I have been fortunate enough to get my dealer to allow me to have the vRS Estate demonstrator for a four day weekend, I wanted to physically see a white one and they had one at another branch so they arranged to get it over to my branch for me and to allow me to have it from Friday to Monday for a 'real world' test drive!  I have been very lucky!

 

I dropped my Mk2 FL Hatch off on Friday morning and collected the Mk3 which was just having the valeting finished off, it is a bog standard Mk3 vRS Estate in Candy White, diesel, manual with red stitching on the seats, it has had the standard silver wheels refinished in gloss black, mirror caps refinished in gloss black, aftermarket tints on that are A LOT darker than the factory tints plus it has had the side skirt foils applied to it.

 

Bringing it home, it felt strange compared to my FL as it was manual instead of my DSG, but overall it felt good.

 

When I got home my wife and I had planned to go out and do some running around including taking a few bits to the local recycling centre, it coped with the stuff for the centre really well, then our shopping erands were enjoyable and as I got used to the car I started to really like it, I even got used to the stop/start and despite some on here not liking it, I actually do like it, I just think of those few pennies I am saving!!!  With my ordered one being a DSG it will be interesting to see the difference between the DSG and manual versions of stop/start.

 

Friday evening, I decided to go out in the car in the dark, I have never driven a car with proper factory fit Xenons so wanted to experience them properly myself, so went out, found a nice stretch of dark unlit road, and tested them out, they seemed very good, I liked the dance when they come on!  They seemed to illuminate the road ahead really well, and because the standard xenon illumination was so good that when main beam was switched on it didnt make a huge difference, but in all honesty I didnt think that I used main beam half as much as I would do normally, but, my question to myself is, if the vRS didnt come with them as standard would I pay a grand for them, for the asthetics of the car, probably yes as they make the look of teh car much better as opposed to standard halogens, but for the actual lighting probably not, although I found it good, I didnt find it good enough to warrant a grand as an option, I could use that so much better on other parts of the car, so as its standard I am chuffed, but glad I havent spent that money on previous cars.

 

On Saturday, it was a day of jobs with the kids etc, so swimming lessons, taking them out for lunch, then a round trip of around 60 miles to see in laws, that journey was a mixture of dual carriageway A roads, town driving and fast single carriage ways roads, the day was really good in the vRS and totally enjoyed the driving experience, doing around 80 miles or so all day, the car was showing 39.7mpg for the days worth of mixed driving, which in my area of the country is quite good, we live in a hilly area so getting 'excellent' fuel economy is difficult at times, my FL is only just starting to show that sort of MPG after loosening up now that its on 10K miles.

 

Today I havent used the car, my wife has been unwell today so had to stay in, but tomorrow, once I have taken the kids to school I am going to go and enjoy it for a few hours before taking it back and collecting my FL and bringing that home.

 

What the demo has done, is make me revisit my order that I have made and is making me think about making some subtle changes to the order, if its not too late!!!

 

I have ordered:

mk3 Octavia Estate vRS 2.0 TDI DSG - definately the right choice for me

red stitching - yes, correct choice, just brings a bit of variety into a dark interior coloured car.

Candy White paint - yes I like the candy white, but, Meteor Grey keeps screaming at me!!! Extra £200 though.

Colour Maxi-dot - Yes that will be nice, but, unless it actually adds any extra functionality I could happily live with mono-chrome and save £80

Black Pack - It needs that to make it look slightly more sporty

Spare Wheel - No brainer

Variable Boot Floor - the demo didnt have this and it didnt bother me, so I could easily remove this from my order and save £150

Cruise Control - Criminal to think that Skoda didnt put this on as standard, so I am definately keeping this on my order.

Canton - Glad I specc'd that now, as the standard speakers just didnt seem to do it for me, not enough bass, so I am hoping the Canton will solve this issue, I am not a 'basshead' but I do like my music to have some bass and not sound tinny.

