After a fortnight driving this fantastic little car, I thought I'd share my thoughts....

To be honest ,apart from the economy ,I find it hard to really find fault with the new vRS

Around town, it's as quiet as a mouse ,and so quiet at idle you'd think the engine wasn't switched on! When you want to put your foot down and fancy a bit of fun, it responds remarkably. Ok, it does dither from time to time ,getting a tad confused as to what gear it should be in, but this apart, it's a bundle of fun! The sounds of the supercharger/ turbo kicking in at 3000rpm ish is rather funny, adding further to the character of this car. DSG is definitely the future for gearboxes, I've been well impressed with it. My only previous experience of automatics was a 15 minute spin in an old renault clio, belonging to a friend of mine, and dsg by far is way superior. * * * *

Interior is just right ,in my opinion. Just the right touches of chrome here and there ,I suppose a proper piece of chrome would have been better around the gearstick though.

It's when you look at the interior in darkness that it really looks the part. Funnily enough, not one review I have come across has mentioned just how classy it looks at night.....The dashboard is superb with the illuminated white dials and the way the dials swing round on start-up is very attractive! Add the illuminated swing stereo and the coloured LED's lighting up the gearstick positions gives you the impression you are actually sitting in a pilot's cockpit. * * * * *

Bodywork is solid, really pleased with my chosen colour combination. Only a fortnight on, and yes, it could do with a good clean, but from afar, the bodywork looks a treat and could easily get away without washing for a further week. The only thing I've noticed, this being my first white car, is the yellow residue thrown up from the brake discs. At first, I thought the car was rusting on the boot ,but after closer examination realised that it was the brake dust. Apparently it's very corrosive, so will probably wash it shortly! As for the daytime LED's, what a superb touch * * * * *

Economy...like I say, not the best ,but I haven't bought the car to drive like an old man! Probably averaging around 25-30 which includes pottering around town with a fair few jaw-dropping overtakes in between. Still not bad I suppose for a car with so much power when you need it! I haven't used Sport mode yet, and probably won't ever use it, having it in drive mode all the time is plenty enough for what I need. I have only really used a maximum of 5200 revs, so god knows what sports mode would do for the economy!! ( Probably be absolutely blistering speed though, believe me it's plenty fast enough as it is anyway!! ) * * *

Overall, I believe the new vRS is way way better than the old. Apart from the economy ,which could be a little better, I'm more than happy with the build quality, ride, lack of wind noise, seating position, the growl of the engine on hard acceleration. What a shed load of fun, it's made me a happy man So, overall,

Edited 21 October, 201015 yr by bingo765

but they still look horrid

mk1 all day long

Cracking review mate, makes me want to go and purchase a vRS now!

I haven't experienced the car myself, but glad to see you qualified your comment about the car with "I believe"

I think they are two very different cars to be honest, from what I have seen and read. Undoubtedly mk II is better overall for performance (and maybe fun?), I personally thought wouldn't trade my economy for that so come from a different school of thinking on the original vrs. Also VED, insurance, total cost of ownership etc....

Plus the first car has a custom following...will that happen for the petrol will we find out ?

I am sure if I could afford one (another plus of the original - great value) then I might change my mind.

Undoubtedly what you have in the new VRS a great car, and performer, as its a Skoda and intended to please particular people. I would treat them as two different styles of car personally, but I've grown to love diesel

nice review thanks

Bingo, that's a brilliant review mate. Keep em coming. How many miles has she done now? The other day, I went into my Skoda dealers to have a chat with the sales manager who is a motorcycle freak like me. We talked bikes, piston speed and conrod length etc etc. Then we realised we should get out more! However, I saw a beautiful white VRS in the showroom and took a look over it. I was impressed. I can actually see myself in one...I like fast bikes but the VRS could woo me to actually like a fast car too!

Edited 21 October, 201015 yr by Estate Man

Great review Really really cant wait to get mine, and now even more so after reading your review. I will look forward to reading the 2000 mile review

Great Review mate!!

My Wife gets hers on Saturday morning!!!

Originally I was going to get a Clio 197 as my next car, then the new Fabia vRS came out and I was swayed towards it because of the claimed 46mpg combined fuel consumption(versus the Clio's real world 25mpg). However from what I'm reading 46mpg doesn't seem realistic 25-30mpg is in Clio 197 territory. Is the economy likely to improve much as the engine runs in?

It WILL improve...So Yes!!

Great review mate - thanks for sharing

Nice review, thanks for taking the time to fill us in. If SWIMBO reads it, it could cost me big time !!!! :'(

Nice one Bingo!

I feel the same way about mine.

Thought I would add my experiences to the mix.

Comment between the 5yr olds down the street when they spotted the white beastie with dark chromes and LEDs blazing, "thats a well-cool car that".

My better half leaves for work before I do, and I usually find the VRS gone from the drive by the time I leave for work, and I’m left with her car. TWOC in other words! She finds it very easy to drive, loves the hill-holder as she has a few steep junctions to negotiate, and loves its dual personality. She also says its a serious license loser.

