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Which octavia to replace my mk1 Fabia VRS with?


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Hi folks,

 

I'm new to the forum so I hope this is in the right place.

 

I have owned my 2006 Fabia VRS for four years now, this year I will be looking to replace it with something a little bigger and a little newer. I definitely want to stick with a Skoda - my car has been absolutely faultless - and have pretty much settled on a mk3 Octavia. My natural choice would be to go for another VRS as I love the effortless power of mine, but I am starting to find it a bit 'jiggly' and uncomfortable especially on our deteriorating roads. I have done a lot of research so I feel like I'm pretty clued up, especially concerning weight and power-to-weight differences between the VRS and standard 2.0 tdi 150 cars.

 

What I am looking for though is a little insider knowledge on how the two cars might stuck up against a stock mk1 VRS. For example, would a standard manual 150 feel slow compared to my car, would the VRS feel much faster? How would the comfort and road noise of each compare to my car? What about the MPG? Any info on how the three cars would stack up against each other would be greatly appreciated before I think about test drives ect in the spring.

 

Thanks

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Major difference is the multi link rear suspension. It sounds like one of those things people bang on about but I drove a TDi 150 with 18 inch Golus alloys and then a vRS TDi 180 with 18 inch Gemini alloys back to back and the difference was stark. I decided there and then I would have to have a vRS, irrespective of anything else. The engine power diesel wise wasn’t hugely noticeable between the 2 in normal driving but the ride quality is!

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Thanks Sasha, so the VRS with the multilink suspension actually rides better than the standard car? I would have thought that it was a much more firm harsh ride because of the lower, firmer springs. How does the VRS cope over potholes and speed bumps etc?

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The torsion bar is naff technology so on similar wheel sizes it’s less jiggly on the multi link. A TDi 150 with 16 inch wheels may be ok but 17-18 inch was unsettled in isolation and next to the vRS really noticeable. Previous cars I have owned include an Audi A4 S-Line convertible, Volvo C30 T5 which ended up on coil overs and I currently have a Mercedes CLK55 AMG so in comparison the vRS is very comfy :) Compared to my mates old Jag XJ, not so much but stepping from a Furby you should find it better. I don’t think there’s an awful lot of different in height and spring rates when it comes to the vRS, much like my Citigo MC, vs a normal Citigo, it’s about 15mm lower and slightly stiffer. I find the Octy very nice, if ever so slightly boomy at the rear on long motorway drives (sadly, this is my daily commute) but that could be to do with the nasty cheap rear tyres the car is wearing right now. Will be looking at new boots all round in a few months :)

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Echo what Sasha says, TS. When I bought my Octy 1.4 TSi DSG hatch in 2015 I went for an SE instead of an SE L because the ride was better on the 16 inch wheels with the taller tyre profile. Three years on, and I’ve had enough of it - even with a taller tyre, it’s still too noisy and unsettled at the back and that’s all down to the torsion beam. It’s cheap tech, limits what you can do with spring rates, and magnifies the problems of poor road surfaces.

 

A vRS will still be firm, but multi-link means independent suspension on each side which manages wheel articulation much better.

Edited by MorrisOx
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That's two votes for the VRS over the standard car. I have to say I'm leaning towards the 150 though, I'm just not sure that I can put up with the firmness of the VRS if it is anything like my current Fabia.

 

I don't really drive fast, I have a motorbike for that, I mostly just like the power for effortless overtakes and the abillity to make decent progress without ringing the car's neck. I kind of feel like all of that extra tech on the VRS would be wasted on me. I suppose I will have to test drive them and see what's what.

 

Can anyone comment on how the two cars might feel compared to a standard Fabia VRS? Slower, faster, more linear acceleration?  What about MPG?

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TS are you looking at new or second hand, if new spec the DDC which is basically, a variable damper hence, you can set the suspension stiff or comfortable.

 

I have it in my O3fl & we like it a lot, comfort for when the family is in the car, sport at all other times.

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On 1/11/2018 at 20:05, SashaGrace said:

Major difference is the multi link rear suspension. It sounds like one of those things people bang on about but I drove a TDi 150 with 18 inch Golus alloys and then a vRS TDi 180 with 18 inch Gemini alloys back to back and the difference was stark. I decided there and then I would have to have a vRS, irrespective of anything else. The engine power diesel wise wasn’t hugely noticeable between the 2 in normal driving but the ride quality is!

Agree with this; I had a Leon 150 FR (torsion beam rear) then px'd it for the 184 FR (multilink).  Could I tell the difference?  No.  

Edited by penguin17
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We currently have a Fab VRS tsi and an Octy VRs on 19’s. The Fab is direct, nippy and you certainly know if you hit a raised cats eye. The octy vrs in comparison is like driving a limo with a more stretched out lower feeling driving position. It’s a little less direct with more isolation from road surface harshness, smoother and far more compliant for everyday driving, but still sharp enough to entertain when you push on. I have always had sports biased cars and the octy is one of the best allrounders I have ever had especially for big mileage trips across all road types.

 

Mines a Diesel octy so the petrol Fab feels noticeably quicker and more like a hooligan. But having been in a tweaked up petrol octy version, there is certainly scope for more rush if desired.

 

The only thing that isn’t so good is the handling when absolutely fully loaded to the point of dragging it’s sorry combi ass on the tarmac with the nose pointing to the sky. But then, it’s no different to anything else without self levelling suspension.

 

And another thing, diesel dsg just keeps pulling smoothly through all gears. I rarely hit the limiter in gear as it just isn’t needed. Quick enough for sensible overtakes without feeling like you brought a sledge hammer to crack a nut. 

Edited by BigEjit
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On 15/01/2018 at 10:22, themanwithnoaim said:

TS are you looking at new or second hand, if new spec the DDC which is basically, a variable damper hence, you can set the suspension stiff or comfortable.

 

I have it in my O3fl & we like it a lot, comfort for when the family is in the car, sport at all other times.

 

Almost certainly second hand, most likely 2-4 years old. DDC sounds like a good bit of tech though, definately something to look out for.

 

I seem be be changing my mind on a daily basis at the moment from 'get the sensible, comfy one' to 'the VRS looks so much better and imagine how much more fun it will be'. I'm sure once I get to test drive them it'll be a bit clearer in my head!

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We had a Mk1 Fabia VRS and now have a Mk3 Octavia VRS Estate and they're a very different style of car. The Octavia's fast but it's big so it doesn't have the lovely whizz bang point-and-shoot feel of the Fabia. On the other had you can do 600 miles in a day and not feel too wrung out, and that with a vast amount of stuff in the back, so depends on what you want to use it for. I used the Fabia for my 60 mile each way commute for a bit but it wasn't really made for that (bit too hard on the bum) and I went back to the Mk1 Octavia we had at the time. They're both nice cars though!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks grotesk, that's really helpful! I've read that the newer engines don't have the low down slug of torque that the PD engines have, so although faster, don't always feel as quick. It's a shame that they don't make a Fabia VRS anymore, even if they fitted the standard 2.0 tdi 150 I'm sure it would fly, down the road and out of the showrooms!

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Yes, that's right, the grunt's there ok but you don't feel it so much with the bigger car. I think that those older diesel really did have something (or rather didn't have all the pollution control gear) Good luck. You're right about a Fabia 3 VRS, it'd be great, but I think that VAG decided that SEAT was going to be their sporty little number. Shame!

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