This might not be a popular thing to say on here but..... Owning both a Fabia vRS and BMW 120d I can confirm that the diesel Beemer is significantly quicker both off the line, throughout the midrange and at higher speeds. They both have similar power outputs but the extra 100lbft in the bmw does make a difference. In fact the 120d monsters the Fabia at the lights mainly due to the RWD and fat rear tyres plus the Fabias relatively poor front end traction.

The vRS will comfortably have the beating of your typical VAG 2.0tdi 140 all day long tho. :-)

I've driven a 120d a few years ago over the space of a year or so. Took it to Germany on the autobahn too. It does get off the line a little better I found but think the vRS feels much quicker IMO helped by DSG I think. The BMW saw its top speed but took a while to get there I found.

I've driven a 120d a few years ago over the space of a year or so. Took it to Germany on the autobahn too. It does get off the line a little better I found but think the vRS feels much quicker IMO helped by DSG I think. The BMW saw its top speed but took a while to get there I found.

The previous generation 120d is quite pokey. My brother-in-law has one and it's been close when I have been out and about following him in our Fabia. The latest F20 120d that I have now moves the game on a lot tho. It's got abit more power/torque and is lighter weight plus it's equipped with the awesome ZF-8spd box.

Maybe you have not yet met a 1.2 Supercharged one that wants to play.

 

Neither am i into traffic light Grand Prixs, it is very embarrassing in a vRS.

 

I like an under 3 second 50-70 mph, thats the Mid range that matters to me.

Kind of why they designed the Twincharger to have low torque @ 2000-4500 rpm Diesel Like.

& gave it the same performance of the 204 ps V6 Golf 4 Motion officially.

I was under the impression the remit was an engine that gave the performance of the 2.3 V5 with the economy of the the 1.6 (both engines of the same era)?  Probably true of the first incarnations of the twincharger (160/170PS).

 

Off the mark isn't the Fabia's strong point by a long shot - but I agree with George in that once you're rolling, it's a beast for a sub-1400cc car.

http://parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/volkswage/golf/hatchback-1997/21043

 

That might have been the remit, they exceeded that by quite a margin,

and then they ended up with one that standard from the factory has the slightly better official performance figures at all speeds, 0-30, 0-62, 50-70, 0-80 etc other than top speed (146) than the Mk4 Golf 2.8 V6 4Motion (204ps /Kerb Weight 1,400 kg) but nearly half the Overall Fuel Consumption.

I've driven a 120d a few years ago over the space of a year or so. Took it to Germany on the autobahn too. It does get off the line a little better I found but think the vRS feels much quicker IMO helped by DSG I think. The BMW saw its top speed but took a while to get there I found.

so what was its top speed? I took the vRS to czech accross Germany... 4 up with luggage

 

I hit a SatNav 140mph in mine but it was getting a bit twitchy at that - but I do have factory standard (read "on stilts") suspension...  It still had a bit to go though based on the rate it was still accelerating.

 

 

George will be asking if it was in D7 or S7...

No i will be  not asking that. at that speeds D 7 is good enough IMO.

 

What i will ask is,

Does your gearbox go into S7 flat out above 130 mph  or stay in 'S6' ?

I was in "D" (6) 

Mine was in S7 for the record (changed up about 220kph/137mph) - was running Tesco Momentum 99 at the time.  June 2012 build CAVE

I have not been able to try a CTHE to see if it will go to 'S7' at Max when on a suitable road..

 

Not got one to do it under max acceleration to the Max Speed.

 

With a CAVE some early ones do.

Only yesterday was I thinking how fast the vRS is when the circumstances are right...exit a roundabout onto a clear dual carriage way,third gear is best,and full acceleration and close to the red line in gears three,four and into five seems to see you closing on 90 in the blink off an eye.The CTHE engine definitely has a kick at the top end and seems like it has 200 hp to me.

Not as quick as the TVRs I've had,obviously,but subjectively feels similar to the 350z,and the TT QS (240hp)....and slightly quicker than the Octy vRS tsi,although in reality perhaps not.

A great engine when on song,come on VAG,develop it and make it reliable and install it in a great handling small car with a manual box .

Something wrong with a Standard one which is run in,

if on 98 ron (99) and not at 70 in 3rd and 100 in 4th if redlining, (or just below)

 

....

VW says the Polo GTI is coming with 189 BHP and a manual box option,

they just failed to say what engine.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/revised-volkswagen-polo-gti-get-manual-gearbox-option

 

SEAT & VW are giving pretty high official performance figures & Low Emission figures for the

1.4 TSI 140-150 PS engines with ACT.

 

Good Nm Torque & Speeds.

Some Publications seem to be doing Typos though.

 

Like with when the vRS Hatch & Estate were launched with stories of the Estate being 5 kg lighter unladen,

VAG are slow to correct.

 it has taken 4 years to change the weight to show the estate is actually 70 kg more unladen.

???

How many looking at a vRS Hatch had a salesperson tell them how the vRS estate was actually lighter by 5kg?

