Octavia vRS to buy or not to buy?

[Tony79]

Evening all. What’s the owners views on a 17/18 plate vRS and are the cars any good and worth getting? I’m in 2 minds of exchanging my 16 plate BMW M140i but can’t decide if the vRS is a good alternative as I’ve never owned one.
 

Thanks in advance. 

[Ootohere]

Welcome.

 

Petrol or Diesel, manual or DSG? 

Probably makes no difference as basically what you see is what you get. 

[Tony79]

8 minutes ago, roottoot said:

Welcome.

 

Petrol or Diesel, manual or DSG? 

Probably makes no difference as basically what you see is what you get. 

DSG petrol but would settle for DSG diesel 

[Ecomatt]

53 minutes ago, Tony79 said:

Evening all. What’s the owners views on a 17/18 plate vRS and are the cars any good and worth getting? I’m in 2 minds of exchanging my 16 plate BMW M140i but can’t decide if the vRS is a good alternative as I’ve never owned one.
 

Thanks in advance. 

My advice is to have a drive in one and see if you like it. I like mine and am on my third. But then I have a family so I need the large boot.

[Mickvrs220]

Whats wrong the beemer to make you want to change to a vrs

[ChoonDoode]

The F20 M140i are increasing in value because it's the only RWD hot hatch. Everything else nowadays is AWD.

 

There's a few things to consider comparing an Octavia to your beamer;

 

Pros

• Cheaper to run, tax and insurance
• Increased cabin space
• More discreet

Cons

• The DSG 'box isn't as slick as a ZF8HP
• You'll really notice the handling difference with it being FWD
• The 6 banger in the beamer is a strong engine. Comparing a VRS petrol is chalk and cheese. 335 compared to a stock max 245hp. And again, FWD.

 

Cut and thrust of it, one's a performance hot hatch and the other is a practical family run around with a bit more get up and go

[Tonythesmoke]

In my short 6 months ownership I feel like it ticks nearly all the boxes but specialises in nothing.

 

As mentioned previously if you need the space for family etc it’s great for that.

 

But..I imagine your bmw is pretty well refined, be warned that things like road noise in the vrs can be shockingly bad. 

[Tony79]

38 minutes ago, Mickvrs220 said:

Whats wrong the beemer to make you want to change to a vrs

The Beemer is really nice and very quick but I'm commuting more now in it for work with a fair bit on motor way so was thinking something a little lighter on the wallet 

[Mickvrs220]

Had mine for 2 en half years now ,mines the estate vrs petrol,its a spacious rapid mover ,obviously its nothing near as fast as yours but they dont hang about (speed awareness course booked for december haha) bit noisy on crappy motorway surfaces ,ive travelled up and down this country in mine and never get fed up of driving it .

[Swirly182]

I leased my 2018 245 estate for the first 2 years and then bought it from VW Finance because it is just a great family car for us. Carries bikes, a dog, kids, tows the caravan, tip runs, I've had several 2.4m loft boards inside etc. All while doing 155mph 😁 Also 40mpg+ is easily achievable. 

 

The above allows me to forgive the lack of sound insulation. There's no hiding how noisy it is on rough surfaces. I had a 1 series M Sport previously which was significantly more refined than the Octy. I'm still considering downsizing the 19" wheels in order to gain some reduction in road noise. 

 

Not the cars fault, but a 4x4 petrol option would have been nice. 

[purephotoni]

I bought my first VRS just over a year ago it was a 2015 diesel. I upgraded to a 2018 petrol 245bhp just over a month ago. I love the practicality of them and while be no means are they a performance car, they are nippy enough when needed. The diesel has pretty good running costs, but I just missed having a petrol car as that is more what I am used too.

 

My recent car history is Civic type R, Golf GTI, Audi TT, Audi S3, also had a few 3 series B.M.W's and a couple of more family orientated cars like a Nissan Qashqai, I tend to change cars regularly.

 

I really like the VRS, for my purposes it's a really good car, the huge boot is great for all of my camera equipment, I am a wedding photographer and I also just prefer a saloon/hatchback to all of the SUV type cars that seem to be the most popular these days. Performance wise I think they are okay, I like the fact that it's a bit of a sleeper as most probably don't realise the difference between a VRS and a standard Octavia. I also just like how the car looks style wise, I like the interior as well.

