To get a similarly spec BMW with similar power to the vRS I’ve just bought I would be spending north of £40k and then attracting the additional road tax for spending over £40k on the car for the first few years of its life. I’ve owned many BMW’s and been a solid fan of there’s for many years, but now having owned the vRS, there ain’t no way I’m spending that much more. I’ve got a car that is probably 95% of the equivalent BMW for a lump less.

Wow! completely opposing views on torsion beam rear suspension in this thread.

Maybe it comes down to expectations. I rode as a passenger in a brand new Merc C200 petrol around the M25 and while the road does have very course concrete surfacing on many sections, I was very disappointed with the ride and internal noise ( seats, internal space and GPS were crap too imo).

I did not think the hire car Kia Ceed with independent rear rode any better than the Octavia with torsion bar either.

 

Pity the FL upgrade did not at least include multi-link rear suspension as an option.

 

 

 

 

Completely agree with JayD re BMW,

Where I live the roads are truly sh#te,

In these conditions the ride quality is no different and the simple torsion bar setup isn't a rent re suspension components replacement,tyres and tracking also reconcile clattering suspension versus slightly inferior dynamics/ride,have also had last gen Mondeo same suspension comments apply was slightly more robust than the bemmers though to be fair

If you want a BMW similar to the Octavia you’re looking at the 3 series GT. If you want that with a manual box you’ve got to have the 320i msport (which only has 184 hp, so a lump less than a vRS) and that with a similar spec to a vRS will cost you a smidge over £38k BUT with a huuuge amount less under the bonnet! If you want more power you’ve then got to have the 330i msport (that gives you 252 hp, so a little more) but that means you’ve got to have it with an Auto box (BMW don’t give you the choice on that one) so now for a similar spec you are now parting with over £42.5k! And additional road tax of an extra £310 per year for the cars first 5 years, so road tax now £450 instead of £140 for the vRS.

On 30/11/2017 at 16:20, Alan R said:

After only 2.5 months and 3000miles of ownership my Mk 3 2.0TDI SE-L has finally gone. I just couldn't live with it any longer and have I dug deep down the back of the sofa and replaced it with a BMW 320D Touring.

I post this as a warning to anyone who falls for the mistaken belief like I did that a Mk3 Octavia would be as good or better than a M2 Octavia. I didn't do my homework regarding the VAG Skoda costcutting excercise and it cost me dearly!

So I post this as a warning to others following the same route.

After nearly 9years and 130,000-miles of comfortable and happy motoring in my Mk2 Octavia 1.9 Ambiente, in September I bought a Mk3 2.0TDI SE-L which had done 10,000miles.

What a disappointment it has been!

I could have lived with the totally useless Satnav, the Cruise control that sometimes didn't work or the Stop/Start that also sometimes didn't work. The hard plastic interior and the cheap door panels. I think I could probably have even eventually sorted the vibration and resonance that kicked in above 7Omph. I could even have put up with the  distinctly unhelpful couldn't care less attitude of Skoda UK Customer service.

But what I couldn't live was that simply awful suspension and the ride it gives,..crashy at low speed, jiggly at high speed. It wouldn't have been too bad if the car handled well in compensation but cornering at speed it has distinctly similar handling to that of a barge on a canal.

Please, please, if you are thinking of buying a Mk3 Octavia before buying take it for at least a 20mile test drive on different types of road surface and make sure you can live with it..I couldn't.

 

Good luck to all, I am just so sad after singing the praises of a Mk2 Octavia for all those years and the excellent service I had from my old car my days of VAG ownership are over. Probably forever.

 

 

So, you're essentially saying that moving from a MK2 1.9 TDI Ambiente to a MK3 TDI SE-L was a disappointment.

 

I had a MK2 TSI VRS before my current MK3 Petrol VRS, and it was inferior in every way. I can't speak for any other models.  

1 hour ago, waaar said:

 

So, you're essentially saying that moving from a MK2 1.9 TDI Ambiente to a MK3 TDI SE-L was a disappointment.

