I figured I may as well post here what I have posted at some other forums.

Basically, as you know, I have a Fabia vRS, which I do like a lot, and I had planned to do it up, with upgraded suspension, brakes, remap. However, I am not sure if I am really making the right decisions, and perhaps I should begin with what it is that I dont like about the car...

Firstly, I feel like its not quite as economical I was originally led to believe. I know the car has no faults, because Autocars roadtest achieved similar figures. One of the main reasons for buying it over a petrol car was the economy, but now I am asking myself if it was really worth the cost, considering that if I had not have specifically been after DERV, I probably would have chosen a second hand car instead, thus making my payment lower. However, I mistakenly believed I would always get over 50 MPG, and yet my economy is more like 37 MPG on average. I put this down to my heavy footed driving style and largely short urban journeys which dont allow the car to get properly warmed up.

Secondly is the handling, which isnt too bad, but not great either... the 1.9 TDI PD130 engine is quite a heavy lump for what is essentially a small car, and this makes its effects felt on the overall handling, as you can imagine, its pretty nose heavy. I havent driven one, but I'd imagine cars like the Golf VR6 would have similar-ish handling to this car. Also the brakes, which lack feel and are prone to fading under heavy use... they are acceptable however for the standard power, but if remapped I can imagine they'll struggle.

Finally, I guess that I do miss driving petrol cars slightly, dont get me wrong, the car is, I think, nice to drive, but its so much more effortless and relaxed than a petrol car, and when you do drive it hard, it doesnt quite have the same excitement... although I figure this would be much better when remapped because it would be more keen to rev (I've been in a remapped one and it seemed very quick and exciting in comparison).

So I was thinking, what should I do? Should I spend the money on sorting out its shortfalls... after all, it may appear that I'm not keen on the car, but I do really like it despite the faults... I think I am looking at a minimum of

Wow a Fabia owner who has exploded the myth...

seriously.. the issue with fast diesels is that they use nearly as much fuel as a petrol.. which at 6-7p a litre more in cost. makes them quite expensive to run...

having said that i would say stick with it.. tweak the handling.. cos changing it will cost more....

I doubt you'd see

Economy wasn't top of the list when looking at the furby but in my mind any car that gives you over 37mpg at worst is brilliant.

IMHO (and I have mentioned this before) it's just a warm hatch but chunky,good looking and fantastic mid range acceleration(the BEST kind of acceleration,not the 0-60 tosh)

It is just a brilliant little car that makes me smile everytime twerps zoom up behind you and then become a dot in the mirror.

But best of all,when people ask you what car you have you can tell them a diesel skoda

I think there are different cars out there for different things but most of them seem to fall apart.I would enjoy it,fiddle with it but don't lose money early(like I did on my bloomin audi)

Trouble is any money you spend on mods you're unlikely to see again and you may find that dealers do not want modded cars on their forecourt so it may be difficult to px.

If you were looking at a 2nd hand car, what are your other requirements? MX5's are meant to be bullet proof and perfectly balanced driver's cars and would probably fit your budget. Quite light too so probably not overly thirsty, but I guess it would depend which one you looked at. However if you need 4 seats and room for the shopping you might be looking elsewhere!

Chris

Paul

This is my 4th Deisel, and it took me the full time I had my 1st diesel to change my driving style ( 2 Yrs ). This was a PSA (pre HDi Engine). I moved onto the VW TDI enigine in ,my 1st Octy. This was another change in driving style, as this WAS a Turbo diesel, and I have stuck with them since .

If your previous car was a quick petrol, then it can seem odd to have torque rather than power. Having driven a turbo petrol, and having to keep the revs high ( approx 3k ) in order to maintain the power for accelleration, is virtually the same has having to keep my furby @ 1900 rpm in order to keep the torque going, the torque range on mine is 1900 - 4000 rpm ( RR proven ), the turbo petrol car I have driven has approx the same band 3k - 5k rpm, some goto 5.5/ 6 K rpm. In my experience that appears to be the main difference.

You cannot put 130BHP Petrol V 130BHP Diesel.

I have Cupra intake, Green panel filter & remap, this has given me the car I feel the furby should be. ( new figures to be confirmed ).

When I had a heavy right foot pre mods, i did have an mpg reduction compared to moderate driving (approx 6mpg), & with the mods moderate driving has dropped by approx 3 mpg ( still do not know with heavy boot.).

My only suggestion would be if you want performance and economy - forget it- as no matter what you drive it will not happen. If you want to enjoy driving at a reasonable cost to your wallet, Keep your Furby, and mod it to YOUR personal preferances. If it is remap etc, then go for it.

If you decide you do not like the Furby as a package, then sell it and go for the car you really want. One that suits your driving style,and fits your needs.

This probably hasnt helped much, but I hope it has given you something to think about.

Good Luck

Steve

Thanks for the replies so far guys. I think after the replies here and over on other forums, the conclusion is that it does not really make financial sense to sell it, and I dont think theres many other cars that would be reliable whilst being cheap enough to bring the payment down enough to compensate for the poorer fuel economy that I would inevitably get out of a petrol car...

