I have enjoyed moving from the Octavia TSI VRS to the Fabia VRS.Main reason is I love the 7 speed DSG. Howling up to 7K revs and lightning changes.Acceleration is pretty similar it seems up to 120 then the Octavia keeps accelerating significantly where the Fabia starts to run out of puff.Both fuel tanks are small but now I have figured on how to use the expansion tank it is now possible to get almost 500 miles out of the Fabia.The Fabia uses little oil and now, even though it is a 61 plate the garage say they have switched to variabe servicing as the Fabia's 10k serving is a pain when doing 40K a year.Fuel consumption much better in the Fabia ie low 40s compared to mid thirties in the Octy. Was not an issue when petrol was 90p a litre 3 years ago but is more painful at 140 or a litre !MDI interface is great.Of recent Skodas I have has the 1.8 TSI L&K was probably the best overall. Look forward to Goodwood and the 220 hp VRS which will hopefully do 40 mpg with the MQB chassis.

Edited 25 March, 201313 yr by lol

I'm thinking of doing the reverse of what the OP has stated.

If mine didn't drink oil I would swap!!

In these times of much higher petrol prices the Fabia is much cheaper to run.

We still have the Octavia TSI VRS and it has lots of pluses, like cruise as standard but the combination of much poorer fuel consumption, ie about 20% less and compared to the Fabia VRS and 1.8 TSI equipped with ther 7 speed DSG the Octy VRS seems to me it needs to change up gear when in 6th as it is revving at 25 mph/1000 rpm ie much higher than the Faiba VRS and 1.8 TSI DSG and just does not feel as relaxed driving.

Faiba's handling is relatively poor, C of G is too high as standard. Debating going to 215s instead of 205s. Michelin PS3 improved things much over the standard Contis.

Use Tescos 99 and fortunately we have a Tescos nearby else it would be expensive to source 98 Octane fuel.

Love my Skoda's. So many good cars and now the Octy 3 where the 1.4 TSI and 150 hp diesel are quicker accelerating than than the Octy 2 diesel VRS, wow!

Edited 26 March, 201313 yr by lol

I'm not sure what to do. Will go and test drive both the Fabia vRS and Ibiza Cupra today and try to make a decision. I may well opt to keep my Octavia!

12k seems a tad pricey to me. The issue is how much do you really need to save £70 per month? If its not gonna make a big difference to you then I'd keep the octavia if you are happy with it.

Price is ridiculously high for that car with none existent options list.

As you said, best course of action is to drive them both, absolutely without a dealer sitting next to you

As for the problems... I bet if you were to check each car forum for all car brnads you'd surely stick to public transport...

vRS twincharger is known for oil usage problems but Skoda is makeing no problems with swapping engines for new these days.

People write it handles crap. I personally do not think so. Having had small experience with karting and single seaters as well as some other more exotic cars around tracks it boils down to your expectations and previous experiences. People whe had Fords ST and RS would say Fabia vRS behaves like a yaht on a boiling see it has so much body roll. Others who drove "regular" cars would say it handles brilliantly... again, have a test drive.

One thing for sure it is a hell of a lot of bang for your buck and 7-speed DSG is a revelation !

7-speed DSG is a revelation !

You should try the 6spd wet box then, its a much better box.

As you say. Handling and performance is all relative. Compared to tits competition the Fabia is lacking substantially. Compare it to softer and heavier kit and its a weapon.

I did, I test drove new Octy III with 1.6 TDi 105 PS motor and 6-speed DSG. I am full of praise for this car and the box was a peach. I will be buying, circumstances allow, an estate version later in the year. Perfect for my needs, with BluMotion1.6 TDi DSG on board of course.

I tested that new Octy without a dealer on board for good 20-30 mins and still prefer my 7-speed though :love: .

I think I've decided to buy a new white Fabia vRS with black roof, smoke headlights, cruise, climate, parking sensors, armrest, Bluetooth, mats and dark chrome alloys. All in this costs £25 per month less than my Octavia and £50 per month more than the poor spec used Fabia.

Main benefits to trading the Octavia is 3 year warranty and free servicing with a new car.

It'll be a factory order car so should have the revised engine which is hopefully less troublesome!!

Edited 26 March, 201313 yr by sneeks

The test drive was good then?? I have a new vrs on order too, only ordered it two weeks ago and getting bored waiting haha.

The test drive was good then?? I have a new vrs on order too, only ordered it two weeks ago and getting bored waiting haha.

The test drive was great. I've already had the test car out for a few hours in total. I test drove one back in 2011 before buying the Octavia and again last Saturday. Cannot fault the dealer for allowing such good access to the car.

I think I'll place my order tomorrow. What options have you selected?

