I found the original EVO road test of the vRS (here) where they gave it three stars, but looking at the listings in the back of some back issues there appears to be a point where they elevated it to a 4-star car after testing it again.

Was trying to find out which issue this road tets was in? The issue that the listing claims it was tested in doesn't have it!

Anyone know which one it is?

Edited 14 October, 200916 yr by andrewd

i don't remember them retesting it , but i do recall them going on about reassessing all the star marks , this was after someone had questioned why a certain car had gone done a star

It hasn't been retested AFAIK, but they did refresh the rating system within the last year or two.

Ah cheers. I'll have a look through my back-issues when I get home to see if that might be the explanation!

Wonder why they elavated it up to four stars after their initially lacklustre review?

Did anyone take their vRS down for Autocar to retest on monday this week. I'd be interested to know what they did with it? and when the article is out.

Did anyone take their vRS down for Autocar to retest on monday this week. I'd be interested to know what they did with it? and when the article is out.

Yes, I did. Should be in next week's edition. Comparison with a Mini Cooper S and a Fiesta ST. The theme is "fun for £5k", I think. Monday was mainly a photo shoot and to re-acquaint the road testers with the cars; no performance figures were measured.

What was their verdict?

Fun, you'd be daft not to get the Mini Cooper.

But if you're a little bit sensible, like me, youd be daft not to get the Fabia.

You'd have to be daft all round to get the Fiesta. Underpowered, overpriced, too common.

5k for a cooper s it must be high on miles.

Would be interested to get the mag date for the evo test as can't recall them testing it fully. I read Autocar for it's no BS approach and I read their long term test reports back in 2003. Went a long way to convincing me to buy a VRS. Some part of me said I should have got a Cooper for the handling but non supercharged engine (old Chryseler unit) disappointing.