Almost 1000 miles into the vRS

[Armegatron]

Following on from kerrbryan's excellent 62 mile review, I thought I would put together something to discuss my findings so far...

2010 Octavia 2.0 TDi CR vRS

Candy white, standard spec.

This car replaced my lovely 2001 1.4 16v Fabia which I have handed over to my parents which I imagine will provide even more years of trouble free motoring.

I went for the Octavia as I have finally finished uni and need a larger car for longer commutes and impending sprogs.

I was disappointed with the power from the 1.6 Elegance, despite its appealing MPG returns and was looking for a 2.0 Elegance with a CR engine, but these are quite hard to locate.

I then settled on the vRS as the looks and power won it for me. While the extra running costs against the Elegance leave a £200 shortfall in MPG and insurance savings for me, I felt that the vRS that I bought represented a really good deal that was hard to pass up.

Octavia was collected on the 23rd December 2011 and so far I have covered just shy of 1000 miles. Immediately I was impressed by the quietness when cruising at 70 against the Fabia, and the extra comfort from the newer seats and lumbar support really helped support my lower back (slipped disc :'( ).

The large mirrors are a welcome addition to the safety aspect when compared to the smaller ones that were on my Fabia.

I couldn't get away with the touch screen radio to start with, however I'm starting to get accustomed to the navigation and layout. I do like the flash aspect of having a touch screen radio though

Large boot should be fine for throwing my road bike into, and when the weather warms up I shall be doing some long drives and even longer rides

When I have turned up at work after Christmas, it was really nice to have people saying to me out of the blue how nice the car is. This NEVER happened with the Fabia.

As I went for a fairly standard spec'd vRS my wishlist is as follows:

Parking sensors - quoted under £200 fitted from local dealer

Bluetooth kit - will fit a Parrot kit myself in the coming months

Mudguards - still trying to decide whether to get the FL or preFL ones!

Hatchbag - circa £100 to keep the mud and oil off the car when the bike is put in and out

RossTech VCDS - As there are a few goodies I'd like to turn on and play around with. Also handy to check diagnostics.

1st fill up was with Tesco Diesel but subsequent fillups have been with Shell Fuelsave. I have to say, although I have tracked only 2 fuelups so far the returns are really good with either fuel!

In the time I have had it, I have only noticed one DPF regen - and that was because I parked up and heard the fans still whirring. Not experienced any other indications of regens happening.

Any review wouldn't be complete without negatives so...

Takes a while to warm up interior (hohum, wrap up warm - it'll be summer soon)

When the 4*c temp warning comes on, it takes a while to be able to get rid of it and move back to where you were. In contrast the Fabia would flash up and could immediately dismissed and would return to your previous readout.

No spare wheel as standard.

No 12v in boot (would have been nice when I am flying the RC heli)

White is a bugger to keep clean :p

I hope this mini review helps someone who is considering buying either a Skoda, Octavia or vRS

Edit: Heres a piccy...

Edited 10 January, 2012 by PEMBO

[Dougall]

Cool review - glad to here your happy, I've got a new vRS order and have an Elegance at the moment.....roll-on April!

[swordstoke]

Good Review! Nearly two years in for me and still loving it! Just wish the seat was a little comfier!

[Evening Star]

Why fit a Parrot BT system when you can get the proper thing fitted without drilling holes or gluing something to the car.

Shark_90 did mine nearly two years ago & it's brilliant.

Won't worry next time as it will be factory fit.

[Armegatron]

Why fit a Parrot BT system when you can get the proper thing fitted without drilling holes or gluing something to the car.

Shark_90 did mine nearly two years ago & it's brilliant.

Won't worry next time as it will be factory fit.

How much was the OEM unit? My reason for avoiding it was that I thought it would end up costing twice as much as the Parrot and wouldn't be portable car to car (although seeing as I keep cars for over 5 years and the tech would probably be obsolete, it's a moot point).

With regards to fitting the Parrot, I would self fit as opposed to let Halfords loose on drills and so on - I've done some fettling in the past with the Fabia with fitting footwell lights and a stealthly flying lead from the 12v to the dash for a GPS

I guess if I did go OEM it would add a bit more value to the car

[rob_e]

Nice review!

White really IS the best colour for a vRS

I had a parrot in a previous car, didn't like it. I have the Fiscon unit in my vRS which works just like OEM

ie through the bolero - yes it cost more but its worth it IMHO.

[Armegatron]

Nice review!

White really IS the best colour for a vRS

I had a parrot in a previous car, didn't like it. I have the Fiscon unit in my vRS which works just like OEM

ie through the bolero - yes it cost more but its worth it IMHO.