As for exploding the myth well I am not too disappointed with the 37 MPG average, seeing as how I drive the car (i.e. quickly) and many journeys are short. The fuel consumption is pretty good. I would anticipate around 25 MPG out of a 1.8T engined car, and that is taking into account the 1.8T is actually very fuel efficient for a fast petrol engine - many engines are a lot worse.... nevertheless, I do have to admit that anyone who says that they get 50+ MPG out of their Furby even though they drive "fast" is surely lying, or their idea of fast aint the same as mine

So, it does look like I'll be staying in the fold - after all, the car to me has its faults, but theres an awful lot I still really like about it

My Octy vRS averages around 34mpg... ( this is the figure on the MFA after around 1400 miles.. ) Mainly Motorway and A roads.. but some of it sat in the car park called the M62 near Leeds..

Considering the Octy is a heavier car than the Fubrby I'm surprised at the closeness of the consumpstion figures...

cheers

Dazz

My Octy vRS averages around 34mpg... ( this is the figure on the MFA after around 1400 miles.. ) Mainly Motorway and A roads.. but some of it sat in the car park called the M62 near Leeds..

Considering the Octy is a heavier car than the Fubrby I'm surprised at the closeness of the consumpstion figures...

cheers

Dazz

In fairness though, if I drove the Octy like I drove the Furby, it would be nowhere near 34 MPG :P

I can, if I really try to be good, achieve up to 34 mpg in my Octy but 28-30 is much more normal. Ignore any fuel consumption figures quoted in magazines etc, they are useful to compare different cars but bear no relationship to what you'll actually get for your driving style, traffic conditions etc.

Like you I don't think diesel cars are as exciting to drive as petrol when pushed hard, having done thousands of miles in the gf's Golf GT TDI (PD130) I feel qualified to say this. That said, I have also driven the Golf GT TDI PD150 and it felt like a rocket !

May I suggest you do the remap first, as this is likely to have maximum resale value over the other mods you're proposing, and if you like the extra power and decide to keep it then you can go ahead with the brakes and suspension upgrade. If you don't like it you've only spent 500 quid to find out rather than over a grand.

I would suggest you must be blagging that right foot very heavily, because my Superb with its extra weight gives me 40-44 around town, and 50-55 on a run.

Ok, so I,m not blagging it but by the same token I aint dawdling either.

Thanks for the reply Greg, that was actually what a lad in the office suggested to do is to go for the remap before anything else, and then that way I can find out the extent of which I need to upgrade other components. He seems to think the car might be fine with a brake pad upgrade and a strut brace as well as the remap. That would be a nice cheap way to get a bit more performance, and like you say it'd be nice to know if the way the car drove after a remap was going to be to my taste, although by then I dare say that I will have committed myself one way or another. I think a remap has got to be pretty high on my list now.

Never realised the PD150 was that much quicker than a 130, I thought the Golf would not be that much quicker with only 20 bhp more and extra weight to boot... pity they never put that powerplant in the Furby.

Well in my Octy after a pretty fast late night journey involving motorways,A roads and B roads the lowest miles out of a full tank of Optimax is 218 to the light coming on.

was a bit shocked i have to say but it was great fun!!!

take it to the ring...

i managed 6 laps on a full tank..

6 x 13 = 78 miles ouchio!

Can't wait to go this year,and soon.

once the dates of public opening have been released hopefully gonna head down with anyone who whants to come along,i know Mannyo usually heads down March/April time so going to tag on with him,fingers crossed!!!!

In fairness though, if I drove the Octy like I drove the Furby, it would be nowhere near 34 MPG :P

I don't exactly drive like a granny... I've test driven 2 or 3 Furby vRS

and even though i've been using the performance to the max both examples averaged mid 40's .... Granted my Octy vRS would struggle to get above 20mpg driving like this...

Same with the Octy 2.0TDI 140bhp.. I drove recently... This averaged high 40's....

cheers

Dazz

I don't know how much faster the PD150 is than the PD130 but it certainly feels it ...

Paul, I regualry drive my car hard and hardly ever do motorway miles... I drive around Milton Keynes and my average MPG is 39...

So I am in the same boat as you with regards to MPG

But if I drove a 1.8T just as hard I am sure id probably see low to mid 20's, so its not all bad

Paul,

Appologies if you've already done this but why don't you test drive an Octy vRS? At least it will dispell any myths that one car is better than the other and might finalise the worries you have about petrol being better than diesel or vice versa.

I tried to test drive a Fabia the other week just to see what all the fuss was about, not because I wanted to buy one. the car wasn't available sadly but I will be testing one soon.

I average 37 to 39 mpg on a motorway run and about 24 mpg if I drive like a ****. (which is most of the time) The best thing for us is that we can fit the wife's wheelchair in't back and a full weeks shopping.

Skoda's aren't the be all and end all but at least they're good value.

Pitt

Dont forget the golf clubs as well in the boot.

I'm still trying to sell the golf clubs, thankyou very much, lfc. it's not my fault I'm crap at golf....... :grumpy:

I had an Ibiza Cupra last with Revo and my average MPG was 24-27, TBH I was greatful for that, at worst I got 18 MPG so the Furby at 37 is potentially double that of a petrol.

Best I ever got going at about 70-75 to Swindown and back was 36, but I think the maximum possible is 40 MPG from a 1.8T (with Revo).

Also as far as I am aware a remapped 1.9 PD 130 is faster than a standard Ibiza, plus Mike and Addo from AM Motorsport is selling PD 150 turbos for cheap get that then a Remap and wooooosh .

So personally I would go for the remap.

Cheers

Antony