So my mk2 Fabia VRS has clocked up some decent mileage since I got it 5 years ago, currently on around 96k. Now out of extended warranty and getting paranoid about the potential for epic bills if anything goes wrong.

 

Due to the current Fabia range lacking a warm model, considering an Octavia next but unsure which engine will be the best for me. I love the blend of performance and economy from the Fabia, average low 40mpg. I've heard good things about the 140bhp 1.4TSI and it sounds like it'll exceed the Fabia economy still keeping a reasonably punchy engine.

 

Another factor is my work mileage will drop massively soon so thinking maybe a petrol VRS would be affordable too.

 

Anyone care to comment - will it feel a big step down to go to the 1.4TSI? Would a 2.0 VRS get close to low 40s average on mixed driving and feel as quick if not quicker than the little Fabia.

 

Head says be more sensible, heart still wants that VRS badge! 

 

Finally, not interested in diesel due to living in London and possible backlash against them, as well as the dpf issues of shorter journeys.

Are you buying a used one then,

what is the budget to be and how old are you going to consider buying?

1 minute ago, AwaoffSki said:

Are you buying a used one then,

what is the budget to be and how old are you going to consider buying?

 

Yep used, hope to stay under £15k not including trade-in of the Fabia - maybe 1 year old and 10-15k miles. Annual mileage should halve soon from 18-20k to under 10k!

If you are going to drive the VRS like a VRS should be driven then that is the one, but if you are going to just drive it around, then the 1.4tsi is the one, and a good one for its type.

You are going to have to try both to make up you own mind I'm afraid.....lucky you

Edited 26 November, 20178 yr by Gerrycan

5 minutes ago, Gerrycan said:

If you are going to drive the VRS like a VRS should be driven then that is the one, but if you are going to just drive it around, then the 1.4tsi is the one, and a good one for its type.

You are going to have to try both to make up you own mind I'm afraid.....lucky you

 

How do you " just drive " a 1.4Tsi around then Gerrycan ?         

I have to admit, unless I'm on a cracking driving road eg on holiday in Scotland then I don't drive that briskly! 

22 minutes ago, Auric Goldfinger said:

 

How do you " just drive " a 1.4Tsi around then Gerrycan ?         

The same way I would drive a vRS of course, or even a 1.0tsi.

Road conditions, the presence of speed cameras and punitive fines and points determine my pace

 

Edited 26 November, 20178 yr by Gerrycan

TeebsvRS,

Since you heard good things about the 1.4 TSI 140ps  go drive a 1.4 TSI 150ps and see what you think.

 

Other than the 0-70/80 mph being slower than the twincharger and the 30-70 mph the economy is much the same.

 

As to a replacement for your Fabia maybe go look at a Seat Leon 1.8TSI 180ps.

Crackers IMO, nice Multilink suspension and in my experience performance matches the Twincharger just about to 70-80 mph,

fuel economy betters it on 'normal drives' not spirited or sporting.

A 1.4TSI will never be a VRS.

 

Everything depends what you want from it.

 

Try both then decide what's right for you.  

 

Some VRS owners report 40mpg but the majority get nowhere near and that's driven sedately.

 

When I drove a 1.4 I thought it was good for a 1.4 but it soon gets to the point of oh that's it.... A 230 is fun all the time.

His 1.4tsi was a vRS, a Fabia mk2 vRS. 

 

 180ps is fun all the time as well if not the size & weight of a Taxi.

Edited 26 November, 20178 yr by AwaoffSki

23 minutes ago, Sheldon.Cooper said:

 

Some VRS owners report 40mpg but the majority get nowhere near and that's driven sedately.

 

 

Driven nicely I can get my Tsi 230 into the Low 40's ( on Maxi dot ). A quick sprint to London from Yorkshire and back around the 35's ( again Maxi Dot )

More BHP should not mean less MPG if they are doing NSL's and weight the same & are driving the same.

Hence a 115 ps 3 cylinder 1.0 tsi can use the same fuel or less than 220 /230 ps or even 245ps.

Edited 26 November, 20178 yr by AwaoffSki

Friend, there is a really big difference between vRS and 1.4 TSI Octavia. It is not just the engine, complete feeling of the car is way better on the vRS. Most important components which give any car driving pleasure and personality, suspension and steering, are much better on vRS.

Yes you pays your money and make your choices. Pay more get more usually.

