Duck_Pond

I'm not getting into a diatribe with regard to what you think. As said previously, each to their own. Equally, I don't have any evidence of your experience with cars of different types to make an informed opinion as to your knowledge of how a car handles, or even how it 'should' handle. Just exactly how bad did I make it? Perhaps I should say it like it is:

FYI "It pitches, it rolls, it dives under braking, it understeers, it has torque steer, it rolls; transitions from one direction to the other are inconsistent. Oh, and did I say it rolls." It is an anomally to compare it to anything else. Left to its own devices, it drives YOU and NOT you driving it... and even at moderate speeds I don't like it. Incidentally, contrary to what you say and in case you failed to notice, the Fabia definitely is a rally car driven at breakneck speeds... just not the vRS.

I don't care whether you agree with me or not. I'm entitled to my opinion. And from what you have written, I'm happy not to share it with yours

modoc,

You have valid points the fabia is not a "hot hatch" I dont think anyone on here would really win that agruement.

At the same point I dont think the car is anywhere near as bad as you make it out to be, and to be honest once you change you driving style to suit it's set up I found it's alot quicker than my old saxo VTS was. Or maybe it's a case of the fabia vRS suits my driving style (before you think I'm critising your driving).

If it does however meet what you want then modding it may help it might be worth (before you spend out the money and kill your warrenty) to see if you can go out in a members car to see if it makes enough of a difference to suit what YOU want from the car. At the end of the day to 90% of us it could be a great handling car (not saying it is or isn't) but it's YOUR car and YOUR money and if it doesn't fit what you want change it.

The Fabia rally car is hardly the same as a standard road car is it? It probably shares the same door mirrors and badges, and that's about it. My Impreza is also a rally car, but I certainly wouldn't try to say the road-going version I have is anything like the one McRae used to pilot!

I'm interested as to why you chose to buy the car though. Surely you spotted these faults on the test drive? :confused:

And bearing in mind it's a fairly tall car, with a short wheelbase and heavy front engine, didn't you clock on to the fact that the handling might not be to your liking?

I just hope that making the mods improves things for you, but from what you've said, it may never meet your expectations...

If it does however meet what you want then modding it may help it might be worth (before you spend out the money and kill your warrenty) to see if you can go out in a members car to see if it makes enough of a difference to suit what YOU want from the car. At the end of the day to 90% of us it could be a great handling car (not saying it is or isn't) but it's YOUR car and YOUR money and if it doesn't fit what you want change it.

This is good sense and a very sensible suggestion. Though I get the feeling Modoc has already pushed the "mod it to the hilt" button before you posted it

J.

Different strokes for different folks....

Altho if a fabia has **** handling, how come i rode shotgun in one that was pushing a stripped and trackprepped 205 gti 1.9 round anglesey? i must have been dreaming surely.

To be honnest i gave up reading after the first 2 lines. Ok you dont like the way it handles. Big deal.. do somthing about it. Its group 9 diesel warm hatch thats 1.3 tones ffs, and for me as a 19yr old going from a 1991 Astra 1.4, it feels like it handles like a bloody go cart tbh. If you wanted a car that handled well, buy a Caterham, Or get a strutbrase and a Rear ARB.

Pretty much.

It's a

Exactly as I say its a cruiser not a brusier! Treat it as such and you can really make progress, treat it as a sports car and yep you will find the hedge.

My 1/2p worth is that it does its' job.

it's economical, reasonably quick, handles well enough unless you push it, brakes ditto!. well built.

5 doors, some toys, only 12.5K new

What else would I buy for the money?

Inexpensive tweaks DO make a difference, and it still looks standard!

IMHO a great sleeper;)

My 1/2p worth

Graham, when you were a lad it was tuppence worth (or was it a farthing ?)

Graham, when you were a lad it was tuppence worth (or was it a farthing ?)

Bugger off Scally:mad:

Bugger off Scally:mad:

Classic :rofl:

I had a vRS and swopped it partly for financial reasons for a Seat Leon 110 tdi. The Leon has Michelin Pilots on and has much better body control with slight understeer but in fact when pushed hard in a corner drifts nice and evenly sideways rather than purely at the front.

While I acknowledge that the handling of the vRS could catch someone who is unfamiliar with it out, it should not be much of a problem - especially for someone with rally driving experience - to drive the car quickly on B roads without getting caught out. Even if it doesn't handle as well as some other 'vag' related cars it's still miles better as an overall package - I wish I'd kept mine. By the way the fabia has a heavy diesel lump in the front that your octy didn't have. I'm surprised your test drive didn't take in a few forest fire tracks given your penchant for rally driving......

If anything the slight soft set up of the car actually has some benefits on roads with sudden compressions and bumps as it seems to soak these up quite well at speed with out bottoming out too badly and retaining composure to maintain its direction without getting bounced sideways. When accelerating in and out of a short succession of tightish bends the car can be thrown in and have a slight oversteer that is quite predictable. By the way the fabia has a heavy diesel lump in the front that your octy didn't have. I'm surprised your test drive didn't take in a few forest fire tracks given your penchant for rally driving......

If you wanted to pretend you were rally driving again you should have bought a Subaru WRX! I'd forget the AMD oneclick until you can handle the power of the standard Fabia vRS - as you say treat your self to the eibachs first and maybe chop the Fabia in for on with ESP in case you get caught out while you pretend you are Colin McCrae! (tongue in cheek!)

I've always said that the Fabia vRS needs:

Brakes

Suspension

Braces

Remap

... to make it a more focused drivers car.

