Jabo's new Fabia vRS (with Pictures)

[Jabozuma]

Jabo’s Fabia vRS

EDITS: I will be regularly editing the original post with fresh experiences and observations so please check at the bottom of each paragraph/heading for updates

Order and delivery

The car was ordered on 15 August 2012. Was told production week 43 than 3-4 weeks for the car to be with me. Closer to the time it went down a notch to week 42 (October 15-22) but still 3-4 weeks for delivery. Car was picked up from the dealer on 3^rd Nov so two weeks wait. Pretty happy with that

First Impressions

When we arrived the sparkling BlackMagic Fabia vRS was proudly displayed just next to the main entrance. Smile never left my face after that. Forgetting the drag of getting all the paperwork done and parting with a large chunk of money we were on the way. The trip is roughly 12miles but straight away I went into my running-in regime mode. Using paddles I was selecting gears to give me around 2k rpm and accelerating by pressing the throttle pedal to the metal to 3.6k rpm. Then I was breaking with the engine upshifting with paddles aiming at keeping the revs below 4k rpm. Gear or two up, accelerate, rinse and repeat. It wasn’t obviously possible to do all the time due to traffic but was pretty content with it. I can confirm it was possible to do it safely, within speed limits and without being flashed or beeped at at all . Best way is keep it in high gear like 5 or 6thand just accelerating to NSL. It doesn’t go fast but what it does is creates max pressure in the cylinders pushing the rings hard against the bores and bedding them in nicely, all at low engine speeds avoiding any risk of overheating and creating burnt oil bores spot glazing.

Now, after 100 miles of such driving the only problem I am having is rather stupid 24.9MPG.

As expected when driving at wide open throttle as much as possible!

Having arrived home I quickly deposited the family at home and went for my first solo drive. Still doing running-in I managed to burn over quarter of the tank in less than two hours. Smile was getting wider!

Overview of the car

Exterior

I absolutely love the look of BlackMagic paint with black alloys smarting thin silver trim and smoked front lights. Tinted glass looks well dashing! On the down side this car desperately needs better light bulbs and LEDs all around! However, with standard bulbs the light is very bright and entirely satisfactory. The usually dipped too low dipped beams will need adjusting on the projectors adjustment screws. Another thing it desperately needs is lowered suspension (Eibach springs here we come!) as it looks like on stilts stock.

vRS on stilts a.k.a. stock suspension

In dire need of some paintwork TLC!

That disc looks silly small!

Interior

Fabric upholstery is of high quality, nice to touch and looks rather elegant. vRS logo is not too obtrusive either. There is plenty of space both front and back. I can have my chair as far back as I need and still have my daughter sitting behind me in her booster seat without any problems – note to self, must buy aprons for the backs of front seats to protect them from those little fidgety and very muddy shoesJ.

Driver’s seat was easily positioned in frankly surprisingly comfortable driving position albeit moving the seat back and forth requires some effort.

I was positively surprised by the quality of plastics inside. One can read about them being really cheap, tacky etc. I did not get that impression at all. Compared to the likes of Vauxhall and French it is of better quality. I’d put it on par with what I find in new 1-series I driven recently.

EDIT 08-11-2012: Her First Motorway Drive.

I drove 100 miles return trip on M25 and A3. It was our first outing on the longest car park in the known universe and she passed in flying colours! Seats were the highlight. I am a largish chap rather wide in the chest and the seat is a tight fit in the upper part. I was afraid that it will be uncomfortable. Not at all! I managed to adjust the seating position and steering wheel to perfection and after two hours of driving I felt I have not driven at all. Heated seats are a God send! Absolutely brilliant, heat up very quickly in setting 2 and then you can drop down to 1 for normal comfort. Ventilation and A/C is spot on in manual guise and very easy to set up just right.

