In some case perhaps but it's a bit far to say anyone who drives one would be very happy.

I already own two DSG cars, I've owned hot hatches and fast saloons in the past, I've owned three Fabia's. I had a pretty good idea as to what to expect.

But for nearly double the price of a 1.2 SE we were disappointed with the interior, a few blingy bits and sports seats (With limited adjustment) but the same drab plastic interior as the budget £9k models.

Then the ride, Gordon Lamb Chesterfield's test drive route is through a town centre then back through bumpy B roads. the vRS banged and crashed all the way around and I couldn't push it as my mechanical sympathy and spine wouldn't take it. The trim rattles on the 2k mile demonstrator made it feel like an 80k miler.

So a few weeks later I had another test drive at Rainworth Mansfield, surrounded by dual carriageways and roundabouts a lot more scope for pushing it and as I've bought several cars from there an unescorted test drive. Yes the performance was there on the dual carriage ways but I was surprised by the amount of roll and understeer on the roundabouts and no more steering feel than our other three Fabias. I took this one into Mansfield and yes the same crashy ride although slightly less trim rattles over bumps than the other one but still not good for a low mileage new car.

I came away Mr Unimpressed. With 20% off I could have forgiven the interior but the ride quality was a no from us. £18k list is a joke.

Now if that's my impression and I'm a Skoda fan with eight previous purchases then what do some people think who have no brand loyalty.

Cheers

Lee

Forget the list price,actual price with no options is £14k,what else are you going to get with that performance for the money?

I actually think the standard ride quality is a bit soft,ever been in a Clio RS200?...that's what you call a hard ride.

I've got the Eibach springs and actually run slightly lower than recommended tyre pressures which help a bit.

I also think the optimum way to go with the suspension is to retain the standard springs but go to Bilstein shocks and uprated roll bars.

No one does this because they all want the lower look but the above should mean good handling and a better ride.

The interior is again ok for the money,not Audi quality,but not Audi price.

For the money not only do you get top performance but,per another thread,you get four doors and a lot of space inside,so a decent enough buy IMO...and I have absolutely no loyalty to to Skoda whatsoever.

Strange that you did not think that it did not offer vfm for a few k over an SE,nowhere illustrates the law of deminising returns more than the car world,a 15k car is not 50% better than 10k one,you can't expect that.

I think your expectations were too high, all I wanted was a small but spacious four door car with a great turn of speed ,good mpg at a cheap price.In our family we have an S3 which is better but cost twice as much...and still has only 2 doors...which just goes to show how good value the vRs is.

Did it not occur to you that for not much money you could improve the handling and ride,and if everyone didn't want to spend money aftermarket to improve to improve their cars it wouldn't be great for your business would it?

Edited 15 September, 201312 yr by XK140

This thread cracks me up lol

You should read this then, lol

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/286064-the-end-is-near/

Ps.....FANBOY AND PROUD : )

Just back from 110 miles up and back to Aberdeen in the howling gale, not speeding in busy Sunday traffic.

28.2 mpg, bl00dy awful, but i did love it.

 

I could have gone in something comfortable, nice interior and economic,

but instead went in something fun that gets those ar5es in Bavarian cars off your jacksy, &  often they stay off

once they know that there was no need to be on your bit of the road..

 

I am a little taken with Logiclees road test reviews,

he did not like the car and never bought one and he tells us how bad it felt.

We did buy them and do drive them, so hardly need told how they feel on Dealership Road test routes etc.

They feel crashy and pretty rubbish, but you get one anyway, because you drive it rather different once you own one.

 

They need to avoid pot holes, you need to drive or accelerate to stop wheel spin, etc,

Thats the car that some of us drive.

 

Still no idea what thats got to do with why we should buy a BMW, because they are so good,

some of us have had BMW's and can not be bothered with people not letting you out at junctions and thinking you are the likes of an Area Manager for M&S. Not even Senior Manager, just one in the Car Tax Bracket that suits your pay grade.

No disrespect to Area Managers, just to tailgaters.

 

I have no wish to go on a BMW forum and slag off any of the lemons and poor selling vehicles, 

question some the poorer points of their design, and why they are as they are in the UK market, why they are moving down market, and discounting as they are.  Why many of their cars have such big depreciation in such a sort time.

Its just taken for granted by me that thats how they are.

 

george

I'm a skoda fan at heart, this is my second Fabia vRS having also owned a mk1.

Our Fabia vRS has been mechanically fault free and used only a relatively tiny amount of oil. It's also very nearly all paid off on the finance so makes sense to keep it for the foreseeable future. Don't get me wrong I really quite like the car, its just never really tugged at my heart-strings like some motors have. SWMBO tho is a diehard vRS fan, she can't bear the thought of trading it in then seeing "somebody else driving him" lol!

