Currently drive an 03 Impreza STI PPP, my 3rd scooby. I guess what I'm looking for in a car has changed, I generally do a daily commute ( 20 miles every day )with the occassional longer drive. Scoob is just too expensive to run as a daily commuter IMHO - much as I love the driving experience.

So was thinking of trading for a smaller car with a bit of zip but crucially lower running costs, don't really want to buy a banger and garage the Scoob at the moment.

Test driven two cars already:

1) Suzuki Swift Sport - I liked the look of this car, and granted it is very "chuckable", but just feels seriously underpowered. Also feel it maybe more of a ladies car ( if such a thing exists! ). Was offered

The addition of a rear ARB to the Fabia will increase the go-kart feel.

I would reccomend buying the VRS and having a rear anti roll bar fitted the car becomes very chuckable then

Your moving from a very quick car, to car's which have half the power. You'll notice the performance difference, and certainly the fun.

I enjoyed owning the Fabia vRS, but coming from a slower car to begin with, that was always going to be the case. It's a very easy car to drive quickly.

One thing that i'd hate to change from the Subaru, would be the noise. After hearing that grumble, I doubt I could put up with a diesel. My opinion of course..

Welcome to Briskoda!

I would reccomend buying the VRS and having a rear anti roll bar fitted the car becomes very chuckable then

Excuse my ignorance, is this a Skoda fitted part or an after market part? What are we talking

I believe there are some regular users of this site who have made that exact change, stick about for a few days, I'm sure they'll answer your question.

Chris

Excuse my ignorance, is this a Skoda fitted part or an after market part? What are we talking

I have made the move from a Scoob (only a WRX with a few mods though) basically because of a new job and nearly 100 miles a day round trip

There are things I miss such as

Grip

noise (carbon afterburner)

acceleration

Looks (even though it was a bugeye IMO a nice one though)

Community/shows etc

I dont miss

Petrol consumption

Insurance costs

worry of leaving it anywhere

The Fabia is a great car for what it is but not comparable to what you have now, if you need to cut running costs and you dont need space then I think you cant do much better for the money, you will miss the scoob just as I do but having the fabia makes it bearable

I can only echo the above poster's comments I moved from a Lancer evo II to a 68bhp Fabia 1.4 , for purely finacial reasons , as like yourself I didnt think the money I was shelling out on insurance , petrol , tracker ect was 'value' for what I was getting back , and the fact that the car had started to get unreliable tipped the scales in favour of something more affordable to run. Having had 2 Octavias prior to the Evo , and knowing all about Briskoda as a community , I went with a Fabia.

The things I likead about the Evo are virtually identical to how 'Montybaber' felt about his Scoob IE Grip/handling , Power , Image , and the great events you could go to -TOTB , JAE @ Billing etc , and I was an active member of the MLR club and forum. The things I do not miss are exactly the same as his too , although on mine you could add 'repair costs' to that list. However , given that mine is not a vRS , I think I have 'sacrificed' more than you will be if you opt for a vRS , but having said that , I still enjoy the drive in the Fabia , it has a nice slick gearshift , a light clutch (a definate improvement on the muscle strainer in the Evo!!) , good power steering , and has just enough creature comforts to make living with the thing a comfortable experience. Id say give it a go!

I went from my second Scooby in the late 90

I went from my second Scooby in the late 90

towser, i'm not speaking from experience but from a witnes of a few on here that have made the same move. my advice is don't do it, simply because a lot seemed to have bought the fabia vRS in the last couple of years being drawn in by the better mpg and the feeling of power/speed but they seem to get bored quite quickly and sell the car at 6-18months old and go back to something bigger/better/faster(delete as appropriate).

some say i might be biased but if your after something cheaper to run and more comfortable but still capable then either the vRS or 4x4 octavia might be a better car for you as with a little bit of money spent they go well, corner well and stop well but can still get 30-40mpg on a run allegedly(i have never had such good economy, on a run i get more like 28mpg at best) and after all this they are cheaper to buy. infact someone is selling a UK registered 4x4 on here at the moment with some decent mods saving you the initial hit of doing them yourself.

best of luck deciding what to do

A good point made above

I think that if you are moving from a car like a STI PPP to a Fabia VRS it has to be for no other reason than having to due to costs

any other reason and you will be back before you know it, I cant and if you cant then the VRS is a great choice

In the interests of getting a better part-ex, try the SEAT Ibiza/Leon turbo-diesels too.

Coming from an Impreza they'll probably still offer a better ride whilst feeling a lot more sporty than a standard Fabia.

J.

Towser, you need to come to a meet where there will be some modified Fabias. As I previously said, I came from having quick cars and thought I

Evo 7 to VRS with a few mods

If you are looking to save money then it is no contest.

The power of the 7 in my oppinion was not often that useable but the VRS is.

Regards

Lee

I still miss my modded Scooby!

If you just want to save money, why not get an old diesel hack for the commuter run and keep the Scooby as a weekend/fun car?

Chris

Thanks folks for all your advice.....main reason for changing is cost, I can afford to keep Scoob on the road but sometimes I look at the running costs and think -

How often do I really use this car like it should be used? The answer is rarely....motorway commute is just droning along at 60 - 70. I don't really do that weekend blat across B roads like I used to. In some ways the Scoob image is also not what it once was - I'm approaching 40 and I sometime sit in it feeling a bit self conscious ( i.e. picnic table sized rear spoiler, gold wheels, bulges in all the wrong places - that's just me not the car )

Running costs lately have been a bit depressing:

1) 50k service eventually came out at

I'm another who has gone down the Subaru to vRS switch for slightly different reasons but again down to running costs.

I've taken early retirement and con no longer justify the insurance/MPG/general running costs of my modded MY99 Classic Turbo 5-door so have sold to a fellow Scooby enthusiast.

However before that we did run both the Scooby( as my car) and the vRS( wife's car) for the last 2 years so have been able to compare merits of each--well documented in previous threads.

I've taken on the vRS and we now have a Jazz Sport for my wife( no performance but very flexible seating so ideal for our needs as grandparents).

I have not really missed the Scooby( apart from the burble and top end power) but the vRS's low down punch, especially since re-map, more than compensates on today's crowded roads and the long, long gearing is also a plus.

Also, my Scooby did not have all the "toys" that came as standard with the vRS such as A/C, computer, cruise control, CD player etc. etc.

If you can live with the smaller boot and slightly too narrow appearance, I don't think you would regret the switch but if you really enjoyed the Scooby's handling then the vRS will not compare too well although Eibach lowering springs and Jabba ARB will improve the vRS handling but never to the same extent as being able to truly compete with the Scooby with its 4 wheel drive advantage. This does not bother me, not being in the first flush of youth any longer!!!!!

One other factor will also be much better---namely lower depreciation--the vRS seems to be holding its value well although if you can afford a new one, it may be better to wait for the new model.

By the way, my re-map cost only

sounds like vRS remap is pretty much a standard thing to do. How does this affect manufacturer warranty - do Skoda support and honour it?

not a chance. remap=no warranty basically

Your dealer is the first filter on warranty claims, so building a good relationship with them is important. The bottom line is remap = no warranty, so the dealer's interpretation of a possible warranty claim matters.

You could go with a tuning box to give you about 160bhp and just remove it at warrenty\service time? Mine's been on for about 20k with no problems at all.

There are other very effective options.

AmD Store - Product

Towser, if you work out the service cost s