my roomster is in the body shop after it was driven into over the christmas period

and the hire company have given be a VW Touran.

well they are quite different so I thought i'd share a few things with you.

some things which aren't fair to compare to my car is:

engines~ my roomster 2 is a 1.4 16v n/a petrol and the touran is the sport model with the 170ps engine. :eek:wow dose that thing pull, :Pso easy to hit the rev limiter though.

[although mpg is very similar between these engines 1.4 16v =41.5mpg combined and pd170 = 42.8mpg combined]

equipment~ both cars vary in spec and the new car prices show this.

time to compare:

Lights~ both cars have halogen projector light but the tourans seam better than the roomster, and they only appear to do dipped beam, as there is a second lamp and lens for the high beams unlike the bi-halogens on the skoda.

suspension and handling~ the VW feels tighter and stiffer but not hard, which is beter than my roomster which isn't bad but feels a little bumpy and wallows a light is compared. this may be down to the independant rear suspension and rear anti-roll bar fitted to the vw. (I may have to get a roll bar for mine now).

Steering~ the steering feels more direct and tighter on the VW, maybe this is some thing which could be improved with help of VAG-COM.

Driver position and interior~ The sports seats in the vw are very good ( I did read in the fabia II section abou someone planing to upgrade his std seats to sports with extra foam). I do perfer the driving position of the roomster the vw steering wheel dose not have enough adjustment and is angled to high and i drive with the seat in the highest position , and the wheel is still to high for my perfered postion, the roomster is the best seated postion i've ever expirianced. also i do perfer the instrument layout on the roomster. In the VW there is lots more cubby holes and storage trays but i think the skodas interior finish is better for everly day use.

Rear Compartment~ the rear seats are equal for comfort and space, but the Touran's rear seats don't fold completely up right like the roomster also there dosn't seam to be anything to stop the seats falling down :(I was impressed when the seats folded back down on top of my bike. Because of the 2 extra seats in the back of the Touran the load area isn't flat but they are aviable in 5 or 7 seat options. so for the way i use my car i'd go for the roomster for carrying loads.

my conculsion: give me my roomster with the tourans lights and supension, and the engine choice is up to you.

Edited 28 February, 200917 yr by jamcoly

forgot to say:

both have 5 normal doors and seating lay-ou is fully adjustable in both.

correction: I have now found the rear seat props not very impressed by the way they go backinto the loadarea reducing space,

Interesting, although they are really from a different market segment those two vehicles to be fair to the Skoda. Rumours say that Skoda will be doing their own Touran in the next year or two.

And I think whether you like the styling of the Roomster or not, the Touran is really dull to look at!

The cheapest Touran with the 170 in it is £21k......

I'll stick with the significantly better value for money Roomster with subtle suspension mods

Thats a pretty good review, despite the obvious differences in engines and chassis.

Hmmmmm..... sits back and dreams of 170 CR fitted in Roomster.....

I was interested in the mpg figures... do you drive your petrol like that? i.e. "hit the rev limiter"... if you do I'd be surprised if you got anywhere near 41.5 (or are the figures you are quoting the official combined figures?). The only time I find I have any need to go above 3k with my PD engine is if I'm driving at over 100 on the Autobahn or a very short piece of overtaking when I might make 3300... certainly nowhere near the rev limiter.

The thing with diesels is NOT to use the high revs (over 3500) as the power is all low down the rev range, with the 4 cylinder PD engines its anywhere from 1400rpm up to around 3000, after that it goes off... that means that its a whole different driving style to a small petrol which to get the power you need to rev it...

If you've still got it try driving it using the correct gears and the lower rev range and see what you do on mpg then!

I hope this doesn't come across as criticism, its not meant that way, its just that I see so many posts saying that their diesels are rubbish on mpg when the person concerned is still driving the thing like a petrol which is all wrong! Take care!

But those people who drive like it's a petrol want the high revs.

I get 40mpg from my Favorit

Dunno what we're getting from this 1.8 Passat but when revved makes a nice growl!!

i was quoting manufactures mpg figures

and I don't drive either meaning to hit the rev limiter

I said "so easy to hit the rev limiter though" meaning i wasn't used to the narrow power band, and it dosen't stop pulling strong until it iit hits the stop

thanks for the advice

with time im getting used to how it want to be driven

it requires more gear changes

Ah, thought so... it's a good engine for power delivery, even in 100/105bhp form, though a bit noisy! You shouldn't really need more gear changes, though, if you take the time to get to know your engine and how it delivers the power then you should have no more gear changes than in your petrol, and in normal driving conditions there will probably be less. Thats another myth put about by the likes of Clarkson who don't like diesels, that diesels need more gear changes... if you are on a racing track then maybe, but in normal driving you shouldn't... stick it in 5th, relax, and enjoy the torque...

I always say to those who want to have engines which they can rev, "buy a petrol, not a diesel... or better still buy a decent motorbike!"... now on a decent 'bike you really can rev them, puts most cars to shame!!

Edited 2 March, 200917 yr by The PM

Interesting, although they are really from a different market segment those two vehicles to be fair to the Skoda. Rumours say that Skoda will be doing their own Touran in the next year or two.

And I think whether you like the styling of the Roomster or not, the Touran is really dull to look at!

Where can I get this rumour.. I'll wait forever for Skoda to come out something like the Touran.

roomster is great but at times I do need the 7 seater.

If they fit the 7 seater with 1.8T petrol...and 7 gear DSG!.. I'll wait for it for sure!