Hi, I'm new here and in fact I dont actually own a Skoda. I'm considering changing my car from a ford escort 1.6 zetec which has done me proud for 6 years now and covered 120k miles.

I've considered the Fabia Vrs as i'm told its a bit of a wolf in sheeps clothing, has quite a bit of torque, is reliable, economical.

Can someone please tell me what the differences are between the post 2005 vrs and the 2003 model as i read somewhere there were two versions?

Also realistically how good is the vrs? i am sick of being overtaken on motorways and lacking power, and am after something thats going to be alot quicker than my current drive. Have heard a few mixed things about the vrs...some say the main power comes in a very small burst and after that its slow?

have also considered the subaru imprezza 2 litre RX, hatchback as drove one lastmonth and the handling was great, although its not that quick. Looked at the Corolla T sport 1.8 (180bhp approx) and Seat leon tdi 1.9 150bhp FR(2005 model) not driven those yet but used they seem good value at about9k

One of the differences between the earlier and later Fabia vRS is the gearing.

IIRC the older ones have a much higher top gear than the newer ones which has an effect of reducing consumption at higher speeds, but IIRC it isn't much use until you hit about 80 as at lower speeds you have to change down.

I've never owned one though so can't help.

You might be better asking this in the fabia I section.

The question of powerbands is arguable. Yes diesels do have numerically narrower powerbands than petrols, but that's usually compensated for by their ability to pull from much lower revs, and higher gearing. For example, my Octy TDI will pull from 30mph in top (30mph/1000rpm), and show me a petrol 2.0l that can do that, and will be accelerating hard from about 1600 rpm, through to 4000, but doesn't hit the governer until 5000. Also, show me a 2.0l petrol engine that can do 55 to 60 mpg!

SWMBO drives a fabia vrs and covers 12-15k per year of which 50% is motorway and the other 50% is roads round the Peak District. All the grunt is well used and that is one of the reasons for us buying one.

The best advise is get down to a Skoda Dealer and take one out for a test drive. All your questions will then be answered.