I have owned my vRS (octy) for a month and have covered 4000 miles. I bought the car to replace a classic shape impreza turbo. the main reason for buying the vRS was that it would provide a good driving experience (although not as good as the scooby) but unlike the scooby would cost a lot less to run. I was initially very pleased with the Skoda (probably because its allways nice to have a brand new car) but after running in I found it lacking in the performance stakes - as I bought the car with jabba in mind I was not overly concerned. The car is now Jabba'd wich has sorted the (in gear) performance of the car (many thanks JabbaSport) but now being used to the car I have started trying to explore its handling, so far I am not overly impressed :( it seems to have little wet weather traction giving enourmous understeer, the car seems far to floaty and seems to bounce when pushed in a corner, In short I have no confidence in it at all. all this wopuld be easier to swallow if I was getting any kind of fuel economy out of it, but I am only getting 20-30 miles more out of a tank of gas (Jabba has improved this a bit on a motorway run) I would rather have a Scooby and put a bit more gas in it (although servicing costs should also be considered)

I am still running the tyres that come with the vRS so would hope a set of P's or GSD3's would aid grip but that wont help the feel much?

Is it that I cant drive???? am I approaching corners to quickly??

am I just too used to the Scooby??

So to the point....................

I am aware that there are a number of people who have gone from Scoob to Tavia as this was partly responsible for me choosing the Tavia, what are your impressions of the car? what have you done to the car? has it saved you much money?? how long did it take you to learn it?etc etc

Do I need to spend a grand or so on suspension?? and does anyone do any geometry mods for the Tavia???????

I am not expecting it to be a Scooby obviously but I would like it to be at least a little engaging to drive.

still, it looks great and is nice inside.....LOL

I am still running the tyres that come with the vRS so would hope a set of P's or GSD3's would aid grip but that wont help the feel much?

Check your tyre pressures - try dropping a bit out of them. If that doesn't help, then try different tyres, which can make a world of difference.

The suspension will be softer than in the Scooby, but there are options for this which I'm sure someone will outline.

That said, if you get used to the suspension and how to get it "loaded" when going into corners it feels very steady. It's also fairly easy to control the car with very little traction...

Rob.

Dan,

I too have gone from Impreza Turbo to Octavia (4x4) via a Golf PD150.

I think after driving an Impreza, most other 'normal' cars feel a little disappointing in the handling (or do I mean grip?) stakes. May be this is because the AWD on the Impreza lets you take enormous liberties when applying power, as, as you know, the car just sticks to the line.

When I transferred to the Golf I had to learn to feed the power in more progressively to get the best out of the chassis.

Don't take this the wrong way, but may be it's a case of 'unlearning' how you drove the Impreza?

Failing that, trade it in for a 4x4

Cheers

Tim

I think your right NM I went for a "learning" Drive today along a B road I know fairly well, and kept driving it untill I got a feel for it, in the end I was getting round my favourite bend at 60 and I dont think the imprezza managed much more than that, although it was a bit seat of the pants. I think (as you say) it is all about throttle control (front drive cars and turbo's) and sensible entry speed. I was easing of the brakes keeping the car settled and then trying to keep the throttle ballanced, which seemed to do the job, much the same technique as the Scoob but as the Octy is less forgiving you have to be much smoother. I think in time (and a good set of suspension) it could be rewarding to drive.

I think you are right with the bad habbits bit, as you can take enourmous libberties with a Scoob and still arrive at your destination in one piece. I had the Scoob for a year and covered over 35K in it so was pretty used to it then drove hire cars (shopping cars) for 3 weeks untill I got the Skud.

going to book a track day to speed up the old learning process

to put it simply I think I may be trying too hard

Dan, does this sound familiar/hopeful? With the chuckability of the Impreza (or any Subaru for that matter) I can see how you find the RS a big fat understeerer. As the 4x4 is mostly FWD before it's put to the test, I found I had to adapt my driving style quite a bit while I was learning the car - more of the rather boring brake/turn-in/progressive throttle feed-in than what a Scoob gives you. I then came to trust the Haldex and re-found some (or most) of Subaru's kart-like character. I'm not sure whether I would have got used to driving like all of the time if I'd had an RS.

However, I will agree that a Subaru is more instant in its feel and feedback than an Octavia, be they RS or 4x4.

Or else, yes, change the suspension geometry...

Interesting thread ! which seems to have appeared in a similar vein quite frequently , the 'I can't cure power understeer ' not as quick as Scoobys' can't use my 400bhp Fabia 1.4Mpi /Vrs( was't sure on that one even if his Dad had bought the expansion CD ) .

Without Granny Egg Sucking mode and amateur comp experience of such wonderful machinery for learning to control hedge climbing terminal understeer as Renault 12 TS , Lancia Fulvia HF, and the daddy of all .the Saab 96 V4, there is a partial solution LEFT FOOT BRAKING !

To those of you practiced in this black art I apologise for continuing but I am certain there are a number of younger members who regard performance as all about bits of kit , it is not ,its about you as well,.

Lets be Frank here a good Scooby can be driven quickly by anyone with a backward pointing baseball cap .They are great pieces of equipment , that cost quite a lot more than our weapon of choice, in both inital cost and running cost.So we have to drive better to keep up and maintain the satisfaction of knowing they have had to spend more and must be lesser drivers not to have blown us away!

