Buying vRS petrol or diesel

[Zdenek Fibich]

Each to their own, clearly.  Now that the diesel vRS costs only a few hundred pounds more than the petrol, it surely makes more financial sense, bearing in mind fuel costs and residual value.  But personally I find the petrol vRS a bit faster, more fun and more refined. 

 

I've ordered a third vRS estate, this time a petrol manual following a diesel manual and a petrol DSG.  This was after test driving a Golf GTI which I loved: but the extra capacity of an Octavia estate is still useful, and it's £100 per month cheaper - plus it has a proper handbrake!

[Greybeard]

As many have said above its all about personal preference & circumstances.

 

I had a decade or so of comparatively mundane company 'repmobiles', some slightly more interesting than others but most were fairly 'cooking'. Decided along with many others in the 90's to give the improving car diesels a go, as the clattery van engined diesel cars of the 80's gave way to slightly more refinement. After 11 years of PSA diesels I then decided in 2005 the Fabia vRS was a bit of hoot and with kids grown up didn't desperately need a bigger car. 

 

After 18 years of driving diesels, enjoyed every minute of the Mk1 Fabia vRS, then decided I fancied something a bit bigger & smoother again. Could afford to run the TSI, liked it, so bought one. Will probably keep it 7 or 8 years, not on finance so will just live with the residual crash at the end. 

 

Sometimes you can try and apply too much science to what at certain stages of life is more an emotional than a financially driven decision.......but then only if you can afford it   .

[lol-lol]

Mate, you drive a selection of Skodas and a 70bhp ish motorbike. Don't make out that you're something special. You're just as 'average' as the rest of us.

 

There's nothing wrong with a TDi Octavia vRS, it has plenty of power and I'm not insecure enough to worry about it not being among the fastest n% of cars on the road.

 

TDI (VRS) is a good car just not a performance car as it has "average" car performance. Actually less than a boggo 320d.

 

Had Skoda for a few years, had Audi A3/A4s before that but the Skoda's are just much better value as personal rather than company cars.  Will not return to EURO produced cars until the GBP/EUR exchange rate makes them not silly money.  Also had SEATs, Opel, Rovers, Fords. 

 

SV650S is fine up to 100 mph, which it does in about 9 seconds. Standing Quarter 12 seconds terminaling at 110.  It is weak over 110, even a CR VRS would start to catch it !   Traded in a 600 Fazer, detuned R6 engine version, so does feel slower at high speeds, thinking of the new MT-09 to replace it.  Had Kawasaki H1F, CB900, Thundercat and loads of XJ 550 and 600s.

 

In the UK would not have a diesel out of choice unless fuel goes to near £2 a litre unless it was a V6.

 

The petrol VRSs are not average, put the 2 litre diesel brigade in to the rear view mirror from lights or rolling on in every test I have seen, even the 320d with its superior rear wheel drive.  Incidentally the Octavia CR VRS seems to suffer compared to the other similarly engined VAG diesels in acceleration performance, presumably due to the rear weight bias as the shorter and 4 wheel drive versions are much quicker to 60 etc.   

[Dodgy]

I think you're over analysing. Both vRS Octavias are slightly faster than the average family saloon/hatch/estate. There's a fag paper between them in real world performance on UK roads, I'm assuming you won't be taking yours out on track days every weekend.

 

They both provide a great balance of performance/room/value. But don't pretend for one minute that your vRS TSi is somehow 'special', it isn't. But it's still a great car.

[lol-lol]

I think you're over analysing. Both vRS Octavias are slightly faster than the average family saloon/hatch/estate. There's a fag paper between them in real world performance on UK roads, I'm assuming you won't be taking yours out on track days every weekend.

 

They both provide a great balance of performance/room/value. But don't pretend for one minute that your vRS TSi is somehow 'special', it isn't. But it's still a great car.

 

Fabia and Octavia VRS both handle like pigs 10/10ths driving although the ESP is pretty good and has save me several times.

 

SEAT Cupra had was much better 10/10ths but was painful in every day driving due to the hard suspension.

 

I am often pleased to see the police have acquired hundreds of the TSI VRSs as pursuit cars, chipped etc to almost 300 hp and good for a genuine 170 mph, then it is special.  Holding the World Land Speed record for 2 litre charged cars at 228 mph, that too is special.  As standard just a notch better performing than the average box most people drive, whether I am driving the Fabia 2 VRS or Octavia TSI VRS which makes it special to me since I paid almost half of what they did.  

[sworrall]

I am often pleased to see the police have acquired hundreds of the TSI VRSs as pursuit cars, chipped etc to almost 300 hp and good for a genuine 170 mph, then it is special.

lol. Would love to see proof of this

[Dodgy]

Deluded.

