Had my DSG VRS estate for a week now, options include:

Black pack

Columbus

Leather with heated seats

Simply clever

Sunset glass

Clocked up 500 miles already and first impressions, of my first Skoda, are excellent. Really impressed with the quality feel of the interior, outside looks and the fact that there are not many on the road, especially not in silver. One of the reasons I went for the car was the space and boot size needed for my family and camping trips. The boot is simply massive, then you get even more space under the floor. Some great little touches like an air compressor and tyre weld included, had no idea they would be.

The technology and functions through the Columbus are mind boggling which does lead me to a downside. Coming from 3 previous BMW's you get used to idrive which is very intuitive and becomes second nature when driving. So this is a personal issue, learning a whole new infotainment system is a bit of a bind but equally it exposes how good the Columbus is. Other negative is the screen sits too low, BMW's, Audi's and Merc's all have their systems sitting higher in the dash which is definitely safer when driving.

The ride is harder than I remember from the test drive and harder than my previous M-sport 3 series touring which has really surprised me. It reminds me of my old Audi A4 sport, it is a bit jittery over undulating and bumpy back roads. Clearly they didn't do any development on UK roads!

Diesel and DSG a combo seem really good, engine is smooth and gear change very good compared to previous 8 speed in the Beemer which is one of the best around.

Overall I love it, the positives totally outweighs the negatives and I'm really looking forward to the next three years with it and giving it its first wash on Sunday! Was it worth a 10 month wait, is any car worth that long a wait? Don't care now as I've got it!

Hey Jollyroger, thanks for the review.

Please to read you're enjoying her so far.

The display sitting too low is something I already noticed during the test drive, something they should definitely improve in newer versions.

 

But... I'm given to understand the maxi dot display also gives you concise route instructions meaning you can just watch your speedometer once in a while (as you should anyway, right? ) and know where to go.

 

The new BMW's do this as well but I still have to get used to that, I never drove my BMW with the audio on the satnav on because the screen was just so 'visible' as not to need it.

Yes the maxi dot in the main console is very good and does the sat nav bit very well.

The other thing I didn't mention is that the seats are brilliant, very comfortable for long journeys.

Edited 11 October, 201411 yr by Jollyroger

The ride shouldn't be bad, unless you are on 19s. Have a grope of your front shocks. Maybe they've left the blocks on them, like numerous people on here.

I agree. I'm on 19" Xtreme alloys, albeit lowered on Eibachs and the ride is better than my old mk2 vRS on 18" on Neptunes without a shadow of a doubt.

The rides not horrendous don't get me wrong, but I will check the springs later. It just doesn't settle that well, a Lotus Evora is more compliant put it that way.

A Lotus Evora is more compliant than 99% of all cars given it's purpose

The vRS TDI is alot of car for the cash; expensive by Skoda standards but when you weigh up what you get as standard compared to a 3 series etc, mixed with still v competitive finance arrangements it is hard to make an argument for some of the competition.

I think I would still rather have an F30 3 series though, sure it's nothing like as commodious but money no object I think it would still be my choice....also whilst on paper a decent spec 320d seems like an awful lot of money by comparison it is now possible to get a good discount on a BMW which once upon a time was alot more difficult....I suppose cars like the vRS mean that 3 series no longer just sell themselves and BMW UK/dealers gave had to up their game. Without doubt though a new Octavia does give cars like the 3 series a run for their money where as I'd say the Mk2 didn't so much IMHO.

I do agree also about the infotainment. Overall it is a nice system and I've always liked how VAG integrate it with the dash computer for nav commands/phone etc but for all its capability it is over complicated....to carry out certain things on the move with the touchscreen can be quite distracting and dangerous. Set ups like IDrive and MMI are perhaps better in this respect once you've got the hang of them, particularly the screen placement. You'll probably find in time also that it has its share of glitches too. I gather it runs in a version of QNX (basically a mobile optimised version of Linux - same as a BlackBerry OS 10 device) and it does have some funny quirks.

I thought the display height was ok....I'm coming from a Passat where the (tiny) sat nav/info screen sits about halfway down the panel, even lower than on the Skoda. So the Skoda is actually an improvement for me! I take your point though, it could be improved.