Hi all,

Very happy 1.4 8v owner here (5 years old, 50K), but i'm thinking about changing for a diesel and obviously the Fabia vRS is top of the list. Saw the facelifted polo at the weekend and wondered what the differences are.

Firstly, does anyone know of a half decent VW forum ?

Secondly, anyone able to compare them ?

From what I know (or assume I should say), the differences are.....

Skoda + points

Suspension tuned slightly better

Cheaper (after discounts between

Unbiased, hmm

Suspension on the Furby vRS is decent enough but not perfect by any means.

Think it was group 9 or summit for Furby vRS in standard form, and I declared strut, PD160 intake & green filter at no extra cost on my Zurich insurance, making it a little easier to rev.

Leather seats are possible as an after-market thing, probably around a grand to grand-and-a-half I suppose for good quality.

Polo is nice too, for sure.

How about asking Josh - he knows both cars pretty well plus his site has VW stuff all over it, might be a good place to check out

Thanks WW_VRS

My comments about the furby suspension are from reading a few write ups (not vrS or Sport) saying that the Fabia suspension is slightly better and rides better than the Polo. I do expect the vRS to be nose heavy, and handle accordingly (as I am sure the Polo will do too).

I should add I have tried the vRS.... but not the Polo.

Any more ?

RBW.

Underneath, the Polo GT IS a Fabia vRS.

The quality is not that diferent, maybe better interior plastics but thats it.

It is not as well equipped and costs more. It is not worth the extra

After looking at VW's website...

Polo GT +'s over the Furby vRS...

Better colour choice (no blue in the vRS range )

Blue dash illumination (looks so cool)

Its "trendier"

Leather an option

Dash looks a little more stylish.

Available in 3 door

Better seat cloth quality (although not as sylish imo)

Electric climate control available

Cool mirrors with indicators in them

Colour coded door handles and rubbing strips

Rubbing strips on the bumpers to preserve them if you don't know how to park

Illuminated vanity mirrors

6CD in dash changer as standard

Electric rear windows available

Polo -'s

Its far too expensive (over

VRs is a better buy unless there is some other reason you want polo.. Otherwise it's pretty much the same car basically, oh yeah, with VW you have to pay yourself sick to get the same equipment that VRs has standard (but also has better range of options like leather seats etc.).. Anyway I bought a polo, but only because I got 1.4 tdi and fabia didn't have the options I wanted (sport suspension for example).. Ibiza FR is worth considering too, and you can get it also with 1.8t engine.. with revo and SPS3 it would be seriously fast machine VRs is cheaper to maintain though..

I've seen a few Polos and they're not bad at all - not driven one for ages though so dunno what the current models are like, soz.

The speedo on the Furby is stupid when you get to 90 mph, it kinda jumps to 110 from there. Seems to me that is a dumb thing to do, with the rest of the scale being pretty much linear. Weird.

The VW dash lighting is ace, and I'd pay extra for it if I could.

Out of interest - how much is leather trim on the Polo?

If you are after a 'proper' hot hatch then the Ibiza is definitely worth a look.

IMHO if you are going to spend tons on the vRS then you may be better off going for the more powerful starting point in the first place. This is not to slag off those who have spent a fortune on their cars, and I will probably do a bit to mine over time (remap, most likely).

I've done 8k miles in mine now and it's behaved very well. It's been driven on B-roads a little, mostly A-roads/M-ways in the UK, and then some continental driving through France, Belgium and The Netherlands, at higher & lower speeds.

Very impressed with the way it hardly noticed the extra weight of the Mrs' luggage plus presents for my sister & husbands little ones, nor the beer/wine on the way back. Handling-wise I've not felt the car was the best I've ever driven, but certainly not bad.

Tyre noise is the most noticable at speeds over say 30 mph, below that (esp. when cold) the engine clatter is the worst.

I've soundkiller-treated mine (well, actually Steve did) and that has made it a more comfortable cruiser. I may add the Seat part to quieten the engine a little further, if I can

Some good replies , a few points...

The Seat just doesnt do it for me, not sure why, just dont like the interior, or the way the car looks.