[Neily03]

I am often pleased to see the police have acquired hundreds of the TSI VRSs as pursuit cars, chipped etc to almost 300 hp and good for a genuine 170 mph, then it is special.

Lol, as if!

[lol-lol]

lol. Would love to see proof of this

 

Several countries were allowed to sell the 310 hp version of the 2 litre TSI, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland.  Full manufacturers warranty.  A couple of references below.  They of course use use parts developed by VAG, not just remapped by using the K04 turbo in some cases and between Stage 1 and Stage 2.

 

Only did around 161 mph in the Leon but as we know the other Golf variants are not as aerodynamic as the Octavia hence the better car for high speed pursuit and Land speed records.  

 

 

http://www.dream-car.tv/2010/06/25/seat-leon-cupra-r310-world-champion-edition/

 

Wiki ref- Cupra 310 Limited Edition -  SEAT Nederland announces the production of León Cupra 310 Limited Edition, with 2.0 TFSI engine upgraded to 228 kilowatts (310 PS; 306 bhp) of maximum power and 425 newton metres (313 lbf·ft).[27] The production has limited to 100 units  It comes only in Candy white or Infiri black. The Cupra 310 Limited Edition features beside the OEM Cupra equipment an engine management remapping by Abt Sportsline, black Orion-alloy wheels, an alarm system, bluetooth connectivity and special 310 Limited Edition badges on the sides and the rear hatch. There are also stainless decals inside the front door frames displaying the 310 Ltd logo. A badge on the dashboard displays the serial number, and the car is delivered with a key ring to match. Full factory warranty is retained with the power increase that increases the top speed to 259 kilometres per hour (160.9 mph).

[Neily03]

Several countries were allowed to sell the 310 hp version of the 2 litre TSI, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland. Full manufacturers warranty. A couple of references below. They of course use use parts developed by VAG, not just remapped by using the K04 turbo in some cases and between Stage 1 and Stage 2.

Only did around 161 mph in the Leon but as we know the other Golf variants are not as aerodynamic as the Octavia hence the better car for high speed pursuit and Land speed records.

http://www.dream-car.tv/2010/06/25/seat-leon-cupra-r310-world-champion-edition/

Wiki ref- Cupra 310 Limited Edition - SEAT Nederland announces the production of León Cupra 310 Limited Edition, with 2.0 TFSI engine upgraded to 228 kilowatts (310 PS; 306 bhp) of maximum power and 425 newton metres (313 lbf·ft).[27] The production has limited to 100 units It comes only in Candy white or Infiri black. The Cupra 310 Limited Edition features beside the OEM Cupra equipment an engine management remapping by Abt Sportsline, black Orion-alloy wheels, an alarm system, bluetooth connectivity and special 310 Limited Edition badges on the sides and the rear hatch. There are also stainless decals inside the front door frames displaying the 310 Ltd logo. A badge on the dashboard displays the serial number, and the car is delivered with a key ring to match. Full factory warranty is retained with the power increase that increases the top speed to 259 kilometres per hour (160.9 mph).

That's all very nice but where's your proof the police use octavia's that can manage 170mph with only 300bhp?....

[lol-lol]

That's all very nice but where's your proof the police use octavia's that can manage 170mph with only 300bhp?....

 

The police generally will not discuss the performance of their vehicles as we do not in customs either, why pass this information on to those you may have to chase.   I have down quite a few multi-disciplinary road exercises with various police forces ie police, customs, Dep Transport, Social Services and they would often take us in their cars from the local nick to the motorway or carriageway site, very interesting, especially considering the extra weight of comms and other equipment on board.    Talking to one of the Southern County forces they had a mark one Octavia with almost this level of performance.

 

A part from off the shelf Golf variants capable of over 160 mph there are youtube videos of Octavias with Stage 1 or Stage 2 doing upper 160s on the Autobahn verified on their GPS.  Octavia Mk 2 TSI VRS is just going in to the red line in top at about 165 mph so this is a limiting or worrying factor with the long stroke EA888 engine.   VAG may recommend changing to the EA113 for these applications.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Volkswagen_Group_petrol_engines.

 

300 hp is entirely reliable and been used in plenty of instances, and more, but this is about the limit for the front wheel Octavia with its driver aids, some forces have gone for 3.6 litre 4 wheel drive Superbs, not been turbocharged much less scope to tweak or just use a BMW and remove the 155 mph limiter but they re much less value compared to the Skodas and even the police have budgets.    

[Dr Zoidberg]

Fabia and Octavia VRS both handle like pigs 10/10ths driving although the ESP is pretty good and has save me several times.

