Though I don't own a Fabia vRS, I was on the verge of ordering one until I took one out for a test drive last weekend, and realised it had a couple of foibles that I just couldn't live with. These included the cheap and nasty interior with hard brittle plastics wherever you touched (except for the door handles, which were oddly flexible), excessive wind noise at a motorway cruise, and a too-high seating position. I was thinking of trading in my 9 month FL Octy, until I realised that I would miss the "premium" feel of that car's interior, and the feeling of sitting "in" the car, rather than "on" it.

Probably the worst offending feature of it was the exposed windscreen wiper units that I haven't seen since the 80's Allegros, Minis and Metros. Surely in this day and age of pedestrian safety, it wouldn't have been too much bother to extend the bonnet up over the units to conceal them. Maybe it's Skoda's idea of giving the Fabia a retro look.

The engine and gearbox was a technical tour de force though. Think I might right the Fabia's wrongs and look to buy a secondhand Polo GTI in a year or twos time.

I on the other hand, although coming from a MK1 vRS am very impressed with it all round!

Seats are more supportive and a better colour

Dash layout inc maxi-dot is great

Dash plastics soft touch

Handles very well

Goes very well

Brakes well

Steering is nicely weighted, could alter weight on VAG-COM like my MK1 vRS?

Visability is improved over the MK1 vRS

Black headlining still, makes it dark and sporty which I like

Low tax/insurance

Looks are off-putting for some as its alot more rounded

Fuel economy and no manual can be off-putting

Can't think of much else, will wait til I get mine to say any more!

Fabia II 2008 1.4 bnz:

- cabin rear light

- no temperature indicator

- poor visibility when cornering to left