Following a post I made a few days ago asking about the Admunson sat nav, I got into a number of discussions about changing my BMW 120D for a Fabia vRS.

Well I've had the demonstator since last Wednesday and I've taken it into North Wales today to drive the Evo Triangle. Average MPG was 32.2, not bad.

My first thoughts were a noisey cabin, some road surfaces were very bad, its fitted with Pirreli P Zero's, but the performance soon overcame those thoughts!

I'm very impressed with the DSG, 1st time i've really used one in anger, it didn't take me long to adapt, however I do think the paddles need to be a bit larger, I find them a little to low for my hands at the 10 past 10 postion.

I thought I'm miss the torque of my 120D, but not at all, the engine just sings and has plenty of torque, plenty of smiles on my face today. Overtaking was a breeze and I soon got use to understeer again, which wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

Great car, great value.

I'll be ordering one!

however I do think the paddles need to be a bit larger, I find them a little to low for my hands at the 10 past 10 postion.

have you tried the ten to two position

ref the paddles, I thought the same, you can buy bigger ones though if it does irritate you these are an option linky

10 past 10 position. Love it! Seriously though, good choice.

Congrats and welcome to the fold. Keep us updated on the build and options etc

Following a post I made a few days ago asking about the Admunson sat nav, I got into a number of discussions about changing my BMW 120D for a Fabia vRS.

Well I've had the demonstator since last Wednesday and I've taken it into North Wales today to drive the Evo Triangle. Average MPG was 32.2, not bad.

My first thoughts were a noisey cabin, some road surfaces were very bad, its fitted with Pirreli P Zero's, but the performance soon overcame those thoughts!

I'm very impressed with the DSG, 1st time i've really used one in anger, it didn't take me long to adapt, however I do think the paddles need to be a bit larger, I find them a little to low for my hands at the 10 past 10 postion.

I thought I'm miss the torque of my 120D, but not at all, the engine just sings and has plenty of torque, plenty of smiles on my face today. Overtaking was a breeze and I soon got use to understeer again, which wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

Great car, great value.

I'll be ordering one!

nice little review, think I have now mastered the DSG at 2600 miles! lol... but you are right, I came from a TD with 314lbs.ft but don't miss it in the vRS, the supercharger helps to mask the small capacity, in reality, accross country (and I have driven the evo triangle in anger before !) it is seriously impressive If you struggle with the paddles, just leave it in sport I find paddles great for 90% hard driving on twisty roads, but for 100% "chase or escape" mode, sport gives you your hands free to fisght the corners, it holds the revs nicely, and yes, (my tyres are contis, apparently the dunlops perform the worst) it resistes understeer well, an uprated rear anti roll bar would make it more tail hapy like the BMW, if that handling is to your tastes ..

welcome to the club :yes:

Funny really because if I had the funds, I'd possibly go from a vRS to a 120D. What sort of MPG do you get in it? I always look at the figures for a 1 series and think '61mpg and 177bhp?!'. I'm guessing the build quality and materials have to better for the ridiculous price you pay. Still if your paying £30k then your not really bothered about MPG are you

Good luck with it mate and hope you enjoy it

Edited 6 March, 201115 yr by Reavenger

Funny really because if I had the funds, I'd possibly go from a vRS to a 120D. What sort of MPG do you get in it? I always look at the figures for a 1 series and think '61mpg and 177bhp?!'. I'm guessing the build quality and materials have to better for the ridiculous price you pay. Still if your paying £30k then your not really bothered about MPG are you

Good luck with it mate and hope you enjoy it

The 120D is a fantastic car don't get me wrong, i had the 2 door M-Sport, and combined with run flats the ride was very harsh for every day use, build quality is great and the cabin is very quiet.

MPG - driving it like i stole it (its a company car) i get low 40's, normal commute i easily get 48-50, but on a run high 50's and with care into the low 60's

The reason for the down grade is i want a weekend toy, i can mess with and take to the track etc, so i want something cheap, quick, and auto (left ankle opp last year) on our car scheme, the Fabia vRS is perfect, and saves me loads.

