2005 Skoda Fabia vRS from UK and Ireland - Comments

'No hot hatch and boat like handling'. Hmm. I guess you've probably never driven one, then. It may not be the fastest car on paper, but the in gear acceleration thanks to all that torque leaves most petrol cars floudering in its wake, especially up hills. And the handling is never worse than mild under-steer in my experience; generally the levels of grip are excellent. Oh, and the only reason French cars like the Saxo and 106/206 etc are 'quick' is because they are made of fibreglass and metal the thickness of pepsi cans. I think the recent Top Gear survey shows just how good the French cars are eh? Oh, and who was in 2nd place? Case closed.

Hi everyone, I'm from Malta and I have an astonishing skoda Fabia with a 1.8lt engine powered by a T61 turbo and which produces a breath taking 350bhp on wheels and considering that no changes have been done to pistons,rods and valves it's just the beginning and even if it's a small car it is very solid built with no noises at all except the roar produced by the engine when pushing the pedal to the metal and the trust against the seat is amazing.

I used to have a Fabia vRS. Not all that quick balls out (24 seconds from 0-100), but they feel it, thanks to the surge at 2000 rpm and the torque that pins you back to the seat.

It may not beat a SportKa on the track (which frankly I am surprised about), but these are road cars, and not track cars, and believe me, the vRS will obliterate a SportKa on the road.

First off the Fabia vrs will not cover 0-100mph in 24 sec, I think you will find its nearer 31sec. Yes it has plenty of torque, but it only has 99bhp per tonne. Which quite frankly is very poor.

Sorry, my previous comment should read in reply to comments of 31 Dec 2005 not 31 Jan 2005 :o)

0-100mph is around the 30 sec mark for the vrs 0-60 mph in 9.7sec. Evo mag tested it and commented on how it isn't as fast a engine figures suggest! Also power to weight is pathetic.

I'm more inclined to believe what I read in Autocar than Evo Mag- not that I believe a lot of rubbish in car magazines anyway, especially the latter. These are actual Autocar test figures. Auto Express did a test with similar results. When, in everyday driving, are you going to 0-100? It's completely irrelevant. I've also read a lot of negative comments on this site, not just aimed at Skoda, but other makes and models along the same lines as this. I suspect the majority are from one individual and I find it a little sad. All I can say is, continue to slag it off all you like; there are plenty of happy owners with the VRS and nothing you say will change that. You obviously have more of a problem with the badge 'diesel cars' than the owners do. Perhaps you'd like to share with us what car you drive. I assume it's a Ford Street Ka. Never mind. Enjoy anyway.

Completely agree with the comments above. No one is trying to say the VRS is a 'Hot Hatch' in the vein of the Civic Type-R or New Focus ST. But it gives you a lot for its 12 grand asking price. Also whats all this about 0-100 times and power-to-weight? Unless you are entering a drag racing competition 0-100 is irrelevant. Diesels are all about in-gear midrange grunt, and the VRS has plenty of that. Additionally, as acceleration is a function of torque, not horsepower, it does not matter that 130hp in a relatively heavy seems low as it has over twice the torque of most of its rivals (310NM). And it'll still return 50 MPG - not many petrol hatches of equivalent power could boast better than about 35 MPG.

You know what, who cares what it says I what magazine. Go to a dealer and test drive one. That's the real point. When I did that very thing, was vastly amazed by the car. In terms of value for money performance, have not driven a better car. At the time I had a lupo gti, and it felt slow in comparison with the VRS, when I stepped back into it. At the moment I have a Zafira GSi, and I'm still thinking about getting rid of it for a VRS. How many people in their regular driving scenario,floor the car, to see what 0-60 time they can achieve? not many, but a 20-50 time is a much more realistic everyday driving scenario and the VRS is only beaten by the type R in that aspect.

The matey who keeps on popping up in an attempt to curse this car, listen hear, you are quoting what other people say (magazines etc).. here people are talking from their own experiences and out of the thousands of cars featured in this great website, only a handful of vehicles can one feel the passion for the car, when the owners are writing about them.