Hi All,

My 5 week old VRS has gone into have the Xenon ECU replaced due to a fault message that kept appearing. I asked for a courtesy car and my salesman offered me his car, a Fabia VRS.

Now I must say that it really does pack a punch. With the DSG box in sport mode and foot flat down it accelerates far quicker than my VRS Diesel, but I am really surprised at the build quality. Getting into the Fabia feels like you are stepping back almost 10 years ago. There are parts on the Fabia which are fitted to my 2004 polo. Really expected to get the same feel as I do when stepping into my Octavia. Just shows how much the build quality on the Octavia has improved.

I'm not putting the Fabia down at all. It's great fun to drive and I actually like the exterior look. However I am so looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of my VRS

You were stepping back into a 4 year old design, and in a body style from 2007,

Really it shows what a bargain a Fabia vRS can be.  180 ps/dsg & a Ticket price around £17,000 but you can get a Hatch and even an estate with under 1000 miles for under £14,000.

 

*With it in D and the foot hard down it would & does accelerate faster than in 'S',

and even faster than a vRS Octavia 220ps Petrol.*

(you still have 7 gears and shifting up quick and not red lining in 6 gears, you are getting the torque and power where you need it 2,200-4,500 rpm & you have Super & Turbo charger, and shifting well before 6,200 rpm, instead of the needle going to 7,000 rpm)

 

*Maybe stick in some 99 RON petrol rather than the 95 RON the salesperson has in,

it will go considerably better.*

 

For the past 4 years they have sold less than 3,000 and at over 3 years old you can get more than 50% of what you paid for them.

 

So more than a 5th of the first 1,800 cars have had major engine faults, many engines have been replaced, and a few of the revised engines from 2012 also had engine failures.

But they are what they are just a decent fast hatch you can by with a 5 year Warranty for under £15,000

 

george

 

?How much does a vRS Octavia cost, and what do you get for a 3 year old one when we get to 2016?

Skoda need to keep improving quality, it is a shame after 5 weeks of owning a new car you need to 

be driving a Courtesy car.

& its time that they give out like for like, & not some Budget Model when a Premium Model 

is in for Warranty Work.

Difficult to accept that the fabia accelerates harder than an Octy VRS (petrol) as the Octy has 17 hp/ton and 40 lb/ft per ton advantage.  I agree that with the supercharger on the Fabia the throttle response would be almost instant at lower revs but comparing the two foot hard down (as you stated) even the book figures show a 0.4 second advantage (0-62) in the Octy.

 

The only comparable mini hot hatch to the fabia would be a Corsa VXR but value wise the Fabia is almost impossible to beat (although you have to accept a 20% chance your engine will go wrong which is worryingly high).

 

The MkIII Octy has a very nice interior, getting into any other lower class car will not feel anywhere near as nice.

 

Hope your Xenons get sorted.

Dont accept anything from a forum, go try them both.

200 + kg on the road difference, and a minimum 180ps vs 220ps minimum,

and just time them on proper equipment.

 

A standard 1.4tsi Twincharger with TC off is not Slower than a Polo GTI or Ibiza Cupra as VAG Official times show. The 3 other VAG 1.4 TSI Twincharger including the A1 185ps are heavier, and given better figures by VAG because they cost more, thats the VAG way.

 

They do not put a Spare Wheel as standard in the More Expensive cars, Saves 19kg @ the Testing,

and they Bolt 25kg of weight to the rear of the vRS Hatch, they told us for 3 years the Fabia vRS Estate was 5kg lighter than the Hatch Kerb Weight,

Now it turns out it was 70 KG heavier all along.

The new engine goes in the 4 cars in 2012, they revise the Times/Speed/Emissions on the SEAT,

but same new engine/MAP in the Skoda and Skoda does not revise/update the figures,

 

VORSPRUNG DURCH TECHNIK,

( if the cost more, be sure official figures make them look lighter and give them better times.)

 

I have timed the MK3 220ps DSG Estate,  

& a MK 2 vRS Fabia in real life, not brochure figures.

& put them on a Weigh Bridge and got True Weights, not Kerb/Unladen Weights.

 

george

I remember sitting in the mkII fabia vRS when it came out at Goodwood, the interior quality was laughable, can't believe they were asking £17k for them!

Some are paying £20,000 for a speced up Estate,

and Dealers will take your money if you give them it.

 

They can be had easily for £5000 less, because some dealers struggle to shift them,

& Ex Demonstrators and Used Models in Dealers are sitting there with the pathetic Discs rusting overnight,

& red with rust and pitted in a few weeks.