Dash & Stalks

Very clear to read, ergonomically laid out with everything easily visible at first glance. Pleasant white colour scheme but nothing to write home about. I am disappointed on that weak greenish glow of manual A/C and ventilation dials – the only thing which brings the overall good impression of the interior down. Stalks are not at all intuitive to operate and I needed to read the manual after getting stuck on the phone screen on Maxidot lol. Mobile phone (iPhone 4) connection was unnoticeable and just happened. Phone book, media, the lot easily accessible either through MIDI interface or BT.

Cruise control works really well and is intuitive, no need to read the manual for that one

EDIT 08-11-2012: Her First Motorway Drive.

Operating MAXIDOT is really easy although I find it rather annoying at times having to hold the button for a while to get back to the main menu.

Cruise Control was something I thought I will be at odds with following my use of BWM one. How wrong I was! It is waay better, more precise and easy in setting different speeds and practically voids the use of the accelerator pedal!

Swing Radio

Nothing special here. What I really love about it the large size of the displayed font – no need to squint to see which folder I am currently in, impressed. Also no overload of buttons, which are nice and large and extremely easy to operate without depressing all the other ones around the one you actually want to use.

EDIT 08-11-2012: Her First Motorway Drive.

While we in the sound department it is worth mentioning that the road noise is rather higher than expected. I think it may be attributed to the tyres and perhaps low level of sound deadening in the doors. Still, the sound system performs really well. I am not an audiophile by any stretch of imagination so perhaps not the best person to give an absolute verdict on the audio performance.

FM Radio has a noticeably lower sound quality than music played from my iPhone. Internet Radio app produced stunning results, sound was very well defined, rich, fat with restrained bass (no interference from vibrating plastics), crisp trebles and strong midrange. "Momentary Lapse of Reason " by Pink Floyd didn't disappoint either, felt like listening to much bigger sound system!

Really happy with it so far. I am sure that it would sound better with higher quality aftermarket speakers but whether I'd be able to tell the difference is another matter so no upgrades in this department

Gearbox

I am full of praise and consider it to be the best feature of the car. In “D” one can hardly notice it is not a direct drive CVT box. Upshifts, what upshifts? If it wasn’t for the numbers on the dash changing I would not notice any (still not using all the revs so this might be a factor here). Downshifts completely stealthy!

In manual mode it I did notice gear changes as was not doing what Mr DSG Computer was expecting. Still, drive was unbroken, downshifts with nice engine revs equalisation throttle blipping. Absolute gem!

One thing for people coming from oil chuggers. Do not expect the same amount of engine breaking as with Diesels. It is substantially subtler and provides much less retardation.

EDIT 05 Nov '12:

Noticed another thing later in the evening tonight (thanks George). I find it difficult to get used to getting going forward (and even worse reversing) from standstill. There is this unnerving hesitation, a small time lag between gently depressing accelerator and car starting to move. I am used to instantenous response from manual boxes so have to fight an urge to push that pedal deeper, which ends up in the car jumping forward like a stung pony - makes me look like a f00L . I had 1 series auto last year as courtesy car and cannot remember anything like that really. Anybody any comments here?

EDIT 08-11-2012: Her First Motorway Drive.

Motorway performance is exquisite! D7 is the main dish but when stepped on reacts similar to my cat when somebody steps on his tail - bolts it screaming. Looks on faces of some "fast" Audis and Mercs is priceless. Noticed a slight hesitation when slowing down to near stop and moving off again, as you do on M25... I suppose it will learn how to deal with such situations in time. Tried "D" and "S" in different situations. There is a marked difference between the two modes. "S" tends to be on the edge all the time, expecting me to step on it any millisecond and disappear into the distance. It also provides great engine braking on overruns while still shifting down the gears when you slowing down. When you keep accelerator at a steady angle it will shift up.

"D" is the opposite, always on the cautious side, eager to upshift and much more hesitant when you floor it from D7. I just love this gearbox, the best feature of the car by a country mile.

Engine

Can’t say much for now as I haven't been using it past 4k rpm – must confess, pressed the accelerator a little bit too hard off the lights… One thing I can say there is no lag whatsoever, specifically tested it today. Supercharger kicks in like a rodeo bull at any revs!

It accelerates in very reassuringly linear fashion (good engine map) and just wants to keep going. Can’t wait until two tanks away from now to go up the rev range and give that turbo a bit of a workout!

EDIT 07 Nov 2012:

After work went to the gym last night, after giving myself a good workout I decided to do the same to with the car.

Oil to 87C, Gear Selector Lever in "S" and.... WOW! Please remember that until then I kept the revs below 4.0k rpm! The experience was amazing really. The car pulls and pulls and pulls and there is no end to it! Do not expect the same performance as from performance cars but this thing is something else for the money!!

Just keep your foot planted and it sooner **** yourself and lift than run out of puff! On the flat bit it was going really well. On an uphill part, not very steep, one could feel low displacement and car noticeably accelerated slower. So I lost my virginity with her and took her to the red line though all gears. All on private, closed to the public roads! Oil got to 107C with 9C external temp. Check out handling update. Oh, almost forgot, in 10-15 mins I managed to burn almost a quarter of the tank of Momentum 99 :evil:

EDIT 08,09-11-2012: Her First Motorway Drive.

After the first motorway drive and then B roads getting home there is nothing I can fault the engine at. The sound of 7k rpm redline is really nice but could be a little more profound at top revs. It is perfect low end, unobtrusive but let's you know that it is there when you step on it, even slightly.

Even with full load of passengers it bolts forward nicely in "S". There is more noticeable whine from either the supercharger as I was accelerating from S2 and very low speed.

Handling

Having read different reviews around briskie and elsewhere I was expecting a shed on wheels rocking like a boat in a storm and threatening to capsize at the sight of even the slightest of turns and largest of runabouts! Not to mention horribly crashy drive resulting in crumbled spinal discs and bruises on my bottom.

What a pleasant surprise! The drive is very smooth. Suspension copes extremely well with speed bumps (better than my 5 series on run high profile run flats) and is really comfortable. Do not expect a Merc like ride quality as you can still feel stones, bumps and potholes rather prominently but not in any way annoying or upsetting.

Cornering is something requiring a further discussion. At low speeds tyres keep traction, car doesn't “wallow” about and stays firm. Even rapid direction changes are fine, couldn't get it out of shape going through a largish roundabout at 40mph (speed limit there). Earlier on today I was negotiating a very fast roundabout and felt something really funny and rather disturbing. It felt like a weird tank slapper. It is hard to describe but the back felt like I was carrying over a momentum between direction changes, something like an inertia type of feeling. No body roll to speak off, diving or dipping. Just that silly feeling like a tail was wagging a dog a little bit. This does not inspire confidence and for now I’d not feel comfortable pushing the car hard in rapid direction changing sequence of high speed corners! I wonder if this is due to those weights attached to the rear crash bar?!? Single corners are fine, no problem there. Front tyres loose grip much sooner than the back stepping out.

EDIT 07 Nov 2012:

Having had the "Red Line" run for the first time I did notice power understeer on max acceleration up to 4th gear on easy bend uphill. On flat bit it was OK but felt "unloaded" on direction change. Not robbing me of confidence but just there, possible to notice. With low temps and wet tarmac that was surprisingly good!

So far, even with spirited corner driving on public roads I think the handling is OK. Only on the track can this be any further explored, public roads are not suitable for that level of handling testing. When are we having the next South East briskie track day?

EDIT 08-11-2012: Her First Motorway Drive.

No problems whatsoever. High speed slip roads she took with confidence of a seasoned racer. No torque steer at all on very hard acceleration, even when turning at the same time. I did notice a bit of an understeer expressing itself in lightening of steering on hard acceleration while even gently turning. Was still taking the corner but the feel was different.

Brakes

They are bedding in now so are goddamn awful! Will comment after they bed in (300 miles or so?)

For now to get them to bite I have to press the brake pedal twice in quick succession, almost like there is air in the system

EDIT 08-11-2012: Her First Motorway Drive.

Still crap after 380 miles...:( feel like there is air in the system as on the second step on the brakes they deliver much better bite. In this respect beemers brakes are faaar superior. They are only slightly better than on my Lupo lol.

Two days on and looks how filthy the alloys already are. Quite a lot of brake dust as well!

Tyres

In the wet understeer badly when trying to go around a roundabout fast. In dry are fine.

So far haven't really pushed it too much so will comment later.

EDIT 08-11-2012: Her First Motorway Drive.

Tyres are too noisy for my liking. Also loose grip on hard acceleration and TC is not able to cope. I wonder if the Contis are better? Anybody tried any other brands o 205/40/17? They

This is it so far, feel free to ask questions and I will be adding in (with dates) any new observations and perhaps some photos as well.

Edited 9 November, 2012 by Jabozuma

[Furbytom]

Looks ace mate! Bit too much black for my tastes but I bet u are chuffed to bits. Economy will obviously get better, brakes on these are definitely on the mushy side. Enjoy!

[Furbytom]

Must feel like a Ferrari coming from a Lupo!

[H17YD_L]

Can't wait till you get intercooler mod all set up!!

Car looks brilliant! Needs lowering as you mentioned!

[pumpsmynads]

Hi,

You mentioned adjusting the dipped beam height with adjustment screws. I'd be interested to see what you do with the lights as they're quite poor in my opinion. I did come from a BM with active xenons though so didn't expect too much.

Congrats on the purchase!!!

[grapo]

Looks lovely, nice little review. Thanks

[32KOFDATA]

All black Fabias look great - it's in their genes

[blair77]

Exact same as my Betty, hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine. Cracking engine

[A Woodster]

Interesting running-in regime and in line with your comments on other threads, sadly with a sample size of 1 it will not be enough to draw any conclusions for oil use vs running in, but hope that it gives you the result you want.

Not sure how I am going to treat mine yet when collecting on thurs, can see the logic in what you are doing, but some good high revs/thrash when oli is up to temperature to put the engine through some decent heat cycles as well as the bore pressures may not do any harm.......

Enjoy dude!

Andy

[Dexter619]

Looks great Jabo!

Similar to you Woodster.. I will hopefully be picking mine up around the first week of December if not a touch earlier and after reading this this thread and others unsure how to approach the running-in process. Either or these ideas do seem very logical and hope they produce a decent end result!

[Jabozuma]

Thanks guys for your good words!

I a, really happy with the car and will be adding my observations as gather experiences along the way and start noticing different things along the way - just did an edit btw

Must feel like a Ferrari coming from a Lupo!

Funny enough Lupo has marginally more bhp per tonne than vRS! So the shove in the back is stronger but last for a very short time as poor old 3-pot oil chugger runs out of steam very quickly. vRS just keeps going and I haven't even broken 4k rpm yet lol

Can't wait till you get intercooler mod all set up!!

Car looks brilliant! Needs lowering as you mentioned!

First I need to finish that pesky en-suite wet room bathroom... I bl00dy hate DIY after years of doing it, including a two storey house extension...

Hi,

You mentioned adjusting the dipped beam height with adjustment screws. I'd be interested to see what you do with the lights as they're quite poor in my opinion. I did come from a BM with active xenons though so didn't expect too much.

Congrats on the purchase!!!

Another convert from Bayerische Mist Wagen camp (not sure about the German spelling lol)!

I was intending just to raise both beams a little to get further throw and change bulbs for much stronger ones.

Thanks

Interesting running-in regime and in line with your comments on other threads, sadly with a sample size of 1 it will not be enough to draw any conclusions for oil use vs running in, but hope that it gives you the result you want.

Not sure how I am going to treat mine yet when collecting on thurs, can see the logic in what you are doing, but some good high revs/thrash when oli is up to temperature to put the engine through some decent heat cycles as well as the bore pressures may not do any harm.......

Enjoy dude!

