I am considering returning to the Briskoda fold after 15 years running a variety of Golf GTIs. Returning to buy a new 4.5 vRS.

During that 15 years I have greatly enjoyed being part of the GTI Forums with enthusiastic and friendly owners exchanging views and great advice.

I have to say I’m not “getting the love” from this forum that I had hoped for.

To be blunt, I really don’t care about an armrest on a 2021 1.5 tsi estate or the 12v socket on a 1.2 hybrid.

I’m looking for a proper vRS enthusiasts site. So my question is…….am I looking at the wrong place with Briskoda as is there somewhere else for proper vRS enthusiasts to gather?

This was a great site for VRS owner discussions and projects. A lot of those contributors seem to have moved on, or like me bought other Skodas, apart from a GTI 245 PP, which left me underwhelmed. I think the earlier marks were brilliant value for money, solidly built and not too common.

12 hours ago, Sandwood said:

To be blunt, I really don’t care about an armrest on a 2021 1.5 tsi estate or the 12v socket on a 1.2 hybrid.

😂😂

Welcome to the fold. It's a good shout. I think we can start up a specific thread for 4.5 VRS owners (there's one that exists already) to kick start this. There are a few of us on here from what I've seen. For context, this forum is 100x better than the Audi RS forum I was on previously, which saw 1 reply every 3 months. I guess the only other place is FB, but most owners have previous gen cars.

When are you looking to buy, and what specs?

Thanks to both responders! Good to know performance Skoda owners are still a thing.

I had a mk2 vRS (CR tdi) for 18 m from new in 2010. This was my last company car and was preceded by two A3s.

What followed was a Golf GTD Mk6 then four Golf GTIs including my current 7.5 Performance bought new in 2019 and sitting on 50k at the moment. (I used to change every couple of years but didn’t like the Mk 8 GTI and now the 8.5 is becoming stupidly expensive when you start adding desirable options.

I had not followed the path of the vRS models at all but something caught my attention about the 4.5 and the more I looked into it the more impressed I became.

I will spec anything up to the 40k MRP tax band but not beyond on a matter of principle. Current thoughts are Graphite Grey with and/or heated screen &wheel and/or DCC.

Any real life experience of these two extras (value and operation) would be very interesting to me.

Factory orders are currently circa 18 wks and I am concern that might take me into the threat of a MRP price increase due to either inflation (Iran war effect) or a Skoda price increase.

My local dealer is going to see if there is anything U.K. wide in stock which could avoid this. I’m flexible as to when I might buy…. any time between June and Oct.

At the moment Drive The Deal quotes a combined discount of around 17% which would take a basic car down to around 33.5k on the road.

That’s me for now.

I have searched out every review I can fig out of the internet for a couple of months and they create a consistent picture of how great the 4.5 is.

Maybe the best one is House of Cars on YouTube (review of red estate).

I have never seen a 4.5 in the road… they must be quite rare because the price is taking them into a very busy sector of the market, espec on PCP.

That means potential customers needs deep dive into the 4.5 to understand what they are getting. That’s before we start on the long irrelevant badge snobbery (Audi, MB, etc).

They seem pretty rare from what I can tell. I’ve only seen 1 other in 6 months. I even waved, but got nothing back ☹️

I like you kept under the £40k. Mind you speccing DCC will take you over this. My dealer found me a UK stock with a hefty discount. This was back mid last year.

There’s also a few members on here waiting for a delivery, so potential to get a community going.

Another good review from the continent: https://youtu.be/O5Y4sgmNTCA?si=1xsFFi5e4CEb28iE

Thanks. Can you direct me to where I find the best 4.5 vRS conversation(s) on the forum.

DCC will actually take you to just under the 40k band bearing in mind the dvla use the MRP and not the OTR figures for tax purposes.

See here: https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/527249-octavia-vrs-fl-first-impressions/

The figure you have to worry about is P11D figure.

P11D value = List price (inc. VAT) + Delivery charges + Factory options.

Hi Wanderer. I think P11D only applies to company car BIK.

As I no longer work, I have no BIKs (unfortunately!).

Thanks GSD. Good stuff in that string.

Especially the mk4 to 4.5 comparison.

By the way, my Mk 2 was at least as well screwed together as my VWs and Audis and more reliable than the A3.

