OK, picked up the VRS estate on 1st March. Work commitments meant the first few days were limited to a few short journeys but since then been its down to see the folks in Devon and taken it across to Birmingham for a work meeting. 900 miles up and a trip to Southend for a footie match tomorrow should see me over the thousand mile mark this weekend.

First impressions are that it's smooth, comfortable and has an amazingly torquey engine pulling smoothly from 40mph in 6th gear. It also looks superb in race blue, has masses of space and there seems to be some nice touches and real quality in the build. I would like to have seen steering mounted controls for the stereo and folding wing mirrors as standard (I have to street park it in a busy road), but at the price you can't complain too much.

Biggest issue for me so far has been fuel economy. I've filled it up three times now and it's back in the refill zone again so despite very careful running in and mixed use I'm getting nowhere near the quoted 37mpg. That figure was one of the key reasons I went for the petrol VRS over competitors like the Focus ST so I'm a bit disappointed so far and left wondering whether I should have compromised and gone for the CR. I'm hoping that the economy will improve and I'll monitor it on the 160 mile run tomorrow, but I'd be really interested to know what sort of mpg other owners are getting particularly as I haven't really explored the performance yet. I've also noticed that it smokes a bit and having read the comments on this site about oil use I'm really surprised that Skoda don't have new cars back in for a check and top up at 1000 miles (this was standard practice with a Ford I bought a few years ago). The dealer certainly didn't tell me about any heavy oil use or regular top ups while running in, ho-hum.

Any advice comments from other owners on the fuel/oil situation would be most appreciated.

I've done about 1500 miles in my 2.0 Tsi petrol and it does'nt need an oil top up yet. No way should it be smoking, blue smoke means you're burning too much oil and the cat will be damaged. I'd avoid driving it and either take it back or reject it.

I am getting about 28mpg which I'm quite happy withm, lots of town stop starts. If the car is burning oil then that would affect MPG.

I'm also interested in the answer to your query as I test drove a couple of TFSI's and their average mpg were in the mid-20s - I assumed it was due to shorter distance test drives. Did you test drive a Focus ST? How did it compare to the vRS in terms of handling and did it feel as well put together?

Clarky, the fuel economy could be an easy fix.

There's folks that do this hypermiling stuff and like all good sports they share their secrets on the web for petrols their advice is hang on to each gear much longer (~4000rpm) and hardly press the throttle -- get the car to accelerate gently on minimal throttle. One guy was posting that he puts a block of wood behind his throttle pedal so it can only be pressed very little. That's nuts if you ask me, glad i don't drive in the states

I'm also interested in the answer to your query as I test drove a couple of TFSI's and their average mpg were in the mid-20s - I assumed it was due to shorter distance test drives. Did you test drive a Focus ST? How did it compare to the vRS in terms of handling and did it feel as well put together?

I had a ST for nearly 4 years and 50000 miles. The handling of the ST is slightly better and feels to flow more down the road, you feel more connected to the road with the steering. The VRS feels harsher on the bumps even compared to my ST which had firmer lowering springs. The absolute roadholding and grip is marginally in favour of the VRS

The ST feels better put together mechanically but the interior is much better on the VRS in relation to the quality.

The steering wheel feels more comfortable in the hand, its softer then the VRS one.

The Recaro seats of the ST are the best ones I have ever sat in, they were developed specifically for the car and are 'tuned' into the suspension.

I can not compare the engines, petrol 2.5 5cyl 270hp to diesel 2.0 4cyl 170hp. I have never driven the VW/Skoda petrol 2.0 turbo

Edited 13 March, 201016 yr by PowerMalc

27mpg

I am getting 35mpg driving my VRS TSI reasonably gently but not like an old woman either. First tank I was actually driving it very gently and only got 32mpg on comparable type of trips.

I reckon I could get just shy of 30mpg even if I let my hair down a bit.

I have been monitoring these pages for a while now, trying to get a 'feeling' for the Octavia ... especially the vRS. To replace my aging Impreza.

The fuel use at 27mpg isn't good .... I would rather own an Impreza and get 22mpg - if we are saying that life is too short...............

I'm also horrified at the multitude of things going wrong with them ..... Subaru's just don't have faults - these Octavias seem riddled with them? Although I appreciate you can get a false sense of failures through a Forum like this.

Duplicate Post - sorry!

Edited 13 March, 201016 yr by MrRee

Well I haven't had any faults with mine.

You could say that about any car, no matter what manufacturer you go to, you're going to get a small percentage of "rogue" cars which have faults on them, as I've said my Octavia has performed perfectly so far & if it goes wrong within the first 3 years then provided it's not to do with wear & tear then it should be covered.

I'm also horrified at the multitude of things going wrong with them ..... Subaru's just don't have faults

sources or belly rumbling?

2009 – JD Power Customer Satisfaction Survey – Škoda in top 5 for last 14 years

Skoda - Average repair cost: £168

Subaru - Average repair cost: £835

[subaru] cars have gone from having five-star reliability to just three stars and they are still very expensive, and time-consuming, to fix. When things go wrong, it’s more than likely that the cars’ engines are to blame, with nearly half of the claims relating to engine trouble. This could well explain the high average repair cost, which, at £835, is second only to Porsche in this survey.

As high as it is, Subaru’s repair cost has fallen £159 from £994 in last year’s survey. As well as deep pockets, Subaru owners also need to have a great deal of patience – they have to wait on average an incredible 8.6 hours for their cars to be fixed.

Try harder

OK - guess I should just stop being such a tight-wad, put my foot down and just enjoy the experience...

Interestingly as the miles broached the thousand mark today I saw the journey mpg hit 38 at one point - much more like it - particularly as unleaded appears to have risen 3p a litre overnight. If we'd managed to snatch a late goal to seal three points I would have thought all my birthdays had come at once. Excellent journey though, consumate performance, whisper quiet and so comfortable my mate fell asleep.

I have been monitoring these pages for a while now, trying to get a 'feeling' for the Octavia ... especially the vRS. To replace my aging Impreza.

The fuel use at 27mpg isn't good .... I would rather own an Impreza and get 22mpg - if we are saying that life is too short...............

I'm also horrified at the multitude of things going wrong with them ..... Subaru's just don't have faults - these Octavias seem riddled with them? Although I appreciate you can get a false sense of failures through a Forum like this.

So B*gg*r off and go get another Impreza then (or maybe a Legacy if the Impreza isn't big enough)

MrRee - you are coming across as though people on this forum are somehow forcing you to buy a Skoda. If you don't want one then don't bloody get one, but perhaps stop picking holes in cars you have no experience of?

I have been monitoring these pages for a while now, trying to get a 'feeling' for the Octavia ... especially the vRS. To replace my aging Impreza.

The fuel use at 27mpg isn't good .... I would rather own an Impreza and get 22mpg - if we are saying that life is too short...............

I'm also horrified at the multitude of things going wrong with them ..... Subaru's just don't have faults - these Octavias seem riddled with them? Although I appreciate you can get a false sense of failures through a Forum like this.

I know what you mean - I've just visited a few Subaru Impreza owner sites and I'm horrified at what goes wrong with them. There doesn't appear to be a single reliable component in the entire car (even rear view mirror wobble seems to be an issue) and clutch slip/judder and exhaust problems (especially with the heat shield) seem to be endemic.

Still, as you say, it's probably a false sense of failure I'm getting.

Edited 14 March, 201016 yr by Cauliflower