I've always gone for 'value' brands of car I.e Skoda, Ford, Fiat, Abarth etc. This time fancied treating myself to something 'premium' as I can afford it and fancied a change. This will be my first Beemer and RWD car - time will tell if the experience is also 'premium'! Will certainly be an interesting comparison running the 120d and vRS together :-)

Forget the list price,actual price with no options is £14k,

 

To get to £14k you need a 20% discount, if that's what they need to do to shift them and still the sales are on the floor then no wonder Skoda believe they don't need to do a Mk3. Rainworth suggested 10-12% off list was realistic. What have people been  achieving now the VAT deals are off? Has anyone bought one recently?

 

Would I have bought one at £14k? No, a new car shouldn't bang and crash around town and have interior shudders and rattles with just a few thousand miles on. The Fiesta ST is firm but it's supple over potholes and ridges, the two I've driven have had no interior noise, the handling is spot on and the steering feel is excellent. I wanted similar from the vRS but to be honest it's not in the same league.

 

Lee

I'd be interested to hear your comments on the new car Furbytom - hope it is good.

I'd be interested to hear your comments on the new car Furbytom - hope it is good.

Cheers mate, will post up a few pics when its here too.

I'd be interested to hear your comments on the new car Furbytom - hope it is good.

 

I'll have a guess.  Along the lines of..

 

Plus points..

Ride very good for an m-sport on run flats.

Interior build high quality

Excellent multi adjustable sports seats

ZF 8 speed auto amazing

Handling balance and feel very good

idrive functionality much better than VAG touchscreen

Performance and economy great.

Good size boot and rear seats fold flat.

 

Negatives.

Diesel engine a bit on the vocal side.

Rear seats a bit tight for size of car.

Back of front seats are hard plastic.

To get to £14k you need a 20% discount, if that's what they need to do to shift them and still the sales are on the floor then no wonder Skoda believe they don't need to do a Mk3. Rainworth suggested 10-12% off list was realistic. What have people been  achieving now the VAT deals are off? Has anyone bought one recently?

 

Would I have bought one at £14k? No, a new car shouldn't bang and crash around town and have interior shudders and rattles with just a few thousand miles on. The Fiesta ST is firm but it's supple over potholes and ridges, the two I've driven have had no interior noise, the handling is spot on and the steering feel is excellent. I wanted similar from the vRS but to be honest it's not in the same league.

 

Lee

Mine has no rattles or shudders.The Fiesta ST costs more,has only 2 doors and has less interior space that's three things and each one on their own rules it out for me.Give me some credit for judging what cars I want ,which doesn't mean necessarily what you want.

Others may share your opinion,others mine,we all have different requirements and priorities and no one,not you, not Jeremy Clarkson and not me is a perfect judge of cars.Let's leave it at that.

Mine has no rattles or shudders.The Fiesta ST costs more,has only 2 doors and has less interior space that's three things and each one on their own rules it out for me.Give me some credit for judging what cars I want ,which doesn't mean necessarily what you want.

Others may share your opinion,others mine,we all have different requirements and priorities and no one,not you, not Jeremy Clarkson and not me is a perfect judge of cars.Let's leave it at that.

 

I never questioned your requirements in a car, I questioned your statement below.

 

On the other hand anyone who has a test drive is very happy because both the acceleration and the speed of the dsg box greatly exceed their expectations.

 

The test drives didn't exceed my expectations and I certainly come under the anyone banner and most would class me as a Skoda fanboy.

Edited 15 September, 201312 yr by logiclee

lol-lol, on 15 Sept 2013 - 07:42, said: lol-

"I find the Fabia VRS very reasonable to run. The high-compression engine is capable of over 40 mpg on the long run which is similar to our HTP with a third of the power. Just had it serviced after 20K on variable, not much more than 1p a mile in service cost."

===========================================

Logiclee wrote:-

Technology has moved on with economy though.

 

Fabia vRS 45.6mpg, 148g/km (0-62, 7.3, 140mph)

BMW 118i auto 50.1mpg, 129g/km (0-62, 7.2, 140mph)

BMW 120d auto 67.3mpg, 110g/km (0-62, 7.1, 142mph)

BMW 125i auto 44.8mpg, 148g/km (0-62, 6.2, 151mph)

Fiesta ST 46.9mpg, 138g/km (0-62, 6,9, 139mph)

Clio 200, 45mpg, 143g/km (0-62, 6.7, 143mph)

 

Many manufacturers offer servicing packs, for example for £300 cost on a new vehicle you get 5 years servicing with BMW and that's transferable to the 2nd owner if you sell. Cheers Lee

===========

Lol-lol wrote:-

8 speed auto box is awesome.