Roo, your comment that the Polo GT (now the sport I think) is the same as the Fabia vrS, my understanding was whilst the running gear was the same, but Skoda and VW tuned the suspension slightly differently (perhaps shock damping rates etc..). Alternatively I could be talking ****e.....

jtstatic, you say 'vRS is a better buy', and I think I probably agree with you, but it kinda depends what the person considers to be value. Are the NVH levels slightly better on the VW, will the paint look better in 5 years etc... Are we at a point now with Skoda,VW and Audi that they will deliberately engineer in differences to distinguish between the ranges.

Thats a detailled list Tom_vrs, you having a quiet night ? I do like the indicators on the mirrors, but money is money....

RBW.

the polo looks smaller and more feminine than the Fabia, if I went the VW route it would have to be the Golf which would be 5k more for the same sort of power ...Better colour choice with the polo otherwise the Fabia is the bargain.

Must admit a blue metallic Furby would have been popular with the Mrs, and although the vRS cloth is not too bad, something a bit more sturdy wouldnt have gone amiss.

fabia will be availible in blu as well as all other vRS's "Strome blue" same as the fabia paris study

Yeah - but that's for the new one which isn't out yet

Must admit a blue metallic Furby would have been popular with the Mrs, and although the vRS cloth is not too bad, something a bit more sturdy wouldnt have gone amiss.

Elegance 2.0: metallic blue, yes. sturdy seat cloth, yes ( )

Prior to my last purchase, I had to sum up VRS vs. 2.0 on a points system because I just couldn't decide which to go for. I rated these two factors as 1 point each. If not for these, it would have made VRS 89 points, 2.0 90 points. Very close!

Cant buy that one here in the UK though I do believe? Still, so far most things that are 'wrong' or could be improved have proved to be either tweakable or something I'll just live with. For the purpose I bought it, it's been ace

Someone said polo was a feminine looking car, well maybe in the ad's yes but with a bit of making you can make it look really nice. Here's an example.. looks good to me anyway.. more similar pictures from www.polo9n.com and there are lots.. Some people have serious issues with the round frontlights though

http://www.polo9n.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6328&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45

btw, does anyone have similar pictures of a vrs, I've yet to see a clean look like this..

Anyway I think that rainbow-walker was looking for the new 9n2 model am I right? I think it looks more like a golf V now

You sure that's standard ?

Seems a little modified from the ones I've seen on the road - looks very clean though I must admit, very nice

Here's the UK-Polos.net review of the Polo GT (9n) with a comparison between its two stablemates; the Fabia vRS and the Ibiza PD130 Sport.

http://www.tigerstyle.co.uk/poloforum/viewtopic.php?t=8439

I must confess to liking the 9n2 (Facelift) Polo a lot more than the previous 9n model, but the only real changes have been to the exterior.

The Polo hasn't got traction as standard.

Does it have an arch vent? I'd expect so for the money.

The simple answer is to drive both, then see if you can justify 3K difference.

The Polo hasn't got traction as standard.

But that's a major plus point, right? Seeing as all the vRS owners are complaining how much it interferes with their driving

Chris

The options on the Polo are more expensive than on the Fabia too; and xenons don't seem to be available if they are of interest.

Strangely I've not had ANY trouble with the traction control. I've got ESP, it has kicked in once or twice when I hit a LOT of standing water and it kept the car pointing the right way.

Beyond that, it's never had to kick in as I use the throttle properly

You sure that's standard ?

Seems a little modified from the ones I've seen on the road - looks very clean though I must admit' date=' very nice [/quote']

Don't think I claimed it was standard..

Just wondering - that's all

I think the Polo is overpriced compared to the Fabia and Ibiza. If you're buying new then I'd choose the Fabia, second hand I'd seriously consider the Ibiza due to better spec, lighter weight and cheaper. However as standard the interior isn't quite as nice as the Fabia but there's plenty of fairly cheap add on's to improve things. If you're buying nearly new then have a good look at the Ibiza Cupra 160PD as it has an excellent spec and looks great with the standard body kit, 17's and AP brakes.

WW_VRS - I agree entirely. The only time it kicks in is when it's lost traction - ie is being driven like a moron or it's slippy

:Awaits Backlash: