The_Titanium_Knob_Man

I test drove a Fabia vRS recently. First time I have driven a newish diesel and I was impressed with the in gear ooomph

I have come to the conclusion that my next runaround will be a diesel, however I am not too keen (and thats an understatement!) by the Fabias looks, I also thought the power overwhelmed the chassis a bit.

I will be arranging test drives for the cars below but in the mean time.....

I was wondering how does the New Ford Focus 2.0 TDCi compare, on paper the 0 - 60s look similar ? The other car I noticed which may perform ok was a Seat Ibiza 1.9 TDi Cupra. Anyone know the 0 - 100 stats for all 3 cars ?

I am looking for a bit of fun plus good mpg with a budget of max £12k may be stretch 15k as I would have to for the Ibiza if its really good enough......)

Anyone had any experience of the two above and how do they comapre in terms of cornering and straight line speed ?

Ta

16vmarc

I think the Fabia vRS is a brilliant car, and took one on quite a long and fast test drive! I imagine the Ibiza to be very similar. Consider the Golf alternative too.

Kussimurran

I agree. I drove two fabias recently, and I'll ring up and order one tomorrow!

mn_angrybeats

Shame they are one of the ugliest cars on the road

dba

The Ibiza is quicker but the Fabia is bigger and imo is the better all round car,but if performance and tuning are your only criteria then the Ibiza is worth looking at

Mossman

"one of the ugliest cars on the road".

Balderdash sir. May I suggest a stronger prescription?!

I loved ours. Subtle yet aggressive from the front. Would be superb with a slightly wider track and flared arches.

Mossman

SteveV-WRX

I would have to say that I went through the same thoughts as you when getting my last car tried alll of the cars above, and a few more.

The one I eventually went for was the renault clio DCi, top of the range sports model has the same interior as the 182 clio cup, cracking in gear torque, excellent mpg. ( I dont get anything under low 40 mpg even when im driving it like I stole it)

I really liked the cabin of the vRS and the feel, but the clio won hands down on drive and chuckability, oh and super chips remap them to give them enough torque to pull over a house!

Steve

owner of an '05 clio Dynamique DCi 100 in black pearl

Andy M3

I picked up my Fabia vRS on Friday. This is to replace my Volvo T5. I considered lots of other models, but I thought it was the best on the market place, and would never buy a CLIO over a Fabia. Having owned the 1.2 16v Dynamique, I thought the car was awful.fFelt cramped with a nasty seating position, dodgy electrics, and fly by wire problems. Had it 8 months and sold it loosing £4k in the process. What a mare that was. I believe the 100hp DCI is around the same money as the Fabia?!?! I personally would go for a Clio DCI in it's authentique or Expression guise if i had to have one, then it does have a point, of a small quirky 60 mpg means to an end, and not the 100hp dci which seems to be Renaults vein attempt at making a decent diesel sporty hatch :yawn:

Stick to the VAG stuff, I would have gone for a Golf 4 150 PD as 2nd choice, although I don't like the Seats, the Leon Cupra 150 PD is worth a nosey too

Andy.

NotoriousREV

I drove a Fabia with a view to buying one a few weeks back. Very nice car, liked it, great motor (but needs a remap to get a bit more top end power). The only reason I don't own one now is that it wasn't "special" enough for me. Sad, I know

oxscooby

iTrader: (1)

I bought a fabia vrs at christmas and think its a cracking little motor. Went to AMD tuning and bought one of their 'one click' devices. Basically you plug it in under the steering wheel and it takes the power up to 170 bhp and 295 lb/ft of torque, you wouldnt beleive how fun it is to drive. You can also put the ecu back to the standard 130 bhp by plugging the device back in (which could well be handy if the car has to go into the dealers) and it is quite reasonable in price (about £550). Also, the cruise control is a godsend for motorway driving, I think this is only £150 as a factory option which is a bargain. Ok, the looks could be better but for value for money i dont think you can go wrong with one of these.

Josh_PoloGTi

180bhp / 310lbft

40mpg

40 -> 70 c.5.5 seconds (3rd Gear)

£12150 with Xenons and Cruise (New)

Need I say more?

STEVECHAPS

We picked up our Furby on Thursday. Completely unable to find a reason not to like it . Our other options were the Fiesta ST and one or two warmish hot hatches, but in terms of the overall package (inc a negotiable price & rock solid residuals) it was no contest.
Anyone else reckon the 'official' times for acceleration are a tad on the conservative side ?
Steve

drb5

iTrader: (4)

What about the new Leon TDi? The one with the Cupra bodykit?

Andy M3

To be honest, i have never really had a good look at the 0-60 etc, because it represents a much quicker car in real life scenarios !?!? How many miles has yours done since Thursday !?!?! Mine has done 340 now

DanTheMan

it seems as though a large percentage of the http://www.briskoda.net/ forums are ex scooby owners !!!!

Iwan

I bought a Fabia vRS just after Christmas and whilst it's a really great car, i just found it too boring/ordinary after owning an Impreza P1. If I needed to do any sort of mileage to/from work every day then I'd say the vRS would be perfect, but I don't. My car is used primarily at weekends for fun.

The only thing I didn't like about the vRS was that it felt a bit wallowy and unstable when cornering at high (100mph+) speeds. Again, this was comparing it with my rock solid P1 so maybe not the fairest benchmark.