House of Cars reckons the 4.5 is the best built of the current VAG family and interior quality comes out as the best over A3 or Golf.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about the 40k tax threshold. My local Skoda dealer salesperson assured me it was the OTR cost until I challenged them, they checked it out and came back saying I was correct to say it was the MRP.

If it had been the OTR price then even a vRS without options would be over the limit now.

VED is excluded, but delivery charge is included. Assuming reg fee of £55 (excluded from calculation), I make that £405 over.

That is very useful to know. Thank you.

And a lesson for me ……. Google AI is only as good as the question you think you are asking.

In multiple searches about the threshold calculation on Google and indeed on DVLA sites, I can’t recall anything being mentioned re delivery charges but plenty about MRP being the basis. It’s all a bit hazy.

So that’s a problem solved…..don’t need to think about DCC then.

(Actually, although most press road test cars are given out with DCC, very few used 4.5s seem to have it).

Hi, I went lease exactly because of this. Found a car in stock at the end of Skoda FY with DCC (and quite a few other options) and with our roads currently I wouldn't be without it. Quite a big difference between sport down to softest damper setting.

I came from an Alfa Guilia which had lots of forum chat so agree it's a bit of a difference but I think thats down to the driver difference Skoda attracts.

Had a couple of CR TDIs earlier in my car life so knew what I was getting going back again. Nice bit of punch - not as agile as the Alfa but better build quality, more practical and refined.

That makes me sounds old... maybe because I can't stop it from happening!

Hi All.

Another vote of confidence from me.

One year on - I had very few issues with my MK4 vRS in Graphite Grey (Really nice colour by the way) but couldn't resist the upgrade to the facelift 4.5.

Went for Racing Blue but still miss the Grey sometimes.Just had 1st Service and Car Tax £620 (ouch!).To be honest I thought long and hard about the 40K Tax but I took the view I'm getting a good deal and spending a lot of money (for me anyway) just get the car you want with the options and although it annoys, I factored it in the overall cost.Also I plan on keeping the car and only do low mileage.

I agree with most of the reviews I read at the time so would say - looks good (hatch or estate),good spec, the extra Bhp and mapping is perfect lots of pull and a quick car,practical and fun when you want.It's not as agile as a golf or others but still puts a smile on my face,a little noisy on motorways and poor surface but not excessivily.

Try get a test drive with/without DCC I had/have it on both Octavias, just my choice of course.

Great to hear real life owners feelings. Because it’s all about feelings with cars like these.

mork….. interesting to hear about Giulia.

A car a have more than once described as the most beautiful in its class. I have looked on line at them, and in the flesh, over the last 3 years but could never take the love affair further than looking.

Too many risks I felt. But….I feel the vRS is a great alternative. In mk4.5 it does tick all the logical boxes plus the beauty test.

It’s what I always said to my wife with my old Mk2 vRS in silver and with all my GTIs “ when you park and lock up, walk away and then……look back”. That’s the test.

Guilia still the best looking saloon out there for me. Reliability is far better than projected - you just have to drive it as the electrical problems are mainly caused by battery issues. The only car I've ever owned where I couldn't not look back on it as I got out... 😍

The vRS is no looker by comparison but I'm reaching an age where it just strikes that balance. Mine is in Space Violet, haven't seen another on the road yet - I quite like having something unique.

I mentioned vRS reviews a couple of days ago and this one is probably the very best of a motley crew. It really is a good in depth critique.

The reviewer reckons the vRS now beats other equivalent, or better, VAG models in interior materials, design and build quality.

My tech skills don’t extend to attacking the entire file but here is a screen shot for anyone interested in following up.

adding to the thread with thoughts...
I've had 3 VRS' since the MK4 redesign, and now in a 4.5 (Space Violet, 75 plate)...they've all been petrol, and all hatchbacks.

The difference in the car between 2020 and now, is massive, but the real jump was once they got the problems out of the way.....

21 plate Meteor Grey one was fine, but the screen and general random errors never went away...never quite broke down, but was a bit sketchy at times if the battery had been left for a week without driving. Random things wouldn't work.

23 plate Race Blue was way better in the software and errors, and actually a pretty nice place to be. Totally rock solid, had 2yrs without any incidents at all (apart from the USB in the rearview mirror housing that twice disappeared into the housing!).