How Does Left Foot Braking Work ?

You are for instance taking a racing line around a roundabout in the wet and before the exit point you start to understeer towards the tangent line ( 90 o to the radius). What do you do ? lift off to regain the line ? No !! you lightly touch the brake with the left foot keeping power on with the right .This does four things, i, it reduces the torque lessening the wheelspin, but maintaining revs for BHP ii, in our case aids the diff management system by partially locking the inside freer spinning wheel allowing energy transfer to the outside wheel iii, On this wheel the braking effect has shifted the centre of gravity to nearer that wheel ( the main mass of the car is biting down on the tyre that can give you best traction) iv As a bonus the person behind sees your brake lights come on in the middle of the corner just at the point you tuck in and rocket off on your chosen line. ( great fun if its an old 911 pushing you!!)

Word of caution, This Does Require Practise ! if you trigger the EBA your passenger may chew dashboard.Start on gravel or mud first with the ESP off.

Have Fun and Add Scalps !!

Tony

How Does Left Foot Braking Work ?

It doesn't. Not in an Octavia, at least, as touching the brake pedal "kills" the accelerator...

Rob.

I haven't found that with the Granny System switched off,

Regards Tony

So it is possible to disable the cutoff? Give us a clue...how did you do it?

Rob.

Can you left foot brake in Octy........haven't tried but I thought I read somewhere that if the ECU senses that the brake and acelerator are being pressed at the same time the accelerator is over-ridden????

Doh! Rob's got in before me on this.

Tony,

does the ESP have a separate button from the ASR? Much admit to not liking the ASR much....good in theory but too heavy handed in operation IMHO.

Okay just did a challenge test on loose gravel to see exactly what goes and for certain the ECU cuts out if you do any more than feather in low gears, with the cutoff lasting c .25 secs higher gears with more momentum seem to have less effect of drop. But I get your point that the cutoff does reduce the overall torque / keep revs up effect but the Centre of Gravity effect still applies. To be fair I did say it was only likely to be a partial solution and it has generated discussion on driving techniques etc . Tony

To be fair I did say it was only likely to be a partial solution and it has generated discussion on driving techniques etc . Tony

Wasn't having a go, was just interested as to whether you'd managed to get it working...

Haven't got any kind of traction control in mine, so don't have to worry about that, but it still cuts out on LFB or heel-n-toe. :(

Rob.

Sorry if response sounded snappy, it wasn't meant to. I have to admit that I do it mostly in Minister For The Interiors 1.4 Fabia where the speeds are more sensible and the effects even greater fun!!

No problem with heel and toe in mine.

Left foot braking? Mine hates it :(

OK I think I have got a full handle on this !

If you stab/ stab cascade brake ie as fast as a fast clap . this doesn't seem to trigger the ECU cut off , this works for tarmac ( has to be wet) but would be inadequate for really loose stuff, I have been more cautious with 79/100 on gravel etc to restrict damage and ear bending.

I have been learning brake controll with my left foot but as yet am not confident enough to try while committed to a corner on the queens highway, I did start to try this technique when I had the scoob but found it largely unnecesary as pointed out allready a scoob can be driven quick my practically anyone who knows where the loud pedal is

Will keep using left foot to brake coming into the bend to develop some feel (progression) so i can have go at using it to correct understeer mid corner at the Track day i should be booking.

many thanks for the replys on this one, and does anyone have a deffinate on the ECU killing the throttle if brake is applied??

ps

I allways drive with ASR off

edited cos I forgot somat

I may have asked before but cant remember so .........

is anyone doing or in the process of doing a Bump steer mod for the octavia vRS?? Is the car badly effected by bump steer??

Dan

I've never noticed my 4x4 bump-steering, unlike my Girlfriend's new shape (good handling) Mondeo, which does.

I haven't heard of the mod for the Octy, but when I had my last Impreza, I'm sure I read that there were also some downsides to doing the mod, unless ragged edge handling really mattered ?

I have changed tyres on the OCtavia and it steers better

Rob

Left foot braking seems pretty pointless, and possibly dangerous, in road driving to me. Far better to be smooth and progressive. Of course this might feel slow at first , but it's also less likely the electronic 'nannies' will intervene too....

Personally I have mixed feelings about suspension mods, unless you can get to try the exact same set-up on an identical car before you commit yourself. Otherwise you could end up being even less satisfied with the ride/handling and it won't be worth the potential warranty problems you might get on such a new car.

If trying different tyre pressures, as was mentioned early on, doesn't help, what about changing the front tyres for something more grippy?

When I had the Golf I had the wheels aligned by AmD, this did improve the understeer a bit.

Cheers!

Tyres is a deffinate thing I am going to change but at around

Powerstation have a great reputation for Scoobies, but AmD are VAG specialists, they're in Bicester, Oxfordshire, so probably not that far from you either.

They'll charge about 70 quid for wheel alignment, which sounds expensive but they'll do a proper job. IIRC they spent about 2 hours doing mine and wouldn't take my money until after I'd test driven the car.....

Cheers

you forget I owned a Scoob

LOL Having had a diesel Golf and now the Octy, I forgot I had a Scoob..... or at least the bills that came with it

I forgot I had a Scoob..... or at least the bills that came with it

Bills??

surely you mean Mortgage