 

If you have had to be saved by the ESP several times then it sounds like you need to look at the standard of your driving.

[stever750]

There are plenty of threads discussing police vehicles, with input from several forum members who are active in the service and is seems that there is no customisation of traffic cars by remapping, let alone turning them into 300bhp monsters.

Read those threads and you'll understand why rather than have that debate here. I also think that the standard petrol tsi is nothing special, it's warm at best. I don't see that it leaves 320d's trailing in its wake either! Even a remapped petrol isn't THAT fast, and by then the handling let's the whole thing down. The diesel is even less sporty, you pays your money and all that.

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2

[jlwah]

Marked police cars are not performance enhanced, the only changes that sometimes occur is lower spec interior trim for a given engine size (e.g. Vectra 3.2 V6 with LS (or similar) interior trim). But I don't think even this happens now as generally the forces want to sell on the cars at the end of their "tour of duty". Hence why some marked cars are not white, but silver or metallic dark blue, etc.

[lol-lol]

Marked police cars are not performance enhanced, the only changes that sometimes occur is lower spec interior trim for a given engine size (e.g. Vectra 3.2 V6 with LS (or similar) interior trim). But I don't think even this happens now as generally the forces want to sell on the cars at the end of their "tour of duty". Hence why some marked cars are not white, but silver or metallic dark blue, etc.

 

Policeman may well have been winding me/us up.  These cars are plenty fast enough 99.9% of the time.  Had mine the Octy up to 135 and it was still pulling like a train.  Fabia seems to stop accelerating appreciable once over 120.  Expect Police service more regularly which keeps them performing at peak for longer.

 

But maintain the point that Stage 1 or 2 Octy TSI VRS is good for close to 170 mph, just cannot find some of video on Youtube showing the GPS showing 168 mph and I would have thought that is difficult to fake.  

 

The new VRS, with its 220 hp, apparently has a 250 kph electronic limiter like many VAG, BMW,Mercs as standard. For when condition ie gradient and incline are in your favour and let you push beyond the 248 kph (154 mph) top speed in ambient conditions the limiter needs to be disabled.  Speedo shows around 260 kph (162 mph) with it usual few percent over read, GPS speed bottom right.

 

http://youtu.be/qzaOLUo275E

[fewie]

Some forces do use modified cars, my force Humberside definitely does. Hull once had the worse car crime stats in the country so the force responded with highly tuned Escort Cosworths, Later followed by Prodrive fettled imprezas. The currently run Evo X's with mods including raised suspension and boosted engines. They've featured in numerous local and national real life crime shows and they happily talk about the mods done to the cars and explain the reasoning for it.

Humberside also run several unmarked octavia vrs patrol cars, though I'm not sure if they are standard or not.

[stu220]

I purchased a MKII petrol Vrs new in May 2011 and it was a great car but when my annual mileage went from 15k to nearer 30K miles per year. I swapped it for a new CR Vrs. Now I know I wasted money in the swap but it was my divorce present :-) and it really ****ed of the ex wife into the bargain.

 

Anyway, in a year the CR has averaged 48 mpg (in 32k miles) where the petrol averaged 35 mpg. 

 

The DPF issue does not seem to appear on the forum for CR cars and the only persistent issue seems to be the air con units (design flaw), which seems to affect all MK2 Vrs.. 

 

The petrol was nicer to drive but you can't argue with the MPG when you do high mileage. With your small mileage, petrol every time.

[lol-lol]

I do around 40k miles a year but I drive either of two petrols. For a high proportion of driver the fuel used is not directly paid for so mpg, whilst partially relevant along with CO2 rating, both which are excellent on the new Mk 3 Octavias, it is not always the key factor many others expect. With a fuel card fuel is either about 28p or 56p a litre. Also I would much rather have an Elegance 1.4 TSI, with 7 speed DSG, same CO2 as CR VRS but no 3% BIK loading, only a few tenth slower to 60, pence per mile for the fuel very similar (circa 50-55 mpg) and about £4K cheaper and lots of nice kit. Bring back the L&K versions and the 180 hp 0-60 in 7 second 1.8 TSI to the UK!

[philbes]

"Elegance 1.4 TSI, with 7 speed DSG, circa 50-55 mpg"

 

Dream on.

[lol-lol]

The 7 speed DSG on some engines, particularly the 1.4s and 1.8s, improve the fuel consumption by around 5% over the manual and although achieving the book figure is quite difficult actually getting with 5% of it is something I do reguarly on my current 7 speed VRS Fabia and use to do in my 1.8 TSI with the 7 speed DSG. They have combined mpg book figures of 45 and 43 mpg respectively and do those sorts of figures regularly. Just done 430 miles on the odo in the Fabia VRS out of 9.9 gallon tank, still got 15 miles left hence 45 mpg.