 

On the Fabia vRS as the OP knows the suspension, steering and brakes were total sh!te, penny pinching to get a supercharger,

but the speed was nice going forward, no Turbo lag,

and the economy could be amazing just driving..

VAG are quite canny with their model ranges aren't they. As in no Octavia 1.8TSI apart from L&K spec, so only SEAT Leon to fit that market and no Fabia with the 1.4TSI.

 

The Leon FR estate may be worth a try as the stats are almost identical to my Fabia VRS and the boot is only a little smaller than the Octavia, thanks for the reminder Awaoffski.

 

Think some test drives once ready to change will be the only way to decide!

They did a pretty good car as an Australian member reminded me in a post i read today.

 

Thread is down this page, 'wheelspin in a 4x4 in the dry'

(just a glitch as Skoda / VW seem to have with Haldex or Servicing of Haldex..  We know about glitches!)

 

The Octavia 1.8 TSI 132 (180ps) 4x4 estate.

Edited 26 November, 20178 yr by AwaoffSki

Go for the VRS. You will only regret it for years to come when you see one drive past You! And as someone has mentioned, it's not just the power. It's the steering, the seats, the road presence and the fact 

I don't what the situation is in the UK but here in Aus there is a significant difference in the initial purchase price, ongoing servicing costs and insurance between the 1.4tsi and the VRS.

Everybody has their own criteria but our situation limits the budget for cars and so we try not to get caught up in buying things we don't need or will not or cannot use.

As it is we now have a vehicle which is immensely practical, albeit bigger than necessary for our daily requirements but it pretty well matches, sometimes betters smaller (petrol) vehicles in terms of economy.

The mk3 1.4tsi is a light vehicle for its size and others who have owned them say it pretty well matches the mk2 1.8tsi for performance, power to weight figures confirm it is probably very close.

I know others will laugh but I find the 1.4tsi mildly sporting to drive on the road and there is minimal difference in the tyres fitted to the vRS and 1.4tsi in terms of road/tyre contact and I'd even argue that the 17" are superior to 19" wheels for normal roads.

Not disputing the vRS is a much more sporting car than the 1.4tsi but from my perspective it is not an affordable or better value car.

We also have a 1.3L Toyota Echo (13 sec to 100kph) and I can safely overtake slower vehicles in that, even B-double/triples on the open road. Technique and judgement are far more important than just power

 

Edited 27 November, 20178 yr by Gerrycan

4 hours ago, JamiePvrs said:

Go for the VRS. You will only regret it for years to come when you see one drive past You! And as someone has mentioned, it's not just the power. It's the steering, the seats, the road presence and the fact 

I was with you right up to ...."road presence".

In Australia, those who drive, or have driven, a vRS ('RS' here and they represent a very high proportion of Skoda sales) appreciate them for all they offer but most of the public are either don't notice or are even scathing about their 'East European' origins.

Many think that other manufacturers do styling of medium sized cars better than Skoda but they usually come at some compromise to internal efficiency or external visibility introduced with exaggerated rising window lines and obstructive rear c-pillars. So I much prefer the styling of the Octavia (estate) to those other brands for the practical reasons I mention... but road presence??

8 hours ago, Gerrycan said:

I was with you right up to ...."road presence".

In Australia, those who drive, or have driven, a vRS ('RS' here and they represent a very high proportion of Skoda sales) appreciate them for all they offer but most of the public are either don't notice or are even scathing about their 'East European' origins.

Many think that other manufacturers do styling of medium sized cars better than Skoda but they usually come at some compromise to internal efficiency or external visibility introduced with exaggerated rising window lines and obstructive rear c-pillars. So I much prefer the styling of the Octavia (estate) to those other brands for the practical reasons I mention... but road presence??

 

Yeah road presence, I find alot of people comment on the looks and I also find alot of people quickly move out the way on the motorway, my wife thinks it looks like a police car lol. 

 

Listen I've had some pretty mundane models of pretty boring cars in the last few year's lol so this VRS is the like the batmobile to me lol!

In the UK of the 20,000 plus Octavia First Registered in the recent passed years and this there are 20% with a vRS Badge. Petrols & Diesels.

 

so only 1 in 5 on the road or forecourt are a vRS.