I went for steel grey with cruise, arm rest, rear elec windows, and climate. Went for red seats too. Currently driving a 2010 green vrs.

I will also be opting for the red trim seats. Does anyone know if the sat nav unit displays any graphics for the rear parking sensors if factory fitted in the vRS?

Compared to tits competition

I wonder what you were thinking of when you wrote this?

tits competition

Prefer this to another oil consumption thread lol

You should try the 6spd wet box then, its a much better box.

As you say. Handling and performance is all relative. Compared to tits competition the Fabia is lacking substantially. Compare it to softer and heavier kit and its a weapon.

I have had a few of the 6 speed DSGs on SEATs and Skoda and much prefer the 7 speed dry clutch box. The 6 speed DSG takes a couple of percent off the mpg on most cars whereas the 7 speed DSG can help fuel consumption, notable on the 1.8 TSI where it is well siuted and improves fuel consumption by a few percent over the manual.

VW-Audi Group have a new and presumably better box ie the DQ500 which is 7 speed and wet clutches but there are plenty of 8 speed boxes out there and VAR need to make such boxes available and preferably dry clutched ones which can handle 300 or 350 Nm where the running costs are lower ie nothing compared to the wet boxes which have to have their oil replaced ever 40K miles.

Edited 26 March, 201313 yr by lol

Going between the APR Golf R and my vRS i much preferred the 6 spd, most notably for me it was due to the fact the 6spd changed down much faster and earlier than the 7 spd, for instance on track in sport it will select the correct gear itself for the corner even when braking heavily. The 7 spd in the same circumstances always stays around 2 gears to high so you have to manually change down to get the engine braking and stop the car coasting around the corner so much.

Maybe its a software setup and parameter difference between the Golf R and vRS.

I wonder what you were thinking of when you wrote this?

Probably thinking of the "6 speed wet box".

I only have the Swing, and as they are factory fit parking sensors on mine, it shows a set of bars graphs along with the beeps - so I assume the NAV would do something similar. Had them on the Scirocco, although that was the VW RCD510; pretty picture but the same info, pretty much. In short, yes - it should give a graphic.

Going between the APR Golf R and my vRS i much preferred the 6 spd, most notably for me it was due to the fact the 6spd changed down much faster and earlier than the 7 spd, for instance on track in sport it will select the correct gear itself for the corner even when braking heavily. The 7 spd in the same circumstances always stays around 2 gears to high so you have to manually change down to get the engine braking and stop the car coasting around the corner so much.

Maybe its a software setup and parameter difference between the Golf R and vRS.

I thought you being such a seasoned Track Day enthusiast you'd always use manual paddleshifts

This is the only problem I have with 7-speed DSG. Go high speed, brake heavily and try to acclerate and will will hesitate noticably, it does it in D, I need to try the same in S to see if there is any difference. Mind you, I'v only done it like two or three times sop erhaps Fuzzy Logic CPU hasn't learned this "trick " yet ?

The DSG is reactive, not proactive; it doesn't know that in the next second you're going to take your foot off the brake and hit the gas, so best be in the right gear with the clutch(es) in the right place. It only knows when you've done so.. Quick it is, but not a mind reader....

You stand more chance with S as it changes down earlier but it may well still be in the middle of changing as it might have 4 gears to go through in fewer seconds so expect it to still be playing catchup. If you know you're going to do it, into Manual (or paddle override), IMHO.

Yes Jabo I use manual on trackdays and personally NEVER use sport on the 7spd because A: It just revs the nuts off the engine and B it doesnt change down quick enough and C: Its ****. I always do my trackdays with my brother and he uses the car in sport and it is crap like that but i have tried my car in sport on numerous occasions and I always have to override it manually. This in my mind makes the Sport setting on the DSG7 completely pointless.

However you can happily drive the 6spd DSG on the Golf R in sport all the time. A: It doesnt just rev the nuts off the engine, B: It changes down & selects the correct gear much faster than the 7 Spd when driving spiritedly and doesnt need to be overridden by the driver C: Its just better and it has launch control!! I happily kept the R in sport mode all the time even when pootling around town.

Good to know then.

Since hardware is close enough one could safely assume that it is all in the software then. Has anybody meddled with DSG box programming yet?

Nope. But the DSG6 is proven to work happily with 450-500lbft though it!!!! Loads of guys have done it.

7-speed DSG was designed for "small torque" cars in the first place. I think the published figure was 250Nm (or was it inf lb/ft?) and for trnasverse motors i.e. usual small motor arrangement. New ones are longitudal and have much higher torque ratings. I also seem to remember quite a weight penalty in favour of 7-speed DSG compared to 6-speed version. I do not remeber the quoted torque limits on 6spdeed DSG, there is also more that one versio of it me thinks.

I think both are great, don't get me wrong. Horses for courses I suposse