As yet Its covered 2000 miles and its averaged 34mpg (indicated 36mpg) overall. This reflects the fact that we are urban dwellers in the main. My previous 1.9 TDi Fab did 45mpg (indicated 51mpg) on the same mix of roads. On the motorway it indicates 45-48mpg where the TDi indicated 55-63, don’t know the real figures for either.

A short while back we went on a 120 mile jaunt that was 50 miles of 80mph ish motorway/40 miles of OMG FAST country A roads and 30miles urban roads. It indicated 39mpg on this stint. On the open road it is very easy to get to absolutely ludicrous speeds. Oops.

In the dry I still havn’t got near the cars limits yet, in the wet its ultimate understeer and predictable so far. The limits are leagues ahead of my previous Tdi Fab, better weight distribution, crisp turn-in, flat cornering, excellent seat-support, and a decent ride for a fast car.

Previously I have had several automatics, including quick ones, and they all seemed to suffer from the same problem. When you lift-off the throttle into a bend, you have this out-of-control feeling without the engine braking that you would have in a manual when you would be downshifting, even tiptronic autos and a cvt seemed to suffer this. DSG goes a fair way to addressing this, but in sport mode it does this very well indeed, with blip-throttle down changes. However, if I was pressing on in sport I would be taking charge of the downshifting with the paddles as I dont want an auto-shift to occur mid-bend. This takes a bit of practice as the box will still kick-down at full-throttle.

The brakes are very strong, I have no complaints here. As far as traction, when you set off at a junction with a bit of lock on, it is very easy (perhaps even essential!) to briefly spin the inside wheel before the electronic diff stuff does its job and it just goes. Great for joining in small gaps, reminds me of my 4wd turbo Mazda 323 years back. Not quite the finesse of a manual here for starts, but gets the job done.

Alloys are much more vulnerable than I am used to. Last minute decision to fill up at Shell meant seriously hard-braking-whilst turning in up a medium dropped kerb and BANG –scuffed alloy edge (buffed out) and cut tyre with less than 1000 miles on it. Kwik-fitters tried not to laugh whilst pocketing £140.

Overall well pleased, will find any excuse to drive it, even after 2000 miles, which is a good sign. Its noisier than I would like at speed, a bit of wind noise, and a fair bit of tyre roar, but I forgive it all that. To be fair most of my motoring is not on the motorway anyway. A good 10mpg+ given away to the old TDi, but I would cheerfully walk those extra miles to have this much fun!

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. Maybe, I should become a full-time reporter Seriously though, of all the reviews I have read from various sources, the positives have all been plentiful, yet the negatives have all come from writers/drivers who are keen to thrash the hell out of a car! What on earth do you expect if you do that, most of us new vRS owners probably won't want to thrash our cars and therefore they will do us an extremely good service over a long period of time. It's a lot of money to pay ,and we're more likely to look after them aren't we?

Why have a BMW or an AUDI , when you can have a Fabia vRS? Yes, it's THAT good!

Only two weeks in, and it gets some admiring glances, people can't believe it's a Skoda! My sister, who is very much an 'audi' or 'bmw' ,is so impressed with my new car ,she's considering buying one herself!

I'm pleased to hear that the economy will improve as the engine runs in, at least it gets better. I must say, no-one can really complain about the lower fuel economy because it is what it is, and the car isn't about that. More so about fun, adventure and more importantly power ,which it certainly has plenty!

For your information, I HAVE driven the car on the motorway 'economically' and found that the longer the journey the more the economy improves. Averaging between 45 and 48mpg, so it does exactly what it says on the tin, if you're prepared to drive it that way.

I have a short journey to work and this is where I notice the economy is quite poor......24mpg to start and finishing 34 by the time I arrive. So, supposedly just don't expect miracles first thing in the morning and expect slightly worse still in the winter when the cold sets in....

I must mention that be very careful when you decide to put your foot down, it's so powerful you reach licence losing speeds very rapidly. You have been warned

Edited 22 October, 201015 yr by bingo765

good review

I have to say I took my octy vRS back to the dealers a few weeks ago to get the wheel nut covers replaced - another story.

Anyway they offered me a quick spin in the Fabia and I was VERY impressed by it.

I owned a mk1 Fabia vRS a few years back, and besides the economy the new one is better in every way IMO.

Iv loved every minute of owning anothe Skoda so here's to many more (careful ) miles!

)

Great review, love all the plus comments

Drive one for a while wether it's your own or a demo in "normal" mode then try the same and kick it into "sport" mode ....... yeh baby !

One hell of a kick from the TSi engine.

Nice review

£128 tax for the year on mine was a pleasant suprise when it came up.

Great Review mate!!

My Wife gets hers on Saturday morning!!!

Thought you were waiting for 1st nov mate. I bet you can't wait! Nice review bingo couldn't have put it better.

Ohh Nohhhh, i let the SWIMBO see these reviews and now I have to get another job so she can have one... NOW..in Racing Blue with White roof! I will do what I can... Anyone need a kidney?? lol

Great review and it's good to see that the mpg will improve over time, as I thought mine was looking a bit thirsty. The on-running gag I have with my mate, is that S stands for ****-yourself and D for damn-near-****-myself. Mine's happy enough to pootle around the city centre, but give it some beans and it sprouts horns; a real Jeckyll and Hyde persona.

Great review and it's good to see that the mpg will improve over time, as I thought mine was looking a bit thirsty. The on-running gag I have with my mate, is that S stands for ****-yourself and D for damn-near-****-myself. Mine's happy enough to pootle around the city centre, but give it some beans and it sprouts horns; a real Jeckyll and Hyde persona.

Hope you're happy with your car.

I haven't used Sports mode yet but will do in a couple of weeks. I really haven't needed it, drive is more than ample Just push a little more on the throttle if you want to overtake...........push a little harder ,if the driver in front is trying to be clever and counteract your acceleration, and the gearbox responds by whacking up another 1000 revs to help you overtake with ease. It really is a fast little car. Much quicker than my previous vRS , although I do understand what people mean when they say it doesn't 'feel' faster on acceleration. It's only when you push harder on the accelerator do you really gain the benefit. I've had a few laughs so far on the motorway, as all the fast sports cars line up one after the other to give me a bit of competition............and I just blitz them!

Regarding the economy , I can now safely say that after a few fill-ups, for a mixture of soft and hard driving ,I am averaging 35mpg.( 300 miles on £45ish worth of petrol ) I am more than happy with this ,considering the amount of overtaking I have been doing.

I will say that I was a little shocked at the weekend as I did quite a few stop/start journeys to the shops, and this has a drastic effect on the economy, I had the average fuel consumption down to 15mpg at one point. It's only when the engine has warmed up do you really see it start to go up to more realistic levels.

My old vRS had all the torque in one lump and put a smile on my face on a regular basis, averaging no less than 45mpg.

My new vRS, ok 10mpg less. But, for a car with so much power and so much fun,through all the gears, it far outweighs the old :

P.S Make sure you get the USB cable supplied with your car ,I had to ask for them to send it me as it wasn't in the car when I collected it. ( It connects your IPOD,mp3 players etc. )

Edited 25 October, 201015 yr by bingo765

great review! Will totally agree that the mk2 is a totally different car to the mk1. And honest I can see where the extra money has gone, but I'm still not 100% sure on it myself its a great car though

Couple of issues:

The Oil temp on Maxidot refuses to show a temperature...Just a row of dashes

The iPod is awkward to use...I cant find all the albums...I'm probably just thick....LOL

Ive been flashed several time for having my fog lights on...They are DRL's!!!

One more small thing.....the car is very very fast and takes BMW drivers by surprise!!

My remapped PD 130 vRS was nothing like as fast...It really is that good!!

Hope you're happy with your car.

I haven't used Sports mode yet but will do in a couple of weeks. I really haven't needed it, drive is more than ample Just push a little more on the throttle if you want to overtake...........push a little harder ,if the driver in front is trying to be clever and counteract your acceleration, and the gearbox responds by whacking up another 1000 revs to help you overtake with ease. It really is a fast little car. Much quicker than my previous vRS , although I do understand what people mean when they say it doesn't 'feel' faster on acceleration. It's only when you push harder on the accelerator do you really gain the benefit. I've had a few laughs so far on the motorway, as all the fast sports cars line up one after the other to give me a bit of competition............and I just blitz them!

Regarding the economy , I can now safely say that after a few fill-ups, for a mixture of soft and hard driving ,I am averaging 35mpg.( 300 miles on £45ish worth of petrol ) I am more than happy with this ,considering the amount of overtaking I have been doing.

I will say that I was a little shocked at the weekend as I did quite a few stop/start journeys to the shops, and this has a drastic effect on the economy, I had the average fuel consumption down to 15mpg at one point. It's only when the engine has warmed up do you really see it start to go up to more realistic levels.

My old vRS had all the torque in one lump and put a smile on my face on a regular basis, averaging no less than 45mpg.

My new vRS, ok 10mpg less. But, for a car with so much power and so much fun,through all the gears, it far outweighs the old :

P.S Make sure you get the USB cable supplied with your car ,I had to ask for them to send it me as it wasn't in the car when I collected it. ( It connects your IPOD,mp3 players etc. )

great reviews you are putting up ,finaly got my little mk2 vrs today so sad to see my old vrs go but the new one is so so so so much fun and the engine is so quiet at tick over have to give it a little blip on the pedal see if its on its been very wet here today so havent been able to give her to much and she only has 20 miles on the clock but i did have a 5minutes of madness and just in drive she made me swear out load ,.my old vrs was remapped and fast but the new one puts the power down in such a linear way it feels so much faster all the way through the rev range .so to cap it its a great car and in my mind a great advance to the mark 1 .just want the rain to stop so i can clean her .

My oil temp display doesn't read anything until the oil temp is over 50°C.