Hello folks. I'm considering a 1.8T Octavia vRS, most likely a hatchback, as my next car and was wondering if it would fit my needs for a jack-of-all-trades vehicle. I currently have have a remapped ratty old Renault Laguna dCi which does a sterling job of most things but isn't particularly fun, nor would I want to drive it hard on a circuit.

 

Here's what I need:

• I've just become a dad not long ago, so the boot needs to be a decent size to fit in a pushchair and associated baby items.
• Boot also needs to be big enough to take a pair of wheels and tools/junk when I head to the circuit with my track car.
• Following the above, would a vRS cope with towing a trailer, Caterham, wheels and fuel behind it, weighing about 1000kgs in total?
• I realise it's a performance car, but what is the real-world fuel economy like? The Laguna has made me tight, as it will do a genuine 49mpg on a long run and around 33 to 35mpg while fully loaded and pulling the track car.
• I'm a bit of a tinkerer, so will eventually up the power but don't want to make it undriveable. What is a 'sensible' power level to aim for without spending the earth or make it fall apart every time I gas it?
• Likewise with the suspension and brakes, I'd like to make it handle track use in case of wet or winter days, but not ruin it for day-to-day use.

I have a car in mind that's been advertised and seems ideal for what I want it for, with all the modifications that I'll probably do anyway. But I'd like to get some thoughts together first, especially as these cars seem to be quite rare, so it's difficult to find one locally to test drive and see if I can live with it as an everyday car.

 

Thanks i advance.

Edited 11 March, 20188 yr by Mankee
Four years down the line!

Welcome to the forum  

 

sounds like a Mk1 will do what you need. Boot is cavernous at the expense of the rear seating :wonder:  unlike the current one, the seats fold flat easily and the squabs remove easily if needed. 210 - 215bhp is cheaply achievable, also up to 47mpg on a run but unloaded and cruising around the nsl is also possible. If you're on a budget, second hand adjustable dampers are plentiful (as are the cars) I'd recommend a rear anti roll bar as a cheap handling transformer too!  

Good luck with your quest!

Hi and welcome aboard.

Thanks for the welcome.

 

Wow, I didn't realise that they can be that good on fuel. Other cars on my shortlist as well as an Octavia are all estates: 330d/335d, B5 S4 bi-turbo, B7 S4 V8, Impreza STi/WRX of some sort. I now keep coming back to an Octavia as the others are too expensive to run, too expensive to trash on the circuits or just not as suitable for my needs.

I've never seen that fuel economy on my mk1.

Mine's had what you want done, exhaust, air filter etc running a sensible remap, apparently, and the best I've ever seen even with a load of stuff in the car has been 42/43. Still not awful, but I do have to run it on 97/98, it doesn't like normal petrol.

Welcome.

 

You can't beat an Octy vRS estate   some very nice examples on here.

I'd be over the moon with a genuine 40+mpg. I had a completely standard classic Impreza Turbo that never did more than 23mpg even with steady driving. If I towed with it, fuel economy apparently drops to around 16mpg. Horrific.

 

Have made contact with a Briskoda member about his car and hopefully viewing next week. Fingers crossed I like it and that it fits my varied requirements.

Hello again! So I took a 4-hour train up to Yorkshire on Tuesday morning to meet a thoroughly nice chap called Jonneh and drive 240-odd miles back to Ipswich with an awesome Octavia vRS. I am seriously pleased with it the more I drive it. Huge boot, genuine 34mpg without actually trying (you know what its like when you get a new car with some grunt...), great modifications, non-French build quality, funky noises from the engine...

 

Huge thanks to Jonneh for being so accomodating picking me up from the station, showing me around the car, making me coffee and running me to the Post Office and bank so that I could get home with the new wheels. Beautiful Edition 30 he has.

 

I got my first flat battery this morning. My neighbours saw the left-hand indicators stick on last night for some reason, but they didn't know whose car it was. Jumped it off the Renault, locked the car and all is fine again. I'll keep checking up on it though, which is fine with me as I can't help looking at it on the driveway. Can't wait to punt the Laguna off and start using the Octavia as my road car. I want to start tinkering with it already.

Nice one mate, congrats and welcome officially

Hello! Wow, has it really been well clear of 4 years since I posted about maybe buying a 1U Octavia? I guess time flies when you're having fun. And I've had an immense amount of fun. I still have the same Octavia I bought from a Briskoda member, which is now on 154k miles and has been an amazing car. Apart from my track hack, it's the longest I've owned a motor for.

 

She's done sterling service but the time has come to replace her. Once again, I considered at great depth the same 330d/335d, B5 S4 bi-turbo, B7 S4 V8, Impreza STi/WRX cars as 4 years ago, but it all boils down to how great all-rounders Octavias are. So I've gone for a petrol facelift mk2 Octavia vRS! Again, it's from Briskoda but it needs a top end rebuild before I can put it into service. It has a hell of a lot to live up to, I can tell you.

 

I'll be renewing my membership soon so I can peddle my wares from the current vRS.

I was going to welcome you to Briskoda but I know about your previous vRS from Practical Performance Car.

 

Looking forward to seeing your new vRS.

 

Davy

Thanks Davy! I'm glad to be sticking with Skodas, after a test drive in a V8 S4 left me rather underwhelmed.

8 hours ago, Mankee said:

Thanks Davy! I'm glad to be sticking with Skodas, after a test drive in a V8 S4 left me rather underwhelmed.

 Really??

 

On my third Fabia now I love mine, started off with a mark 1 fabia vRS but now on a base model Fabia but I still love it.

 

Davy

I know. I'm thinking that there was either something wrong with the S4 I drove or that I've been spoilt by a sweet-running modified 1.8T with bags of power and torque over the years.

 

But here endeth the road for my black Octavia. The clutch let go on Monday night, which, along with a turbo that drops oil on my drive, means that it's not viable to keep her on the road for a couple of months until the TSI vRS is ready. As a complete car with those two major issues, it's worthless. So a with a very heavy heart, I'm going to have to start the process of breaking her. That makes me really sad.

 

On the plus side, I've just rejoined as a FREEDOM member.