Hope the chicken sandwich was better than my grammar!

I thought they seemed pretty spot on as well I have to say I'm suprised however, as I thought the polo would have been much better in the corners!

Handling is very subjective on a road car & I'm not a racing driver, thus my opinons might not be too useful!

The GTI is probably better in the corners per se but still has a tall body and narrow track/short wheelbase with similar dimensions to the vRS. Neither has a rear ARB as standard.

The vRS can be a bit nose heavy in corners so you have to go in slow and use the torque to pull you out, where the Polo is a bit neater but still has lots of body roll if you're enterig a bend a bit quick. As the power delivery and gearing are different on both cars I find it hard to compare them directly, and as I owned them a couple of years apart I never drove them back to back.

Handling is very subjective on a road car & I'm not a racing driver, thus my opinons might not be too useful!

The GTI is probably better in the corners per se but still has a tall body and narrow track/short wheelbase with similar dimensions to the vRS. Neither has a rear ARB as standard.

The vRS can be a bit nose heavy in corners so you have to go in slow and use the torque to pull you out, where the Polo is a bit neater but still has lots of body roll if you're enterig a bend a bit quick. As the power delivery and gearing are different on both cars I find it hard to compare them directly, and as I owned them a couple of years apart I never drove them back to back.

Having come from a Fiesta Zetec S (99-02 model), I have noticed a massive difference in handling. The vRS isn't bad and can hang on in there, but I wouldn' throw it into corners like I used to with the Fiesta! I completely agree with you though, with the vRS, it's all about being in the right gear when you get to the point where you can start laying the power down again, and that's where the grin factor comes into it

As you say, they are two very different cars, so not easy to compare directly. I think you did a good job though

My tuppence for the OP would be that he needs to consider costs. The polo will be much higher on tax, fuel and possibly insurance, in comparison to the vRS. If cost isn't an issue then it's not such an important point to make, and one I'm sure has been considered anyway... but just in case

Hope that helps

Now I understand it is the old vRS, Seat surgeons do a really good leather deal for the Furby owners that are Briskoda members

, even a 2nd hand one it is worth doing, as i found the seats an absolute pig to keep clean when I had mine.

Thanks BeezerDiesel a really good review and comparison there, thanks for taking time to put it down.

@ Bezzy, you're right, while costs aren't the be all and end all here I do like bang for buck and the Fabia wins hands down really and although I really like the shape of that model Polo, I have also always liked the look of the Fabia since launch.

Having driven the Fabia vRS, the Polo GTi and the Ibiza FR all fairly recently albeit just on test drives, I found the ride awful in the Ibiza to the point that I thought the first one was broken (crashy rear suspension), the Polo felt light and nimble but perhaps a little bouncy? and the Fabia was very refined and solid, a little nose heavy yes but so is the VR6.

In terms of handling though 3/4 of the time it's likely to be on the motorway for work and even my daily commute is 50% dual carriageway punctuated by roundabouts. I'm not into slammed, hard road racers these days while still preferring something a little more taught than my wife's Scenic that resembles some sort of seafaring craft to steer. So I can consider strut braces front and rear and a RARB to tweak the chassis if needed without affecting the ride quality.

I was worried about the cambelts but it appears without good reason so I can put that aside now!

The only thing that does put me off now really is the seats in the vRS. Not the colour, just the choice in fabric.

I have tried Seat Surgeons and sadly didn't get a very encouraging response from them, I was quote £957 iirc just for the seats while others I believe had paid below £800 inc door cards. While they generally come recommended, this has put me off a bit. :|

I dunno, maybe I just caught the wrong guy on the wrong day or something.

Anyway, the Fabia wins really, in terms of box ticking it scores highly in direct comparison to the Polo with TAX, mpg and insurance that allows for a remap but still remains lower than the Polo.

I am looking around for a red one with leather but expect I will buy one without and either get a re-trim or I like the look of the Polo Sport grey/red seats so if I can find a set of those at a reasonable cost, that's an option too as I think they'd be well matched to a red one.

Buzzark, the Polo Sport seats are really comfortable. I think they are very similar to mk4 Golf GTI seats. Therefore they're quite supportive but also very cushioned and comfortable.

The Polo GTI seats are quite hard and I think very similar to Ibiza FR seats.

The Fabia seats are a bit squashy and, despite the large bolsters, don't hold you in that well.

There are lots of pairs of front seats knocking around, for some reason the rears must explode when you try to remove them or something.

Crazy busy day at work today, felt like chucking the VR round the roundabouts punctuating the bypass. I forgot how well it goes when you actually put it in the power band in a low gear and give it some "exiting up the sliproad" beans.

OK, so the vRS perhaps couldn't live with it on full chat but I rarely do that and both have that smile factor when pootling around I think. After all, it is a 6.3s car (it's not standard) when you push it a bit.

Edited 7 October, 201015 yr by Buzzark