25th Jun 2008, 14:46

I used to own a 2005 Fabia vRS, and it wasn't at all fast as standard. 0-60mph in 9.6sec as quoted by Skoda seems about right. It will NO WAY dip below 9sec unless you have it remapped.

Remember, this car was designed for good fuel economy... NOT PERFORMANCE.

26th Jun 2008, 06:04

I very much doubt that the last poster actually owned a VRS, and its probably just the same person who was badmouthing the Skoda earlier on in the review.

Why is there no way it won't do 0-60 in under 9 seconds? Look at it this way: the MG ZR diesel with only 99bhp does 0-60 in 9.7 seconds (official figures) and is only about 100kg lighter. With an extra 30bhp, the Fabia should be more than 1/10 of a second quicker to 60. Common sense says between 8.5 and 9 seconds is a realistic figure.

To argue that it was built for economy is dribble. Diesels very often give better mpg as they produce more power. It is not uncommon for a remapped VRS running 165/170bhp to return the same or better mpg than a stock one, because the low down torque allows you to change up earlier, and so mpg increases.

26th Jun 2008, 06:17

I don't believe you have owned one, but anyway, just about every 0-60 test done on the car by journalists/magazines has resulted in under 9 seconds. Autocar's time of 8.2s being the best that's been in a review.

16th Aug 2008, 06:09

Those that know nothing about cars will shun the VRS. Who do you impress with a badge anyway? If its the ladies, then a girl who's shallow and materialistic enough to make their mind up about you by what brand of car you drive isn't worth knowing anyway.

What chavs don't realise is that 0-60 doesn't actually count. How often do you have a drag race from stand still? Most acceleration battles are in gear and this is where the VRS chews up and spits out anything with illuminated washer jets. It out accelerates a Porsche Boxster 3.2S in gear for goodness sake.

Power sells cars, torque wins races, the VRS has 310Nm of Torque, read the torque figure for your ST, VTS, Type R and weep. In fact, look it up in the handbook next time a full tank has been emptied in less than 200 miles, and let it all out. The VRS costs £50 for a full tank & that will get you a minimum of 400 miles of thrashing it within an inch of its life. You won't get that sort of mileage even when driving before the V-Tec in the power of dreams.

16th Aug 2008, 11:44

Lol everybody with a turbo diesel talks about torque and in gear acceleration. And as for out accelerating a Boxster, so what. Look at the episode of Top Gear where a 1.6 litre people carrier out accelerated a 400bhp Evo... does that make it a better car... er no! If the Boxster dropped a gear it would easily out accelerate the vRS. You're talking about a car producing less than 150bhp that sounds like a tractor and saying it's a sports car, it ain't!!

16th Aug 2008, 12:23

The only way a vRS would beat any Type R is if you were both in the same gear. Did you ever think that you could just change down on to the Hondas power band and leave the vRS for dead, as let's face it, the vRS isn't even close on power or performance figures!

If you remember back on Top Gear a few years back they raced the vRS against a Mini Cooper and it only just beat that, and thats 15bhp down on the vRS so a Type R I don t think so!

For the record I quite like the vRS as it's nippy and economical, but think it looks god awful.

17th Aug 2008, 05:19

I drive a diesel car with 130bhp ish and 210ft lbs of torque, and trust me it isn't faster than other cars with more bhp but less torque such as you listed like Type R's and Clios etc etc. Torque does not win races, torque just excuses weight and so you still need the bhp to actually move anywhere quickly.

The vRS feels fast because of the torque, and while you may shock cars in gear, you will look foolish when both cars are being driven hard. Even traveling at 50mph and putting your foot down would be embarrassing if a Type R driver changed down into Vtec.

I do think the little Skoda is good fun and nippy enough to shock some cars out there, but let's not kid ourselves about it being faster than anything which does 0-60 in under 8 seconds, as all these cars need to do is drop a gear.

17th Aug 2008, 09:59

The vRS is for someone who wants a car they can drive fast everywhere all day every day. I've had a race with a CTR and it was only pulling away slightly on the straights. Round the corners there was no contest. -Probably, because his windows were misted up and he couldn't see the apex of the corners. -Is that why all CTR drivers drive with their fog lights on? The Honda is a fraction faster but only if you have no luggage or passengers and avoid any inclines, the vRS is not affected by these factors.

The vRS isn't as fast as the CTR as standard but it has a turbo diesel engine, this is the most tuneable type of engine available. With a mere chip, it is faster than a CTR, with a larger turbo, intercooler and injectors it has the same BHP and triple the torque.

The vRS is a far better looking car too, it looks like a Wild Cat, the Honda looks like some kind of Japanese cartoon cat, Hello Kitty perhaps.

The newer CTR looks great I must say, but isn't it heavier and slower than the original?

If you don't believe power sells cars and torque wins races, look at the winner of the 24hr Le Mans -a TDI V12 R8. Or the Seat Leon in the British Touring Car Championships. A bigger car with the same TDI as the vRS, finishing 1 & 2 in most of the races. Where are the Hondas? The Hondas which have as much torque as a Fisherprice lawn mower sadly, are at the back making lots of noise and going nowhere.

18th Aug 2008, 12:37

Very few Civic Type Rs even have fog lights!

A Skoda Fabia vRS is hardly either a LeMans racer or touring car now is it, it's more of a pensioners shopping cart!

The diesel won the 24hr race because of economy and less pit stops, and if you'd care to see, Vauxhall are winning the touring cars in petrol cars, and the Team Halfords Hondas are doing pretty well. I'll admit the Seat team are doing well with their diesel cars, and yes the Fabia does have a diesel engine, but so does a tractor!