Traded my 1998 Wagon in and got myself a shiny red Fabia vRS!!




I'm going to miss the Scoob, but will welcome the fuel economy and 1/3 of the insurance!!!
Initial thoughts after bringing it home and running along a familiar bit of road............superb in-gear performance, handles ok, ride is similar to the Scoob, but the shorter wheelbase makes it slightly more "unsettled".

Same speed, same road...........not as confidence inspiring as the Scoob, but certainly not bad at all!!!

Build quality is excellent and I now have 60,000 less miles on the clock, and the trip computer (although generaly regarded as a bit optimistic) showed an average of 51.3mpg for the run!!!!

Eibachs, 17's and REVO or Star Performance remap planned. I hear I can get REVO done in Darlington.......anyone know where?? I fancy it, but with the SPS1 to switch back to standard (should it break).

I NOW HAVE A FURBY!!!!!!

Incidentally......wheels are same PCD as the Scoob.............now where did I put those 18's??? LOL

 

have you wandered over to www.briskoda.net yet? Well worth a nose around if you haven't already.

Got any mods planned? Mine lasted three months before I got the Eibach Spring/damper kit.

J.

 

Be careful in the wet! Mine is great fun in the dry, and grips quite well for a nose-heavy car, but in the wet it can catch you out with understeer.

Briskoda is a good site for all the same sort of info on them as is available on Scoobies here. There are quite a few familiar names too

While the Einbach upgrade is worthwhile if you're upset with the standard handling (I'm not bothered about it yet as I still have the Scooby for tearing round B-roads in) be wary of engine mods in particular tuning, as they can lead to problems with the clutch and gearbox if not sorted properly.

Andy_M3 on here had a tuned version for a while, and admitted after he sold it that he had concerns for the long-term reliability of the car after the remap.

 

I've had my vRS for 18 months and has been remapped by Revo for most of that time. I drive fast but not too agressively and the clutch (most people's worry) has been fine. In gear acceleration is very surprising now.

I love the car. Doesnt handle fantastically but well enough for me and you cannot have everything can you ? I am thinking of splashing out on a new car but struggling to justify getting rid of the vRS.

 

Same engine, different car ... I've just added the fuel temp resistor mod (£16)to my Passat 130 6-speed and the midrange is even more grunty with little or no effect on economy.

4.5 seconds 40-60mph, 4.9 seconds 50-70 both in 4th. Great for A / B road overtaking, just flex your foot and you're gone.

Unfortunately, this mod gives fault codes on post 2003 cars (mine's a 2002) but if a remap is better than this simple mod, I'd say go for it.

Revo, Jabba and Upsolute can do semi-custom maps to round off the aggressive torque spikes that can cause clutch slip.

 

I'll second that about the handling, it's not that bad but remember you're not in the Scoob in the wet!

Briskoda is a good and useful website, well worth checking out.