Skodas don't look as good as Audi's?

[Brimma]

[Royston]

The way I see it is that few true enthusiasts own modern day Audis or BMWs. I don't call myself an enthusiast, even though I live and breathe cars. An enthusiast to me is someone who goes the extra mile and modifies, repairs, restores or collects cars. If someone merely drives a car to and from work, can they really call themselves an enthusiast?

I would like to count meself as an enthusiast even though I own a BMW. The Mk 1 vRS was the first rapid car I owned, which led me on to a Mazda 6 MPS, Mazda MX-5 , Classic Jeep Grand Cherokee, and finally BMW.

You could argue that a 3 series touring isn't exactly owt special compared to an original 635i, an 850 coupe, or a Z8, but in modern times what idiot decides to hoon around in a small family estate with a rorty twin turbo 3 litre straight 6 petrol?

Cars like this will soon be a thing of the past. BMW have committed to FWD for their future small cars, and RWD seems to be like worshiping the devil for the vast majority of motor manufacturers.

For this reason, for 0-60 in 5.5 seconds, for 25MPG, and for 99RON I declare myself an enthusiast!

[Lady Elanore]

I would like to count meself as an enthusiast even though I own a BMW. The Mk 1 vRS was the first rapid car I owned, which led me on to a Mazda 6 MPS, Mazda MX-5 , Classic Jeep Grand Cherokee, and finally BMW.

You could argue that a 3 series touring isn't exactly owt special compared to an original 635i, an 850 coupe, or a Z8, but in modern times what idiot decides to hoon around in a small family estate with a rorty twin turbo 3 litre straight 6 petrol?

Cars like this will soon be a thing of the past. BMW have committed to FWD for their future small cars, and RWD seems to be like worshiping the devil for the vast majority of motor manufacturers.

For this reason, for 0-60 in 5.5 seconds, for 25MPG, and for 99RON I declare myself an enthusiast!

You are probably not an enthusiast as your car is much more expensive than an Octavia and doesn't handles as well. Oh and it is much more ugly too! Mind you, with my poor taste, I can safely say if I could afford to run one for 25K a year, I would already be driving one

[Lady Elanore]

Sorry Bryan, but this doesn't display on my pooter. I trust it is suitably pithy and inflammatory though

[Brimma]

Sorry Bryan, but this doesn't display on my pooter. I trust it is suitably pithy and inflammatory though

No, just a popcorn smiley

[Lady Elanore]

No, just a popcorn smiley

I am sure he can do better

[skinnyman]

You are probably not an enthusiast as your car is much more expensive than an Octavia and doesn't handles as well. Oh and it is much more ugly too! Mind you, with my poor taste, I can safely say if I could afford to run one for 25K a year, I would already be driving one

My wife says I have to play nicely today and can't annoy anyone else. However, I get the feeling that I've touched a nerve here by offering my opinion. It's not about people thinking that the Octavia is a better car, it's not. Out of the cars I have owned, it's not the fastest, best handling or back to the original point, best looking.

I do think that most Audis are better looking than Skodas, the Dame Edna look on the Octavia annoys me every time I see it. With a few flicks of a designers pen and I'm sure things could be improved.

As for the enthusiast comment I made, I stand by that. I'm enthusiastic, but not a true enthusiast. It doesn't matter what I've owned in the past, it what is currently on the drive that counts for me. An Octavia is far from what I would consider an enthusiasts car. If others consider new Beemers or Audis to be so, fair play.

[daverapid]

Modern cars don't really do it for me, here's some cars with proper character.

[Shifty]

What is good looking anyway? As someone has already said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Most modern cars to me are bland, mainly due to the required shape of the front for pedestrian crash safety.Day running lights have done nothing to any modern car apart from making them even uglier.

Audi's are on the whole in my opinion a little bland to look at, they don't attract any attention when I see one. Exceptions being the A5 sportback, and the RS models. This isn't to say I think they are ugly ( apart from the A1, which I happen to think is ugly ) just conservative. People who generally buy Audi's buy them for the build quality and because they want to get from A to B with as little fuss and drama as possible. These kind of people are not usually the type who seek attention from others. The conservative styling fits in with the life they lead normally, and I can't deny that despite finding them a little bland to look at, they are all ( apart from the A1 and Q7 ) pleasant to look at. The RS models are more to my own taste, less bland but still not shouting "look at me" (R8 aside) but with a more aggressive style,big arches etc, more my cup of tea.