Heated Seats - I love my heated seats, so keeping those.

Sunset Glass - Glad I chose that, the aftermarket tints they have put on this car are far too dark, so the lighter factory tint will give the look but not at the expense of interior light, like the ones on this car.

 

Of things I havent ordered, I did miss the built in sat nav, I have a Columbus in my current car, so am strongly considering the Amundsen as this solves the problem but not at the price of a Columbus! Also, the full winter pack, I havent had a heated screen before but diesels are known for taking a while to heat up and clear the screen in the morning in the winter so for an extra £230 over and above the heated seats price I have already ordered it makes me think this could be a good investment.

 

So, I could save £230 without the colour maxi-dot and variable boot floor, but with possibly having Meteor Grey (£200), Amundsen (£550) and full winter pack (£230), so an extra £980, so without the possible removals, an extra £750 on my ordered car!!!

 

Wow, decisions, decisions, and there was me thinking that having the demo for four days would confirm my order in my own head, as opposed to this which has made me rethink my ordered car!!!

 

Decisions, decisions!!!!

 

Couple of things I have to say about the new vRS is the front seats, they are SOOOOOO comfortable, they feel like armchairs and really make you feel like you want to sit in the car, a huge bonus over the previous generation seats, that were good, but nothing compared to these new seats, also, the extra space in the car compared to older model, the old model felt like a halfway between Focus and Mondeo size in the rear, but now, its definately bigger and more comfortable, I gave my Mum a lift on Saturday and first thing she said was about the leg room, couldnt believe how much space there was!!!

 

Anyway, there you go, my thoughts after my four day demo, a huge thanks to Murrays in Newton Abbot for sorting out an extended demo for me, its really helped.

 

Sorry for the lengthy post, but just thought I would share my observations.

 

 

Great review! I wish I had been able to have a vrs on loan prior to my order being locked in. I may live to regret not specing winter pack but time will tell lol.

Thanks for the review, very interesting as I've opted for some of the things you mention for our SE Combi 4x4.

 

However I like the idea of the raised boot floor, which I have on the Yeti due to the spare wheel; find it easier for loading and unloading.

 

I've also gone for the colour maxi, as having tested them both I personally preferred the colour option. For the money I might as well have it was the decision I came to.

 

Full winter pack with a CR diesel is a must have; my first Yeti was built before the heated screen became an option and it took forever to warm the engine at say  -7 to keep the screen clear.

 

Amunsden I'd like but still not a cheap option and only on long trips do I use sat nav anyway.

 

Only seen Fabia's in Meteor grey; liked the Reaction in the showroom but saw a grey vRS in a carpark the other day and decided it wasn't for me.

 

 

Oh I agree basic cruise should be standard on the SE/vRS, it is on the Rapid SE after all SUK.

 

 

TP

Great review! I wish I had been able to have a vrs on loan prior to my order being locked in. I may live to regret not specing winter pack but time will tell lol.

 

I cant do without my heated seats these days, have had them on a few cars now and have got used to them, nothing like a warm bum on cold winter mornings!!! :-)

 

The dealer I use owed me a favour, so the long demo was something I requested and they were happy with, I must admit, its been invaluable in many ways, and it has got me wanting mine as soon as possible!!! 

 

 

Thanks for the review, very interesting as I've opted for some of the things you mention for our SE Combi 4x4.

 

However I like the idea of the raised boot floor, which I have on the Yeti due to the spare wheel; find it easier for loading and unloading.

 

I've also gone for the colour maxi, as having tested them both I personally preferred the colour option. For the money I might as well have it was the decision I came to.

 

Full winter pack with a CR diesel is a must have; my first Yeti was built before the heated screen became an option and it took forever to warm the engine at say  -7 to keep the screen clear.

 

Amunsden I'd like but still not a cheap option and only on long trips do I use sat nav anyway.

