Hi. New to the forums, currently got a 6n2 Polo GTi and fancy a change and looking at buying a vRS. Been going through the forums looking for info/advice on buying and picked up a few tips.

I was originally looking at getting a Mk4 Golf GT TDI, but after looking for a while most are overpriced for what they are, and when i saw you could get a vRS for £5k i'm coming round to the idea.

Seen this which looks good - thoughts? Also noticed it has gone some black trim bits on the headlights - what are these (not seen them on other photos).

I've currently got xenon headlights on my car and i see that these are an optional extra for the vRS - i understand you can tell these from the headlight washers?

Also how much does it cost to fit cruise control (wouldn't do it myself)?

The black bits are the bottom of the headlight protectors. They`re just covers to stop the lights getting cracked. As for CC, about £250ish iirc

Matt

The black bits are the bottom of the headlight protectors. They`re just covers to stop the lights getting cracked. As for CC, about £250ish iirc

Matt

£160 supply and fit factory cruise control

£160 supply and fit factory cruise control

ali, my list of work for you is getting longer by the day!

I'm in the same position as you, had a look at this VRS today too. Does anyone know which VRS' have the Xenon headlight? Is it a particular year or something? Also, are they any good / to live with?!

I was looking at this one too,

The only thing to check is if the Cam Belt has been done already....... if it hasn't, then expect to add that on for cost in the next year.........

Im Guessing you want xenons as you love yours?

Does anyone know which VRS' have the Xenon headlight? Is it a particular year or something?

Xenons were a factory fit option which would have cost the original owner £500 inc VAT

I'm in the same position as you, had a look at this VRS today too.

Was it any good?

Im Guessing you want xenons as you love yours?

Yep love the xenons on mine, be great if i could find a vRS with them on.

Xenons were a factory fit option which would have cost the original owner £500 inc VAT

And you can only tell this from a photo if there are headlight washers?

And you can only tell this from a photo if there are headlight washers?

That's the easiest way. The headlamps themselves also look different (the xenons obviously have a projector lens - standard cars don't), and inside the car you won't have a headlamp level control (because factory fit xenons are self levelling)

Was it any good?

Sorry by look at I meant looked at on Auto Trader!

Getting a bit concerned about the VRS now! First I've heard that the body roll is pretty awful, the gear box or something gets ruined pretty quick and now the cam belt is an issue?!

Sorry by look at I meant looked at on Auto Trader!

Getting a bit concerned about the VRS now! First I've heard that the body roll is pretty awful, the gear box or something gets ruined pretty quick and now the cam belt is an issue?!

Remember you are not looking at a real hot hatch, just a very warm one, if you want better body roll control then you can buy a rear anti roll bar which is not fitted as standard, the seats get ruined pretty quickly, well when I say that I mean they show the dirt quickly on the white bolsters, there is a thread on here about cleaning them, the gearbox is standard VW six speed fare so should be alright and as for the cam belt, well isn't it an issue for any car similarly equipped, just make sure you are on top of the change interval and all should be fine. I had one for 3 1/2 years and believe me when I put my foot down it brought a smile to my face, so did the fuel consumption reading when I took things a bit more steadily!

Ian

Extremely helpful, thank you for the information; appreciated. What are the ideal mods / tuning to do as a baseline then?

Mike

Rear anti roll bar.

Solid (instead of voided) console bushes.

Front strut brace.

Some degree of lowering/firming of ride.

Good quality tyres.

There won't be much else you can do to make the handling better. :no:

Just as an addition, I love my Furby and am sooooooooo glad I bought it.

Had it about 7 months now and I'm happy with both the ride and the handling.

Only handling mod I have is a seat ibiza strut brace and thats it.

Go and drive one mate.... Then you'll know if it's the car for you

Getting a bit concerned about the VRS now! First I've heard that the body roll is pretty awful, the gear box or something gets ruined pretty quick and now the cam belt is an issue?!