Skoda's are not as good looking generally as any Audi in my opinion. The Roomster looks like the Popemobile, the Yeti reminds of the Talbot Matra Rancho (not a compliment), the MK1 Fabia and Octavia MK1 both conjure up images of mothballs and urine, move wallpaper and knitting. They look like pensioners cars, and mostly that's who drive them. VRS models differ slightly, but they are not the best to look at. The newer line up of Fabia's are too tall and thin, the Octavia looks like a Vectra, the Superb like a Renault from the back.

All of the range of both Audi and Skoda are very very good cars, but aimed at different buyers, so the styling reflects this. 75 year olds love the MK1 Fabia estate in vile biege, whilst the 30 something professional is more likely attracted to a silver A4.

I did kind of compare them in the way I said Audi's look better than Skoda's, but I don't think it's a fair comparison at all given the price difference of the 2 brands,or the customer base they are aiming for.

[taff170]

Audi and skoda both mass produced everyday pieces of metal, neither anything special, sport diff or not...!

As someone pointed out an enthusiast of cars is someone you tinkerd with some old Capri or something on a regular basis. Not polishing their Audi or Skoda badge every Sunday!

I think that for a car to be deemed really good to look at you need to be spending in excess of £100,000.

Below this 99% of cars are all pretty much the same (spec wise etc) with a different badge on

So there you go. Chill out people

Also if you've got an Audi and you are on a Skoda site your gonna get a bit of stick if you keep droning on about it and it's diff.

Yes the A4 looks ok but.so does a octy, neither of them are Pagani Zonda good looking are they?!

[jrw]

I disagree with it especially when you use overpriced Fiats as an example of a better car.

Based on that analogy - Audi = Overpriced Skoda

[robmawer]

As someone pointed out an enthusiast of cars is someone you tinkerd with some old Capri or something on a regular basis.

Unless you're an enthusiast who either has to keep one foot in the practicality camp or doesn't like old cars.

I know people who buy around 40-50 CDs a month and travel the country to see 3 or 4 music gigs a week. They don't play any musical instruments and have no desire to form their own bands - are they still music enthusiasts or not?

[nuts]

It makes for interesting discussion but not sure I agree wholeheartedly with the points. I do around 40k miles a year, the time has come for a new car so hunting around with up to a £30k budget I eventually got down to 4 cars which met my criteria, the car had to be an estate, diesel, automatic, over 150 bhp, under 160g/km Co2 and big enough to fit 3 kids comfortably on the back seat. My final 4 were BMW 320d step auto touring, Mercedes C220d blue efficiency est, Audi A4 Avant 2.0 tdi sportline and Skoda Octavia VRS DSG estate. I had all of the cars on a 3 day trial to make my mind up.

BMW - loved the car, it was the fastest out of the bunch but small boot and limited rear seat space. Severly let down by appalling customer service.

Merc - again nice car, smooth and comfortable but again small boot let it down, felt it was a bit of an 'old man's car'

A4 - Poor spec for the money, poor residuals and blandness let it down for me.

Octavia - The perfect compromise, spacious, fast, dsg box is great and huge boot, £7k cheaper than the BMW which was originally my first choice and customer service was amazing, while the others loaned me a car for 3 days, skoda lent me a vrs for 2 weeks.

My point is we all have different expectations when we look for a car but I guess at the end of the day all have pros and conns. I'm just as happy having a skoda sat on my driveway as a BMW, Merc or Audi, in fact I feel quite smug as I think my £23k has got me a lot more for my money, I guess the proof will be in 3 years time when it's had 120k miles of motorway abuse.