Personally I don't _need_ the economy and 'sensibleness' of the vRS right now, so I sold mine last week (losing £2k in 8 weeks ) and am on the lookout for another Scooby. If you're in the market for a warm/hot hatch but also want/need something that's cost effective to commute to work in, then the vRS is just about perfect (as long as you aren't expecting it to live up to the experience of driving 4wd based turbo saloons etc).

If I changed jobs and needed something for commuting, then I'd get another TDi Fabia without a doubt.

dtriggs

I bought a 10 month old Silver vRS last week. It can never compare to my 290bhp Scooby STI RA for fun of course but that car rattled my fillings, did 18mpg and was soooo noisy on the motorway. Oh yeah, it also costs more than twice as much new...

I test drove the Ibiza FR and Cupra. The FR was the direct comparison but handled worse than the Fabia and the ride was more uncomfortable - the kids hated it in the back. The Cupra was faster but not by very much at all, and to be honest on my fully loosened up vRS seems just as quick. I also hated the looks of the Ibiza. The extra cost of the Cupra over the FR seemed pointless, unless the Cupra badge means something to you.

I really liked the Leon but it was again not so good for my kids in the back - very dark and gloomy - and it cost alot more money.

Having had the Fabia a week I just love it. I cannot find fault with it. It is very quick once you learn the way to drive it. I find it grips really well and rides very comfortably. The interior is great although I am sure the seats will get dirty very quickly. The looks on the outside I love to be honest. Agressive without being boy racer'ish.

I tried the Clio 182 - and bloody hated it. Driving position like a bus and no room in the pedals. Went quickly but understeered like a barsteward. Just my choice and obviously the one i tried may needed attention, but still I hated them. And they fall to pieces. And they have no residuals.

Buy the vRS.

mn_angrybeats

Is the vRS expected to have good residuals then ?

wilf

Not sure about the Clio falling to pieces bit is correct either.

Bits of trim fell off my old Fabia on sevaral occasions - window switches and seat adjusters I recall. Nothing has ever fallen of my 2.5 year old clio.

Some people are clearly deluded about VAG cars being better than others.

Andy M3

Having owned both, i have to say the clio was pretty bad with fit and finish, as was my citroen. I put them all in the same rocky boat, but it depends what you want out of a car. I would say VAG group have a better fit and finish and quality of materials, although some say it is on the decline now. Then engines have always proved to be good on VAG cars, mention head gasket near a petrol renault and it would explode immediatly. Renault have usually made a better handling car than the equivalent VAG car. I know the early 172 compared to a Lupo GTI would have run circles around the Lupo, but the dealers have never been that great with renault, but certainly Audi and VW dealers have always proved stuffy in my opionion so not sure which i prefer there.

I could of course go on with this comparison but it is quite clear renault have the market in the small hatch catogory. What i wonder is why ?

STEVECHAPS

Only 50!, but t'nipper has been Ill & it's been back for it's superguard treatment which took 24 hours.
My STi has actually done more miles in the same timespan.....eek!

STEVECHAPS

er, yes actually.
From today's Autotrader web site:
"2003 53 Reg SKODA FABIA 1.9 TDI PD 130 vRS 5dr,5 Doors, Manual, Hatchback, Diesel, 25,723 miles, Black Magic £10495"
Given we just paid £11995 new for same spec it's pretty good.
My 53 STi with PPP which cost £25500 (£1500 off list btw) is probably worth £18-19K max.
Supply & demand? We had to wait 8 weeks for our furby.
Wouldn't swap for MY scooby though having said all that!

mattvortex

do these devices lessen the engine life of the car? if you are getting that claimed torque figure that little front wheel drive car must surely struggle to put it down cleanly and id imagine its lethal in the wet!

The_Titanium_Knob_Man

Many thanks for the replies lads, it appears the Fabia gets a big thumbs up from the majority. I did observe that no-one has mentioned the new 2.0 TDCi Focus in their replies......is that becos its such a new car no-one has had first hand experience of it ? or becos people think its a ****e car ? You see although on paper its 3k more expensive than the Fabia, I can probably get a new zetec climate for about 12kish (when Ford allow privelege customers to order diesels again!).


The reason I am so interested in the Focus comparison is because I would think it corners better than the Fabia, looks better (imo) and would cost me the same amount of dosh!!

dba

Focus is a much better car,but its a 3k more

mn_angrybeats

LOL you didnt look very hard.....some 2004 models under 20k miles for under 9.5k...So 25% loss in a year doesnt seem like fantastic residuals to me or am I missing something, better than most though I guess...

dtriggs

There are 4 Cars nationally below £10,495. One is pvt at £9000 and then there are 3 others. One is in Belfast, which leaves just 2 on mainland UK. So yes, they have amazing residuals. Full list is only £12,250. Clio 182's (2004s)are selling for similar money (£9500 at Giant) upto 10-10.5k elsewhere. Considering they are £14700 retail I would say that is a much much bigger loss on the part of the Clio. And yes I know you get bigger discounts off retail on the Clio but that proves the point really.

As to Clios falling to pieces - I was being a little bit jokey, but of the cars I have looked at, the Fabias have had nothing worn or dropping off yet all the Clios have had the odd trim problam. The quality of interior plastic is far higher in the Fabia compared to not only the Clio, but also the Toyota Yaris, and Ford Fiesta. Just my opinion of course, but I thought it quite noticeable the difference. I was most disappointed with the Toyota as I expected better.