If it helps, I've just come from a Fabia (1.4) to a Polo GTi like yours, and while the Fabia was definatly a bit comfier/ smoother, the handling is sooo different in the Polo. Granted, I only had the standard Fabia, but the body roll was a lot, lot worse then the Polo is.

In terms of gearbox, the Polo is most likely the worst I have ever come across, and the Fabias the best (again, I know it's a different box to the vRS, but I can't see them getting worse as the spec goes up). The cam-belts on the Polo are quite common for failing if the internet is too be believed, but I've not heard of a vRS cambelt actaully failing.

Build quality wise, it was pretty close, but I think purely based on the number of rattles and noises the cars made, the Polo won this too, but only just!

In terms of driving them, the Fabia is much better around town, and was nicer on a run, but on corners the Polo is, as I said, better.

Do I miss my Fabia? Around town, yes and for practically, yes. For fun/speed, not at all, but I would expect the vRS to be better than mine. If you can get the handling to a level that suites you, I reckon it'll be the better car.

As I said though, I didn't have the vRS, but the 1.4 16v, renowned by some as the worst engine in the Fabia (unrealible, no low down power (an excuse to rev it though!)).

Off topic to the OP, not sure where you're based, but I don't suppose you're willing to swap/sell parcel shelves if you get rid of the car and are local, as mine has speaker holes in it, but I don't like/want 6x9's.

Edited 8 April, 201016 yr by TriggerFish

The Polo GTi is a great car, it has got a lot of poke and you can really fling it round corners. And yes the gearbox is dire, they never changed it to cope with the added power.

Not looking to swap/sell parcel shelves afraid. Try your local scrapyard?

Quick bit of help on the cambelt intervals for you, because nobody has actually mentioned what they are! It's supposed to be done every 4 years or 75k miles, whichever comes first. I personally think this is a bit of a scam, as it was reduced from a much longer time period, and I would hazard a guess that Skoda are trying to fill their pockets during the recession, just a bit of a conspiracy theory though! I decided not to risk it and got mine changed as soon as I bought it. Worth the peace of mind!

I have read somewhere that C.C. depends on which sort of Fabia, depends on the wiring or something. One costs £150 and the other is about £250. Don't ask me exactly why or whatever, as I don't know! Your best bet would be to speak to one of the sponsors on here who offer fitting of it, and I'm sure they can tell you more

I've had my Fabia for about 6 months now, only problem I've had is leaky back doors. This is something which you muight consider checking, but I think it will be a problem with every single Fabia you look at. It's a fairly easy DIY job, and costs about £15 this way. I've heard of quotes from dealers of £100+ though! The way to check to see if you need this repair is to check inside the rubber seals of the back doors. Feel the bottom of the back door cards too, and try both back footwells. If it's wet or there are signs of water ingress (mould/rusty chrome/dampness/smell) then you might get a bit of money knocked off the car! There are loads of guides available to fixing this on the forums, so just have a read through them to see if it is something you could do yourself!

Hope that helps a little!

By the way, I love my vRS!! :p

Quick bit of help on the cambelt intervals for you, because nobody has actually mentioned what they are! It's supposed to be done every 4 years or 75k miles, whichever comes first. I personally think this is a bit of a scam, as it was reduced from a much longer time period, and I would hazard a guess that Skoda are trying to fill their pockets during the recession, just a bit of a conspiracy theory though! I decided not to risk it and got mine changed as soon as I bought it. Worth the peace of mind!

Been reduced even further now! 4 years or 60k I believe.

Been reduced even further now! 4 years or 60k I believe.

Wow, that's just brilliant! Just what I wanted to hear! Luckily I do about 15,000 a year, so I should be ok with mine It will be about the same!

Some awesome information in here guys, thank you so much. Sorry owenjt for hi-jacking your thread but hoping you benefited from the information too.

If anything this forum is far better than the Corsa forum! At least people know what they're talking about before taking the mick out of eachother!

I think I'll do a bit more reading and hopefully take a test drive soon!