The vRS is the thinking man's Golf GTi / GTD.... The Leon FR is the same bloke with a mid-life crisis

The vRS is the thinking man's Golf GTi / GTD.... The Leon FR is the same bloke with a mid-life crisis

A mid life crisis sounds like fun! Acting irresponsibly, chasing young women, going out lots, not giving a ****! I'll take the Leon thanks    :moon:    

A mid life crisis sounds like fun! Acting irresponsibly, chasing young women, going out lots, not giving a ****! I'll take the Leon thanks :moon:

You're obviously not married...if you are then can I swap Mrs F for your missus?

My wife wants a new car. Wanted an A3 but was looking at other 'premium' marques as well Volvo V70, Merc A class. She ended up driving my Octy vRS for the first time for some 40 miles on the way and out of all the cars she drove she liked mine best!

 

Looking at the figures for each she's almost ready to pull the trigger on a new Leon-there are some awesome lease deals available on stock cars at the moment on the 184 PS FR. If you don't need the space particularly based on current deals available on the vRS the Leon FR is a very good steer. The only problem with the Leon is they're like arseholes..... everyone has one! I see several daily and we live in a rural area in the lakes, I've still only seen one other Octy vRS by comparison.

 

I really like the styling of the Leon. All things being equal though particularly after completing a 600 odd mile round trip up to the West Coast of Scotland over the Easter weekend, fully loaded up with dog, luggage etc I think the Octy is unbeatable to match for the deal I got as an overall package IMO-love it! :love:  

My wife wants a new car. Wanted an A3 but was looking at other 'premium' marques as well Volvo V70, Merc A class. She ended up driving my Octy vRS for the first time for some 40 miles on the way and out of all the cars she drove she liked mine best!

 

Looking at the figures for each she's almost ready to pull the trigger on a new Leon-there are some awesome lease deals available on stock cars at the moment on the 184 PS FR. If you don't need the space particularly based on current deals available on the vRS the Leon FR is a very good steer. The only problem with the Leon is they're like arseholes..... everyone has one! I see several daily and we live in a rural area in the lakes, I've still only seen one other Octy vRS by comparison.

 

 

Yes, but when Skoda finally respond to customer demand and take the only commercially viable decision, that is to increase production to more than 5 cars a week, then an Octavia may well become fair target for your vernacular.

I'm almost certain to turn away from Skoda, after a mk1 fabia vRS followed by my current fl mk2 Octavia vRS I'm really being swayed by the cupra, till a couple of weeks ago I'd always planned a mk3 but I'm really tempted by the Leon, I've been more than impressed with the Octavia, best car I've had, it is very nearly fully specced , practicaly every box was ticked and that's what's swaying it to some extent, the Leon has all the equipment I was looking for and the octy would need options added to get to the same level, so yes it will cost a little more but in my eyes probably worth it.

 

My only real dilemma is finance, never had credit before, I'm not 100% in favour of it but it does make sense in many ways. Only other point is I loath to trade in, I vowed not to trade in the fabia, I could have waited to sell but the convenience got the better off me, i can't help but think you get stiffed on the deal every time.

Cupra will be great, my son has just got a new Leon 1.4 FR with the 150bhp engine. It is very nippy with all the toys and very frugal. The only thing you will miss is the ton of extra space in the Octy, particularly the boot. So if you want a smaller car which is much quicker and a bit firmer then get the Cupra.

Never mind the boot. The headroom on the rear seats is a joke. I'm only just 6 foot tall and in the rear my head was up against the roof. There was more head roomim in the back of my old 53 plate MINI.

The choice, for me, was exactly between a Leon FR and a Skoda Octavia VRS. I threw out Mercedes C, Audi A4/A6 and VW Golf Variant/Passat Variant as options. They're too pricey for what you get (in my opinion, and boot size was a critical factor.

 

I chose the Skoda for several reasons: it was cheaper (I got a lot more discount on the VRS than on the Leon), the sat nav on the Octavia (Columbus) is WAY better than the absolutely horribly slow satnav on the Leon, and the panoramic sun roof option is a no brainer..