 

Same happened with the SEAT Ibiza Cupra 2009 & POLO GTI 2010, wrong weights published.

Which makes the Published Emission Test figures just totally wrong.

 

Skoda never changed/updated the Emission figures or performance figures with the CTHE engine in the vRS

yet SEAT made a big deal of it with the 2013 Seat Ibiza Cupra.

Only yesterday was I thinking how fast the vRS is when the circumstances are right...exit a roundabout onto a clear dual carriage way,third gear is best,and full acceleration and close to the red line in gears three,four and into five seems to see you closing on 90 in the blink off an eye.The CTHE engine definitely has a kick at the top end and seems like it has 200 hp to me.

Not as quick as the TVRs I've had,obviously,but subjectively feels similar to the 350z,and the TT QS (240hp)....and slightly quicker than the Octy vRS tsi,although in reality perhaps not.

A great engine when on song,come on VAG,develop it and make it reliable and install it in a great handling small car with a manual box .

After doing 50k in the CAVE engined car, I can say the CTHE seems to have an almost v-tec like kick at 5k to 7k, which the old car didn't seem to have.... cant wait to see some graphs posted up after the awesome RR meet this weekend!

How about a Sweepie on it,  ??  If someone could start a thread.

£2 each to charity per guess.

 

I bags a max 188 BHP from a Standard vRS 1.4 TSI CTHE using 99 ron Tesco Momentum,

 on 205/40 r 17's

I'll go one more George, I'll go for the "polo" quoted 189 bhp from standard CTHE on 99 fuel

Mine is now always on 99 Momentum....weekly ritual, load the Tesco shopping into the boot and call at their petrol station on the way out.

After doing 50k in the CAVE engined car, I can say the CTHE seems to have an almost v-tec like kick at 5k to 7k, which the old car didn't seem to have.... cant wait to see some graphs posted up after the awesome RR meet this weekend!

Yep love the kick from 5k in the CTHE. Great fun!

so what was its top speed? I took the vRS to czech accross Germany... 4 up with luggage

 

145mph indicated. It would not go beyond this.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/bmw/1-series/hatchback-2004/36750/

I was impressed and it felt controllable. I took my 2.0 165bhp diesel Fiat Bravo the following year which would hit 135mph indicated but didn't feel as grounded as the BMW. Not had the opportunity with the vRS yet.

Noted that the new shape 120d is probably much improved. The one I drove was an 09 plate I think with 80000 miles on the clock at the time. The manual shows another 10bhp and improved figures. Amazing how quiet the engines run on these.

I got my to 231 km/h  (143.5 mph) (cave engine), for few seconds and it felt like a top limit. Don't know what gear it was in. Fuel was 100 octane (no special name for it in Slovenia   ).

I think that anything over 200km/h feels unstable (or at least not very safe) in fabia vrs and god help if you need to do some heavy breaking .

145mph indicated. It would not go beyond this.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/bmw/1-series/hatchback-2004/36750/

I was impressed and it felt controllable. I took my 2.0 165bhp diesel Fiat Bravo the following year which would hit 135mph indicated but didn't feel as grounded as the BMW. Not had the opportunity with the vRS yet.

Noted that the new shape 120d is probably much improved. The one I drove was an 09 plate I think with 80000 miles on the clock at the time. The manual shows another 10bhp and improved figures. Amazing how quiet the engines run on these.

 

the speedo was reading 150 mph... the GPS seen on the iphone was 144 felt quite good! we had gone to some to lengths to buy tyres for the trip, ect car in perfect nick... CAVE engine....

I got my to 231 km/h  (143.5 mph) (cave engine), for few seconds and it felt like a top limit. Don't know what gear it was in. Fuel was 100 octane (no special name for it in Slovenia   ).

I think that anything over 200km/h feels unstable (or at least not very safe) in fabia vrs and god help if you need to do some heavy breaking .

we were using the (101 RON I think?) BP ultimate.... was definitely better than our paltry 97 RON here in the UK :( the car really liked the high octane fuel , ran MUCH better, you could feel it!

Aral do a 102RON - Can't remember what the German Shell V-Power Racing is off hand (100/1011?).  Runs well on both

Not always up to date/accurate, but near enough for the regions, countries.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating

the speedo was reading 150 mph... the GPS seen on the iphone was 144 felt quite good! we had gone to some to lengths to buy tyres for the trip, ect car in perfect nick... CAVE engine....

we were using the (101 RON I think?) BP ultimate.... was definitely better than our paltry 97 RON here in the UK :( the car really liked the high octane fuel , ran MUCH better, you could feel it!

We have 95 and 100 ron. For TSI it is recomendet to use at least 98 i think. So i always go for 100 RON. But i could feel the difference with my previous two cars - Yaris 1.0 was completely different car, but still kind a slower than city bus...

Has OP bought the car yet?

'stevobeavo' was the author of the #1 post,   

 

not the other Gentleman that does or does not work in the car industry.