Skoda Fabia vRS 1.4TSI 180BHP

Real fun to drive!

Bought this car in red (with black alloy wheels) and had black bump strips fitted to the sides at dealer. You cannot get side bumps strips on vRS as an optional extra from Skoda but in my opinion it make the car look much better breaking up the high side of the vehicle. Also I have the 2012 model and the chrome grill has been replaced with a black one with blacked out headlights as well (a la Monte Carlo Fabia). I have had many comments how good the car looks. The car feels so solid and the doors weigh a ton or so it seems. The outer rims of the black Gigaro alloys are diamond cut so they will look terrible if one is unfortunate enough to sc***e a kerb. The car is brilliant to drive turning into a real beast when stepping on the gas. I had the old vRS with the 6 speed manual gearbox (a great wee car as well) but moving to the DSG was no problem. Gearbox changes are smooth and the flappy paddles are great if you want to play but the gearbox reverts back into auto if you don't manual change for about 10 seconds. The car feels well planted on the road going round bends with apparent ease. Some people think the interior is dull but I think it is better than the old vRS and the heater controls are better placed. I have cruise control which is a must for me. I am delighted with my new vRS so far. Old vRS was so reliable but I'll just have to wait and see how this one does. Although I've only had the car for a short while I've given maintenance cost 3 stars as the cost of servicing is known and I consider it quite reasonable. A score for overall reliability will have to wait for now.

Back to report found something to disappoint with the new vRS. The headlights are r******. Low beam is so bad I had to check dashboard to see if they were switched on. Fitted H7 Phillip X-treme +100 lamps and saw a great improvement. Even so the lights are still not good enough. The old vRS had two lamps one for dip beam and one for main beam. I had no problems with the lights on the old vRS. The projector headlights on the new vRS has one H7 lamp with some sort of shutter arrangement - solenoid operated I believe.

Back to report 11 months on. I was supplied with a litre of oil with the car and soon found out why because the engine uses oil. Even so I was surprised at the amount of oil used by the engine. The ride is harsh with the 17" wheels and tyres. In December 2011 I fitted winter tyres on 15" steel rims but the ride was still harsh. To now reliability has been good. Engine is great (I've seen 7000rpm no bother) and I like DSG gearbox although I did manage to stall car by being too quick on the accelerator when taking away on a hill. Brakes are very good. Petrol consumption is significantly reduced if you like brisk driving. Handling is good and car seems well planted on corners. Wind noise is terrible though. My last vRS had the same problem. Just turn up the radio! I've no regrets in buying my vRS though.

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