As to people moving out the way for them, plenty might be thinking it might be an unmarked police car so move, then get fed up following 

some diesel or even petrol that seems to be getting driven for economy reasons and was just a tail gaiter so they overtake again and get a shift on.

 

vRS issue is the Skoda issue, just add plastic tat and stickers and trim and more show than go. 

 

The great Doctor Vahland

(one of these Engineers Engineers knows all about vehicles & just like VW's CEO  Martin Winterkon, Deaf Dumb and Blind to lies . cheats, a wee boy did it then ran away...)

has gone, moved to head VW USA, where maybe he would have been arrested....So offski, pastures new,

he seemed to think a proper vRS was an Octavia.

Seemed to forget that Motorsport Heritage and Success was Light small Capacity Engine cars that handled well.

Also forgot that signing off cheating Defeat Devices was illegal.

http://www.topgear.com/car-news/hot-hatch/skoda-will-kill-fabia-vrs 

Edited 27 November, 20178 yr by AwaoffSki

1 hour ago, JamiePvrs said:

 

Yeah road presence, I find alot of people comment on the looks and I also find alot of people quickly move out the way on the motorway, my wife thinks it looks like a police car lol. 

 

Listen I've had some pretty mundane models of pretty boring cars in the last few year's lol so this VRS is the like the batmobile to me lol!

The fact that Octavia are relatively widely used by Police and Paramedics and driven legally at illegal speeds would certainly register on public awareness that these cars are more than capable vehicles, but it is not a market that Skoda have tapped into here in Australia.

Then again in the UK they are used by a lot of taxi drivers as well, which offsets the image a bit.

Skoda returned to the Australian market about 8 years ago with slow initial sales and their marketing has only resulted in slow incremental growth.

The funny thing is that on many Australian automotive web sites you will find that a disproportionate number of those that comment are enthusiastic Skoda owners so obviously discerning car enthusiasts (and motoring journalists) recognise the brand's merits. The majority of the buying public buy either Japanese or Korean cars or the burgeoning number of (supposedly) SUV or utes. Compared to the last two even a 1.4tsi Octavia truly is a sports car.

 

One evening last year my wife and I were sitting on a veranda sipping a glass or two of excellent local wine with the car parked in front of us and with vineyards as backdrop, and my wife said she thought the car was 'sexy'......true story.

Thinking about it, maybe it does have some real 'presence' after all. 

 

Right, I've had some test drives.

 

I quite liked the 1.4tsi but not as much as I hoped. It was quite punchy but not enough to put a smile on your face, and it felt quite hesitant and lazy with a dsg box. On kick down it was brisk enough but it just felt very vanilla as a whole.  Also the steering felt quite light and disconnected. I also thought the ride was quite poor, I drove a Fabia beforehand which felt much smoother on bumps. Nice interior but dull externally.

 

I then tried a nearly new manual 230PS VRS estate which felt like a totally different car. Lovely engine, really torquey and effortlessly brisk. Ride was a little firmer but strangely felt more refined than the standard car - think the independant rear suspension helps here. Steering felt a lot nicer,  more feedback and heavier feel. Interior was great. I only drove a short 10 mile mixed road route but it was at around 28mpg from cold in the VRS on normal mode while the 1.4 did 34mpg and a 1.0 Fabia did 38mpg.

 

I think the VRS felt a much nicer car overall, and the running costs aren't crazy, so I'm planning to keep an eye out for one in budget - maybe a low mileage 15-16plate 220 I can still put extended skoda warranty on for a couple of years.

 

 

The two Octavia you tested share the same chassis but to all intents and purposes they are entirely different creatures so I am not surprised at your conclusions.

The vRS has a substantially more powerful engine, irs, a sophisticated variable steering, bigger brakes, etc etc. 

It is good that you have tried them against your personal requirements and worked out what is best for you and your budget.

 

The only thing that surprises me is the incredibly poor mpg you got on the 1.4 and 1.0 Fabia on a 10 mile route.

The only person on this forum who has got worse mpg for the 1.4tsi was @themanwithnoaim whose average was about 30mpg AND he was proud of it!

 

 

 

@Gerrycan. I agree with your comments. I think you should stand by your original comment about 'presence' simply because many seem to mistake my Octavia for being a Commodore until they see the 'badge'. At 70 I went for the RS because life is shorter now than it once was and it is nice to have that little extra under the bonnet with some (maybe that should read most) of the 'drivers' we have here in Sydney! :-)