 

Only seen Fabia's in Meteor grey; liked the Reaction in the showroom but saw a grey vRS in a carpark the other day and decided it wasn't for me.

 

 

Oh I agree basic cruise should be standard on the SE/vRS, it is on the Rapid SE after all SUK.

 

 

TP

 

I specified the colour-maxidot as it was a cheap option, how did it compare with the standard maxi dot?

 

Cruise not being standard is just ridiculous in my view, the vRS is targetted at a fleet and rental market in some shape, and I am sure that there are many people out there that do lots of motorway miles that have this car on the list but without ability to add options, and will discount the vRS as it doesnt have cruise as standard, I know if that was me it would be a serious reason as to why I wouldnt choose the vRS as a company vehicle.

 

I suppose my reasoning behind not having to have the variable floor is purely as its something I have never had, so if I decide to take that off the order then its something that I wouldnt miss??

 

As for Meteor Grey, I really like grey in general, so its a colour I would like, but having had a chat with Mrs P this evening and the frosty reception I received when I suggested for about the 20th time that I change it to Meteor Grey then I think it will be staying Candy White!!! ;-o

 

When visiting the in-laws yesterday we had to collect something SWMBO had won on ebay at the same time, and usually I owuld just chuck the details into the Columbus and away we go, however, yesterday I had to use my sat nav on my phone and whilst it got me to where I wanted to go, I missed not having the details on teh maxidot in front of me, and generally it wasnt anywhere as good as having a built in unit, I know the Amundsen get met with mixed reactions, some people seem to love it, some arent so keen, it would however give me what I need without huge cost!  

 

I think I might remove the adjsutable boot level and put that towards the Amundsen, I might also remove the colour maxidot and put that towards it, but I also like my gadgets to look as good as possible, so I suspect I will keep the colour maxi dot!  Without changing to meteor grey and removing the adjsutable boot floor and adding the Amundsen then that would be a net spend of £400 extra, on a PCP thats £10 per month, so I think I might just as well do that providing my order hasnt been locked, I will also try to get the dealer to do me a bit of a deal on it too, you never know, I might get a few quid off!!!!

 

Anyway, taking the vRS back tomorrow so will have a chat and see if I can get the order adjusted then!

i have gone for the meteor grey, instead of the white i originally speced, just different and unique to the vrs

It's not so much the seats for me more the windscreen lol. I have plenty of padding on my butt so that keeps in warm rofl

i have gone for the meteor grey, instead of the white i originally speced, just different and unique to the vrs

 

Thats how I felt and I do like it, but, getting the response 'do what you like, I dont care' from Mrs P this evening, and 'the look' then I might just as well stop right there!! Its staying Candy White, which is still a nice colour and I am lucky enough to be having another brand new car, so I should still be happy :-)

Great car and sensible options. I would have gone white if the wife hadn't used her veto. With her it had to be race blue or an Audi instead.

I think your wives have good taste in car colours :P

So I took the car back to the dealers earlier today, and I must admit I did keep on looking it as I was walking away, I am officially in love with the Mk3 vRS!!!!

 

Getting back into my Mk2 FL felt like a step back in time, dont get me wrong its still a great car and still modern, but just felt the interior and exterior was designed a few years ago (which obviously it is) and showed its slightly older design, as for the drive its still as nice as ever, although there was a noticeable difference between the 170PS and 184PS diesel engine, also the seats were hugely different, nowhere near as comfortable, with the Mk3 being slightly bigger being built on the newer platform this has obviosuly allowed the seats to be slightly bigger and way more comfortable!

 

One of the chaps said in the dealer that the seats have come over from a Seat Cupra or something???

 

Anyway, whilst there I added the Amundsen, so I am happy now as this was causing me grief as I didnt like the thought of going back to using a phone based sat nav on a more regular basis, and they also said that it now has a provisional build week of 49, so that might change one way or another, but at least its better than being nowhere like it was last week!!