It's a long one. But both cars are fantastic so I couldn't do a cut down crap review....sorry :p

Skoda Fabia vRS 1.4 vs RenaultSport Megane 250

A roads and motorways

Megane: Cruising at 70mph gives me 35mpg on the dash which I'm quite happy with. To my surprise, road noise is miles better in the Megane and potholes are dealt with better. Putting this down to more reactive suspension and tyres being larger so they have more of a chance to roll over them. 6th gear is quite long on the Megane. 70mph sees 2.7k rpm.

Fabia: Always use to get a solid 42-44mpg on the Fabia when cruising along. Cruise control was easy to operate too. 70mph in 7th in the Fabia saw 2.7k rpm as well I think.

Speed

Megane: Putting your foot down is very fun. Little wheel spin unless you really put the power down all in one go. Tyre's probably help as the Megane's get Conti 5's although mine only have 3-4mm left. Tramlining is an issue to be wary of though on poor roads. The RS Monitor helps by telling you which gear gives you optimal speed and you can set an RPM meter which will beep at you and tell you when to shift gear if you want. Won't bottom out till 1k revs which helps if you want to just bumble along as well.

Fabia: Always willing to go from any gear which the Megane isn't always. Fabia can take 1 or 2 moments but even though, low down torque was always impressive. Wheels did spin up on the Fabia but this is solveable with a few mods.

Handling

Megane: Noticeable even when on the roads. The steering is harder and no where near as light on the Fabia. I think this is what journo's like to call 'feeling the road' and 'feedback' lol. Brakes feel good with a nicely calibrated brake pedal. Feels the same as the Fabia. 4-pot Brembo's with 340mm discs btw. It's a weird feeling but you can actually feel the diff pulling you around the corner. Slots through the gears really with not much travel time between gears. I've still to master 1st to 2nd I feel but the others are smooth.

Fabia: Think the Fabia inspired me more with its speed than handling. The box on the Fabia always took care of the speed for me which left me to concentrate on the Fabia. Guess that's why I never felt too at ease pushing the Fabia Was still excellent for fast road use though and I think coilovers would have revamped the handling even more. At it was, the ARB certainly helped.

Looks

Megane: F1 style diffuser is nice. Has a proper Coupe shape in that it's low down and streamlined. Visibility out the back is terrible though (not helped by the dealer sticker!). L.E.D daytime running lights are a nice touch and the 19" alloys look stylish to me without being chav. 3 door which is back to my Fiat Punto days but I don't plan to carry many in the back

The car looks very streamlined and so much lower but that's because the Fabia was quite a boxy car in comparison. Lots of favourable reviews in work with the only criticism being that it's French

Inside the recaro's really make it look and feel like a race car.

Fabia: Always loved the green as it set it apart from every other car. It did have a mean look to it. DRL's worked nicely I thought. Fabia was a good 'sleeper' car (or mine would have been it wasn't green lol). vRS logos were always quite prominent which was good but it can't match the Megane for shape.

Interior and headlights

Megane: Wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. Interior quality looks the same as the Fabia. Not nearly as intiutive as the German interiors though. Lots of switchgear made worse for the fact I specced the RenaultSport monitor (adjusts throttle maps, gives lap times, boost pressure etc). Seats and leather are wonderful though. Would have liked a nice colour display like VW give on the Golf.

Recaros give excellent support and actually make the Megane feel and look like a race car. Recaro's arent heated but I didn't spec it on my Fabia either.

Steering controls are for the cruise control and not the radio which seems odd. Cruise control button is the near the handbrake on the centre console. Will take some getting use to! Plenty of cubby holes and space though.

L.E.D running lights with Bi-xenon's are just wonderful! People with a Fabia will know the pain the Halogen headlights are.

Visibility Pack which gives Bi-xenon's was mandatory for me when speccing the car after the horror of the Fabia headlights.

Fabia: Easy to pick up the interface and the controls on the steering wheel were helpful. I'd say the quality was slightly better than the Renault if you knew were to look. Neat touches like glasses case and good sized cup holders made it feel good to.

