather than station name. So a local BBC station isn't with the other nation BBC station but with random local stations. This can be very distracting to navigate stations that are not preset when driving. Having to look at the screen to see which grouping its on rather than glancing at which alphabetical station order its on.

DAB wasn't available in the UK for some reason for a number of years while some European countries had DAB fitted. Here is a discussion form 2012 about it: https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/253495-amundsen-dab/ And regarding DAB not being available in 2011 on a Superb

Looking at his other video he had a 2015 pre facelift car. On the road the handling isn't that bad but it does feel heavy.

Vicki posted an image of the day.

Revo has released its Stage 1 tune for 2017 Model Year RS3 with the 400ps aluminium engine. They are quoting between 449 bhp to 483 bhp with only a remap. People are quoting the standard engine producing 413 bhp when put on a dyno so it is a good increase over standard paower. Performance figures quoted by Revo looks impressive over the preface-lift Stage 1 model Old Stage 1 New Stage 1 0-60 mph 3.55 3.38 0-100 mph 8.37 7.46 30 - 70 mph 3.05 2.51 100 - 200 Kph 9.32 7.74

I've bought a "Te-Rich 3-Socket Cigarette Lighter 6.8A 4 Port USB Car Charger Power" from Amazon. This has an on/off button and a LED display reading the voltage. It is well made and is easier than having to unplug devices at the end of the journey.

Originally the grill was all black like the vRS. But in the last year or so of production the grill was changed to be partially painted while the vRS continued to be all black.

According to the August 2014 UK Fabia Brochure "vRS and GreenLine II (Hatch) Disc brakes front and rear".