Why not go for an st170?

I can never condone the suggestion of going oval badge but Yeah thats more like it!!

Alot of people have suggested "upgrades" to a Golf pd150 of a Mondeo/Focus Tcdi but these are NOT "upgrades" from a vRS this is joining the masses in boring, dull, family cars that you'll see "10 a penny of" on the road. If you feel the need to get rid of the vRS get something that is more of a drivers car, something more involving not something that you can get into and not really know what make & model is is. Well thats my opinion (wrong or right)! :P

The best idea I've seen so far is that Alfa but do you really want to be spending all that petrol money on returning to the garage to get it fixed?

Why not go for an st170?

A Fabia would run rings around an ST170 all day long accept at handling. I have to admit, IMHO, ST170's are the biggest pointless car made. For 170hp, You'd expect it to be somewhat ' quick ' ...

Never driven one, but have been a passenger in one, and it doesn't raise an eyebrow. Twice I asked the driver if his foot was to the floor.

A Fabia would run rings around an ST170 all day long accept at handling. I have to admit, IMHO, ST170's are the biggest pointless car made. For 170hp, You'd expect it to be somewhat ' quick ' ...

Never driven one, but have been a passenger in one, and it doesn't raise an eyebrow. Twice I asked the driver if his foot was to the floor.

I would think about what you saying.... 130hp against 170hp. The Fabia may FEEL quicker due to the turbo but it won't be quicker to 60 or 100mph. Also the Focus has always been renowned for good handling for a car of its type. I do believe the Skoda would struggle!!!

How do you think it compares to your vrs.......

I love it. I've got a review on here somewhere. A search on "Ghia" should thow it up!!

It doesnt feel as fast as a vRS, but it near as damn it is as quick, and shown some twisties its shows the vRS a clean pair of heels.

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I'd set yourself a size of vehicle, then go searching. Otherwise the list is endless. Do you need anything bigger than the Fabia? If not, something of Mondeo proportions is properly overkill....

Steve

I love it. I've got a review on here somewhere. A search on "Ghia" should thow it up!!

It doesnt feel as fast as a vRS, but it near as damn it is as quick, and shown some twisties its shows the vRS a clean pair of heels.

this is true he was behind me, but I'm a pussy when it comes to corners

I would think about what you saying.... 130hp against 170hp. The Fabia may FEEL quicker due to the turbo but it won't be quicker to 60 or 100mph. Also the Focus has always been renowned for good handling for a car of its type. I do believe the Skoda would struggle!!!

What happened to the remapped Fabia that was in question?

My Smartie is very different from the norm and handles much better than anything we've mentioned

Power? Shhhh

I was in a Smart Brabus yesterday. For about an hour yesterday evening... I was considering selling the Leon. It's still on my mind, but I'm not sure. Not very fast, but what a sensation!

Bmw M5

A Fabia would run rings around an ST170 all day long accept at handling.

errr no it wouldn't...

st170 has a 0- 60 of 7.9 secs LIST

vrs has 0-60 of 9.5 secs LIST

vrs has 130 bhp

st170 has 173 bhp

vrs weighs 1315 kg

st170 weighs 1239 kg

oh and the st170 has a lower drag coefficient

Yuo can get a 3 year old Audi S3 0-60 in 6.3 seconds, electric recaro seats, BOSE sound system, 17" alloys as standard, 4 wheeldrive, better handling and faster then VRS. I was gonna buy one but could not aford it. Will be top end of the budget but so worth it!!!

errr no it wouldn't...

List of stats....

Let's not get into the whole numbers game again eh? The point is the ST170 could have been a much better car than it is. It has quite a lazy manner, largely due to the gearing. It's more of a tourer than an outright warm/hot-hatch.

It handles well, but could be much better in many other areas. If you buy a car on numbers alone, yes - it's a sound purchase (well apart from MPG numbers). If not, then I'd put it in the 'no' pile.

Steve

errr no it wouldn't...

st170 has a 0- 60 of 7.9 secs LIST

vrs has 0-60 of 9.5 secs LIST

vrs has 130 bhp

st170 has 173 bhp

vrs weighs 1315 kg

st170 weighs 1239 kg

oh and the st170 has a lower drag coefficient

Forget what the figures say, trust me, the ST170 feels gutless. I was tempted to get one a few years ago and it felt so slow, I didn't bother.

The ST220 was much better (I bought that instead), but even that lacked the punch of the Focus ST's.

I know a mate who has had both ST220s and ST TDCI's - he likes the economy and torque of the diesel, but misses the refinement, noise and top end of the ST220.

Remember that it's torque that gives you that push in the back acceleration feeling and not BHP, so turbo's will always get my vote.

As others have said, Focus's are great cars, but a bit of a boring buy if you are looking for something exciting. Also, the diesels are fundementally less tunable than the VAG engines.

I'd just quickly like to make an exception for the Focus RS in the 'boring' category. But apart from that, yes, agreed

Steve

Of course, I was referring to cooking Focus's, certainly not the RS or the ST (225 variant). I could criticise the ST, but it's cheap, is a pretty good package and sounds awesome.

Jez

Changed from a vRS back into an Audi A3 sportback (serial Audi driver). I do miss my vRS so will be on the look out for a 3 or 4 year old next year to replace my Polo GTI (2nd car).

I replaced my privately owned Fabia vRS (Custom Code 1

I agree, brakes and handling are not the Fabia VRS's forte, but it's such a convincing package for the price and way way better on the motorway than the Ibiza Cupra PD160 as we tested one of those at the time of purchase. We also tried the 150bhp Seat Leon TD, which felt slow compared to the VRS.

If you want performance, combined with price, reasonable residuals (as it's a sporty model) and mpg, I don't think there are many other choices out there.

Also, no n/a engine is cheap to modify, whereas with a turbocharged engine, you get 15-50% more performance (depending on the engine) for under 500 quid.

Jez

Yep should easily be able to get an ST TDCI for that money. Not sure if people will think it's an upgrade though (but I certainly do )

Chris

the ST TDCI is fecking awesome different leauge to the furby

Yes you cannot compare a £20k budget car to a £11k car one is a family car one a city car.

Looks wise the ST does look very good & it does have the overboost facility + when you chip that up it is much quicker. Also VW have moved away from PD engines now as the benefit over common rail is too small the st 2.2 TDCI is the best common ral engine under 2500cc

Sold my 05 VRS yesterday :( Looking at getting an Octavia L+K tdi next week! Sad to see it go but need the bootspace for a pram for the new baby.

Cheers

I was in the same dilemma, however there are two prams, which fit in the boot of a Fabia, seats up. Quinny Buzz and Bugaboo chameleon, however they are pricey.

I went for the Bugaboo because you can sell them after 6 months use for approx

baby forced sale - got myself a new octy 2 sport tdi140 which is great

The other alternative is a BMW 320d which is an excellent 4 cylinder common rail engine. Trouble is for 9-10k you're looking at one with fairly high-ish mileage.

The boots on them are a good size but with them being a saloon they're awkward to load cos of the shape of the opening.