Seats were always supportive and just as adjustable as the Recaros. Don't quite have the same comfort and look factor though.

Practicality

Megane: The boot is as big as the Fabia but no where near as accessible. You'd have to get squeeze your suitcase/buggy in and then move it around. 3 doors is a major point but fortunately, I don't carry many people. Legroom is less than the Fabia although not by much. Parking is tougher but you do get rear parking sensors and excellent mirrors. Still tougher than the Fabia though.

Fabia: 5 doors, large accessible boot, good legroom, fantastic headroom for everyone and a proper sized glovebox. Fabia wins hands down for me.

Costs

Megane: Road tax isn't too bad at £100 more. Front tyres will go after 12k. On the motorway and A roads I've clocked up 35mpg. Around and about 28mpg. They can depreciate quite hard especially if you don't have the right options. No Cup pack makes it almost dead weight.

Fabia: Road tax was good and front tyres lasted 16k for me. A roads was 44-45mpg and town was 38mpg. So 10 more than the Megane is all respects. Depreciation was not as bad as I thought and according to the CAP database (which I am lucky to have access to), not as bad as people make out.

Community

Megane: There is a good Renault community out there but I don't think it's as good as the Skoda one if I'm honest. Forums themselves aren't of the standard Briskoda is. Not by a long shot. The people are kind and helpful though which is important.

Fabia:

May write another review based on my track experiences and tuning etc.

not being funny (before Sy blasts me with how slow the fabia is and how fast the renault is)

I burned one of these on one of my well known back roads

he was REALLY pushing me for miles, I was getting mildly annoyed, so I decided to see just how fast he wanted to go... he really tried, but lost, over a few miles he lost sight of me......

may have been the -3c and snowy conditions, and his conti tyres though :p (I have winters) that made the difference....

I never got to see how quick it was in a straight line (back road) because my traction seemed way better, and I had higher cornering speeds....

*waits for flaming.

edit: dont get me wrong, I really like the renault, anything that sets records on the ring has to be fast

not being funny (before Sy blasts me with how slow the fabia is and how fast the renault is)

I burned one of these on one of my well known back roads

he was REALLY pushing me for miles, I was getting mildly annoyed, so I decided to see just how fast he wanted to go... he really tried, but lost, over a few miles he lost sight of me......

may have been the -3c and snowy conditions, and his conti tyres though :p (I have winters) that made the difference....

I never got to see how quick it was in a straight line (back road) because my traction seemed way better, and I had higher cornering speeds....

*waits for flaming.

edit: dont get me wrong, I really like the renault, anything that sets records on the ring has to be fast

I once did an 8 second drag at Santa Pod in my Mk1 VRS

Good post - interesting to get a comparison of the two

A fair comparison and I respect RenaultSport cars after driving one. A lot of it is down to the driver when it comes to a B road blast, confidence in the car and knowledge of the road plus your winter tyres helped too. But vRS's do cover ground quickly once you get used to them and learn to drive smoothly. I managed to beat my time to Aberystwyth a few weeks ago and by quite a lot.

*puts on flame suit*

Hi

As a new member I need to tread carefully,

I am soon to collect my new vrs Octavia estate and hand over my 250

I am sorry and have to disagree with comments made, the 250 is a monster in disguise!!! It is so fast, I drive fast cars in work and this is up with them

Why sell I hear you ask,,,

I agree boot and comfort space is poor, fuel, tax and insurance is poor!!!!

However, red lining and exhaust popping like a rally car,,, great fun!!!

Sorry she is going, and I am now in the skoda club,,, 100%

The boot's quite good and I find the seats comfortable. Luckily insurance is roughly the same for me (somehow), tax is only £100 more and my mileage has gone down.

The only time is gets big miles is when I'm required to use it for business (in which case the company pays for my mileage)

There's a new Megane 265 out next month.

Guess that's going to be too noisy for you then.

Too noisy?

Too noisy?

Lol, to 250vrs talking about the popping & red lining