I recently read in Evo that the ride quality of the new VRS is very poor. ( big gripe that the suspension/ride isn't adaptive/adjustable through the different drive modes.. as the Golfs is).

I have an A3 Sline on 18" rims and its ride is harsh... I was hoping the Octavia VRS estate would be better in this area.

I'd be very interested to know what people think of the new cars ride on the standard Pictorus wheels

Cheers

Having driven one it's better than my mkII facelift. But I'm talking about diesels and I've not read anything negative about the ride compared to the golf GTD which iirc does not have the adaptive ride.

My very naive viewpoint and apologies if it offends anybody but if you don't want a hard ride don't buy a VRS or go above 17" wheels. Go for an SE. Iv always been a fan of a harder ride, makes me feel more at one with the car

I've driven 2 new Octy VRS' TFSI and 2 new Mk7 Golf GTI's and in all honesty the ride wasn't a lot different.

 

The Golf is indeed better but not so much that the VRS is poor. I drove them both back to back on one occasion and was still very impressed with the VRS. 

My very naive viewpoint and apologies if it offends anybody but if you don't want a hard ride don't buy a VRS or go above 17" wheels. Go for an SE. Iv always been a fan of a harder ride, makes me feel more at one with the car

Exactly what I say, iv always referred the drive of a stiffer suspension set up, feel more in control when driving. Iv gone for the xtreme wheels and all people say is the ride will be more uncomfortable. Well...I wouldn't of bought a vrs if I was bothered about comfort

Thanks for the replies. I suppose the best solution will be to take a test drive. Just wish our local roads were in better condition! : )

I have had the Vrs estate petrol for three days now and covered 300 odd miles mostly on relatively poor country roads. The car feels light, well balanced, well damped and firm. I think the balance is perfect. The seats are also great which helps with the overall "feel" of the car.

My last car was a Citroen c5 exclusive with their hydraulic suspension, extreme comfort but too soft to throw the car about at all. Previous to this I had a 07 civic type r, very poor in comparison to the Skoda.

Felt fine to me, I tried to hit every pothole I could find on the test drive (Edinburgh roads are cr^p so wanted to be prepared).

Is this the evo review as it doesn't seem to negative.

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/290305/skoda_octavia_vrs_review_price_and_specs.html

They said it was "firm but well damped" but did warn against the 19" wheels.

Felt fine to me, I tried to hit every pothole I could find on the test drive (Edinburgh roads are cr^p so wanted to be prepared).

Is this the evo review as it doesn't seem to negative.

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/290305/skoda_octavia_vrs_review_price_and_specs.html

They said it was "firm but well damped" but did warn against the 19" wheels.

They didnt warn against them just say be prepared for noise on bumpy roads which radio covers that up so all is well

They didnt warn against them just say be prepared for noise on bumpy roads which radio covers that up so all is well

Lol fair enough.

You're a brave man in my book. The 19" look awesome but I'd be constantly worrying about smashing something. My mates had 2 new wheels on his BMW since he bought it at the start of the year.

I'll be a mess when swmbo drives the vrs with 18s as it is (someone else driving not specifically her). It's bad enough with the 16"s on my fabia.

Lol fair enough.

You're a brave man in my book. The 19" look awesome but I'd be constantly worrying about smashing something. My mates had 2 new wheels on his BMW since he bought it at the start of the year.

I'll be a mess when swmbo drives the vrs with 18s as it is (someone else driving not specifically her). It's bad enough with the 16"s on my fabia.

Haha ill be taking 18 inch off the car as soon as i get it so i don't feel the difference, i think the 18" wheels look too small for it so wouldn't be happy with the look of the car if i left the 18" on. Also ill just avoid known bumpy roads which i do anyway now. Ill put up with it but know where your coming from

I have had the Vrs estate petrol for three days now and covered 300 odd miles mostly on relatively poor country roads. The car feels light, well balanced, well damped and firm. I think the balance is perfect. The seats are also great which helps with the overall "feel" of the car.

My last car was a Citroen c5 exclusive with their hydraulic suspension, extreme comfort but too soft to throw the car about at all. Previous to this I had a 07 civic type r, very poor in comparison to the Skoda.

I had a Type R civic for a while and it drove like there was NO suspension so... ;-)

P

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Lol fair enough.

You're a brave man in my book. The 19" look awesome but I'd be constantly worrying about smashing something. My mates had 2 new wheels on his BMW since he bought it at the start of the year.

I'll be a mess when swmbo drives the vrs with 18s as it is (someone else driving not specifically her). It's bad enough with the 16"s on my fabia.

My current car - a Mazda 3 MPS - has the exact same size wheels and tyres as the 18" stock option and we've needed 2 new alloys due to potholes in 3 years. So, the 19s would be a step too far for me...