 

Not that it matters at all but it has surprised me how many people have commented on it especially my new to me 245. Even just yesterday I had a wedding and the brides Dad wanted a look around the car and spent a lot of the day hunting online trying to find one for himself. My wee brother likes the car as well and he is used to much quicker cars, in the last year he has had an Audi R8, a BMW i8 and a few weeks ago he got a Lamborghini Gallardo Spider. Have had more people talk to me about the 245 than I have had for any car I have ever owned.  The day my wee brother got the Lambo he brought it around to let me have a look at it and one of the neighbours stopped to have a chat with my missus. She asked him what he thought of the Lambo and he said with a totally straight face he would rather have our Skoda. 🤣 

 

I looked at a lot of other types of cars before jumping back into another VRS, but I just couldn't find anything I that suited my needs so well even though I had the budget to drop another 10k or so I couldn't find anything else that I liked as much and that ticked all the boxes for me.

 

 

 

 

 

[roaddetective]

Personally I just love my 2018 Octavia VRS TSI 230, although mine has a manual gearbox, which I prefer to an automatic. I am on my second VRS petrol, as I previously had a 2011 Octavia VRS TSI. They are a very practical car and taking it steady on A roads I can get 45mpg. I particularly like the vast boot space, something I need when me and the good lady load it up with all our scuba diving gear for a trip. As previously mentioned though, try to get a good test drive to see if it really suits you.  

[varaderoguy]

Best car (if you can find it) is as follows:

 

If you want an all-out performance, try and pick up a VRS 245 Challenge (rare as hens teeth). The 230's are still very rapid cars though....  If you want a DSG, go for a car after 2017/18, when you got the 7 speed DSG - which is a huge improvement over the 6 speed.

If you want speed, but better fuel economy, then a VRS 184 TDI is where you need to go (you can still get 50mpg from a diesel VRS).  Excellent revvy engines.  I've owned two diesel VRS's and one petrol.  All cars were excellent.

Edited 29 October, 2021 by varaderoguy

[FlyingGecko]

The vRS is generally regarded by the muttering press as not a typical hot hatch, whatever the definition of that is these days.  I'me excluding the likes of the Honda Fugly, Audi S3, Merc A45, and a Renault or two, all of which are in a different price bracket from (to?) the 245 vRS.  And have ridiculous amounts of power.  Better HH comparisons are the new BMW 128ti, Ford Focus ST, Hyundai i30N, Golf GTI, etc - all cars with around 250-280 bhp, and more importantly are compact hatchbacks.  The extra length, wheelbase, and boot of the Octavia make it a very fast car more in the mould of a traditional GT - a Grand Tourer, designed to cover vast distances at high speeds in comfort.  OK it's not a Bentley Continental, but among the cars I mention it's in a class of one.  I did many long distance trips - 400 miles plus - four up with a week's luggage and my 220 vRS was perfect.  It's certainly nowhere near the best for B road fun, it gives a fair showing on the winding A roads of Wales, and is as good on dual carriageways and motorways as the cars above.

 

In short, it's not as chuckable as those others.  But in its own way it's a thoroughly competent and enjoyable car.  As others have said, try before you buy. 

 

(A final comment or two - all these front-wheel drive cars will suffer from wheelspin from a standing start, so you have to learn how to get a fast takeoff from traffic lights.  Don't let that put you off the vRS. Oh, and get a petrol.  It's not too thirsty, and better than the diesel - IMHO  and experience, having driven my neighbour's diesel back to back with my petrol. The diesel's good, but the petrol's better.)

 

 

[Tony79]

Many thanks for everyone’s input and comments, really appreciated. Think I’ve some thinking to do na. 

[RoddersUK]

For a family car it's perfect for us, so much space in the back, chucked wheel barrows in there (seats down obviously), 6x125lts bags of compost, just swallowed it up.

Then it also has some poke which is nice.

My only gripe on the 6spd DSG, in 30mph zones, it bounces between 4/5th, even in ECO mode.

[Tony79]

Are the front windscreens heated or is that an extra?

[RoddersUK]

Think it's an extra, I have heated seats and screen, but not steering wheel, that's a shame lol.

[Ecomatt]

9 hours ago, Tony79 said:

Are the front windscreens heated or is that an extra?

The heated screen is part of the winter pack. It took me around 6 months to find my car as there weren't many blue diesel VRS with DSG, 19s Extremes and the 340mm brakes plus the winter pack. 

[FlyingGecko]

On 29/10/2021 at 21:51, RoddersUK said:

For a family car it's perfect for us, so much space in the back, chucked wheel barrows in there (seats down obviously), 6x125lts bags of compost, just swallowed it up.

Then it also has some poke which is nice.

My only gripe on the 6spd DSG, in 30mph zones, it bounces between 4/5th, even in ECO mode.

 Eco mode and vRS are incompatible expressions ! 

[RoddersUK]

Haha, this is true, but if I'm just plodding around, or bimbling to work it's ok.

[roaddetective]

Never even driven mine in eco mode and probably never will. My right foot is my eco mode when I want it to be.