75 plate Space Violet, much better in the screen speed and general use, a touch quieter and nicer to be in, looks better, and feels a little sharper to drive

The auto cruise control and 'assisted steering' is much better too, much better than even the 23 plate. So there are marginal, but definite gains

I didn't need to move out of my 23plate at all, but the PCP numbers were in my favour, and I fancied the purple whilst it was available..glad I jumped when I did

New Zealand here but my first ever Skoda the 4.5 Octavia Combi RS in race blue with DCC, Canton stereo and Suedia seats is a cracker. I test drove the outgoing mark 4 but the extra 20hp makes quite a difference giving the EA888 evo4 a top end zing the earlier car didn’t have. I tested everything from Cupra to Audi S3 / RS3 and found the Skoda just felt right. It feels like a European sports sedan to drive and in sport mode with the ESC in sport mode it can really hustle down a back road with the back even coming around a little to help on corner entry and the VAQ diff doing a pretty good job of getting the power to the ground. much nicer finish inside than a Golf and I’d argue better then the Audi now they have totally ruined it with the latest facelift. I think it’s a handsome car and I like being under the radar and it doesn’t matter to me what others think of the Skoda brand. It’s a real if you know, you know car.

Thanks for that review whippersnapper and thanks to other owner reviewers as well. I’m glad I started this topic as it has given me much reassurance around jumping out of my immaculate Golf GTI Performance.

Browsing the websites for AA Cars, Skoda UK Used, Cinch and Autotrader reveals relatively few Graphite Grey hatchbacks on the used market and most have the characteristics of ex-dealer demo or staff cars.

Likewise, when looking for new stock, only a small handful. And almost never any Smoke Silver new or used 4.5s which would be my second choice. Rarer than hens teeth it appears.

My dilemma is whether to go for an ex-demo with circa 3,000 miles or new if quickly available. I’ve told my local dealer I intend to start an active search in April so I’m still turning everything over silently!

However, I have taken the important step of introducing the topic to my wife,

(last time I had to do this was late 2018),

so the most difficult bit is behind me.

In the meantime, and at the risk of offending another owner, (apologies in advance!), I attach an image I found whilst browsing for Grey 4.5s. I think this looks absolutely cracking, especially with the plastic wheel trims off.

This is what I would be coming from (see image of my car below).

I guess I’m looking for a longer legged cruiser with 2026 levels of tech and equipment.

My 2019 car is just starting to feel a wee bit dated in these respects and the mk8 and mk 8.5 GTIs don’t really do it for me in the way that the mk7 and mk7.5s did.

2000 miles in on my 4.5 vRS and just completed my first south-north UK journey - 464 (95% motorway) miles in a day. I was hoping to get a slightly higher mpg figure compared to my previous Alfa but surprisingly it was slightly lower on the same journey (42mpg versus 44mpg) - maybe thats the slightly better power to weight on the Alfa. More importantly, I was trying to complete the journey on a single tank of fuel (have tried this with every car I've owned over the years). Having topped up just short the predicted figure did run close to the overall journey so maybe it's a bit of the car still learning my driving style. Although I appreciate it's very much driving style/road/weight dependent, I'm interested if anyone has any similar experiences by comparison. We had torrid weather the majority of the journey so that could also have played a part. Usually when I fill up I'm a good 7-9 litres still in hand...

Anyway, boring stats aside I continue to be impressed by the balance of a great cruiser (comfortable/practicality) and having a hoon around the back roads. The steering feedback is reassuring and the low down pick up is appreciated at busy junctions.

I've solved a few alert/notification bug bears but one that still confuses me is every time I pull up to a junction the park assist screen appears on screen. Not ideal when you're following sat nav! Anyone know how to get rid of it or only me that has it?

Comparing mpg is not something that is very easy to do. The best is the relativity between official figures because at least it's a like for like evaluation under the same circumstances. Otherwise its how you drive, the speed you drive, the weight in the car, your tyre pressures, the mix of types of roads and road surface, the weather including temperature and rain, whether you are optimising for efificency (e.g not using sport mode for mapping and gearbox) and on and on.

In New Zealand which doesn't really have very many mostly straight freeways and a mostly 100km/h speed limit with some at 110 I get 42mpg on a long trip including the mostly secondary roads driving briskly but not trying to get max performance. For just the straightest highway it's 50mpg. Obviously much lower if I go for a drive in sport mode, ESC half off and fanging through the bends down a twisty back road.

Compared to my old 2012 Subaru Legacy GT wagon that had similar outright performance but 4WD but quite inferior engine tech its using about 3l/100km fuel in almost every setting so I think the economy is amazingly good given the performance available.