2004 Skoda Fabia vRS from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing.

This car is a delight to own. It is effortless to drive with maximum torque at 1800 rpm (310Nm); you can briskly travel across town or down country roads without effort.

When deciding upon the Fabia, I did consider a Honda Civic Type R. These behave like the base model 1.4 until the V-Tec kicks in and then it roars like a blood thirsty Tyrannosaurus. - Attracting the attention of passing 5'0 like a 2 for 1 special at Greg's.

Again if you need to hustle along a back road with your mum as a passenger, the Type R is hardly discreet. When the V-Tec kicks in your mum'll stop talking about drapes, start screaming, and you'll have to slow down unless you want to be written out of a will.

In the vRS you have a strong undramatic surge of power up to about 3,500 rpm where after it gradually tails off, mother will babble on unsuspecting.

The Skoda's TDI130 has been proven as a faultless engine in many other VAG cars, but diesel engines in general are far superior to petrol. Diesel units are made of more robust cast iron to deal with the higher compression needed for diesel combustion. They don't need to be revved hard to get the power, so the pistons simply don't travel up and down as many times, resulting in less wear. Diesel is a lubricant, lubricating the engine, resulting in less wear. As diesels are more efficient, they run cooler, thus the turbos last as long as the engine, unlike petrols.

Another added benefit to opting for the oil burner is 68mpg is attainable at a constant 50mph; you'll struggle to get half that in an equivalent petrol.

I must say, the engine note isn't the greatest, it has a purposeful mechanical noise at idle but it's hardly going to have you stamping on the small pedal as though it were a cockroach.

Other downsides are the door pockets are thin & shallow, so you can't store your CD wallets anywhere. The standard CD player has to be pressed for 4 seconds before it'll pop out a CD. Particularly annoying when a gear change is imminent.

The windscreen washer fluid reservoir is the size of a pipette.

Unless you by one with leather, the light grey velour seats stain very easily will take several applications of upholstery cleaner to remove a stain completely.

The car handles well, it has the same chassis as the VW Polo so it has that safe new-car under steer when the limit has been crossed, and there is no spooky lift off over steer.

However, I've heard that if you replace the rear anti-roll bar for a stiffer one, this will bring back lift off over steer and make the car even more of a chuckle to drive.

When you tell the car illiterate you drive a Skoda Fabia vRS they tend to hang on the word Skoda and say, "oh, I thought you'd have something sporty." But to be truthful, I've had a Porsche 944 and when you tell this to the car illiterate, they tend to hang on the word Porsche and secretly hate you.

In summary, it's fast, it's powerful, it's economical, and people who know about cars will respect you for it. Even though it is small you can do large mileages in comfort, yet have fun at the same time.

Lol! Why do all the vRS owners bring up the type R's? Are the Honda's really such a benchmark in the car world. And by the by, it isn't as fast or even close hence the reason your mum won't notice you put your foot down in the one car compared to the other. Also to say the vtec honda is the same as the 1.4 is not true. The 2.0 is respectable off vtec with its low gearing and also has a transitional stage between vtec unlike the older versions such as in the integra DC2.

By the by, CTR's aren't actually much quicker, they just feel like it because they're essentially an economy tuned 2.0 until the V-Tec changes the timing. This sudden change gives you a sudden thunk of Torque and Power making it feel fast. When this happens it screams like the pistons are about to fly through the bonnet which gives you a greater sensation of speed. The vRS is very fast but it doesn't give you a sudden shot of power right at the very end of the rev range from 6,000 to 8,000 revs. You can only really tell how fast it's going by looking at the speedo shoot up. So I'm not surprised you don't think it's fast. Also something most people don't realise is that performance figures look hugely different on paper but in reality, there's not much in it.

0-60 is hard on the car which is why I don't really care about the stats. You could always compare the two cars on average speed per tank of fuel, the vRS would probably be 2 and a half times faster.

The vRS has max torque from just above tick over which means you can just plant it in 6th and it just surges away, leaving the CTR driver like an Oxford rower on the gear box searching for that elusive 2,000rpm powerband.

The CTR does sound beautiful though it must be said, and the vRS will is not even in the same league with sound, but is that worth paying double everywhere you drive, I think not.