 

Skoda need to accept their Faulty Builds, poor Design & Manufacturing and get on with sorting out products they sold.

4 Years after Launch and Dealers & Written stuff from Skoda still says they have Front Fog Lights,

yet Skoda turned them out from 2010 with no Front Fogs, not even as an option.

 

Interior Quality might not have bells and whistles, and glitter that is not gold,

but it does function quite well, and does the job.

More are rattle free than not,  but thats VAG cars for you.

Style over function sometimes,  at least with the Fabia vRS MK2 they never bothered with style.

just one face lift and some Plastic-Chrome, & some better Engine Internals fitted.

Dont accept anything from a forum, go try them both.

200 + kg on the road difference, and a minimum 180ps vs 220ps minimum,

and just time them on proper equipment.

 

A standard 1.4tsi Twincharger with TC off is not Slower than a Polo GTI or Ibiza Cupra as VAG Official times show. The 3 other VAG 1.4 TSI Twincharger including the A1 185ps are heavier, and given better figures by VAG because they cost more, thats the VAG way.

 

They do not put a Spare Wheel as standard in the More Expensive cars, Saves 19kg @ the Testing,

and they Bolt 25kg of weight to the rear of the vRS Hatch, they told us for 3 years the Fabia vRS Estate was 5kg lighter than the Hatch Kerb Weight,

Now it turns out it was 70 KG heavier all along.

The new engine goes in the 4 cars in 2012, they revise the Times/Speed/Emissions on the SEAT,

but same new engine/MAP in the Skoda and Skoda does not revise/update the figures,

 

VORSPRUNG DURCH TECHNIK,

( if the cost more, be sure official figures make them look lighter and give them better times.)

 

I have timed the MK3 220ps DSG Estate,  

& a MK 2 vRS Fabia in real life, not brochure figures.

& put them on a Weigh Bridge and got True Weights, not Kerb/Unladen Weights.

 

george

George

 

I have tried them both and for a time I even went in to the new Clio RS 1.6 Turbo, had it mapped to 245bhp an 244flbt, however I never felt the smaller pot turbo gave me the same sensation in either the Fab VRS or the Clio as the 2.0 does in the new OC3 VRS. Can't explain why,...mid range in the OC3 is just brilliant.

 

I also had my OC3 VRS timed and managed a 5.9 second 0-60 average over 3 runs using an app that I calibrated alongside my mates VBOX, in fact the VBOX was consistently 0.3 seconds quicker on every run than my app, go figure! That would put my time to 5.6 seconds!

 

To be honest sub 6 seconds is quick enough for me for now and the above time by the way is from a stock OC3 VRS, albeit it the hatch which is lighter still than the estate.

 

It is each to their own though although I couldn't live with either the Fab or Clio the same way I can with the OC3, just ticks all the right boxes for me.

Edited 10 April, 201412 yr by Telboy5

What times were you getting 0-120 (200kmh) ?

Or even 0-80 mph, 30-100 ?

 

I also have put some miles in with the Clio 200 RS 1.6T.  and could not live with one.

I was intending to buy.

Same with the new MK3 Mini Cooper S Auto.

 

When you spend lots more for one car over another, like from 50%-100%  more with an Octavia, Leon or Golf/Passat,

then you never really compare apples and pears.

Horses for courses really.

Or vehicles suitable for Airport Transfers & Mini Cabbing quickly & economically with the Dirty Diesels.

I sat in the latest 2014 Nissan note the other day I was shocked how tinny the plastics were compared to my fabia. I think the fabia holds up well to its 2007 rivals. Lets hope things step up ( aspecially the black on black door cards) on the new 2015 fabia , then it can be compared to the latest superminis.

I have driven a mark3 Octavia VRS petrol and a mark 2 FL VRS petrol and can't tell any difference in performance or build quality. I have an elegance FL estate 1.8 TSi. I think generally the Fabia mark 2 is behind the Octavia on build quality, there is not a marked difference, more a difference because of the price. The Fabia is still a nicely built hatch.

Regarding the performance of the VRS twincharger in the Fabia, brilliant. My rear tells me that between the Fabia and a VRS Octavia mark 3 there is not much in it. I would say the Fabia feels slightly quicker. Top end I think the Octavia has the edge, higher bhp starts to tell.

However, take them for a hard drive on an A road and the Octavia would stay with the Fabia for a couple of miles or so, then the Fabia would be gone.