Hi

Stumbled across this forum when looking for some info on the vrs thought might just be easier to ask. lol

At the moment i own a clio 182, ive loved it alot but i have a new job starting at the end of the year, that involves a 60ish mile long commute and im trying to save for a dreaded morgage too!! lol. I want to get out of finnace so ill have about £3500 to spend, so i think by october ill have enough dosh to buy a high miler. I was thinking at first about getting a golf tdi but there are so many of them so i thought of a vrs.

Would a vrs with 100k on the clock last me a good few years? i believe they have the same engine as the golf but what about other components? eg. Suspension, body work and stuff? Also are they comfortable on long journeys? Or do you recon a golf is going to suit me better?

Sorry for all the questions ive just got cars flying around my head trying to get all the info for a good buy. lol

Any help would be ace!!!

Alex

Hi and welcome to the forum. Someone else posted something similar a couple of weeks ago, you might that thread a good place to start -> http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/153415-thinking-of-buying-fabia-vrs-honest-opinions-please/

Edited 11 March, 201016 yr by Irvtheswerv

Hi

Stumbled across this forum when looking for some info on the vrs thought might just be easier to ask. lol

At the moment i own a clio 182, ive loved it alot but i have a new job starting at the end of the year, that involves a 60ish mile long commute and im trying to save for a dreaded morgage too!! lol. I want to get out of finnace so ill have about £3500 to spend, so i think by october ill have enough dosh to buy a high miler. I was thinking at first about getting a golf tdi but there are so many of them so i thought of a vrs.

Would a vrs with 100k on the clock last me a good few years? i believe they have the same engine as the golf but what about other components? eg. Suspension, body work and stuff? Also are they comfortable on long journeys? Or do you recon a golf is going to suit me better?

Sorry for all the questions ive just got cars flying around my head trying to get all the info for a good buy. lol

Any help would be ace!!!

Alex

Hi there, I have had a vRS from new and I'm just nearing the 100k mark.

The vRS is based on the Polo and they share most of the same components.

Obviously, the Golf would be a bigger car but I have my vRS because it's something different, you don't see them on the roads so much as say a VW or a Ford.

Most people say the engine and gearbox are bulletproof, serviced correctly, no reason not to see 200k, that's how long I'm intending to keep mine anyway, or near as damn it.

Not sure about a new clutch, mine is fine and people on here have done 140k+ on the same clutch.

Handling is good enough for me, I don't throw it about, but some would say it handles like a wet pillowcase.

One thing you must do is check that the engine has been serviced with the correct spec VW oil, if not, walk away.

Have a go in one and see what you think.

Ben

Edited 11 March, 201016 yr by Conshine

The vRS is based on the Polo and they share most of the same components.

Yup. Also, the Golf and Polo share some components (brakes and clutch, IIRC)

Cheers for the quick replys!!

I read most of the topic about the 172 but they seem to talk more about the handling, this wont bother me because it will just be used for a commute car really.

What are they like to live with? My clio is great fun but to use it to go to work everyday would be a nightmare, defo when it comes to traffic.

Also if you lower them 30mm can you still get 3 people in the back and get over speed humps and stuff, because ive alway thought they look a little too high.

Cheers

Welcome

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the slippery slope!

I came on here the same as you with the intention of looking for valuable information about the VRS. Which i got! Std the are a very well put together package. Plenty of poke if you need it, MPG is good and they are pretty well bullet proof if they have been looked after.

However there are a few minor faults to watch for:-

Rear door seals leak and let the carpets get wet - look for condensation.

Console bushes wear within 30,000 miles - the std ones are crap, upgrade to a seat part insead which should last longer.

Sometime the heater control panel packs up, but its normaly an easy fix that you can do with a salavaged part and an afternoons work.

All of the things above have happened to mine - it hasnt stopped me thinking that this is the BEST car I have ever owned. Mine still leaks, and my heater has a mind of its own. But hey - i'll get round to it! I'm on 94,000 miles now (20K in just over 14 months!)

But I can highly recommend a few subtle mods:- a rear Anti-roll bar transforms the handling, a set of better springs and shocks. Maybe a remap - or a set of wheels - or a stereo upgrade (see what I mean about a slippery slope!)

I promosed my wife that if she helped me with buying the VRS outright then I wouldnt Modify it:-

I failed!!!

Hey

I do know what you mean about slippery slope! lol. The same happened to me with my old 106 quiksilver, im surprised the clio hasnt been touched in the two years ive owned it. lol

Thanks for the good info! ill probably change the bushes then if i lowered it if i get one. So i got a couple of things to look out for now when i go viewing. Ace!!

Is that MPG as good as everyone makes out to be? On a full tank in the clio i can get about 300miles on the motorway? Are they much better than that?

The thing that sways me towards a Vrs over a golf, is for some reason the insurance is about 200 quid cheaper and thats with my gf on the policy aswell!!

Oh and your Vrs is nice!!!! Love the wheels!

Cheers

The wheels are one off's from Compomotive! Glad you like them! i think they are ace!

The MPG depends on how you drive it - but I regularly get about 380-520 miles to a tank full depending on if I top off or not (on the fuel filler neck there is a small lever one the right hand side which lets fuel through into the breather section of the tank allowing you about another 10 litres of fuel. Ddiesel doesnt expand as much in the UK as say it does in South of France so as long as you are going to do a good few miles before you stop - if you do top off them its safe to do so!)

I've done a 1000 miles round trip from Scotland to Bonn (Germany) on 2 tanks of fuel - plus a 134mph blat on the autobann - totally is possible to do an average of about 50mpg.