P

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On the mk2 they are 225/40/18 and iv had no issues what so ever over the last 2 years, parents scirocco and the mondeo st my dad had a fair few years ago all with 18" have never had an issue. Must be location or if you seem to hit a lot of pot holes haha i do my best to avoid them

There are plenty of better handling non-VAG cars (vs the Golf GTI) which do without trick adjstable suspension setups. The secret is to get the base setup correct in the first place, and not have to bother adjusting it after it leaves the factory. The Subarus I owned 10-15 years ago were miles ahead of any mainstream VAG cars in terms of handling, feedback and feel. They had primative suspension setups done correctly and could even live without sound generators and eleectronic driving aids. You cannot replace a finely balanced and well-honed and tested chassis with electronics. Anything that the VRS may sacrifice in handling or ride vs the Golf (Subarus and Focuses included) is more than compensated for by it's practicality and equipment. Anyone wanting the best handling £25K car around should avoid VAG and look to the Focus ST. For a good mixture of practicality and performance the VRS is ahead it's rivals.

 

There will never be another £20K which matches the feeling I got when I first pushed the LOUD pedal on my Impreza WRX STI IV. IIt may only have been shod with 16" 205 tread rubber, and it had no guts below 3,500rpm, after which it kicked like a Shire horse,  but it had character no modern hot-hatch can match. An extremely short 5th gear and fuel economy averaging less than 20mpg was a real pain though.

Edited 23 September, 201312 yr by Orville

There are plenty of better handling non-VAG cars (vs the Golf GTI) which do without trick adjstable suspension setups. The secret is to get the base setup correct in the first place, and not have to bother adjusting it after it leaves the factory. The Subarus I owned 10-15 years ago were miles ahead of any mainstream VAG cars in terms of handling, feedback and feel. They had primative suspension setups done correctly and could even live without sound generators and eleectronic driving aids. You cannot replace a finely balanced and well-honed and tested chassis with electronics. Anything that the VRS may sacrifice in handling or ride vs the Golf (Subarus and Focuses included) is more than compensated for by it's practicality and equipment. Anyone wanting the best handling £25K car around should avoid VAG and look to the Focus ST. For a good mixture of practicality and performance the VRS is ahead it's rivals.

 

Having driven the new Focus ST as well i'm not sure I can agree with that. I thought it was a bit meh, it was fast but no better handling then the Golf and felt nowhere near as nice a place to be. Steering feel in the Golf was far better and a much better driving position. Was an ST-3 too with all the spec.

 

For me it failed as a proper drivers car because to turn the traction control off you had to hold the button for 8 seconds whilst it disengaged then be shown about 20 messages on the dashboard telling you to stop it as you can't use this feature, this and this other feature. That to me is just stupid. All VAG cars, press the button and its off. Job done. 

Having driven the new Focus ST as well i'm not sure I can agree with that. I thought it was a bit meh, it was fast but no better handling then the Golf and felt nowhere near as nice a place to be. Steering feel in the Golf was far better and a much better driving position. Was an ST-3 too with all the spec.

 

For me it failed as a proper drivers car because to turn the traction control off you had to hold the button for 8 seconds whilst it disengaged then be shown about 20 messages on the dashboard telling you to stop it as you can't use this feature, this and this other feature. That to me is just stupid. All VAG cars, press the button and its off. Job done.

After searching for some time for my next motor it came down to the focus st-2 estate and the octavia Vrs. I had both on 24 hour test drives and both were within £300 on price. The st is a nice car to look at however I found I sat way too high in her. The ride reminded me of my fn2 type r, too crashy and hard. The demo had 2.5k on the clock and was rattling all over the show. Interior plastics hard and controls non intuitive .a lot less space in the rear and even more so in the boot. Needless to say I now own the Vrs with a big grin.

My very naive viewpoint and apologies if it offends anybody but if you don't want a hard ride don't buy a VRS or go above 17" wheels. Go for an SE. Iv always been a fan of a harder ride, makes me feel more at one with the car

 

Couldn't agree more, which is why I went with the 2.0 TDi Elegance with stock 17". Same practicality, almost as much power as the VRS TDi and a massive improvement in ride quality that was noticeable even before getting off the dealer forecourt

That's a good point.  If I were going for a diesel I'd be tempted to go for the 150 bhp SE or Elegance rather than the vRS.  I've tried both and in normal driving -  i.e. about 98 % of the time - I don't think there's a great deal of difference in performance.  The ride on the vRS is firmer and that may be the best criterion to use in making up your mind.

 

I've got another petrol vRS estate on order and in this case the vRS is definitely worth having.

I test drove a mklll Vrs estate the other day,taught the ride was much like the mkll to be honest and that includes road noise.

It's worth remembering of course that the adaptive suspension is an add on package for the GTI, and a very expensive one at that. Perhaps Evo would have been better moaning about the ride of the standard GTI instead?

A while back we tried a test drive in a MKII VRS and my wife said the ride was too hard, so we didn't purchase. My wife has since test drove the MKIII VRS and didn't have a problem with the ride... so must be ok! Now ordered a petrol VRS combi and awaiting delivery in early Nov.