 

I did have a strong preference for the Leon's styling, since Skoda, in my opinion, is so bland, but I decided I could live with that. Practicality over style..

Edited 24 November, 201411 yr by oolibel

When it came to lease renewal time, I narrowed it down to the vrs estate and leon tourer. strangely enough the Leon was the slightly cheaper option for me in terms of leasing costs. My wife has a 2012 Leon fr (non-touring) variant and it's a brilliant car to drive. However, with the leon, you cannot spec keyless entry or heated windscreen, which are 2 items on my current car (passat cc) which i would really miss. Couple that with the better practicality, the vrs was the outright winner.

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I was down to 2 choices at the end; Leon FR ST and Octavia Elegance estate. I chose the Skoda purely from a financial point of view because it was on 0% PCP with 3 years free servicing (the Leon was 5% PCP and servicing was extra). Also the Skoda is a little larger inside.

I was originally looking between a new octavia vrs estate or Leon fr estate. I felt both worked out more expensive than they were worth by the time I added some options....especially the octavia. I then looked at nearly new and there were few octavia with a decent spec second hand. In my opinion the Leon offers better value for money and looks nicer (controversial to say on a skoda forum lol!). I saved over 7k on list price for a 6month old car. Sat nav, led lights, panaromic roof, seat sound (similar to canton), metallic white (usually £700 option!), 18" wheels, alcantara interior. Boot space is near as damn it the same as the octavia . The octavia does offer slightly more space inside but for me it no longer offers the value they once were.

I didnt look at anything else when I ordered my vRS estate in September 2013 but i think I'll be swapping it in for a golf R estate in about a years time.

Say Jay, you still got the Hulk then, I remember back in August was it, you popped down to Meon Hut and got the power boot setup the way you wanted it.  Thought you said it had to go obviously some things changed around.

 

Regards

T

The new Leon, the ultimate dullard's car.

 

It's pretty, sure, but it's incredibly boring looking, even in Cupra spec.  The Octavia is a much better looker, and a much bigger car.

 

I did look at the Porsche Panamera, Audi RS6 and Bentley Continental GT, but ultimately came to the conclusion that the Octavia vRS was a much better car and superior in every way.

 

 

(That said, if there hadn't been 0% finance, I suspect I'd have gone down the C class (pre-facelift route) due to the deals that were around at the time.  Bloody glad I didn't....)

The new Leon, the ultimate dullard's car.

 

It's pretty, sure, but it's incredibly boring looking, even in Cupra spec.  The Octavia is a much better looker, and a much bigger car.

 

I did look at the Porsche Panamera, Audi RS6 and Bentley Continental GT, but ultimately came to the conclusion that the Octavia vRS was a much better car and superior in every way.

Attaboy!

I'll ignore the small print. I always ignore the small print.

Been to look at a cupra today, was lovely, I'm not overly keen on trade in's and the pittance I was offered hasn't changed my view, the size isn't an issue as the Octavia has always been far bigger than I've needed.still unsure on how I'll purchase, probably edging towards PCP although there are still slight doubts in the back of my mind over whether its a sound way to buy having never used credit before. Did briefly pop into Skoda just to view a mk3 vRS and then remembered on my way home that the particular dealer has quoted me already via carwow, doh.plus points on the Skoda is that its available with a heated screen and keyless start however I've done without for 17 odd years so I can't say its a deal breaker. Have to weigh up the pro's and con's now.

I drove the ST FR and thought it was a cracking car to drive. Love the way it looks. Unfortunately the interior I thought was bloody awful. So I went for the VRS. Which I'm still waiting for.

I went for an FR this time around. It felt livelier straight away, is a little but more controlled in the corners and in my opinion has a nicer interior. I felt the current vrs was a bit bland compared to the mark 2 which felt a little more special.

The main clincher for me was scumbags seemed to take notice of the race blue vrs. The leon just passes by unnoticed and I like that.

I don't need the boot space but the Leon also had a few extra bits as standard. It's quite close between them though.

Cupra might be my next car since Octavia is too slow

 

It certainly drives better and has less rattless.

 

The only thing I would miss is that in Leon I fell like in hatchback, while in Octavia I pretend to drive a limousine :P