Hi guys

[Russ_16v]

Hi im Russ, im new, im looking at getting a Octavia vRS, as my other half is expecting our first baby in December, so need a bigger car than the Clio 172 i have now!

Also i know you guys will probably be biased, but the two cars that have come to mind is the vRS and the Mondeo ST200.

Now i have owned two ST24's inthe past and they were fantasic cars, and if im honest i prefere the looks of the Mondeo. But i have always loved the vRS, and now they have fallen to my price range (under £3000) they do seem tempting, also i have the advantage of being able to order parts through work, if not then through VW's TPS centres, and our computers plug into Skoda's so they both have alot going for them.

I know the Mondeo will be worse on fuel, being a Vee, and the vRS should be better, how will it compare to my Clio? on average i get about 300 miles to £40?

Also handling wise, i know it wont be as good as the Clio, but comparing to the ST, my old ones were fantasic, little body roll with good feedback, how does the vRS feel?

Many thanks

Russ

[Dave_Herts_vRS]

If I could justify the fuel costs I would personally have an ST220. I had a standard mondeo for a couple of years and it was fantastic for the size of the car. Lots of feedback, really smooth and encouraging in the corners (great chassis). You'll have to speak to people on here who have had suspension and roll bar mods etc.. to get their opinion on the octavia handling, as personally, i think the standard vRS is quite vague. Lots of very safe understeer! It's a tough choice you have, as i was in the same boat before i chose my octy, purely on the basis that fuel prices were pushing over £1. The ST220 will drink like there's no tomorrow, being so heavy, but it is a smooth engine (something your other half will appreciate!). lovely recaros as well. As an all-round package, both cars excell, for me though the octy has much more potential for upgrading, and with a forum like this, you'll save yourself a lot of money thanks to the lovely (and very knowledgable) folk on here. You've got the added advantage of having most of the VAG catalogue of parts for upgrades!

[Russ_16v]

Yeah, and i would like to be able to get cheap parts through work, i used to have a Golf VR6 though it was a bit long in the tooth, and nothing in my price range i like in the VW side, ( mk4 golfs are too boring!) so the Octavia does seem very temping, and although the Mondeo does have a very nice interior i really like the Octavia's too!

See why this is so hard lol

Oh and my mrs is just a big petrol head as me

[chicken_eyebrow]

I get 370 miles to a £52 tank of fuel when driving reasonably carefully. This can go up well over 400 mile with long motorway journeys or down close to 300 miles with a lot of thrashing it about. If you come across a remapped one be aware that the fuel economy will probably be a bit worse.

Handling wise I think everyone on here will agree they are pretty shoddy, they are designed to be a compromise between sportiness and comfort so through the corners they are nothing like a Clio. You can sort them out with a rear ARB and some coilovers but that does make the ride a bit firmer.

[Russ_16v]

Hmm, so does the remaps really take the economy down that much?

[mikey vrs]

i have a standard vrs & the handling is ok(not a patch on my last car-a primera GT):)a standard mondeo st will be better than a standard vrs,i too considered a mondeo but went for a vrs,i think the vrs is a better overall package,good spec,good looks,good quality,good economy,good performance(even better with a re-map!)if your spending £3k i would of said you will get a better vrs than a mondeo st(only my opinion!) try to have a test drive in a vrs & see what you think! p.s if you do buy a vrs,get one in the best colour......black!!:rofl:

[chicken_eyebrow]

Hmm, so does the remaps really take the economy down that much?

Depends how enthusiastic you are with all the new-found power

If you don't hoon it around all the time I wouldn't expect the economy to drop more than a few miles per gallon.

[Russ_16v]

Well iv been lucky enough to have quite a few performance cars over the years, and i used to get 35mpg out of my 240bhp Scooby which everyone told me i couldn't do lol

The reason why im shying away from the Mondeo, is the Economy. The engine will use more fuel than a Octavia im guessing, but any engine work will be a pig due to that engine crammed in there, where as the Skoda i can get everything done through work ( We service Skoda's at my dealership )

And also my partner will be leaving work when the baby comes in December, so we will be down to my wage, so money will be quite tight, so if high 30's and maybe 40mpg is achievable from the vRS, im sure i could get that lol

I would be looking at doing sensible mods slowly, ie FMIC, remap etc, but will these things kill the economy even with carefull driving?

Thanks guy's your being so helpfull

[mn1981]

As someone who has owned an '99 ST24 Estate and now run around in a '03 vRS Hatch my personal favourite is the vRS.. I loved the Mondeo but it was very very thirsty - 60 litres would get me around 280 miles in town, I understand the ST200's were even more thirsty. 220's will be even worse than that with that 3.0 V6.. My vRS will return 300 miles in town for 45 litres (or is it 50, can never remember...) - goes up to 350+ miles on motorway runs.