Out of the box, they aren't bad, great for the money I suppose, but I feel they need the above to make them a better all round car.

Well, I don't know where mention of being an ex-rally driver signals that I want to drive the vRS daily as such. I'm 55 years of age and nothing to prove, except perhaps to give an indication of existing knowledge of how a car should handle.

Compared to the test drive, I have learned of its limitations through ownership. Who among you know more or as much about your car from the test drive than from owning it? I have no need to take it down any forest stage to guage whether it is comparable to Subaru Imreza's or on a track for comparisons with Fiesta's and the like. I didn't buy the car for that. I bought the car for other reasons as previously indicated. I am surprised at what it offers on one hand and what appears to me as a blatant weakness on the other.

The issue is its handling and nothing else.

My Octy1 was a 110bhp Elegance diesel and it would have been right up my vRS's **** on a twisty road despite horsepower and weight disadvantages. The difference is that one is predictable and the other not. Brakes, suspension, braces and remap sum it up for the vRS... thanks Josh_PoloGTi.

For those contributing to the post... thanks! Disparaging and sarcastic remarks directed at me are regretable and speaking candidly, quite unnecessary.

Different strokes for different folks....

Altho if a fabia has **** handling' date=' how come i rode shotgun in one that was pushing a stripped and trackprepped 205 gti 1.9 round anglesey? i must have been dreaming surely. [/quote']

Yeah Col, but it still wasn't a match for an SDI Octy :haha:

Yeah Col, but it still wasn't a match for an SDI Octy :haha:

*cough - you werent there Jon

Maybe not at that one however, every other trackday that I've been to where Fabias have been there, only 1 ever got close but he was still some way off

Maybe not at that one however, every other trackday that I've been to where Fabias have been there, only 1 ever got close but he was still some way off

Furry nuff.

I say to those people who think the handling on the Fabia is "terrible" that you are driving the car wrong.

I once had a Citroen BX 16 valve, with wacky suspension. Initially I thought it was a horrible handling car, but having got the hang of it, and learnt how the car behaved, not much could could live with it.

I reckon the Furby handles reasonably well . . . ask Ant_vRS for his opinion from the recent C&F meet.

I hope you never attempted a handbrake turn in the BX? I had a 1.9D version, and was warned never to try it by the seller! My BX was like a barge most of the time; incredibly comfortable. Was funny with the suspension right up though - like a pig on stilts.

Going back on topic - there's a good twisty country lane near my place, with bumpy and smooth surfaces, adverse camber, peaks and troughs, and is a great way to gauge how a car can handle. The vRS will happily cope with all the hazards, and at illegal speeds at times. I've not yet had a sphincter-clenching moment in it.

I guess if I tried to take the road at the same speeds as the Scooby can, then I might, but that's way over the speed limit anyway. But under normal (legal) speeds, the car is acceptable for B road use. It's more than that for A and M roads.

Maybe the handling of the cars vary anyway - the handling of some of the MGs I've been in over the years seems to vary significantly, so perhaps yours is softer than mine.

Anyway, I hope the mods sort out the issues you have - you'll have to keep us informed on them. If you can be persuaded to like the way it handles with mods, then there's hope for anyone!

Furry nuff.

I say to those people who think the handling on the Fabia is "terrible" that you are driving the car wrong.

I once had a Citroen BX 16 valve' date=' with wacky suspension. Initially I thought it was a horrible handling car, but having got the hang of it, and learnt how the car behaved, not much could could live with it.[/quote']

BX19 RD Estate, when you got used to the feeling of the suspension you could corner really quickly as you knew it would adjust to the road and hold you solid.

Sure it wasn't quite normal, but the grip it had on the road was supurb for such a car.

I hope you never attempted a handbrake turn in the BX? I had a 1.9D version' date=' and was warned never to try it by the seller! My BX was like a barge most of the time; incredibly comfortable. Was funny with the suspension right up though - like a pig on stilts.

[/quote']

No it wouldn't have worked because the handbrake was on the front wheels, would have made for an interesting nose dive. The suspension ride hight could b e lowered by using a couple of bars called "ride height adjusters" that were part of the suspension system. And yeah it was ammusing fully up, however it could also clear water that only landrover drivers would go through. I remember going through a puddle that was enough to stop an escort, and got funny looks when i pulled up to it past the queue, upped the suspensions went through, dropped it down again and drove off

I know - that's what's so funny I was once sat in a queue of traffic in mine, behind a TVR, heading to a wedding. The bloke in the TVR said he was panicking as he thought there was something seriously wrong with his car, as it kept making a "pssssst" noise every so often. He only realised it was mine, when I raised the suspension (out of sheer boredom) and the car popped up higher in his rear view mirrors.

He he, yes it's fun doing that in a long traffic Jam,

Sat in traffic on the M'way there was me and a CX doing it next ot each other, both obviously bored and I am sure it confused many pepole.

Lol well if it psssted too often you needed a new regulator sphere :P he he

Saying that a citroen or a TVR, i know which one I would think had broken down

As it's been mentioned here before, out of the box the VRS Fabia is an excellent car for the money. JoshPolo also feels that his list of mods makes it even better and I agree.

I'll bet one thing though, the up coming VRS Fabia (2008'ish) will be a superb little car and Skoda will have listened to what people have had to say about the current one.

Furry nuff.

I once had a Citroen BX 16 valve' date=' with wacky suspension. Initially I thought it was a horrible handling car, but having got the hang of it, and learnt how the car behaved, not much could could live with it.[/quote']

I once had a BX 1.9 Gti - that WAS an animal, but it was quick!