Hello,

I'm really considering selling my 182 for a vrs tdi probabably 2004 model.

I'm torn between the leon tdi and the golf and of course the fabia, now the fabia being probably the cheapest option and most likely.

I know you guys will be biased just like on cliosport.

On my car forum lots say the handling is terrible, my 182 is great but mpg is complete madness.

Suppose I'm just wondering is it best to get a remap or a tuning box, and I have already read about the pd160 intake pipe, whats the realistic mpg figures on the fabias?

My budget is £5000 I'm hoping to get the car map it or get a tuning box, not too fussed about styling but would like golf gti wheels on it and perhaps a different exhaust if the standard one ain't that great.

I promised never to own an oil burner but at 28 and the rising petrol prices and my heavy foot have left me no choice.

Thanks for Reading

welcome to briskoda, about changing ur clio 182 for a fabia vrs, the best thing is to have a remap rather than a tuninig box imo, and as for the handaling fitting a seat sport front strut brace and rear anti roll bar will sor out the handaling, the realistic mpg figures out of my vrs vary between 45-50 running around and on a long journey 50 +. best place to look might be autotrader

Hi, I check auto trader most days but need rid of my car first.

The Ibiza pd160 looks not bad and more tuning potential than the vrs so it seems.

I'm getting 20-25mpg all I do is city driving but on long trips max I get is 36mpg so I'm unsure what the furs savings a year would be - prob not that much due to diesel prices

in the vrs even with a remap i still get around 40mpg runnin around whilst givin it some beans. good luck in finding a vrs,

Hey Chris, welcome to the site.

From what I hear the Cup182 is one of the best handling hot hatches around so the vRS is never going to beat that, however with a couple of suspension tweaks and an anti roll bar it seems like the handling can be sorted nicely. vRS has a nice power surge which makes it 'feel' faster than it is, but it's still a lot of fun to drive and the MPG is awesome.

The furby will never handle like you cilo due to the pig iron under the bonnet. A few mods and it will handle pretty good though. Also petrol and diesel prices are almost the same in all garages near me be it 1-2p more a litre. And with an average of 49MPG ill gladly pay that tiny bit more.

Also its insurance group 9 so should be a bit cheap to insure than your cilo.

Hi mate and welcome. As an ex Clio trophy owner I know what yu are torn between at the moment. I bought my fabia for commuting 500 miles every weekend and I'm not disappointed. If you want it for economy then go for it but if you love the handling of the 182 then it is no where even close to it.

I'm fortunate to have a civic type r tucked up in the garage so I blast about in that for handling thrills but even running a standard map in my vrs the civic feels lazy at low revs......until that magic vtec engages!!

I was just Reading up on an 04 Ibiza cupra tdi, they seem to have the performance figures of a 182 but extremely good mpg - it's claimed to be 0-60 in 7.6 seconds and 45+mpg that me as standard sounds really good.

Not many of these for sale at the moment though, my car is only for sale in the local paper will stick it on auto trader and pistonheads soon.

with a budget of 5000 rules out a decent golf and seat! so fabia would be the only option.

There are a couple of Ibiza pd130 tdi's for sale around 5k but just been Reading they can be mapped to 180-190bhp but anything over 160bhp you need a frount mounted intercooler which is all going to cost.

I do like the pd160 Ibiza, soo many choices.

ive just remaped my fabia vrs yesterday and put a cat back exhaust and pd160 air intake with new filter. I think its pushing up past 180 bhp and pushing 300 torque. After driving it for a bit all i want to do is upgrade the brakes, but everything else works fine by itself. Clutch is built to take 300 torque so thats no problem.

you'll get way better mpg than your Clio but a Cupra TDI wouldn't come close to the handling of your 182 Cup, adding front strut brace and rear arb will improve things but it'll still be understeery and feel somewhat disconnected. all you can do is try one and see if the compromised handling is offset by the fuel economy

I have both the Cup 172 and a VRS. With economy in mind the diesel motor is going to be your friend, speed wise it is more relaxed and the turbo does push it along nicely. With a remap some more oomph is available, as for the handling the VRS is much the same as all the diesel VW group cars, a bit numb. You can spends hundreds trying to improve things but personally I wouldn't bother with anything more than some stiffer front bushes as there are cheap to do yourself.

The closest other car to consider is the Seat Ibiza FR, a slight improvement in handling but not as relaxing drive and very few to choose from on sale. The Ibiza Cupra is one step up but now you're spending more money and only available in 2 door form if thats what you are after. All in all the VRS is a good all rounder and will go for hundreds of miles in a day and you'll feel relaxed at the end.

I found my little Cup a bit frantic when pushing hard, handling outstanding and wouldn't like to drive mega distances in it though but good fun, soon to be on trackdays which is why I bought it.

Good luck in your hunt for your perfect diesel car Chris.

Fabia 54 plate 50000 miles mains dealer £5990

Pd160 airintake £87

filter £35

Remap and cat back exhaust £550

Thats how much ive spent and it fecking goes some.

Edited 2 May, 201016 yr by jamesrbeaumont

If I can find a vrs in good condition with 90k for around £4300 that gives me enough for the remap and pd160 intake.

I love my 182, it sound really good and handles better than anything I have ever driven but it's just not practical.

Thanks for all the advice

But i can probably be sure that you will save money on insurance and tax is 68 ish for six months!

I bought mine a few month ago after owning a starlet gt turbo and i love it.

Bought it on a 04 with 28k,1 owner from new(65yr old) for 4900 and it just needed taxing and had a chip in screen,other than that its as new

As for petrol priced diesel is only 1p a litre dearer,i get 40mpg even with im driving at pace but regulary hit 48 and i only drive 8 miles to work!!

My local skoda main dealer do a remap for £410 which gives you 175bhp or if you ask nice(like i did they did it for £310)

All in all i would have one over a clio anyday!!!!matt

Sounds good you got a great deal there, you obviously ain't driven a 182cup though lol.

Rite ok minds made up, fabia vrs it is only problem is not many for sale privately at the moment.

Fecking hell that remap was a bit on the pricey side wasnt it. If i only got a remap would of cost me £235 from plymouth.

I'm just curious why not many of you suggested the Ibiza 130pd as it's the same engine.

Does the vrs has a front mounted intercooler as I read on a seat forum that the Ibiza pd130 if mapped above 160bhp needs a front mounted intercooler hence why the pd160 Ibiza has one, so if it's true and the vrs hasn't got one is it safe enough to get it mapped to such high bhp figures

Most dont give a Ibiza a look in, because for the price your looking at, you'd be looking at a low milage minter 'sport' or a okish early facelift FR.

You can have more than 160hp without a FMIC, but it will get alot of heat soak, and you wont have circa 160hp for long after a few corners, and breaking. The Seat Sport intercooler can be had for £225, just need some pipes making up, so not a issue.

Think your going to miss the handling traits of the Clio, but will no doubt learn to drive the diesel round a corner, and fall in love with it

fabia has side mounted intercooler...can handle 170 ish bhp ok...

Have a look on www.skoda.co.uk and see whats affordable there. At least you get a good warraty.

If your just going with a remap do the pikey arch mod and it will be fine.

And I got mine my vRS last year. Its a 05 plate on 58,000 miles for £4,450 so if you look hard enough you can pick up a good mileage one for a good price

a mapped fabia should be more than a match in a straight line against a 182!

my fabia runs 195bhp and does a quarter in 14.4 and it was against a 182 which got a 15.2 i believe, minced it :8