Handling wise (and I know I am comparing estate to hatch) but the vRS wins hands down even as standard - believe you can change rear ARB to make it even better - has never misbehaved on me on the twisty A roads..

Spec wise they were quite similar, though you get climate in the vRS.

Running costs, my mondeo haemorraged money (£2k bill on it just 6 weeks before the engine went in spectacular fashion on the M25) so may not be the best person to ask for a comparison, the skoda (thus far) has been very reasonable.

Anyhow, enough incoherant ramblings , i suspect you'd be happy with either car but personally would take the vRS

[Russ_16v]

Lol thank you mn1981, i have dismissed the Ford, even though i have a soft spot for them, i just can't justify the repair bills if anything goes wrong engine wise.

So the main choice so far is the vRS, the only other one thats in my mind is the Accord Type R, which is like chalk and cheese with the power delivery lol

[oggy]

Myself coming from a Clio Sport172 to an Octavia vRS for the same reasons, I really regreted I hadn't had kept the Clio when my 1st daughter was born. Ok It might not be spacious to start with, but It didn't seem to take that long before we had a smaller pushchair & wasn't carrying all the equipment that you take along with a new born.

Its all different now as my 2nd child was born so a bigger car would have been needed, so It would have probably had to go In the end.

I soooo loved the Clio 172, the ride, the handling, the styling & also had a good fuel economy.

It always brought a smile to my face that the vRS has never really given me. Keep It:thumbup:

[Russ_16v]

Wow, thats an interesting input matey the thing is my other halfs parents live in Wales and is a good 2.5-3 hour drive away, and we do this trip often, and we can only just get the push chair in , and thats removing the parcel shelf, and thats without bag for the lil'un and a bag each for us, what 172 did you have?

[Bowders1]

Well coming from owning a number of scoobys and a ST24 and a ST200.

in fact 48 cars (christ that's a lot thinking about it) some cars I owned come to mind more than others for various reasons and circumstances.

For instance I really miss my Peugeot 405 Mi16 which was a reasonble size family car with one hell of a engine, and that revved to 7,500 no problems. A real understated car. Same with my Peugeot 309 Goodwood Gti that I fitted the Mi16 engine in, what a performer and handling that would outstrip a lot of modern cars.

The ST24 was a very nice car. Very comfortable on long journeys, a bit more softer than the VRS in standard trim. Aircon was a nightmare and sapped power big time. Spec was very good. But fuel was bad and overall performance not brilliant for me. Seats felt like they should of been in a Granada.

Then the ST200 which I had large expectations on. I had the saloon with the ltd edition black / blue leather interior with climate control. Interior was fantastic and spec of the car very good. The Blue metalic colour I loved. But other than that it did not feel any quicker or better handling than the ST24, being of the same engine and basic head and inlet work taking it to around 200bhp. Ford must of realised this when they increased engine size to 2.5 with the newer version.

Also I know a lot of folks with ST200 having Engine problems and with low mileage ST's. At 4,500 quid ordered only through SVT in the states for a new engine, kind of put me off buying another one. As it happens I part ex'd mine for a Scooby UK version and when I took the scooby back for a service my old ST200 engine had blown with a new customer having only just bought it.

I like Turbo cars and the fact that you can drive the VRS moderatley with the kids in and a bit more enthustiasticlly when on you own. To me the Standard VRS feels better than a ST200, maybe not in the interior spec and comfort level but for me it ticks more boxes. I have spent quite a bit on my VRS getting it to what it is now and considering I have owned it for 2 years and not bored, I have never kept a car longer in all the ones I have owned.

[jonnycatbiscuit]

Having driven both in work recently (albeit the diesel versions) I would have to say the vRS is the superior car. Our cars get driven VERY hard, most of the time; and the Mondeo tends to spend FAR more time off the road than the Octy...(things keep breaking)

Speaking from a petrol point of view, I've not driven the ST200, but the Octy handles far better than the works Mondeo (again could be due to the extra weight being carried, or the fact that I know the limits of my own car).

Finally, a remap of the Octy is going to give you a lot more than a similar remap on the ST, and with the turbo, there's always the option of getting abigger turbo if it's out and out power you wannt

[Russ_16v]

well i want to get a car to keep long term you see, and i want something thats fun, im a car nut through and through and the Clio is number 36 for me, and i enjoy my track days, but they will have to go hold for a while lol

Im looking for a fun, larger car, for the money i can raise (circa £3000) that seems to leave the ST (now out the question) , the vRS ( still very very tempted) or a Accord type R, (good engine and chassis) but the Skoda prob makes more sense due to the advantage of getting parts through work?

