Top Gear's Roomster Report

[Dr Zoidberg]

I'm sure it is possible to get decent economy from even the 70bhp roomster but that's quite a heavy car to shift and if you do drive it "enthusiastically" you'll go through fuel quite quickly.

To get the claimed figures you'll need to be very patient.

[allytech]

You could actually save some money by buying that model and getting it chipped, I wonder what it could be increased to and what the fuel economy would be like after

Just over 100bhp and economy slightly better, we did my dads a while back:thumbup:

[moley]

It was an amusing item, but not to be taken too seriously. 2 small petrol cars against a larger practical diesel mini MPV is hardly a comparison test. JC doesn't like diesels very much and he didn't drive it for economy. He was correct in saying go for a bigger engine. I think the 1.2 & 1.4 petrol versions are cheaper than the 1.4 diesel he drove, so if the item was about cheap cars why did they not use the petrol version?

[Captain Sisko]

He was defiantly right to small an engine for the weight of the body, could someone send skoda a link to the show, they may just put the new 1.6 tdi in

The 1.6TDI engine is planned to go into the Roomy at some point (I think)

Although I think even the 1.2TSI 100BHP might also be planned, thats one of the most anticipated engines in the new Polo.

Remember the point was "cheap" or value for money. A bigger engine would have busted their budget.

But he didn't say that the car was rubbish.

They did get small cars that they liked although I was expecting James to get a Panda tbh!!!

I read JC's Roomy review somewhere and he does like it.

[McG MkII]

on the fuel issue, did it even state what the difference in price was between diesel and petrol at that forecourt???

[Aspman]

Maybe part of the choice of cars was down to the gags they could level against them?

Having the Roomster being glacially slow was funnier than them all doing ok.

I didn't think he was overly harsh on it. Other than the engine he was quite complementary.

[Dr Zoidberg]

on the fuel issue, did it even state what the difference in price was between diesel and petrol at that forecourt???

Nope , but it's only a couple of pence difference no matter where you go - sometimes in diesel's favour.

[Paul007]

I borrowed a 1.6 Tiptronic Roomster recently and it wasn't bad, but I did think it was quite slow. When I gave it them back I suggested it should have the 1.9 with the box rather than the 1.6 as that would help enormously IMO.

[speedy1]

watch the What Car video review on the Roomster

It has the front of the Mk2 Fabia (which in turn uses the chassis from the Polo)

and the back from the Octavia mk1 (which you guessed it used the Golf mkIV chassis)

I think it was an entertaining test if not a thorough one.

It wasn't that cheap but definately cheerful. All them Fiat 500s, gotta be fixed surely!!!

My point is if it was the back end of a ford fous strapped to the front end of a yorkshire terrier,its still a skoda if they built it, marketed it and put a skoda badge on it. I am probably being over sensitive but i get sick of motoring journalists and some owners justifying the fact that they like the car by saying "it's a VW underneath" Its a good car because its a skoda.

Tom

[n0ct0]

Never thought of it like that. Good point. Though they still use the same argument with SEATs too.

[speedy1]

Never thought of it like that. Good point. Though they still use the same argument with SEATs too.

I think there was a need to at the start to get away from the old eastern block cars that were produced. I bought a brand new Felicia many years ago on the strength that it was a VW with a Skoda badge. But now i think people are wiser about car brands, And platform sharing between car brands is the norm. I just think clarkson ( whom should be PM by the way) saying its not actually a skoda, is misleading.

[McG MkII]

Nope , but it's only a couple of pence difference no matter where you go - sometimes in diesel's favour.

i dont think ever in my life ive seen diesel cheaper than petrol, ive seen them the same, that was just last week, whenever this was shot i doubt diesel would have been cheaper

[skodakid]

Its obvious they chose the cars to produce the comedy report. However Clarkson did say the car he was driving was the cheapest version of the Roomster. Not true - the 1.2 petrol is the cheapest - further evidence that the test was deliberately planned for exactly the results shown. (The 1.2 petrol would have beat the other two on noise)

[Captain Sisko]

I think there was a need to at the start to get away from the old eastern block cars that were produced. I bought a brand new Felicia many years ago on the strength that it was a VW with a Skoda badge. But now i think people are wiser about car brands, And platform sharing between car brands is the norm. I just think clarkson ( whom should be PM by the way) saying its not actually a skoda, is misleading.

