My local Skoda dealership handed me the keys to the new Fabia vRS on Saturday and said the immortal words 'come back in an hour', which was rather unexpected.

To quickly summarise, when I sat in it I felt like I was sitting in a double decker bus, up the top level. Dont know if its cause I just got out my Octy vRS which is lower, the wee Fabia just felt very high indeed. Good visibility though and very comfy with all the switchgear exactly where you expect it to be.

The gearbox was a dream, although even after the hour the paddle shift novelty began to wear off, it was much quicker when you let the auto sport mode change up for you anyway. Performance wise IMO it is night and day between new and old, all be it my old Furby vRS's were the standard 130bhp. Once your out on the B roads you forget about the high stance of the car, it handles very well indeed, sounds great and is a srerously fast little car, much faster than the Octy PD vRS I drive just now, was reaching triple figures in no time at all.

Before I wasnt happy that it had jumped 4 grand or so over the old model, after driving the new one however you can see where the moneys went. The salesman told me that if they dont get the sales for the petrol its inevitable that a diesel version will come out. Im just afraid they will use the 140bhp unit thats in the current Ibiza FR. IMO it needs to be the 170 CR engine, when the 1st Fabia vRS came out in 2003 130bhp was a pretty damn powerful diesel engine at the time and thats what set it apart. The 140bhp will not be a step forward as far as I'm concerned.

Im a diesel man, but after driving the new vRS, give me petrol anyday, in that car anyway.

Spot on review

I thought exactly the same when test driving one, that petrol set-up suits the mkII vRS. I've had nine years on VW engined diesels, so this is really a change for me.

Three figure speeds - hmmm, hope plod wasn't about.

Three figure speeds - hmmm, hope plod wasn't about.

Presumably not, as he doesn't mention an upcoming court appearance

It can take a few weeks to get a letter

It can take a few weeks to get a letter

I did a rock steady 125mph (was supposed to be limited to 100mph but the marshalls didn't seem to notice) in a Fabia vRS hatch last June, albeit round the bowl at Millbrook and it was a combination of this drive, plus a hack around the alpine hill handling course (did get flagged once by the marshall to slow down this time!) that sold me on getting a Fabia - it then took me nearly 2 months to deicide on colour and spec as well as whether to have the hatch or estate - wish I had made the decision earlier, as I might be contemplating delivery by now instead of sometime early in 2011...................hey ho!

I was also driven round the bowl by a pro driver in an Octy vRS at 145 mph - now that was pretty exhilarating!

took one out yesterday for a quick spin. Have to say I would agree with the review! Very high feeling sitting position (compaired to the Octavia vRS FL) but my gosh its a revy little bu**er!!

Do I want one? Not sure, its a great little car far better than the mk1 vRS fabia but misses the character of the old one. I found that it struggles for grip (it was raining yesterday) alot even with the tracton control on.

Would I part ex my fabia in for one? No unless I got a really really good deal on one. Maybe a longer test drive would change that but on the 30mins drive I was impressed but did not think wow I want this car.