Series 1, 118 or better surely are at least a third more expensive than the Fabia VRS?

Fords and Renault usually have pretty aweful residuals, mid 30s percent after 3 years standard mileage.

How do BMW make money on the 5 years service pack, is it just 10K intervals or something? Not much use to someone like me who does 35K a year. 

 

Still looking.

I never questioned your requirements in a car, I questioned your statement below.

 

On the other hand anyone who has a test drive is very happy because both the acceleration and the speed of the dsg box greatly exceed their expectations.

 

The test drives didn't exceed my expectations and I certainly come under the anyone banner and most would class me as a Skoda fanboy.

So you mean that that the acceleration of your more expensive BMW is better and also that its auto box is better than that of a vRS?

I'll have a guess.  Along the lines of..

 

Plus points..

Ride very good for an m-sport on run flats.

Interior build high quality

Excellent multi adjustable sports seats

ZF 8 speed auto amazing

Handling balance and feel very good

idrive functionality much better than VAG touchscreen

Performance and economy great.

Good size boot and rear seats fold flat.

 

Negatives.

Diesel engine a bit on the vocal side.

Rear seats a bit tight for size of car.

Back of front seats are hard plastic.

Haha, I hope you are right!

I'm sure ill have to get used to the taxi noise.

Maybe the hard seat backs are there to defend against pesky toddler feet booting you in the spine lol!

So you mean that that the acceleration of your more expensive BMW is better and also that its auto box is better than that of a vRS?

 

 

Nope,

 

We'd not even considered a 1 Series we when drove and discounted the vRS. 

 

We had driven other warm and hot hatches, some quite a bit slower than the vRS. it was never the vRS's power or performance that we found lacking it was the ride and handling.

 

Our BMW is quite a bit slower than a vRS.

 

Lee

 

How do BMW make money on the 5 years service pack, is it just 10K intervals or something? Not much use to someone like me who does 35K a year. 

 

Still looking.

 

Variable Servicing. 5 years or 60k miles.  So usually around 3 to 4 services.

 

Lee

Nope,

We'd not even considered a 1 Series we when drove and discounted the vRS.

We had driven other warm and hot hatches, some quite a bit slower than the vRS. it was never the vRS's power or performance that we found lacking it was the ride and handling.

Our BMW is quite a bit slower than a vRS.

Lee

So why on earth would you dispute that someone test driving the vRS ,with only £14k or so to spend,would not be impressed by the acceleration and the gearbox?

i've never said that the ride or handling were great,just that they are acceptable for the money...and can easily be improved.

Let's get something clear,I'm sure that,in general overall terms your BMW is the better car,however I don't think you have said how much you paid,shall we say £21k?

If so,50% more than the Skoda...and since I'm retired I buy my cars with real money,no leases,pcp or any finance,so if I want a car and £15k is all I've got then that is all I spend.So because of the price difference the two cars are not comparable,not in my world anyway.

Edited 15 September, 201312 yr by XK140

My new 63 vRS was below 15k, you can't put it in a comparison list with a ~20k Beemer.

Variable Servicing. 5 years or 60k miles.  So usually around 3 to 4 services.

 

Lee

 

Thought as much.

 

Can these Series Ones go on Variable and therefore be serviced only every 20K or so?

 

I do not like to spend time taking cars in for servicing and doing it 3 or 4 times a year ie about every 100 days would be a total pain.

 

I think BMW therefore make there money by both front loading the buy price and then doing the "oh you need another "Carlos Fandago"  parts and then cash in.

 

http://youtu.be/nqqZ28m8uCo

 

To those who actually know about cars the Fabia is a Q car. 

 

Fabia 2 has won the IRC twice and holds the UK MSA distance speed records for cars up to 1500cc.

 

Work with the Fabia IRC looks like it will give VW Polo the WRC win this year.

 

The BMW One series has won one British Touring car race last I looked after the Three series years of continued failure in BTCC/WTCC.

 

BMW are little involved in Motorsport where as VAG are dominant in Prototype racing and Rallying.  I know which badge I prefer to wear.

Every Bmw is on variable servicing.

 

There is very little left of the 125i that team ebay use for the touring car race. Can't really compare it to a road car the rules allow major changes. There's even RWD Audi's in this years championship. 

It's actually a private team not a works bmw team.

 

But we are way off the mark now.

 

The thread is about the Demise of the Fabia vRS. Skoda's CEO and leading  board members have said why, it's too expensive and doesn't sell well.

 

My wife's choice of car has nothing to do with why we didn't buy one. We hadn't set foot in a BMW dealership at that stage. 