It's costing me about £450 a year for fully comp with all my mods declared and unlimited mileage

I love my standard VRS but if you like to chuck about you may be disappointed with the standard set up. It is a bit wallowy and rolls a lot. The grip is there but it's not very satisfying to throw about. Even in basic 130BHP form though there is loads of poke thanks to that 229 ft lb of torque and though the engine is gruff around town, it is very quiet on the motorway. In fact the car feels more serene than my dad's Merc C280 in the motorway and it will pull effortlessly in 6th gear even from 70 mph (at that speed the engine is only doing 2200rmp). The ride is good too and it feels like a much bigger car when cruising. The other good thing about it is that the build quality is excellent: it feels way better put together than your Fords. Vauxhalls and French and Jap stuff.

Not been totally trouble free though: bushes spilt at 35000, replaced under goodwill (many here uprate to SEAT Ibiza Cupra bushes), the turbo was faulty and blew at 36000 miles but again replaced out of warranty under goodwill (still had to pay £350 in laobur though) and the door seals leaked like hell until the dealer fixed them. However the general intergrity of the car is A1. Again the critical thing is to make sure it has used PD specific oil, f not turn on your heels.

Sorry had no internet connection the last few days. That milage range sound ace for what i want!!

So whats the deal with the oil then? why is that such a big deal that it has to be vw approved?

Cheers

best using the correct oil in any Modern car - all manufacturers have their own spec's - dont deviate and you can guarentee that the oil isnt the caause of any future problems!

i say do it! i've had mine for 2 and a half years and still love it.

problems i've had with mine in that time are:

heaters - no.1 setting doesnt work, i've yet to fix it.

sumps - i've put a hole in 2 due to being so low (-70mm-ish) although i have raised it a little now.

thats basically it.

its needed new bushes and rear brakes but thats general wear and tear.

oh and they can chew tyres if driven hard!

bad points i would say about the car are the seats are an absolute nightmare to keep clean, handling isnt the best as standard and neither are the brakes.

good points: it has plenty of poke, even as standard. good mpg even if driven a little hard and theres also plenty you can do to it if you choose to.

i was also one of those people who bought it with it in my head it was not getting modified LOL (that didnt last long).

Sorry had no internet connection the last few days. That milage range sound ace for what i want!!

So whats the deal with the oil then? why is that such a big deal that it has to be vw approved?

Cheers

The big deal on with the oil is that the PD engines, as in the vRS must have the correct VW spec oil as the fuel injectors are pushed down by a lobe on the cam and this generates enormous pressure and therefore the oil has to be able to cope with that.

If you put non VW spec oil into the PD, your cam lobes will have massive premature wear and probably require a rebuild.

HTH

Ben

The big deal on with the oil is that the PD engines, as in the vRS must have the correct VW spec oil as the fuel injectors are pushed down by a lobe on the cam and this generates enormous pressure and therefore the oil has to be able to cope with that.

If you put non VW spec oil into the PD, your cam lobes will have massive premature wear and probably require a rebuild.

Ok thats cool so i gota check the books when i buy one, that should be no trouble. All the ones ive looked at on pistonheads and autotrader have been serviced by skoda.

Im really liking the idea of one of these over a golf, them being a bit different. Id defo like to lower it on the standard wheels but i dont want any scrubbing! Anyone had problems with people in the back at 30 or 40mm?

Cheers

Edited 17 March, 201016 yr by beas

Mine is on coilovers, all the way down at the back with the adjuster cups out and have no scrubbing issues at all.

Matt

Echoing what people have already said really. Just take your time and pick a good one

Also on the servicing side look at the servicing history and make sure it's had a service at least annually or every 10k. I had a independent dealer tell me when I was looking around last time that the car I was interested in was on longlife servicing, with longlife spec oil used and had been serviced on an interval basis. This is wrong as non UK vRS has the ability to run like this - it lacks the engine sensors to carry this out. So don't believe anyone telling you that. I walked away from it - it just wasn't worth the risk.

Good luck with your search

Steve

They can be run on the new longlife oil though, just service it every year with the stuff rather than every two etc

However I would still put PD oil in the car...

Plenty of good ones out there, took me two months of searching and I still made a boo boo! Didn't notice bird poo marks on the bonnet :(

Yep, agree that you can use the longlife-spec, but the seller was trying to tell me that it was OK that it had only been serviced once in 23k or something daft :wonder:

Plus on fixed servicing there's then no point spending more money on longlife when std PD-spec will do.

Steve

Hi mate.

I can't answer many of your questions I'm afraid but wanted to reply because your car history is similar to mine.

I had a 172 Cup about 5 years ago that I had to sell in order to fund the deposit on a house. The clio I had from 4 months and 3,000 miles so was box fresh. I absolutely loved that car! I've had the vRS for 6 months and 5,000 miles so far. Mine's just done 63k miles so can't tell you about the longevity but I can tell you they're great cars. Quick, economical (mine's showing exactly 50mpg over the last 4 tanks). I get my bike rack on for my bike, my dog goes in the back or the boot happily and plenty of room upfront. Go for it!

ine is on coilovers, all the way down at the back with the adjuster cups out and have no scrubbing issues at all.

Thats cool, thanks i should have no probs dropping it a little then!

Plenty of good ones out there, took me two months of searching and I still made a boo boo! Didn't notice bird poo marks on the bonnet

Bird poo always finds away on to my car just because the paint i think is one of the best things about the 182

Was it as bad as that? lol. The bird must have been monsterous!!! It burnt the paint made a right mess, i tried my DA polisher on it but no luck with that. Thank god i knew a gut that works for Auto Glym and he got it out completely with his rotory polisher!!!

Thanks for all the help on the oil, tbh it is something i would never have looked at when buying one. But i will make sure now!!!

And Woaksy, I love my 182 it is defo my favorite car that i have owned, glad you had fun in your cup!!! But like you i need something more economical, but i think the vrs looks a really nice car aswell!!