Indeed, my colour choice was white or white with a hint of white

That Fiscon unit looks the mutts nuts! IF you dont mind me asking, roughly how much would I be looking at and does it require VCDS recoding etc?

[lfc958]

Having had Bluetooth in my previous Fiat 500 as std, it was a bit disappointing that it wasnt std on such a comparibaly expensive car.

So I had a Bury Crystal ( parrot competitor) professionally installed, which connects through the bolero, & well pleased, specially when I use the Satnav on my phone, & the directions come through the Radio speakers when the phone is connected to the Blue tooth.

You would have got a 12v connection in the boot if you had got the estate. White along with Black must be the 2 worst colours to keep clean.

[FUBAR]

Nice review glad your enjoying the car even if you were a flamin "STUDENT!!!!!" :wonder: Your MPG is fairly low tbh and with a regen already I assume its mainly short trips so far but I think in time you will get even better MPG some of the OAP's on here claim impressive figures especially on long trips of course!

White along with Black must be the 2 worst colours to keep clean.

The Ultimate VRS colour hasn't been to easy to keep clean the last few days either :( dirt is dirt :'(

[B33fy]

...The Ultimate VRS colour hasn't been to easy to keep clean the last few days either :( dirt is dirt :'(

You're spot on there Fuman, the yellow does take a bit of cleaning though it does look the nuts when shiny

Glad you're enjoying the car, after 33,000 miles in my second one, it still puts a smile on my face as much as the day I picked it up. Happy motoring

[kerrbryan]

Sounds as if you luv it as much as I do

[Armegatron]

Nice review glad your enjoying the car even if you were a flamin "STUDENT!!!!!" :wonder: Your MPG is fairly low tbh and with a regen already I assume its mainly short trips so far but I think in time you will get even better MPG some of the OAP's on here claim impressive figures especially on long trips of course!

The Ultimate VRS colour hasn't been to easy to keep clean the last few days either :( dirt is dirt :'(

Haha, I was wise with my money while I studied. Didn't go out every night to get wasted (or ever infact), I don't smoke either . Worked 3 jobs in 1st year, 2 jobs in 2nd year, 1 job for a placement year and 0 jobs for the final year. Ended up with a 1st class degree, highest results in my year, and an Octy vRS

My trips are currently 13 miles to work, 18 miles back home. I will be moving office soon and it will be 33 miles to and from work each day (hence getting the diesel for the long term). I did a 28 mile drive yesterday and got 58mpg driving at 60mph (gentle acceleration) for most of the way.

Edit: If your looking at my Fuelly MPG figure below, that was just the 1st tank which naturally is heavy footed

Edited 11 January, 2012 by PEMBO

[rob_e]

Indeed, my colour choice was white or white with a hint of white

That Fiscon unit looks the mutts nuts! IF you dont mind me asking, roughly how much would I be looking at and does it require VCDS recoding etc?

I got my fiscon from Richter in Milton Keynes, £350 or thereabouts I think incl fitting.

They didn't need to code it into the car, just plug in and it works.

N.b. Shark can also install an OE kit for similar money.

[FUBAR]

You're spot on there Fuman, the yellow does take a bit of cleaning though it does look the nuts when shiny

Thats only the ultimate colour in Mk1 Furby VRS's like my old one your in the wrong place on those grounds beefy bake!

[Evening Star]

It's worth the money as it's not an enticement for car thieves as the unit is hidden away from prying eyes.

[Ultima]

Haha, I was wise with my money while I studied. Didn't go out every night to get wasted (or ever infact), I don't smoke either . Worked 3 jobs in 1st year, 2 jobs in 2nd year, 1 job for a placement year and 0 jobs for the final year. Ended up with a 1st class degree, highest results in my year, and an Octy vRS

My trips are currently 13 miles to work, 18 miles back home. I will be moving office soon and it will be 33 miles to and from work each day (hence getting the diesel for the long term). I did a 28 mile drive yesterday and got 58mpg driving at 60mph (gentle acceleration) for most of the way.

Edit: If your looking at my Fuelly MPG figure below, that was just the 1st tank which naturally is heavy footed

What did u study?

[Armegatron]

What did u study?

Degree in Computing & Networks @ Teesside uni. Quite a good course but from what I hear on the grapevine, degrees are now being watered down to pull in more students in order to increase revenue. As such the course content looks less and less "techy" as the years go on :'(

[Guest]

You just need to de-bling it now

Some go for colour coding but I went for matt black wrap to be different.

[Armegatron]

You just need to de-bling it now

Some go for colour coding but I went for matt black wrap to be different.

On a white one? Wouldn't mind seeing some pics of that like.

I did colour code the Fabia which did transform the old man look to something a bit younger, but I'm not too fussed on the octavia's chrome grill.