 

There are reasons why it doesn't sell well and why the likes of What car rate it at two out off five stars. The market is saturated with small hot hatches and the best are excellent. The Fabia vRS can't match the dynamics, interior quality and fun of the best and that's why it only finds a few owners who must have 5doors and automatic and then only with massive discounts.

 

That's my final comment on the matter.

 

 

Lee

Edited 16 September, 201312 yr by logiclee

Hopefully the VW group as a whole realise the sportier cars need better handling (in the sense of being more playful) and not just power to compete with RenaultSport cars and now the Fiesta ST. They seem to come good again with the latest GTI so there's hope yet

Every Bmw is on variable servicing.

 

There is very little left of the 125i that team ebay use for the touring car race. Can't really compare it to a road car the rules allow major changes. There's even RWD Audi's in this years championship. 

It's actually a private team not a works bmw team.

 

But we are way off the mark now.

 

The thread is about the Demise of the Fabia vRS. Skoda's CEO and leading  board members have said why, it's too expensive and doesn't sell well.

 

My wife's choice of car has nothing to do with why we didn't buy one. We hadn't set foot in a BMW dealership at that stage. 

 

There are reasons why it doesn't sell well and why the likes of What car rate it at two out off five stars. The market is saturated with small hot hatches and the best are excellent. The Fabia vRS can't match the dynamics, interior quality and fun of the best and that's why it only finds a few owners who must have 5doors and automatic and then only with massive discounts.

 

That's my final comment on the matter.

 

 

Lee

Just googled fabia vrs what car and at worst I found a link that indeed showed a two star overall, however the breakdown was

Performance 4 out of 5

Ride and Handling 3 out of 5 - fair I think

Refinement 2 out of 5 - again fair

Ownership 4 out of 5

Quality and Reliability 3 out of 5

Safety and Security 4 out of 5

Behind the Wheel 3 out of 5

Space and practicality 4 out of 5

Equipment 3 out of 5

If you take an avg surely everyone else gets 3.3, so not class leading, but not as bad as 2 out of 5

The below is taken direct from a Whatcar review

"As a diesel hot hatch, the old Fabia vRS was a bit of a Marmite car. However, with the new version Skoda is attempting to attract a wider audience by using a petrol engine instead. Is the result tastier?

Well, if you think a hot hatch should have in-your-face looks then it’s probably not for you. The vRS gets bespoke alloys and swollen bumpers, but it’s still easy to mistake it for more humdrum Fabias, and the cabin is desperately dull.

Strong performance

Fortunately, performance is anything but. The engine is only a 1.4, but thanks to a turbocharger and a supercharger it delivers electric pace and impressive flexibility. Okay, the exhaust is more loud than tuneful, but the standard paddle-shift gearbox whips from ratio to ratio with barely any hesitancy.

The ride is firm but well controlled, too, and the handling composed, even if the vRS doesn’t offer the lightning steering reactions of a Clio Cup. Still, it’s cheaper than the Renault and Skoda is offering an estate version as well as a hatch. You might not love the new vRS, then, but it’s impossible to hate.

[email protected] - See more at: http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/skoda-fabia-vrs-driven/1198224#sthash.pgI2hpSx.dpuf

Sorry Mr Huntingford, but on that last line, our friend logiclee is sadly proving you wrong

And that is my final comment on the matter!

Sparkly out!

its a shame, i love my MK2 VRS and i would have liked to have seen the MK3 beefed up with a VRS, wouldn't be surprised if there was a U-turn at some point and one becomes availible,

Hopefully the VW group as a whole realise the sportier cars need better handling (in the sense of being more playful) and not just power to compete with RenaultSport cars and now the Fiesta ST. They seem to come good again with the latest GTI so there's hope yet

 

I think they do and if you want a Sporty small car then they have the IBIZA Bocanegra or Leon Cupras or Golf R or Audi S3 or RS3.

 

All are relatively expensive from what they were because they are made in the Euro Zone.

 

The Fabia, and to a degree the Octavia VRSs are the Goof balls that end up doing better than the cool cars, the nerds that out does the cool kids.

 

What Skoda has achieved in the market place and in motorsports, and with the land speed records is truly beyond its humble origins, like Red Bull racing has achieved ie low budget beaten the big boys.

 

Police authorities like the Octavia VRSs as they are brilliant for the budget and out on the road.

 

VAG are quite happy that the Skoda models tend to look a bit goofy so that people pay a premium of style over substance, best way to make money and leave Skoda for the more discerning buyers. 

 

There are few pleasures better in life than blowing off the £25K pseudo executive box in the goofy £15K funny little Skoda.  

 

Slyšel jsem, že tady taky vyrábíte ty legra?ní škodovky

 

http://youtu.be/p_ZY083gzz0    

 

http://youtu.be/r5pT9bshJbk