 

I had a MK2 TSI VRS before my current MK3 Petrol VRS, and it was inferior in every way. I can't speak for any other models.  

 

Same - albeit my Mk3 was an L&K, but the quality and class in the cabin was a good step up. My Mk2 was heavily spec'd too, with Columbus, leather, Xenons etc, so a fair comparison in terms of kit.

 

In terms of the torsion beam rear suspension, I only found it uncomfortable at lower speeds around town where it would crash over bumps quite badly, but once up to speed on the motorway it was ok, and a lot more comfortable than the 2 series I'm currently driving while I wait for my new car!

Edited 5 December, 20178 yr by GoneToBeemer

@Alan R,

There have been previous complaints on this site very similar to yours about atrocious ride/handling on both Octavia and Superb and I think in every case the problem turned out to be the transport blocks had not been removed during the dealer's pre-delivery inspection.

Please tell us that a check was made for the multi-coloured transport blocks in the front suspension?????

Interestingly, I managed to blag 20 minutes in a Superb yesterday while my Octy was having a minor electrical glitch sorted.

 

Not the most comprehensive test drive, granted, but I found its ride both better-cushioned than the Octy and significantly less noisy. So it isn’t just the brittleness of the torsion beam that’s the issue but the fact that it transmits far too much noise. I’m no expert, but I’d have thought Skoda could do a lot more to filter that out? I’d rather they’d done something about that with the facelift than inflict boss-eyed headlamps on the world.

 

That said,while the Superb made a good case for itself it still wasn’t as supple and sorted as the Mondeo I had for a few weeks last year. Pity about the Mondeo’s plasticky interior.

3 hours ago, Gerrycan said:

@Alan R,

There have been previous complaints on this site very similar to yours about atrocious ride/handling on both Octavia and Superb and I think in every case the problem turned out to be the transport blocks had not been removed during the dealer's pre-delivery inspection.

Please tell us that a check was made for the multi-coloured transport blocks in the front suspension?????

 

The car was checked for transport blocks by me and also by a dealer. It definitely did not have transport blocks!

Dealer said suspension and ride was normal for the car....

Car was simply awful as far as I was concerned. Just not in the same league, not only as regards ride, but in build quality generally as my old Mk2 Octavia. i am not sorry to see it go!

On 12/2/2017 at 11:13, Auric Goldfinger said:

 

 

Fake Noise, Fake exaust   

Exactly, WTF is to like ?

5 hours ago, GoneToBeemer said:

 

Same - albeit my Mk3 was an L&K, but the quality and class in the cabin was a good step up. My Mk2 was heavily spec'd too, with Columbus, leather, Xenons etc, so a fair comparison in terms of kit.

 

In terms of the torsion beam rear suspension, I only found it uncomfortable at lower speeds around town where it would crash over bumps quite badly, but once up to speed on the motorway it was ok, and a lot more comfortable than the 2 series I'm currently driving while I wait for my new car!

If yours was a L&K you had IRS & not the torture suspensionbeam setup

Just now, themanwithnoaim said:

If yours was a L&K you had IRS & not the torture suspensionbeam setup

 

Was only a 150ps Diesel mate - pretty sure the only models that got IRS were the 1.8 TSI’s and vRS models?

1 hour ago, GoneToBeemer said:

 

Was only a 150ps Diesel mate - pretty sure the only models that got IRS were the 1.8 TSI’s and vRS models?

 

Right.Plus 4x4 setups, no matter the engine.

Moving from the mk2 estate to the mk3 estate the only thing ive noticed is the rear suspension seems to me to be a bit furmer.

On 30/11/2017 at 17:47, SWBoy said:

Thinner and cheaper 

True dat

14 hours ago, Stuart-h said:

Moving from the mk2 estate to the mk3 estate the only thing ive noticed is the rear suspension seems to me to be a bit furmer.

 

Furmer :/