Reeky

Looking to replace my much beloved Subaru Legacy Spec.b I think I'm going to need two cars, and one of them is going to have to have a nice petrol engine with at least 6 cylindes, and probably only two seats. Which leaves me with a relatively tight budget to buy an estate, one of the options I'm looking at the mk3 Octavia VRS, either in economical TDI form, or in petrol form with the performance pack, both with the manual, rather than the DSG. I'm also considering a Superb, in 2.0 TDI 170 4x4 guise, and an F31 BMW 320 Xdrive, B8 Audi A4 Quattro Avant, 2.0 manual, in either petrol or diesel. I know that the petrol VRS is the most fun and the most powerful and the lightest, and so quickest in the dry, and the diesel is the most economical. I intend to tow occasionally, so I'm considering the Superb 4x4 too, given that I'll have the sportscar for thrills. How do they compare to the BMWs and Audis? My experience with Haldex (admittedly the older generation) wasn't impressive, and so I'm leaning towards the diesel VRS, at least of the Skodas. It has nearly identical power to the BMWs, it's a bit lighter, but of course it's only FWD. I know the Skoda is hands down the more practical of the two, but which is the best to drive? And by that I mean, which is most fun? (I know, a 2.0L diesel estate car isn't designed for thrills, but hey) Note that I'm aware there is a VRS TDI 4x4, but that it is DSG only. Likewise the 3.0L BMWs/Audis, they are automatic only too, I insist on a manual) I'm also considering getting only one car, in which case it'll be an Audi S4 avant, in manual, 3.0L supercharged V6 form) So, anyone who's driven these cars, particularly the diesel VRS and the 320d xdrive, as those are the two I'm currently favouring, I'd be keen to hear from you

You can have a mechanical LSD fitted to almost any hot hatch, just google [car] LSD. Personally, I've given up on all FWD cars, I'm fully subscribed to Subarus. Like @OccyVRS , I'm quite young (22) so found myself in a Legacy Spec.b, rather than a WRX STI, meaning I have the same 245hp as the VRS, but with twice the grip and roughly the same weight, and I love it. The best bit is that it's just as fast in the wet as it is in the dry, ohh, and it was £3000. Personally, I'd struggle to justify the cost of a relatively new hot hatch - you can buy the ordinary economical version and a Porsche Boxster S or an Impreza STI or whichever other depreciated performance car takes your fancy. But here are a couple of MK3s Ive found for you with the diff, not sure about you, but this is the one that caught my eye because it's a manual estate in a nice colour. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202509206487024?sort=price-desc&twcs=true&searchId=9c0d7642-f2b7-4689-b32c-b54d3de84dd9&aggregatedTrim=vRS&fuel-type=Petrol&make=Skoda&min-engine-power=200&model=Octavia&page=1&postcode=ll546sh&transmission=Manual&advertising-location=at_cars&fromsra&backLinkQueryParams=aggregatedTrim%3DvRS%26channel%3Dcars%26fuel-type%3DPetrol%26make%3DSkoda%26min-engine-power%3D200%26model%3DOctavia%26postcode%3Dll546sh%26sort%3Dprice-desc%26transmission%3DManual%26flrfc%3D1 For that money, you could buy yourself the slightly older prefacelift VRS diesel, which is also cheaper to tax and much more economical, and a performance car of your choosing, and a trackday or two, or a warranty. If you're happy to buy something with a fair few miles on it, you could get a mk3 VRS diesel, again a blue manual estate, from under £5000. A decent 986 Boxster S, the 3.2, which is the one to have, is about the same, or an Impreza STI for about £7000. The latter will run rings around just about anything in the wet, short of a 911 turbo.

As with the Golf GTI, it was an optional extra. As part of the pack you also got bigger brakes and slightly more power, I believe that's it. Autotrader lists the diff is the specs of the cars which have it. (I think they call it an "electro-mechanical locking differential"

The best VRS is the 2.0 petrol mk3 with the clever front diff. Its the same as a mk7 Golf GTI with the performance pack.