1.4 TSI DSG, 56.5 mpg combined book figure, 64 mpg extra-urban, £30 road tax, I would be amazed if I did not see the same sort of range as I did on my 1.8 TSI DSG, ie regularly over 550 mile range and over 600 miles quite often.

It looks to be the pick of the bunch to me, someone who drives both a Octy 2 FL TSI VRS and Fabia 2 VRS.

[TudorM]

"Elegance 1.4 TSI, with 7 speed DSG, circa 50-55 mpg"

 

Dream on.

 

We have forum people in Romania who have done even better with that engine (I think they all have manuals though). Considering that the manufacturer says the DSG improves the mpg on these small capacity petrol engines, I'd say it is possible...

[lol-lol]

We have forum people in Romania who have done even better with that engine (I think they all have manuals though). Considering that the manufacturer says the DSG improves the mpg on these small capacity petrol engines, I'd say it is possible...

 

It is a surprisingly good sport when not in a rush.

 

Got the Octavia TSI FL VRS to do over 600 miles and Fabia VRS to do over 500 miles.

 

Not on the same league as the 960 miles out of the Audi A4 with the 1.9 PD engine 130 hp engine, big 66 litre tank or so I recall and capable of over 60 mpg on a dawdle.

 

Coasting and burning, not using brakes if possible, great paying the government less tax.

 

Surprised when I saw the Mk3 Octy only had a 50 litre tank but fuel consumption is suppose to be more than 10% better than the Mk 2. 

[jrw]

Yawn

lol is back again on the octavia 3 section spouting his garbage about how awful the diesels are and how wonderful the tsi is. Yes you can get 40mpg in a tsi but what's the point when you have to drive it like a nun.

Get the diesel, have fun and enjoy filling up half as often.

I can easily get 50mpg in mine so the new cr should easily see the quoted 60mpg on a run. As said the 0 to 60 is rubbish anyway as I've had a proven 6.9 out of mine and day to day it's the mid range that counts

Oh and btw lol, I also have a wonderful fabia vrs tsi which fails to return no more than 42mpg on a run and no more than 32 day to day so I trust absolutely nothing you say. 500miles to a tank I reckon is impossible let alone over 500 even with venting and mine is run on 99Ron. Oh and 2people at work have one too both bought this year (I should be on commission) and have never got more than 400 to a tank. 500 to a tank is 50mpg average over a whole tank. Impossible and you've never proved it no matter how many times you get asked so please for the love of god shut up with your BS

Oh and 600 miles to a tank in an octy is 50mpg. Impossible.

[lol-lol]

Yawn

lol is back again on the octavia 3 section spouting his garbage about how awful the diesels are and how wonderful the tsi is. Yes you can get 40mpg in a tsi but what's the point when you have to drive it like a nun.

Get the diesel, have fun and enjoy filling up half as often.

I can easily get 50mpg in mine so the new cr should easily see the quoted 60mpg on a run. As said the 0 to 60 is rubbish anyway as I've had a proven 6.9 out of mine and day to day it's the mid range that counts

Oh and btw lol, I also have a wonderful fabia vrs tsi which fails to return no more than 42mpg on a run and no more than 32 day to day so I trust absolutely nothing you say. 500miles to a tank I reckon is impossible let alone over 500 even with venting and mine is run on 99Ron. Oh and 2people at work have one too both bought this year (I should be on commission) and have never got more than 400 to a tank. 500 to a tank is 50mpg average over a whole tank. Impossible and you've never proved it no matter how many times you get asked so please for the love of god shut up with your BS

Oh and 600 miles to a tank in an octy is 50mpg. Impossible.

 

Just telling the facts as you know and as Audi, SEAT, Skoda and VW telll it also.  All it takes is good driving.  I usually do long journeys 100-200 miles and that makes it much easier to do good mpg as the first 5 or 10 are always much less than book.

 

Have you done a 30 mph roll on with you wiesel pseudo VRS Octy and proper petrol VRS Fabia?  Both DSGs, should be a interesting test, let us know the result? 

[jrw]

Just telling the facts as you know and as Audi, SEAT, Skoda and VW telll it also. All it takes is good driving. I usually do long journeys 100-200 miles and that makes it much easier to do good mpg as the first 5 or 10 are always much less than book.

Have you done a 30 mph roll on with you wiesel pseudo VRS Octy and proper petrol VRS Fabia? Both DSGs, should be a interesting test, let us know the result?

you aren't telling us any facts. Just utter bs which people who might not know you take your postings as fact

Prove it or shut up.