Andy

Since you mentioned it the plan is to go through two tanks of fuel and then drive the nuts out of it with no limits, trash it as if it was stolen, roughly half way down the second tank of RON 99. Then I can start chasing mpgs

Edited 5 November, 2012 by Jabozuma

[MillsyVRS]

Hope you enjoy the car mate! Sounds like you've been waiting patiently for it! Looks awesome too! And good review! I've done about 12.5k in mine now and apart from some interior rattles here and there, I love it! If someone is used to some much faster cars, they could probably find faults, but I'm pretty happy with it. Just trying to resist modifying it!

[sharkrider]

you have the dunlop tyres, thats whats wrong with the grip .... most people detest them in comparison to the other OE i.e. contis.... the dunlops really need to be warmed up, i.e hard drive on very hot dry day, to work... this time of year they will be even worse.....

I have my winters on already was 1 celcius here last night!

nice review by the way..... not sure about your running in method... I regulaly red lined mine (14 miles was the first time! ) and mine uses NO oil..... I would suggest some good heat cycles as well as your varying revs

enjoy, and keep us updated on your exeriances

edit: by definition though, not taking it above 4.5k is NOT varying the revs

Edited 6 November, 2012 by sharkrider

[vRSy]

Liking it. I think your car would look the nuts with the white alloys though.

You'll have to start a build thread. When do the mods start?

i agree with shark rider, staying below 4500 rpm isnt varying the revs enough IMO.

[Lukeskywalker]

Nice review Jabo, like a few of the others I'm not sure about your running in method? I thrashed mine as soon as it got to 90 deg in temp, as the dealer advised me to do. I have no engine problems/oil usage and my VRS has done 8,500 miles.

I am running on Conti's which seem to be better than Dunlops, the Conti's are quiter, have more grip and they have a wider side wall that seems to reduce kerbing compared to the Dunlops.

Enjoy your new baby. Ron.

[OzFabia]

Liking it. I think your car would look the nuts with the white alloys though.

It would look cool, but I reckon he would get sick of cleaning the white alloys.

[ardandy]

Should've got the estate!

Lower it now!!!!!!!

[Jabozuma]

Hope you enjoy the car mate! Just trying to resist modifying it!

Ha, welcome to the club! At the moment, after buying it and just before X-mas as well as doing expensive home improvement at the same time I am totally skint :(

you have the dunlop tyres, thats whats wrong with the grip .... most people detest them in comparison to the other OE i.e. contis.... the dunlops really need to be warmed up, i.e hard drive on very hot dry day, to work... this time of year they will be even worse.....

I have my winters on already was 1 celcius here last night!

nice review by the way..... not sure about your running in method... I regulaly red lined mine (14 miles was the first time! ) and mine uses NO oil..... I would suggest some good heat cycles as well as your varying revs

enjoy, and keep us updated on your exeriances

edit: by definition though, not taking it above 4.5k is NOT varying the revs

Needing to sell my Lupo I put the cheapest budget tyres I could get on it when the time came in Spetember, called "Ovation" or something. Feels like driving on well oiled road, no grip in any conditions whatsoever lol.

With Dunlops on vRS I did not notice "bad" levels of grip but I suppose if I put on better rubber that it would be apparent. trust me, that time will come very soon the way I drive her . It was 0C this morning and I went fast-ish into a corner on a glistening road but wasn't fast enough to break the grip - had kiddos in the back on the school run. Mind you, they would probably enjoy it as my 5 year old daughter keeps telling me to go faster all the time lol. I wonder if this could be used as a defence when caught speeding "I am so sorry Officer, but this is not my fault, I couldn't let my daughter down and you are lucky you don't have to listen to her screaming!"

I agree with the revs, I will take her higher today, I promise! Just have to watch out for the plod

Liking it. I think your car would look the nuts with the white alloys though.

You'll have to start a build thread. When do the mods start?

i agree with shark rider, staying below 4500 rpm isnt varying the revs enough IMO.

