2004 Skoda Fabia vRS from UK and Ireland - Comments

So far I have had no problems with the car.

I have previously owned a Subaru Impreza Turbo and an Octavia VRS, the Impreza was a fantastic car, but running costs were ridiculous. The Octavia proved to be cheaper to run, but insurance was Grp 16, this was again a great car, but again hurt my pocket if I drove it hard.

So I started to read write ups on the Fabia VRS and off I went to a dealer and went out for a test drive.

What a surprise! the car handled in my opinion better than the Octavia and felt just as quick if not quicker in the mid range, by the way the salesman didn't come with me so I was able to put the Fabia through its paces!

So I went back and struck a deal although I was a little sad to see the Octavia go. Well 1000miles on and I am amazed at the economy, at 70mph with cruise control on I have averaged 61mpg and even on blasts over D-restricted roads it hasn't dipped below 45mpg!

I am having my car re-mapped in a couple of days, which according to my dealer does not affect the warranty.

If there is anybody out there toying with the idea of buying one of these cars, then go and test drive one and see for yourself, don't worry about the badge, these cars are cracking value for money it is the badge snobs that are the fools, trust me.

Oh and by the way, there was a guy trading in his Honda Civic Type R for a Fabia VRS when I got mine, enough said!

Re-mapping of the ECU will void the warranty, whoever re-maps the ecu ask them if they are underwriting the warranty because Skoda will not. The 130 bhp engine is strong, but not that strong.

I asked the Skoda dealer about the warranty and he stated that it would not be affected as no parts were being changed and added that they frequently re-map Skoda diesels themselves!

Infact when I bought my Octavia vrs I was told there and then by the dealer that they could re-map the ecu from 180 to 225bhp and that was a brand new car.

Well I have had it done now and my fabia has been transformed.

If this engine isn't "that Strong" then why have Seat just fitted it to an Ibiza with 160bhp and 0-60 in 7 seconds?

The engine that's gone into the new Seat tdi 160 is not any kind of proof of the strength of the 130 engine. Reason. Very different components used in both engines. Not just remap!

How is your re - mapped VRS going at the moment. Does it really make that much of a difference? I have just bought one and am thinking of having it re- mapped too as offered by my dealership. If so should I wait until it's run in perhaps?

My vrs had done 4000 miles when it was re-mapped so it may be a good idea to run your car in first. Mine now turns out approximately 170bhp, but the car responds immediately and is much smoother to drive.

Acceleration from 2nd gear up wards has been transformed which is just what I wanted as I wasn`t interested in top speeds, but just for use in everyday driving.

You have obviously read the 2 comments by Mr Doom and Gloom, but don't let him put you off, just buy a copy of Diesel Car who more than recommend re-maps, chips etc.

All in all its the best £300 I have ever spent on a car. good luck.

£300 for the remap where did you get it done?

I have had My vRS since the sept of its launch.

Its done 19000 miles and hasn't caused me a problem (touching wood). It is great to drive. But I do feel the mpg has dropped; perhaps this can be sorted on the 20k service.

Sid Reed.

The prices vary a lot, the company I used is www.angeltuning.co.uk, and whats even better is the guy comes to your home address if you want.

They have done a number of fabia vrs re maps and you can go up to 180bhp!

Mine has been done 3 months now and I am more than happy with the results, I still average around 50 mpg and recently the computer was reading 66 mpg on a trip up to the lake district! Obviously it comes down a bit if you have a blast, but its well worth it.

Can you tell us which skoda dealer offers re-mapping.?

As this will possibly sway my decision about getting one.

I asked the dealer in west london and they told me that re-mapping would void the warranty. although they did also say that re-mapping the ecu would be totally undetectable to the dealer.

Thanks and regards.

Rudy.

Rudy, both Horners of Manchester and Garners of Warrington offered to chip or re-map my Skoda, however Horners quoted £700!!! so I used Angel Tuning at £300 and they also stated that a re-map was undetectable.

Horners just send their vehicles to a local firm who carry out the work which is then covered by the dealer warranty. On the Fabia VRS it was worth every penny believe me.

Hi guys I am trading my Mazda 3 TS2 turbo diesel in this Friday for a Fabia VRS and I am quite excited about it is it what its cracked up to be?, am I making the right decision?, I also asked dealer about re-mapping and he tells me its totally undetectable and even told me where I could get it done I asked about the transmission and was told it would stand 200+ BHP so I'm looking forward to Friday.

Cheers Mick G.

I am 18.. I want a fast car... I'm not the richest bloke in the world... I was thinking about buying a Cooper (actually I was about ready to sign the paperwork)... drove a Fabia VRS this morning.. My life has been transformed!! I've fallen in love with it, it's incredible. I have one question though; whats the reliablity like? I don't want to have to be taking it back every minute of every day!

Cheers guys.

Jam.

Re the remapping debate, VAG had to uprate a number of components to cope with the 150bhp version of the 1.9. The pistons are different for a start off. Also worth checking the torque capacity of the box (not the power...)

All the boy racers will tell you to go for it and diesel car has carried rechipping adverts for years so is hardly impartial. If you're only going to keep the car for 10-20k then fine, but going for a large increase in power will mean the engine will be more likely to fail / wear out earlier. Why else would VAG go to the expense of upgrading components in these cost conscious times???

In response to questions concerning reliability, please note this extract from a chipping Co...

Why haven't the manufacturers done it?

When an engine in a mass produced vehicle is tuned, many compromises have to be made. The manufacturer has to allow for the engine being looked after in the worst possible way. Even if the car has not been serviced for months and poor quality fuel is used, the manufacturer has to make sure that there will not be any reliability or emission problems. Fuelling is often decreased to the point of destroying part-throttle driving in an attempt to improve fuel economy figures measured in accordance with Government testing procedures. Vehicle Manufacturers have some of the best Technicians and Engineers around - but they are working to goals that are different from ours and so the discerning driver loses out.

Reading the interesting comments about re-mapping. Naive question I know, but what typically happens with your insurance premiums??

To the commenter of 13th May 2005, you provide an excellent word for word quotation of the marketing nonsense used to sell these re-maps.

There is a legitimate case for re-mapping in some of the circumstances mentioned. The most common being the noise, emissions and economy tests that all new cars (and bikes) must pass before gaining type approval, or gaining favourable government figures for the manufacturers to be able to quote in their literature. It is true that manufacturers do indeed back off fuelling at certain points in the rev range to "help" the official figures look good, and this does impact on driveability and occasionally peak power figures. A re-map to revert the engine back to what the manufacturer would have produced had it not had to complete these tests is well worth considering, and is highly unlikely to impose any limitations on component life and reliability.

What creases me up however are the various companies who write a page of marketing guff similar to your quote there, and then say that they can offer 60+ bhp power hikes. I'm sorry, but no regulations, type approval, figures or "conservative engineering" anywhere would warranty castrating an engine that much! You might conceivably lose 10 bhp through various restrictions imposed for better economy or emissions figures, but 60 bhp?

Some of these so-called re-maps have to be pushing engines and transmissions well beyond their intended operating parameters. Thanks to the strength of modern components and engineering quality, they will last a while, but surely it is naive in the extreme to think that a transmission fitted by a manufacturer will cope with another 100 lb/ft of torque over 100,000 miles without any ill consequences.

As another commenter has pointed out too, many of the publications which advocate this type of tuning depend heavily on the advertising revenue from the companies who perform it. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to decide what implications that has on impartiality and favourable reviews.