So for the lighter Fabia would 55mpg seem realistic for mainly round the town and a few 10 mile runs my Mrs does? Don't forget it has the 6 speed g/b that the dealer thought would make it more economical, not sure I believe him.

I note from the Seat site that the equivalent Ibiza TDI sport is a whopping

A longer top gear would certainly make it more economical on the motorway - whether its a long 5th or a slightly longer 6th ! Obviously no difference around town. My A4 TDi Quattro had a 6 speed box but to be honest, I always kept getting tempted to flick it down to 5th on the motorway for more oomph.

If the 6 speed box is essentially the 5-box with a cruising gear at the top, it'll make it economical at motorway speeds.

Not sure about fuel consumption, but I reckon 50-55 wouldn't be unreasonable for a diesel around town - there must be a reason taxi drivers use them!

Rob.

6 speed box will probably be the same first gear ratio, and sixth will be similar to the current fifth. I'm dead chuffed with the fifth gear on mine. What other car do you max out at 115mph, and you're only doing 3500RPM? (and not 6500RPM...)

I agree with you that the mpg that arund the town a six speeder is unlikely to make any difference. Could be a bit more lively and therefore thristier if shorter geared in 1st-5th.

It will be interesting to see what the vRS sounds like when I get to test drive the dealer demo in a 10 days time. Maybe it will need some sound deadening added.

Anyone else got a date for a demo? Doesn't seem to be much interest yet at my dealers as he could offer me any of the 4 he has on order.

Chris

No date yet - only a "showed some interest" form filled in at the dealer, and also what I can afford to shell out per month, which was a little bit disconcerting. At least the 0% deal sounds pretty cool - my car should be able to provide the 40% deposit, and then its up to me to shell out even more money a month to pay for the new car. :(

Jason,

My dealer said the Skoda sponsored 0% does not apply to the vRS Fabia (but does apply to the vRS Oct). He could do 4% though.

Chris

I would have thought the 6 cog box would have shorter gears, and a similar top gear to the 5 speed, to allow you more chance of staying in the torque band, rather than the larger jumps of the 5. From what I have seen of 5/6 speed VW box comparisons the 6 speeders tend to be about 1 mph per 1000 rpm faster, thats all.

Going from the pd130 in my Superb, I would say the Fabia will pull like a steam train and should be a hoot to drive.

Andy

Originally posted by chrish in this post

Jason,

My dealer said the Skoda sponsored 0% does not apply to the vRS Fabia (but does apply to the vRS Oct). He could do 4% though.

Chris

Not what I was told... A bit of irregularity within the Skoda group, eh? Nothing new there then.

You may have been told that as some kind of "see how much he'll pay" test...?

I havent found my Fabia too noisy to be honest. Certainly not up to petrol standards but once say above 30mph its fairly quiet.

Cold start ups produce a bit of clatter but it calms down very quickly. When thoroughly warmed through they are quieter but I have also found different fuel sources can affect noise and smoothness.

Motorway driving is more refined if anything than a lower geared petrol motor.

Economy wise normal driving (i.e not deliberately on an economy drive) will get you between 50-55mpg.

But the point is you can drive it really hard and you wont ever see much below 45mpg. Obviously not for very short trips.

IIRC the Ibiza is geared to 37mph/1000rpm in sixth! This is a bit too high in my opinion so I hope the Fab is a bit less (say about 30 or so) Mine is @27.

You could find yourself being caught out on the motorway if the gearing is this high, unless you drop it to fifth of course!

I wouldnt bother with any sound deadening as it will take loads to make a significant diference to any diesel noises that might bother you. The Fab vRS already weighs in at over 1300kgs anyway.

:cheers:

Maybe its got extra sound deadening already at that weight otherwise why shold it weigh more than the TDI?

Chris

I was wondering where the extra 50 odd kilos had come from... Does a six speed box really that much more, and a bodykit isn't going to add much... Its got me curious now... what could weigh more?

- gearbox?

- more powerful engine = heavier for strength?

- bodykit?

- wheels weigh more than steels?

- I guess the bigger brakes could be extra weight?

I too was surprised at the weight difference (the weight of the Tdi version is @1200kgs according to spec)

DieselCar quote the weight of the vRS @1315kgs and i'm not sure why there should be such a difference. Seat Ibiza with the 130 engine weighs around 1200kgs too :confused:

I think Jason has probably covered all the main reaons and i suppose all the extra bits and pieces add up in the end.

With that engine and gearbox in the Fab though, i'm sure nobody will notice!

Still 100kg extra is about a 10% increase, just under. Seems rather excessive IMHO. I think remapping my 1200kg car to 150HP would be better.

Originally posted by devonutopia in this post

I was wondering where the extra 50 odd kilos had come from... Does a six speed box really that much more, and a bodykit isn't going to add much... Its got me curious now... what could weigh more?

- gearbox?

- more powerful engine = heavier for strength?

- bodykit?

- wheels weigh more than steels?

- I guess the bigger brakes could be extra weight?

Probably a mixture of the lot but alloys sholdn't make a difference after all the Fabia has them on as standard

True. I picked up one of my steels & alloys (with tyres) when they were being done at ATS, and I could tell no difference at all (although both felt satisfyingly weighty - which to me = strength)