flynn

Let me put it this way. It certainly isn't an Octy vRS or the Passat estate with the same engine would be one too. It isn't an Audi A4 2.0 T without the silly stuff either or what would that make the 4.2 S4 (with no spoiler of course)? To get a perpective, I bought a Citroen BX 16v way back in 1990, sixteen years ago, without any turbo and just 1905cc that would match the performance of the Octy vRS mk2.

Yes. I think was the first on this board to try one and posted my comments then.

Just out of interset Pat, you haven't bought one of those cars mentioned in the review you object to have you? (To clarify for you, I'd be quite happy to be seen in an unpretentious standard Octy; I would be embarrassed to be seen in the very silly and pretentious tarted up vRS version, especially by drivers of real performance cars.)

Yep, obviously hard to comment if you've bought one. I see the problem. I'm in the more objective position of having intended to buy one until I saw and road-tested one. More seriously, I was disappointed. If they would put the turbo in one of the high-spec models (i.e. one where leccy rear windows are standard) without all the embarrassing stuff I'd still consider one provided there was less road noise than the vRS I tried.

Yep, there'll always be a market for the "sports model". Reminds me a lot of the Morris Marina GT et al. Why not just make the turbo an option for the standard models as in the Audis without all the silly stuff and pretending to be a rally car? Sorry, not to my taste.

The message I see given out by someone driving an Octavia Elegance is "I bought this car because it's a well-engineered machine that does what I need well. I didn't buy it to impress you or the neighbours". The message from the vRS is: "I'm desperate to impress but hard-up or a tight-wad. Can't afford a real performance car but did you notice the green paint and the spoiler?" As the journo said: "There's something quite embarrassing about high-end versions of low-end cars." If it doesn't embarrass you then don't worry about it.

I think the point he's making is the car is, as he said, "nothing more than a fairly quick family car" so what's with the boot spoiler, the green calipers and the go-faster seats? I thought it would be a car I loved, and it could be a great car, but what spoils it for me is the tacky pretensiousness. For contrast look at how Volvo do it with the much faster V50 T5. Just because it's got the go-faster engine they don't feel the need to give it the go-faster stripes as do Skoda. It's fast, but stays a grown-up executive car. Look at how Audi do it with their warm saloons and estates. No funny seats needed. Skoda almost seem to have an inferiorty complex as if no one would think it nippy motor without the tarting up. So they end up messing up the basic very staid but ok design by adding incongruous boy racer bits from Halfords. It's that contrast that grates for me. It's like seeing your grand-dad with blonde streaked dyed hair and gel. Trying too hard doesn't work. For me, I'd rather have an honest Ambiente or Elegance without the dopey spoiler, seats, and green painted bits but with the important bit which is the turbo. As it is I'd find the vRS despite all its obvious virtues much too embarrassing to be seen in. In the end the only review that matters is the one by the customer who gets his cheque-book out - or in my case walks away. Sorry Skoda.

I hope you're kidding. I've tried the vRS (here) and to trade a new Ambiente for one would be paying a heck of a lot for just a turbo. It drives ok but not so different to the standard car and the bigger wheels make a heck of a noise. If your kids are small they'll need to be wrapped in cling-film before you let them in the car to keep that pale grey suedette trim on the seats clean. You don't get any choice of seat colour unlike the rest of the range.

I'd guess the marketing men were in charge and perhaps didn't want it to compete against VW/Audi. An Ambiente or Elegance estate plus

Agreed. I hadn't seen that price. For the vRS estate (which I need) they quote £18350, i.e £150 over list. The only price worth comparing is the one you pay. If they're forced to big discounts for the estate would look a better proposition to me.

Trouble with the Golf GTi is there's a long wait for delivery and only small discounts on offer. On the other hand, brokers are offering

Just been trying out the new vRS though still not sure what I make of it. Glad to say the interior looked much better to me than it did in the photos. I thought the bit of aluminium plastic round the central instruments worked well and I didn't dislike the three colour seats as much as I expected. The engine is tuned for fairly rapid everyday driving with lots of midrange torque. Its not an engine that feels it would rev itself to bits given the chance and by the time the rev-limiter cuts in it feels its given all it’s going to give. Hit the red line and the limiter just holds the revs gently rather than giving that feeling of throwing on the anchors you might get in some cars. The handling is fine for a family saloon but despite the lowered suspension still felt a bit floaty for what is being sold as a sports saloon. More of a problem was the amount of noise from the 17” wheels. Noticed it most at about 40ish and I think would be a real problem on a long journey. Was also more than average wind-noise. The controls are all fine except for the handbrake that was badly obstructed by the fairly pointless box/armrest thingy that's barely big enough for a sarnie. What puzzles me a bit is what sort of customer the car is aimed at. It’s based on a very conservatively designed family car so won’t have the same street-cred for boy-racers of the favoured hot hatches. I’d probably compare it with the Volvo S40/V50 with performance between the 2.4i and T5. But then you wouldn’t find those 3 colour seats in the Volvo or any pretence at being a hot-hatch. The vRS seems more confused about it’s identity. I’d have thought people without kids would want a pukka hot-hatch while for those needing the slightly larger size for a fast family car it doesn’t seem to quite work. Those seats for a start, great in a Type R hatch but kids, sticky fingers and pale grey suede inserts just don’t mix. The other problem I had with the seats was that the lumbar support was far too low and just the thing for backaches. And then there’s the price. Add in the optional rear electric windows, standard on most of the range, and the price is around £4000 more than the Ambiente 2.0. As there are big discounts available on the Ambiente but not as yet on the vRS that difference becomes even greater. The worthwhile bits on the vRS are the extra power from the turbo and the ESP. The changes to the suspension don’t make a huge difference to the handling yet give a less good ride so it’s not something I want to pay much for. The other bits and bobs are mainly decoration only and to my eye a tad pretentious. It's not a hot-hatch so why pretend? Would I buy one? Definitely not if I wanted a hatch. There are better options around at a similar price. As an estate it’s more tempting. It’s the right size for me and there aren’t that many estates with a reasonable performance around unless you move up a price band to Audi A4, BMW 3 series territory. The Passat will soon be available with the same engine as the vRS but it’s big. Big discounts on the Passat put it within a whisker of the current price of the vRS and it will probably have better residules. The vRS still seems way too much of a premium over the rest of the Octavia range given the big discounts now available on them. To make the vRS estate really tempting I’d want a mega discount and there probably won’t be anything worth having for a while yet. VW charge a premium of just £1400 for the 2.0T over the 2.0 FSI engine so even more tempting would be an Ambiente with the turbo engine for a similar premium. Say £2000 for a the turbo plus ESP and traction control. That would be a cheap fast car and I’d have some of that like a shot. But on the vRS I’m open to persuasion.

I thought the vRS was top of the range in price - unless you want an oil burner or auto. In imho, without a big discount it's overpriced both compared with the rest of the range and with the Audi A3. I'd be happy to have the Ambiente with a turbo for a couple of thou more. As it is from Broadspeed the vRS costs

BMW 3 series. Most people seem to think the E46 looked better than new E90 both inside and out even though E90 drives superbly. Sometimes the new-look gets better with time. Sometimes not. Lots of update disasters from the past spring to mind. Looks great in the right context, not so great outside Tescos.