Edited 20 March, 2011 by nuts

[jrw]

It makes for interesting discussion but not sure I agree wholeheartedly with the points. I do around 40k miles a year, the time has come for a new car so hunting around with up to a £30k budget I eventually got down to 4 cars which met my criteria, the car had to be an estate, diesel, automatic, over 150 bhp, under 160g/km Co2 and big enough to fit 3 kids comfortably on the back seat. My final 4 were BMW 320d step auto touring, Mercedes C220d blue efficiency est, Audi A4 Avant 2.0 tdi sportline and Skoda Octavia VRS DSG estate. I had all of the cars on a 3 day trial to make my mind up.

BMW - loved the car, it was the fastest out of the bunch but small boot and limited rear seat space. Severly let down by appalling customer service.

Merc - again nice car, smooth and comfortable but again small boot let it down, felt it was a bit of an 'old man's car'

A4 - Poor spec for the money, poor residuals and blandness let it down for me.

Octavia - The perfect compromise, spacious, fast, dsg box is great and huge boot, £7k cheaper than the BMW which was originally my first choice and customer service was amazing, while the others loaned me a car for 3 days, skoda lent me a vrs for 2 weeks.

My point is we all have different expectations when we look for a car but I guess at the end of the day all have pros and conns. I'm just as happy having a skoda sat on my driveway as a BMW, Merc or Audi, in fact I feel quite smug as I think my £23k has got me a lot more for my money, I guess the proof will be in 3 years time when it's had 120k miles of motorway abuse.

How did you get to loan them for so long?

[Funky Fab]

Why don't some one settle this thread with a poll???

Which is nicer:

Audi......

Skoda......

Or The

m3...

[nuts]

How did you get to loan them for so long?

When I enquired one of their demonstrations team rang me up, asked me what other vehicles I was considering / had test drove and basically offered it me initially for a week over Christmas from the 23rd to the 30th which I took them up on, then on the day they were supposed to collect it, they rang and said they didn't have a driver available to collect, did I want it for another week?! You can guess what the answer was!

[Lady Elanore]

Based on that analogy - Audi = Overpriced Skoda

I was trying to make the the point you can't have it both ways. Alfas must therefore be overpriced Fiats.

I am on a Skoda site as I was a Skoda owner and still like the marque. I think it is sad that the topic was dragged so far off topic to have a pop at Audis in general. It seems nepotism is alive and well judging by the out of proportion responses made in general. Of course peeps have their own opinions, but the level of antipathy seems exaggerated.

Edited 20 March, 2011 by Lady Elanore

[jrw]

I was trying to make the the point you can't have it both ways. Alfas must therefore be overpriced Fiats.

I am on a Skoda site as I was a Skoda owner and still like the marque. I think it is sad that the topic was dragged so far off topic to have a pop at Audis in general. It seems nepotism is alive and well judging by the out of proportion responses made in general. Of course peeps have their own opinions, but the level of antipathy seems exaggerated.

It was a tongue in cheek comment

[SnailUK]

Its very amusing reading through this thread. Theres some very opinionated people in here.

Pretty much every manufacturer makes really dull looking cars. Thats the whole point, so the sporty ones justify their cost.

Looks are always a matter of opinion which i completely understand, but Skoda better than Audi? The quality of the paint, the design, the manufacture is far better in an Audi. The difference between my Octavia and an A3/A4 of the same age is huge. The Octavia vRS is a good looking car, but would i have one over an Audi? Not if i had the choice.

The Octavia will be going soon, and i'll be taking a high mileage Audi/BMW over a Skoda or similar, i went for value once, and i've always regretted it. The Skoda wasn't even competition for my Seat, let alone a VW/Audi.

[Lady Elanore]

Its very amusing reading through this thread. Theres some very opinionated people in here.

Pretty much every manufacturer makes really dull looking cars. Thats the whole point, so the sporty ones justify their cost.

Looks are always a matter of opinion which i completely understand, but Skoda better than Audi? The quality of the paint, the design, the manufacture is far better in an Audi. The difference between my Octavia and an A3/A4 of the same age is huge. The Octavia vRS is a good looking car, but would i have one over an Audi? Not if i had the choice.