Thanks - are all the airbags compatable in that they won't give me a warning light, and they will actually deploy should I need it to? With the VRS wheel, can the paddles for the DSG be removed, or better still, be used for something useful like switchable maps?

Also, can I fit the seats from a MK2 VRS? Do I need to make sure that they're from the estate in order to ensure that the rear seats fit? And what about the doorcards, are they worth changing and are they compatable? Thanks

I've recently picked up a 2009 Fabia 2, and the standard plastic steering wheel is in a bad state and is frankly revoulting. Can I fit a steering wheel from a newer/better model? I don't want anything bigger than the current one, and I'd rather not be left with buttons which do nothing (the current one hasn't got any buttons). Ohh, and a functioning airbag is a must. Also, if possible, I'd like to add cruise control, but I've no idea if that's practical, or if it's a wiring nightmare (1.9 TDI manual) Thanks!

So after looking a bit further, I'm drawn to either a Superb in (170PS 2.0 TDI 4x4 form) or an F31 BMW 320D Xdrive - I know, a slightly bizzare conclusion - but hear me out - they are the most powerful diesel manual AWD estates, without going for the ridiculously heavy V6 TDI Audis. They also both have manual handbrakes. The Superb is bigger, more practical, and can tow more. The BMW is marginally more powerful, quicker, and faster, and the AWD system works the other way around (i.e. its always RWD with a clutch occasionally engaging the front wheels). I imagine that the Skoda is likely to be the more relable of the two, and the cheaper of the two to repair. Fuel economy I imagine will be identical, although the BMW is £100 a year cheaper to tax. However, it's also much much easier to find a Skoda with all the optional extras, whereas in my price range, you take what you can get with the BMW. The BMW should be better to drive, especially if I can get one with the adaptive dampers. Its 10hp and 50NM up on the Superb as standard, and apparently they both weigh 1580kg, and its 1.5 seconds quicker to 60. However the Skodas boot is 140L bigger. Given that I doubt I'll need the extra bootspace, legroom, or towing capacity of the Superb, is there anything I've missed out?

I currently have Pilot Sport 5s on my car, having worn through a set of Uniroyal Rainsport 5s in about a year. I happened to get a very good deal on mine, had I not found such a good deal, I'd probably have bought Falken Azenis FK520s

Why only look at cars with less than 100,000 miles, especially givent that it's the TDI they want.

Yeah, the Passat also has 17" wheels with a sensible amount of tyre sidewall, which also helps with comfort. I dont mind firm suspension, I do mind if its so bad that I need a new spine, or if its so low it scrapes on speedbumps, etc.

Yeah, but realistically the weight difference is something like a full vs empty tank of fuel, or giving one of your mates a lift, especially if theyre a bit partial to mcdonalds... Here is where the problems lie, becuase in the standard 184hp form, I agree, but I'm sure I'll be tempted to remap it, or possibly even more than that, and the more the power climbs, the more I'll find myself wanting the extra traction. I live in Wales. When it isnt cold and wet, I'm not driving, Im too busy having a party of walking up a mountain. It rains more often than it doesnt, and the roads are at least "not dry" at least 2/3rds of the time. The other option of course, if I wanted AWD and petrol, is a Yeti. But then I suspect Im just converging on Subaru levels of thirst if I start chasing power with one of those. My mum has offered me her old 2013 Passat quite cheaply, since she is moving to a place with a low emission zone. Its on 166k and its the 2.0tdi CR140, so should map to roughly standard VRS TDI power. From my understanding, the Passat is a bit heavier than an Octavia, and its longer, but has a better rear suspension setup (Scirocco uses Passat rear suspension, rather than Golf, which Im guessing is what the Octavia uses). So for less than half the price of an Octavia, I can buy my mums old Passat and have it remapped, that seems like a no-brainer?