I've got to choose options and colours!

have you tried the ten to two position

ref the paddles, I thought the same, you can buy bigger ones though if it does irritate you these are an option linky

Thanks for the link, i know a few folks on the mk5gti forum, so i'll ask around.

Cheers

please dont buy white with black roof, everyones getting them

10 past 10 must be one hand on top of the other surely

Interesting point about the P-Zeros too. They must be its second set as the OEM choice is Contis or Dunlops isn't it? How many miles had the demo done?

10 past 10 must be one hand on top of the other surely

Interesting point about the P-Zeros too. They must be its second set as the OEM choice is Contis or Dunlops isn't it? How many miles had the demo done?

that would be 10 to 10

\cue invisible steering wheel in the lounge.... :p

Oh yeah! So it would

10 past 10 must be one hand on top of the other surely

Interesting point about the P-Zeros too. They must be its second set as the OEM choice is Contis or Dunlops isn't it? How many miles had the demo done?

6500 when it was delivered on Wednesday 2nd, its got 7000 on it now!

Its from Skoda UK, so i imagine its had a hard life, but it certainly didn't show

please dont buy white with black roof, everyones getting them

I must admit that combo did catch my eye, the demo i have is in racing blue with a white roof and std wheels. Not sure about the roof, the women at work all said "nice mini"! :S

I like the blue, and the std wheels do seem to fill the arches lol

I've spent ages looking through the forum looking at all the colour combo's aaaargh!

10 past 10 position. Love it! Seriously though, good choice.

I actually like the 6 9 position, whoops wrong thread

Glad to hear you liked it ukdiceman, lot of car for the money and will save you a nice sum on your lease! I think the amount of entertainment it will offer will offset the lesser refinement and material quality of the 120d.

Glad to hear you liked it ukdiceman, lot of car for the money and will save you a nice sum on your lease! I think the amount of entertainment it will offer will offset the lesser refinement and material quality of the 120d.

Yes its a great car, just need to decide on options and colours now, as its so cheap to lease I've got to be careful and not go overboard on the options

I'll let you know what i decide over the next week or so, I intend to order before the end of March. It would be nice to get a MY12 car.

Mate, it seems I am the lone voice of dissent on this one. Now don't get me wrong, the Fabia is a pretty good little car, I have one and have been impressed also with the fit and finish and the Tdi motor has enough grunt etc.

But, if you fancy yourself as a driver in any way, and presumeably you do as you enjoyed the Evo Wales route, I fail to see how a front wheel drive with understeer can be more rewarding than the BMW off the rear?? Power/torque and flashy wheels are, I'm sure you realise, only half the story.........If I could afford the 12OD as the second car.....

Now I know this will probably provoke a bit of a response from the committed front wheel drive fraternity but the drive in the BMW is miles ahead of the stoggy Fabia even in it's current flashy guise. You will know the feeling, great curve, right speed, right gear and plant it, the push from the back feels way better than a tug from the front.

I think you'll miss it

D

Mate, it seems I am the lone voice of dissent on this one. Now don't get me wrong, the Fabia is a pretty good little car, I have one and have been impressed also with the fit and finish and the Tdi motor has enough grunt etc.

But, if you fancy yourself as a driver in any way, and presumeably you do as you enjoyed the Evo Wales route, I fail to see how a front wheel drive with understeer can be more rewarding than the BMW off the rear?? Power/torque and flashy wheels are, I'm sure you realise, only half the story.........If I could afford the 12OD as the second car.....

Now I know this will probably provoke a bit of a response from the committed front wheel drive fraternity but the drive in the BMW is miles ahead of the stoggy Fabia even in it's current flashy guise. You will know the feeling, great curve, right speed, right gear and plant it, the push from the back feels way better than a tug from the front.