How can you say it's not much faster?

Figures on paper don't mean a lot in day to day driving, and a couple of milliseconds here and there means very little, but the Civic will hit 60 3 whole seconds faster than the Fabia, and around 14-15 seconds faster to 100, and that's quite a big difference!

God knows why people keep comparing the Fabia to a Civic Type R as they aren't anywhere near on performance, as the Fabia struggles to even qualify for a warm hatch, let alone anything more.

I'm guessing the this person has either never driven a Honda vtec or is a very poor driver as it's very easy to keep the vtec engine in the power band, as you just need to know what gear to be in at what speed, which isn't really rocket science! And you'll find quite a bit more happens than it just making more noise when on vtec, as it really does pick up pace on the cam change, and in the wet my old dc2 Integra would actually get wheel spin as you hit 5800rpm, so it does more than just feel like you're going quicker!

I have a Fabia vRS, and as much as I hate to say it, the ctr is quite a bit faster. Mid-range 30-80 it might be close, but above and below it's far faster.

Even a remapped vRS can't compete with a CTR. Without going hybrid the vRS is really gonna struggle.

As a diesel driver I can't believe I just read a comment claiming that a petrol has all its power in one big lump whereas the diesel doesn't???

I think you might be confused, in order to drive a diesel flat out you have to change up through the gears much faster and more often than in a petrol-even a vtec. If the CTR wasn't a fast car I don't think you would have brought it up in your review where you are trying to elevate the status of your nippy Skoda.

To say that 0-60 and 1/4 mile times aren't good performance indicators. Surely you want to know which car is more capable, not whether one group of drivers do more motorway driving or race about like a clown etc. I'd be willing to bet the average vRS does go around faster than the average CTR, but only because the vRS driver is compensating and is under the impression they have something to prove. I actually quite like the vRS and appreciate it's fun and frugal, but take it to a track day and then leave a comment on here after going around in a stock vRS with a stock CTR on the track at the same time.

I have driven a CTR, and frankly I was disappointed, I was disappointed with the way you have to have roid-rage to drive it quickly, I was disappointed the way you have to stop at the petrol station every 200 miles to buy fuel, I was disappointed that I couldn't see out the windows because they mist up like the love scene in Titanic, I was disappointed that the speakers are as soothing as a clock radio, and I was also disappointed that if you want to tune it to make it a bit more drivable, you'll have to sell your fluorescent Type-R hoody an obligatory Type-R baseball cap.

The Fabia is one of the many cars in the VW-Audi (VAG), thus it is far more refined than this cheap Japanese hatch. The interior noise levels make the cheapness obvious to name but one of many.

The thing I love most about the Fabia vRS is that it really gets up the noses of CTR drivers, they hate the fact that it is almost comparable with their beloved rage rockets that they have to pay double for the privilege!

Sadly, I'm not just talking fuel, road tax too!

Just trade in the CTR for a vRS, then you can drive it from A to B rather than only on Sundays or on your birthday.

If you think the vRS has much of a chance against a CTR, I suggest you have a look on some of the threads about it on briskoda.net. Even owners with around 200bhp admit to not being able to genuinely compete with them.

The Type R is a fast car and the Skoda is an economy cruiser, so if you want to start picking up on the faults of each then fine, but they are completely different cars suited to different needs.

Say what you like, the Skoda is appalling round bends and simply doesn't have anywhere near the straight line speed to make up the gap against the CTR. The fuel economy on a CTR is pretty good for a 200bhp car doing 0-60 in under 7 seconds, and you will struggle to find many diesels which will equal the performance for the same cost (type R was only 15/16k new). If you really want to remap your Skoda, fine, but it still won't be as quick and your insurance will also be void unless you declare it, along with the fact that you are reducing the engines life and putting it under more strain than VAG intended.

The speakers in the Type R are pants fair enough, so £50 should sort that, don't know what you mean about the screen misting up as you just have to set the blowers so they aren't recirculating (difficult for some perhaps???).

The driving style is a love hate thing so if you are a lazy driver or just don't like the idea of revving the car hard (you don't have to worry about it though as it has Honda reliability, not the declining VAG reliability, which seems to be getting worse and worse) don't buy a type R, but at the same time you don't have to buy a Skoda.