That doesnt really bother me - I have found I really like Skoda interiors, so many cubby holes and cupholders. Thats supprising, I remember my MK2 Octavia Scout had a really tight turning circle, and the ride was rather excellent, but on a twisty road it didnt feel nimble at all. I did notice the weight difference when looking at the figures, supprisingly the BMW is even heavier than my AWD 3.0L Subaru... Not even close, the Skoda definately wins hands down, the boot is vastly bigger, although Im guessing the seats dont fold down flat? Personally, I havnt got kids, but I do have a lovely big dog, so I do need an estate. Would this be true at an independant garage, or if I were to service them myself? With my Subaru I mostly service/repair that myself, but thats because everything is quite simple, whereas with all the german cars, everything seems to be buries much deeper, with several more layers of plastic, so Ive always taken them to someone else to fix for me. Yep, Im doing a few too many miles with my 22mpg Subaru, and itll eventually fail its MoT for virtually irrepairable rear subframe rot. My only criticism for how it drives is that the steering could be heavier and have more "feel", as the journalists would say. And the clutch is appauling in traffic, because the previous owner fitted an uprated one, fit for over 400hp. Thanks for your contribution, definately some useful things there, if I wasnt such a keen driver, Id be buying another Skoda in a heartbeat. Well, I know both will cope with the motorway duties just fine, its more the twisty A-roads and overtaking both lorries on the only stretch of suitable road for what seems like 50,000,000 miles. My Subaru is excellent at that sort of thing, loads of power and loads of grip, a relatively lightweight and nimble chassis, good suspension, big brakes etc. Im certainly not a vegan. Very likely, but only if the rest of the car can cope with it. Yeah, although I'd say that the A6 is a 5-series rival. The daft thing being, the Octavia has the biggest boot of them all! Really I've no use for the extra size of a 5-series/A6/Superb, so its just an extra half ton or so of car, making it slower and thirstier than it need be. Obviously in a straight line, a 330D will walk away from a VRS TDI, its got 50% more engine. My question is, if you're going for a drive down a nice bit of road, which one is more involving and more fun? I dont think I'd need more than 180hp, and the VRS has the same top speed as my Subaru (not that Im cruising above 140mph very often). If I were willing to consider an auto, which I'm not sure I am, is it worth me looking at the AWD version of the VRS? They arent as expensive as I thought, with a few on autotrader under 10k. Obviously, if I'm looking at autos, that broadens my choices quite a bit.

So, I'm contemplating a MK3 VRS TDI, given that the prices are coming down, and the road tax is cheap, to replace my aging Subaru Legacy. I don't NEED awd, and having driven both a MK2 Scout and my Mums VW Passat, both 140hp 2.0 diesel variants, I'm confident that if any diesel skoda can scratch the itch, itll be one of these. I do intend on modifying it for more power, although time will tell how far down that rabbit hole I go. So - the point of this thread is, I'm also tempted by a BMW, the 320D has the same power as a diesel VRS, and the 330D is very tempting indeed, however both are much less practical and quite a bit heavier, and I'm not enough of a badge snob to put any value at all on the emblem on the bonnet/boot. Has anyone here owned/driven both a VRS TDI and a 320D/330D? I know neither will be as good as my Legacy, but then very few cars are.

This angers me greatly, I agree. But there are plenty of roads where this doesnt happen. And even a Micra will get you a ticket on the straight flat bit of road if you put your foot down. What was it you said about naff tyres yesterday? Tyre width isnt actually half as much of a big deal as you might think - the narrowest tyre Ive ever encountered was a 155, the same as on a K11 Micra. My Subaru uses 215s, which is only one size bigger than some MX5s, and Audi RS6 uses 285s. The quality of the tyre matters quite a bit more than its width, a Pilot Sport in MX5 size will give you much more grip than an RS6 sized linglong. Better grip, although it means you cant slide around as easilly, it means you can stop much better. In the world of fast, practical estates, like the Octavia VRS, Subaru Legacy, Audi RS6, whatever it may be, sliding around isnt the point. Even the new BMW M3 touring is AWD, and all the RWD BMWs have had wider rear tyres than the fronts for ages. Again, not sure whereabouts you are, but nobody walks back from the pub here, because there arent any pubs and everything is too far to walk. And you dont drive so fast that you crash into stationary objects like walls or fences, thats called being a plumbsack.