My mate has recently sold his house, and with some of the money made he intends to treat himself to a car. His budget was up to around 15k. But what he wanted was a car unlike anyone he had owned before. He has had an aray of warm hatches and a very short spell in a MR2. But initially he wanted a a fire breathing tarmac shreading monster. I said he needs to get a Scooby RB5 - because they are the best looking in my opinion. But the result will be a 270+ bhp AWD rapid motor. I did advise the obscene insurance costs 15-20 mpg on Optimax, major servicing bills, short life on tyres and not forgetting there unique ability to blow engines.

With this he was soon put off so started sniffing around a Clio 182. A good car in principle, lots of goodies decent performance and handling, but missing a little something I feel. But worse than that we talked about residuals and build quality, 2 of Renaults weak points..... Once again he was put off and at this stage not sure what to do. I told him about my skoda fetish, which he wasn

People complain about the price, but its no more than the likes of the Civic Type R etc... the car has an engine which is already up to the spec of most remapped PD130's out of the box, big brake and 4 pot callipers, seat sport suspension, 17" wheels, all the toys... and if you added these toys to something like a Fabia or Ibiza FR it would wind up costing the same, but you have a valid warranty with the Ibiza

I dont think

I'd agree with what Paul said - the Furby I'm getting is only a shade under 14k and that's still standard

why are you payin 14k for a standered furby?????

why are you payin 14k for a standered furby?????

Standard as in "not modified"...if you look at the options list in his signature, it's not a basic one...

Rob.

You can get some pretty good discounts on the Cupra though. I paid

The only thing to watch is the cupra has less toys than an FR. For example, you can't get xenons on a cupra. There are some other ones which I can't remember off the top of my head.

Plus points: 160 engine and big brakes

Negative points: lots of options available on the FR aren't available on the cupra.

afaik both cars come with the same standard equipment, I dont know about the options though.

What about a Octy RS? could get a brand spanker and still have some left over to insure and remap

As the option lists on my sig hints at - yep it's standard but it's got most toys, which makes it a little more than the standard.

Worth considering the Octy for sure, it's fast too

What about a Octy RS? could get a brand spanker and still have some left over to insure and remap

It is good value, but its also discontinued to all intents and purposes, and isnt a diesel... and in fact is nothing like an Ibiza

... and in fact is nothing like an Ibiza

True..... Its a lot bigger for a start, with room for 4 adults and a huge boot

One thing I would say, is that I'm not sure that the power hike of the Ibiza Cupra over the Ibiza FR makes all that much of a difference. The reason I'm saying this is that yesterday I was following a Leon Cupra diesel - same engine I assume - down the M62/M60 interchange, and was quite happily keeping up with it until I changed from 4th to 3rd, instead of 5th (which I've been doing a lot lately )

Massive styling differences between the Cupra and the FR, of course...

Well i spoke to him last night, and he informed me he has ordered a black Fabia RS - yay.

Well i spoke to him last night, and he informed me he has ordered a black Fabia RS - yay.

Heh heh heh. I my bird's leaning towards a Supra Twin Turbo...300HP+ and only

Just found out he is having it REVO'd before he picks it up 1st of March !!!! Such a careing dealer !

One thing I would say' date=' is that I'm not sure that the power hike of the Ibiza Cupra over the Ibiza FR makes all that much of a difference. The reason I'm saying this is that yesterday I was following a Leon Cupra diesel - same engine I assume - down the M62/M60 interchange, and was quite happily keeping up with it until I changed from 4th to 3rd, instead of 5th (which I've been doing a lot lately )

Massive styling differences between the Cupra and the FR, of course...[/quote']

The gap between the Cupra and FR is basically the same gap there is between a standard 130pd and a remapped one.

The difference in acceleration times between a standard FR and Cupra shows that there is quite a big difference in performance with the Cupra being around 1.5 secs faster to 60, and 4-5 secs faster to 100.

I hate to say this but I'm almost "forced" to look to the Ibiza too as an alternative to the Fab vRS. Why is an Ibiza FR TDI130 priced at 23k euros here whereas the vRS is 25k? And the Cupra is not far out with 27k...

So are the Ibiza FR TDI and the vRS essentially the same cars, with the same sports suspension set-up? Or are there any significant differences? And why is the FR significantly lighter?

I dont think the FR is really significantly lighter... certainly one seatcupra.net member put his TDI sport on a weighbridge and it was 1300 kg... contrary to the 1192 kg they claimed. The springs on the vRS are apparently different, softer. My mate had a TDI sport and he claimed that the vRS was softer, but rode and handled better - go figure... then theres the build quality, the cockpit of the vRS is MUCH nicer.

I dont think the FR is really significantly lighter... certainly one seatcupra.net member put his TDI sport on a weighbridge and it was 1300 kg... contrary to the 1192 kg they claimed.

Oh well, that's paper specs for you...

Still doesn't explain the enormous price gap, though. Is it the other way around in the UK? Can't explain otherwise why the vRS is such a hit with you whereas here we are drowning in Ibizas but are shocked to see a single vRS...

The Skoda is still technically (on paper) cheaper than the Seat in terms of list price...

However its hard to get big discounts on the Skoda but not for the Seat, and now the FR is usually just as cheap, sometimes slightly cheaper than the vRS.... never used to be the case however - originally the TDI Sport was the Seat equivalent and it was much plainer and boring looking than the Skoda, yet in 5 door form, at one point there was a massive

The Dutch auto exhibition ended yesterday, and I took the opportunity to acquaintance myself from up close with several cars that are candidates to become my nimble business car.

The Fabia vRS and both Ibiza FRs and Cupras figure prominently on the shortlist, as do the Fiesta ST and, possibly, the 118i or 120i. The 206 RC failed to pass the longlist, as I simply don't fit in its seat (too small) while the Clio 182's build quality - or rather, lack of - was highlighted through ten exhibition days, which managed to demolish several buttons and switches, the seat adjustment lever and the leather seat sides...

But...

I'm torn between the vRS (my emotional choice) and the petrol Ibiza Cupra (my sensible choice). I much prefer the looks of the vRS, and its interior too, while I couldn't quite get a comfortable seating position in the Cupra.

However, apart from the Cupra probably being quicker, the petrol car would allow us to switch freely between the Octy and the other car, as they both use the same fuel, resulting in fuel receipts that are acceptable for business use even when I want to drive the Octy for business purposes on occasion. It's a bit hard to "sell" petrol fuel bills when your business car is a diesel...

So why don't Skoda do a Fabia 1.8T?

There is a rumoured WRC 2.0T Fabia coming out with 200 bhp and 4WD, so watch this space

The Ibiza FR felt extremely tinny when I drove it and the road noise was hideous, that said it did feel lighter and much quicker than a vRS purely because it had a better power to weight ratio, it also cornered with much less understeer and better feel.

Wouldnt mind a remapped Cupra TDi 220 bhp is achievable and the weight 1177.