The Octavia will be going soon, and i'll be taking a high mileage Audi/BMW over a Skoda or similar, i went for value once, and i've always regretted it. The Skoda wasn't even competition for my Seat, let alone a VW/Audi.

You are a brave man

[Brimma]

Looks are always a matter of opinion which i completely understand, but Skoda better than Audi?

Agreed, looks are a matter of opinion

The quality of the paint, the design, the manufacture is far better in an Audi. The difference between my Octavia and an A3/A4 of the same age is huge

Why the need to compare quality?

Unless I misread the thread title it says...."Skodas don't look as good as Audi's?"

It may be a fact that the interior of an Audi is superior to an Octavia, I'd like to hope it is when you consider the price differential

If it isn't, it does literally boil down to what badge you prefer to have on a car

[SnailUK]

Why the need to compare quality?

Unless I misread the thread title it says...."Skodas don't look as good as Audi's?"

From a distance, a Skoda may look as good, but up close is where the quality really shows. My vRS has 85k on it, i've been looking at Audis/Beemers of well over that mileage, and the paintwork on all of them is soo much better than my vRS.

Having spent many days outside waxing and polishing the Skoda, the rubbish paintwork has always bugged me.

[Lady Elanore]

Agreed, looks are a matter of opinion

Why the need to compare quality?

Unless I misread the thread title it says...."Skodas don't look as good as Audi's?"

It may be a fact that the interior of an Audi is superior to an Octavia, I'd like to hope it is when you consider the price differential

If it isn't, it does literally boil down to what badge you prefer to have on a car

I did mention that the thread was about the looks of the cars on a couple of occasions. But the Audi bashers decided that it wasn't enough to say they thought the Audis look a bit carp. Snail is only replying to other comments in this thread. I am not sure the paint is any better to be honest, perhaps a little, but the interior is genuinely a better place to sit. Audi have really sussed how to do interiors. Although they tend to look a bit like aicraft flight decks at night, well mine does

Personally I DON'T care what badge is on my car. I don't drive a badge. Perhaps I should stick the 3.0 badge back on so that people with smaller engines can feel inadequate

[KenONeill]

In my post you will see I attribute fine looks and build quality as the premier plus points of the A4 and the countless articles and motoring magazines I have read plus the many You Tube video reviews I have watched, support this belief. If I wanted handling, I would not buy any current Skoda. If I wanted looks, I would not buy any current Skoda, If I wanted prestige (whatever that is to each individual) I would not buy any current Skoda. If I wanted build quality I would consider a Skoda, but not before a VW or Audi (assuming cost is not an objection). If all I wanted was pure VFM, then I would definately consider a Skoda. in fact I did and bought one a few years ago.

Looks are subjective. If I wanted a "mass market" car that looked good, I would not buy from VAG. I would choose a present model Ford Mondeo or Vauxhall Consignia (or whatever it's called). If I really wanted "prestige", I would buy a BMW, Jaguar or Mercedes, rather than something which is often perceived (whether their owners can admit it or not) as a tarted-up VW. If I wanted handling, I would not buy any current VAG car, other than possibly a Seat. If I wanted VFM, I'd consider buying Korean...

As for badge snobbery, I see many owners like myself who have had the engine size badges removed from their 3.0 V6s so for most of us, it isn't anything to do with that. I like sitting and drving in my car, it feels special and the quality of many (but not all) of the interior fittings and options are truly first class. Would I swap it for an Octy or Superb, to be honest, no way. But I am fortunate that having had a couple of good years (very) hard wok, I can afford to treat myself to something special. When it comes time to swap, I may be skint and could well be looking second hand Fiat Pandas, at which point my focus will then have changed to wanting a cheap, functional run-about, with a little charm thrown in for good measure.

When you can show me an Audi driver who has had the make and model badges rather than just the engine and/or trim level badges removed, you might be able to make a point about badge snobbery.

[auroan]

rather than something which is often perceived (whether their owners can admit it or not) as a tarted-up VW.

Thats your opinion, Could you tell me the actual stats you are basing it on and your source ?

Also the only models in the current Audi line up that share any form of platform with VW is the A1 (polo) and the A3 (golf). Nothing else.