I will, early next year there will be lots going on, fingers crossed! Remap first, then springs and the supercooler in the meantime. However, there will be a first mod coming up very shortly! Should give a few bhp :p

Nice review Jabo, like a few of the others I'm not sure about your running in method? I thrashed mine as soon as it got to 90 deg in temp, as the dealer advised me to do. I have no engine problems/oil usage and my VRS has done 8,500 miles.

I am running on Conti's which seem to be better than Dunlops, the Conti's are quiter, have more grip and they have a wider side wall that seems to reduce kerbing compared to the Dunlops.

Enjoy your new baby. Ron.

Agreed, trashing will commence today! And Contis will be next rubber to have a ditrect comparison

It would look cool, but I reckon he would get sick of cleaning the white alloys.

I really like Black with little red accents here and there. I was thinking about some very thin red vinyl in strategic places, like pinstripe tats but very low key and tasteful.

White alloys are really smart but since I clean my cars roughly twice a year (vRS will be getting hers over the weekend with copious amounts of multilayered waxing lol) white alloys would soon be black anyways! I need to take them off anyways to copper grease the hubs so I avoid potential problems with galvanic corrosion and them sticking solid after a while

Should've got the estate!

Lower it now!!!!!!!

Touche! What can I say, has to be done no question about it .

funny you mentioned Estate. After SWMBO had a drive in my vRS she came back and told me to get rid of the 520d and buy her one just like that but estate !!!

Mind you, we will probably end up buying 1.8 DSG Superb Estate next year if they keep the good deals coming. Currently in S trim goes for £18k!!! I did little calcs comparing 1.8 petrol to greenline diesel and with the current price difference and prices of fuel I'd have to drive it for 15 years to break even . Shocking really and no brainer Well, works for me as I only do around 8-9k miles a year

[MartynVRS]

Looks tidy. Yeah Dunlops are crap so that's why there's not much grip. Now it's getting colder I wouldn't even bother chasing MPG this time of year. Driving tidy(ish) to work and I'm 3mpg down from normal. Went to Skoda to buy oil for topping up just so I don't have to bother before Christmas. Used a little but not much. Me being a muppet forgot to ask about lowering. Really want it done now

[XK140]

Looks tidy. Yeah Dunlops are crap so that's why there's not much grip. Now it's getting colder I wouldn't even bother chasing MPG this time of year. Driving tidy(ish) to work and I'm 3mpg down from normal. Went to Skoda to buy oil for topping up just so I don't have to bother before Christmas. Used a little but not much. Me being a muppet forgot to ask about lowering. Really want it done now

Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres,I take it? Funny how some people say " you get what you pay for with tyres"...yet these are right in the top bracket price-wise and no-one seems to rate them.

I collect my vRS tomorrow and no doubt I'll get Dunlops,sadly.

[Ootohere]

Love the Dunlops,

just not in the cold or very wet, but for summer playtimes just super dooper.

There are days where they work just perfectly.

george

[John Eva]

Double posted, this forum dont work too well on Firefox. :(

Edited 6 November, 2012 by John Eva

[John Eva]

Nice!!! Jealous though, I just reasently got a Black Monte Carlo which I really like but would have been nice if I could have afforded the VRS.

No way I could afford one though, only paying £160 a month for the Monte with 3 payments upfront on a PCH leasing deal

[Jabozuma]

Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres,I take it? Funny how some people say " you get what you pay for with tyres"...yet these are right in the top bracket price-wise and no-one seems to rate them.

I collect my vRS tomorrow and no doubt I'll get Dunlops,sadly.

You were week 42 as well, right?

As I say, without being able to comapre Dunlops to any other rubber yet I cannot fault it...

I also pay attention to german reviews of tyres, tend to be really good

[OzFabia]

Love the Dunlops,

They seem OK to me, too. Maybe a bit noisy? Or is that the car in general? I'm coming from a Ford Focus, which is supposed to be a bit on the noisy side, and this car doesn't seem much quieter. I'm wondering if the tyres are partly to blame. Then again, the coarse chip material they use on the highways here tends to make even the quietest car roar at speed.