The Felicia was essentially a revamped Favorit and the only VW bits used were the airbagged steering wheel, the 1.9D diesel and 1.6l petrol engines. I think but someone might correct me on that.

[speedy1]

The Felicia was essentially a revamped Favorit and the only VW bits used were the airbagged steering wheel, the 1.9D diesel and 1.6l petrol engines. I think but someone might correct me on that.

Well i never new that:confused: that really is news to me. ah well it was a brilliant family car when i was poor and on a privates wage in the army, and our poor old polos wheel hada tendency to fall offon the motorway ( that actually happened) The Felicia was like a Rolls Royce in comparison.

[RapidRonnie]

My point is if it was the back end of a ford fous strapped to the front end of a yorkshire terrier,its still a skoda if they built it, marketed it and put a skoda badge on it. I am probably being over sensitive but i get sick of motoring journalists and some owners justifying the fact that they like the car by saying "it's a VW underneath" Its a good car because its a skoda.

Tom

I agree, you never see a review of an Audi A3 saying it's "basically a Golf" e.t.c. Skoda don't have their own R&D department for nothing. The Roomster is one of the most Skodarey Skodas too, sharing it's platform with nothing exactly!

[Calomax]

I watched the programme on iPlayer last night and, as usual, what could have been a good review was ruined by their stupidity. Why can't they go back to proper motoring reviews where they compare similar cars objectively. You can't compare a practical car like the Roomster with one car that's an ordinary 4/5 seater and one that is trying to be a 4 seat Smart car and fails because the back seat is only seriously usable for children.

I just got back from 2 weeks in France towing a small caravan with my tiptronic, which was loaded with at least double the stuff you could get into either of the other 2 cars they chose. I agree with Clarkson that the Fiat 500 is possibly the best small car around, my daughter has one, but it would be a complete flop for my motoring needs.

[helix]

Good to see Clarkson makeing sense as ever...."This car isn't really a skoda it's a front from a polo and the back form the golf" WTF is that suppose to mean???:confused:

To follow Clarkson's argument, an Audi A3 or TT isn't an Audi (its a Golf), a Saab isn't a Saab, its a Vauxhall, a Volvo S40 is a Focus, a mazda 6 is a Mondeo and so on ie there are actually only about 6 cars on the market!

Even by Clarkson standards this was a daft statement. The Roomy is if anything more Skoda than most other Skodas in that it's one of the first examples of VW platform modularistion rather than sharing. And Skoda were the first in the VW group to use the Fabia platform on which the Roomster is based

[skippy41]

They only need to do 2 things with the roomy, and they are put the rear door handles in the conventional place and put a 1.9 110 engine in or the new 105 1.6 CR in and they will sell like hot cakes especially to taxi owners

Edited 24 July, 2009 by skippy41

[apd007]

If you recall, they were asked to pick three cheap cars THEY LIKED, so theoretically, Clarkson likes the Roomster. Even if it was a set-up, which everything on Top Gear these days is, Clarkson was very complementary about the Roomster and made a valid point with regards to the engine, all he said was go for the more powerful option, I suspect, having driven one, the 80 bhp version would have been a better choice.

That said, the Roomster was the only car on the test that you could realistically use with 4 adults and still have reasonable boot space, although my sister and I were both left wondering why he didn't pick a Fabia instead.

[foureyes]

.....many many years ago I read a road test report comparing a Mk2 Escort 1.1 Popular (how many of you remember them?).....

Me me me... I've had two 1.3s! Ok, so technically I don't 'remember' them from the first time round as my first one was registered the day before my actual birthday!

Technically this also has nothing to do with the OP but the question was asked!

Oo, just for the record - I've seen two garages recently with diesel a penny cheaper then unleaded.

[pondweed]

does anyone have a link to this or remember the series/episode number. I guess it might be on youtube but I dont know where to start...! (Can anyone remember what else headlined/who was 'driver in a reasonably priced car' etc)

[pondweed]

does anyone have a link to this or remember the series/episode number. I guess it might be on youtube but I dont know where to start...! (Can anyone remember what else headlined/who was 'driver in a reasonably priced car' etc)

http://www.topgear.com/uk/skoda/roomster

its all here - parts 2, 3, and 4 and some other links too!

[onyertod]

I would love to see this video but it seems to be missing from the topgear website.

Can anyone tell me what series and episode number it was in?