I think you'll miss it

D

hello there i totaly understand were you are coming from with the bmw drive they are great cars ,two of my friends have 120d coupes the 2.3 twin turbo 210bhp engines they payed well over £30.000 for the cars with all the toys on them stunning cars ,but from a rolling start up to 100 mph they could not catch my little white pocket rocket after that they did go past but they were not happy lol (this was all done on a private road off course )also when we had the bad weather (snow) there cars stayed in the garage i had to pick them up in my fabia ,they were driving round in there girl friends cars a old micra and corsa well worth £30.000 grand lol

hello there i totaly understand were you are coming from with the bmw drive they are great cars ,two of my friends have 120d coupes the 2.3 twin turbo 210bhp engines they payed well over £30.000 for the cars with all the toys on them stunning cars ,but from a rolling start up to 100 mph they could not catch my little white pocket rocket after that they did go past but they were not happy lol (this was all done on a private road off course )also when we had the bad weather (snow) there cars stayed in the garage i had to pick them up in my fabia ,they were driving round in there girl friends cars a old micra and corsa well worth £30.000 grand lol

I dont think any of us are under the illusion that the BM is not a better car, however ukdiceman is trying to save alot of money on his car lease whilst maintaining a high performance car, can think of many worse ways to go than the Fabia vRS!

,two of my friends have 120d coupes the 2.3 twin turbo 210bhp engines they payed well over £30.000 for the cars with all the toys on them stunning cars ,but from a rolling start up to 100 mph they could not catch my little white pocket rocket after that they did go past but they were not happy lol

That would be a 123d then, with a 2.0d sequential turbo and 204bhp...

And as for them not being as quick as a Fabia - well, that's a discussion for a completely different thread

If the 118D or above were priced around the £20k mark at new, it would be extremely popular. But the 118D or above with Fabia options in Diesel will cost you over £30,000 easily. The BMW is the better overall car, but not by much.

If the 118D or above were priced around the £20k mark at new, it would be extremely popular. But the 118D or above with Fabia options in Diesel will cost you over £30,000 easily. The BMW is the better overall car, but not by much.

Hi Reavenger, with you on this. As good as the 1 series is it is extremely overpriced. It's only worth having in M Sport spec also as its very dull in the other trim levels.

I would however say that the 118d has nothing like the performance of a Fabia vRS, in fact the current 120d with 177ps and a shedload of torque still isnt quite as swift in the acceleration stakes. You'd get a nice spec 118d M Sport for about £25k but it will be boring. I've driven a 118d and a 116d back to back and honestly would say the 118 was no quicker and very underwhelming. To better the Fabia's credentials you'd need a 123d M Sport and that will set you back nearly £30k and its only marginally quicker to boot. For the cost I'd rather get a Golf GTi and put up with some heavy fuel bills.

feels way better than a tug from the front.

You never know he may enjoy having a tug from the front...!

Mate, it seems I am the lone voice of dissent on this one. Now don't get me wrong, the Fabia is a pretty good little car, I have one and have been impressed also with the fit and finish and the Tdi motor has enough grunt etc.

But, if you fancy yourself as a driver in any way, and presumeably you do as you enjoyed the Evo Wales route, I fail to see how a front wheel drive with understeer can be more rewarding than the BMW off the rear?? Power/torque and flashy wheels are, I'm sure you realise, only half the story.........If I could afford the 12OD as the second car.....

Now I know this will probably provoke a bit of a response from the committed front wheel drive fraternity but the drive in the BMW is miles ahead of the stoggy Fabia even in it's current flashy guise. You will know the feeling, great curve, right speed, right gear and plant it, the push from the back feels way better than a tug from the front.

I think you'll miss it

D

I will miss it.

Its a company car and as a result, limits the "fun" I can have with it, I've wanted to remap the 120D but I can't, I take it to the ring and have to be very very careful! I am choosing the vRS as its fun, quick, auto and very very cheap on our car scheme, leaving me cash left over (with cheaper tax) to buy a weekend toy to do what i want with.

The vRS will only cost me £70 a month, taxed, insured, maintained including tyres. Its almost free motoring lol. The 120D costs me over £250, its fully loaded and has a P11D value of £26k ouch!