Fabia v Octavia

[kyle91]

Thought I's share my experience through the medium of a rant

I managed to have a go in a 2009 Octavia vRS 170 (dizzle) recently, and in all honesty, I was severly underwhelmed.

I don't know what other people's opinions are on this car, but I seriously thought it would have a lot more grunt than it did.

It was comfortable and spacious, no doubt, but the vRS should have the power and drivability to put a smile on your face, am I right?

Now, whether the car had something wrong with it or not, I dont know, but I expected 170bhp to feel much more lively than it did.

I think my standard mk1 fabia vrs would easily match it, it feels alot more lively. I suppose I'm a little biased towards my pride and joy, but the big daddy of the vRS range should be better than that, surely. The turbo lag was insane, foot to the floor and naff all happened for quite some time.

I don't know.... maybe I was expecting too much, or drove a bad one.

Fabia still wins hands down for me, and I'm sure I'm preaching to the converted

rant over...feel much better now

[Titanium_Man]

Was it the CR version?? (I'm not expert!) if so, I've read that the power delivery is a lot smoother than our PD 130's and could explain why it didn't feel as pokey?!

[mattvrestate]

Small car big engine.. vs big car slightly bigger engine

Fabia is def more fun

But id have an mk2/3 octy vrs estate over the fabia vrs

The 1st thing id do tho with the octy is get rid of the dpf + egr/cooler with a map so a free flowing 200bhp + it should feel abit better

[Guest BigJase88]

Common rail feels sluggish but isnt... The power in linear wheras the pd provides a shove

[kyle91]

Was it the CR version?? (I'm not expert!) if so, I've read that the power delivery is a lot smoother than our PD 130's and could explain why it didn't feel as pokey?!

Yeah it was.

It was smooth, without a doubt. It just felt like was seriously holding back.

[kyle91]

Small car big engine.. vs big car slightly bigger engine

Fabia is def more fun

But id have an mk2/3 octy vrs estate over the fabia vrs

The 1st thing id do tho with the octy is get rid of the dpf + egr/cooler with a map so a free flowing 200bhp + it should feel abit better

It would definitely benefit from a remap and something to reduce the turbo lag, I was shocked at how much lag there was.

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

My mate has a CR170 estate, bloody lovely to drive. Doesn't feel as fast due to the power delivery, but when you look at the speedo you soon realise it motors well enough. As others have said though, it's a bigger car, with a bit more power, so it'll not feel as nimble as the fabia. It's also quite well sound proofed, even more so than the MK2 fabia (his previous car) so that'll also add to the sensation of nothing much happening. For out and out fun a fabia will win, but for a modern medium size hatch/estate it's a great compromise. Managed to pick up my kingsize bed in it easy, suspect the Fabia wouldn't have managed so well.

[littleade]

Thought I's share my experience through the medium of a rant

I managed to have a go in a 2009 Octavia vRS 170 (dizzle) recently, and in all honesty, I was severly underwhelmed.

I don't know what other people's opinions are on this car, but I seriously thought it would have a lot more grunt than it did.

It was comfortable and spacious, no doubt, but the vRS should have the power and drivability to put a smile on your face, am I right?

Now, whether the car had something wrong with it or not, I dont know, but I expected 170bhp to feel much more lively than it did.

I think my standard mk1 fabia vrs would easily match it, it feels alot more lively. I suppose I'm a little biased towards my pride and joy, but the big daddy of the vRS range should be better than that, surely. The turbo lag was insane, foot to the floor and naff all happened for quite some time.

I don't know.... maybe I was expecting too much, or drove a bad one.

Fabia still wins hands down for me, and I'm sure I'm preaching to the converted

rant over...feel much better now

Turbo lag? If looking at the photo I'm correct in assuming yours is a PD the engine and if it's like the 1.9 105 PD the characteristics are quite different with the PD producing a 'big shove' at the bottom end of the rev range, where the CR doesn't. If that's the case and your booting it below 1500 rpm in a highish gear it won't feel fast as it doesn't generate max tourqe until 1800, but get it spinning above 1500 and it pulls like an absolute train and throttle response is instant, well mine is anyway. The PD engine is also a lot less refined than the CR too, so what might feel slow actually isn't. The 2 cars are different animals too with the only similarity being the vRS badge and I agree with Matt's comments above.

[booke23]

I think the problem is that you drove a CR version. I have a Fabia 1.9 PD TDI with 100bhp and an Octavia 2.0 PD TDI. (same power difference between the fabia and Octy vRS)

My Octavia is significantly faster than my Fabia, however I recently drove a BMW 120D coupe, with 170 bhp (common rail) and it felt slower than my Octavia! It wasn't actually slower, just the PD power delivery gives an illusion of speed.

I have to say that in all counts I prefer the Octavia. It's better built, more refined, has more toys and in general is a nicer place to be than the Fabia.

Edited 20 January, 2013 by booke23

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Yup, its like a lot of cars, if they deliver power differently to what your use to then I`ll take a fair bit of adjusting.

[booke23]

I suppose you'd get used to the CR eventually.

There is plenty of chat on the Octavia forum about CR vs PD, and a lot of CR vRS owners say that unless you get it remapped, the CR is a bit uninspiring.

[Guest BigJase88]

For example...

I had a 210bhp octy vrs 1.8t! Felt blooming rapid

My mate let me have a go in his car, audi s4 4.2 v8 340 odd bhp or whatever it is....

To drive it felt slower than my octavia, but you just take a look down at the speedo... Its no slouch just a different power delivery!

[kyle91]

I didn't realise there'd be that much difference between CR and PD in terms of power delivery. I guess I'm just used to having that low end grunt if that's the case.

I'm not taking anything away from the Octavia in terms of comfort and space, it was near silent in terms of engine and road noise at speed, and by the looks of things you could have a party in boot, it's HUGE.

I suppose if I knew how to get the best from it, I'd enjoy it a lot more.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[MattyD]

I had a Fabia vRS and now I've got an Octavia vRS TDi PD. my Octavia has had the DPF removed and a stage 1 map. It's a fairly rapid thing when you really give it the beans, but the Fabia felt faster to me. It was just a bit more raw really, doesn't have the sound proofing of the Octavia and it rides much better than the Fabia too. They are both fantastic cars, I really like them both, the Fabia feels a lot faster than it is I think, it's a bit more raw and basic but the Octavia is quieter, more comfortable, faster (mine is) and better built, but then it is more expensive too.

[TriggerFish]

My Octavia is significantly faster than my Fabia, however I recently drove a BMW 120D coupe, with 170 bhp (common rail) and it felt slower than my Octavia! It wasn't actually slower, just the PD power delivery gives an illusion of speed.

I found the same with my BMW. After buying it I drove it home (strange, that!) and went via MK and was thinking 'this feels much slower than the Golf it's replacing, what have I done?!'. Looked at the speedo and noticed it was gaining speed much faster than the Golf ever would - it's all an illusion (and I think one of the appeals of the 'hot' PD cars).

[grr666]

My Fabia felt quicker than my S3 does.

But it damn well isn't.

[BossFox]

As said, it's all in the power delivery.

But a quick remap on a CR 170 gives around 200bhp and you get back some of the shove that the CR engines lack in stock form.

It transformed my CR170 Yeti and it's now moret fun to drive.

I'd rather have a car that's fun over a car that's just fast and boring.