thanks pagan image . I;ll show your comment to my wife!!  :  )

In a similar boat, 8 year old MK3 VRS petrol and fancy something newer, sat in a MK4 VRS and a MK3 FL Superb Sportline and the Superb was a far nicer place to be. Better materials, better build, tried and tested tech which doesn't have issues. Some of the material in the MK4 Octavia feels very cheap, especially on the door cards and the full cloth seats. I wish you could get the 245 petrol in a Superb though, 190 doesn't seem enough and the 280s are over 40k list which puts them in the daft VED bracket without ticking any boxes (which imo the Superb does need). The MK4 VRS does at least have a very good standard spec and is decent value.

I have the 190TSI engine in a MkIII Octavia, and the high compression engine does give reasonable all-round economy, but for me a solid advantage is port & direct injection, whereas the higher powered TSIs now just have direct injection, which results in issues with carbon build-up on inlet valves eventually. This won't be a problem if you don't plan to keep the car for many years, but it was a factor in my buying decision. (I actually thought the vRS TSI's had port injection but it turns out the later ones don't. Not sure about the MKIV Octavia)