[oggy]

Wow, thats an interesting input matey the thing is my other halfs parents live in Wales and is a good 2.5-3 hour drive away, and we do this trip often, and we can only just get the push chair in , and thats removing the parcel shelf, and thats without bag for the lil'un and a bag each for us, what 172 did you have?

I had a mint dutch import 02 plate 172sport In silver:D It was fantastic car & they all came loaded with creature comforts too as standard apart from the cup versions;), It was also a good work horse too. I used to lug all my RC equipment around the country & as I was racing at a top level I had quite alot, trust me.

I sold the Clio as a friend made me an decent offer for It, so I bought a 51 plate 1.8 Focus off a family member as a short gap, when my daughter was born. That has a similar sized boot to the Clio & we had no problems with the space & that made really regret selling the Clio:(

I missed driving a sporty car. I looked at buying an Accord typeR from a friend In mint condition. It was nice, but extremley thirsty on the go-go juice, so I went for the Octavia vRS, which even with all the suspension mods I've done Is no where near as fun as the Clio.

[Russ_16v]

See iv compared my boot to a friends focus RS and is boot is twice the size, we have tried fitting in the pushchair, and it only fits by removing the parcel shelf, then any more bits and pieces we have to carry on the back seats and i really dont like the idea of that with a baby in the back too, god this is so hard lol

[mn1981]

See iv compared my boot to a friends focus RS and is boot is twice the size, we have tried fitting in the pushchair, and it only fits by removing the parcel shelf, then any more bits and pieces we have to carry on the back seats and i really dont like the idea of that with a baby in the back too, god this is so hard lol

seems boot size is important, the octavia is very impressive even in hatch format (not far off twice the size of my mates mk iv golf gti), suspect carrying ability would be superior to the accord type-r (though not seen one up close to confirm..)

[iep]

I moved from a lowered Golf VR6 (which I sold to a guy who'd just written of his Clio 172 as it happens) to my vRS estate. The Golf was immensely chuckable and always put a grin on my face (when it worked). So I was a bit hesitant to move to a larger car. However, needed something bigger and so took the plung.

Maybe I'm easier to please than some but I am basically very happy with the vRS. Sure, you have to wait for the turbo to spool up (and it starts to die off a bit after 6k rpm) and the handling doesn't have the same 'feel' as my modded VR6. But, despite a bit of body roll, it actually has tons of grip and plenty of go with a nice amount of torque. The turbo also generates a really nice surge when driving fast rather than the instant power that the VR6 had (fun for the driver but not the passengers) so is better when you have kids on board. I'm adding a RARB this weekend to tighten up the body roll but once that's done I htink I'll be happy to keep it for as long as it is reliable.

In terms of practicality it's bl**dy amazing. The boot is proper huge (much bigger than the likes of an AUDI A4 which is the saem size on the outside) and it's big enough to seat five adults in reasonable comfort (for short journeys at least).

Try one out and see what you think. My only concern with mine is what I might replace it with when it wears out.

Cheers,

iep

[Bowders1]

See iv compared my boot to a friends focus RS and is boot is twice the size, we have tried fitting in the pushchair, and it only fits by removing the parcel shelf, then any more bits and pieces we have to carry on the back seats and i really dont like the idea of that with a baby in the back too, god this is so hard lol

I looked at the sporty Focus range before I bought the VRS , and test drive some ST170's which were not too bad on performance but very plastic looking inside, the real down side was the extremely small boot that is even smaller than a Golf's. Newer Focuses are better but were out of my price range at the time. Something to consider if you have around £3000, is a MG ZS180. Argh I here a few of you say, but I owned one and found that the handling was superior over the VRS, performance not to bad for a v6 engine(better than the ST24 and I think even the ST200) and also return more MPG. The saloon is better looking than the hatch but not so good in utilising the space.

You can pick up the newer version cheap also.

[Babs]

Welcome

[Russ_16v]

Problem is the the MG is the same reason why iv now discounted the ST200, the engine is great, and i love vee's, but it will be expensive and hard to work on :(

I keep going over all the choices and its def down to the vRS or accord TR, im looking at this to be long term ownership which is why the choice is so difficult

[Bowders1]

Problem is the the MG is the same reason why iv now discounted the ST200, the engine is great, and i love vee's, but it will be expensive and hard to work on :(

I keep going over all the choices and its def down to the vRS or accord TR, im looking at this to be long term ownership which is why the choice is so difficult

Can you get Accord type R's for £3k?. I thought they were more than that.