There are plenty of cars to choose from, and in my opinion the vRS and the CTR are good buys and good value for money, but don't go thinking the vRS is as fast or handles anything like the Civic, because it isn't and doesn't. The strengths of the vRS are that it is understated with good economy and a punchy diesel unit, which can hold off the average car on the road (e.g. Saxo VTR, Fiesta Zetec S, Focus 2.0) etc.

Who couldn't afford to run a Type R on a daily basis? They get mid 30's mpg and are very reliable, with cheaper parts than a VAG which are way over priced especially for the quality. Tax is going up but that's true of a lot of cars, and to be honest even if it goes upto £400 it's still going to be an affordable ride. It's not like running an Impreza or something else with silly servicing costs...

"By the by, CTR's aren't actually much quicker, they just feel like it because they're essentially an economy tuned 2.0 until the V-Tec changes the timing. This sudden change gives you a sudden thunk of Torque and Power making it feel fast."--Quote.

The very same thing could be said (more accurately infact) about driving a diesel where the kick of the turbo and huge torque give the impression of speed. In the Fabia's case it's got a more gradual power curve, but at the end of the day its still there.

When people argue the Type R is harder to drive and more effort, I find it is actually more difficult to find the best time for a gear change in a diesel where the tail off is not noticeable enough to realise you changed too early or not soon enough. The Type R can be driven fast by almost anyone, where it is simply a case of going to the red line in each gear for optimum acceleration, and changing down is never a chin scratcher either.

In fairness Honda never pretended the Type R would be quiet, it is stripped out, no wheel arch liners and other things to save weight. It's meant to be noisy that's the idea. Anyone who buys one expecting it to be limo quiet will be very disappointed. You just can't compare these cars. They're chalk and cheese.

As a Civic Type R owner I must say that for years I didn't like Skoda Fabias. But on my way to work each day there is a bog standard Skoda Fabia TDI that I meet on a regular basis. I look up the performance figures and the Fabia TDI is supposed to be 100bhp. No matter how hard I try I get over taken by this guy every day, worst of all its 'Y' reg and the engine is knackered as it chucks out a load of black smoke!

It steadily pulls away on the straights and corners like a grey hound. If this is how well a knackered 100bhp Fabia goes, then surely the vRS is even faster? I have DOUBLE the bhps and the garage tells me my car is fully run in and going as well as it should.

Torque is what I need, so I'm trading it in for a VW Polo GT TDI (has the same engine as the VRS) on Monday! It looks nicer than the Fabia and is much faster than my old car.

It sounds like you are Civic Type R driver who doesn't use vtec, as a 100bhp fabia would get mullered. If there's a lot of black smoke, it's possible its been tampered with and given more fueling, but even so the CTR should kill it. A guy on briskoda.net has a 260bhp Fabia vRS and that struggles to get runs of 0-60 in 7 seconds flat or under, and admits it's not quite on par performance wise with a standard CTR.

It really doesn't handle that well either, but if this story makes you feel better about downgrading to a Polo, then that's up to you.

Are you sure you don't own the knackered Fabia?

'As a Civic Type R owner I must say that for years I didn't like Skoda Fabias. But on my way to work each day there is a bog standard Skoda Fabia TDI that I meet on a regular basis. I look up the performance figures and the Fabia TDI is supposed to be 100bhp. No matter how hard I try I get over taken by this guy every day, worst of all its 'Y' reg and the engine is knackered as it chucks out a load of black smoke!

It steadily pulls away on the straights and corners like a grey hound. If this is how well a knackered 100bhp Fabia goes, then surely the vRS is even faster? I have DOUBLE the bhps and the garage tells me my car is fully run in and going as well as it should.

Torque is what I need, so I'm trading it in for a VW Polo GT TDI (has the same engine as the VRS) on Monday! It looks nicer than the Fabia and is much faster than my old car.'

The Y reg Fabia kicking out black smoke won't be knackered, that's what my vRS does, contrary too many others I quite like caking the car behind in diesel fumes as I pull away from them. I also suspect that the '100bhp' you keep meeting will be highly modified. The highest bhp Fabia I know off started out as a 1.4tdi 100bhp... it now has 255-260bhp!