Octavia vRS petrol or diesel again, probably

[Silverbrick]

looking at getting myself a nearly new car lucky me and after having a go in a new manual boxed diesel was quite impressed. Sadly theres no petrol version for me to try in a 100 mile radius so was wondering if the learned folk on here with vRS`s have tried both and why you chose what you did. The salesman is steering me to diesel as he says the residual values are less for petrol. Real world consumption I imagine the petrol to be 30mpg and the diesel to be 45, extra £100 for VED as well.
I`ve tried to find performance figure for both not just top speed and 0-60 as tbh they don`t mean much to me, it`s the overtaking punch I`m interested in but can`t find any comparisons on the net.

Thanks for taking the time to reveal your thoughts and experiences

Lee

[FurryExocet]

I've got a 2009 petrol vrs and the mpg is 31 with regular driving, back roads, motorway and I've got an auto.

Stick it in sport or manual and it goes well enough.

[Silverbrick]

I`m looking at the mk3 and I believe they`re a bit better on fuel

[silentbrown]

The diesel will depreciate a bit less, but they cost more to buy in the first place.

http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/costs/car-running-costs...

How many miles a year do you drive?

[Silverbrick]

Around 12k miles, interesting link that, not as much difference in depreciation as I thought

[va1o]

Yeah I don't think what the salesman told you is true. The petrol is still desirable on the used market and not really worth less than the diesel, more if anything.

Best thing to do is to test drive both, try a Golf GTI if you can't find a local petrol VRS to get an idea of the performance.

[Silverbrick]

Good idea about trying a golf GTI, same engine and gearbox as well.

[missing the VR6]

va1o said:

Yeah I don't think what the salesman told you is true. The petrol is still desirable on the used market and not really worth less than the diesel, more if anything.

Best thing to do is to test drive both, try a Golf GTI if you can't find a local petrol VRS to get an idea of the performance.

As a former Skoda salesman I'd disagree regarding the values, the petrol ones were certainly less desirable than the diesel. The problem with the VRS is as a petrol hot hatch, there are better cars out there, Golf GTI, Focus ST, Megane etc, but as a diesel it has no real competitors. That being said majority of my experience was with the MK2 version, I only had about 15 months with the MK3. In that time we had a petrol demo estate which we really struggled to shift, but had no real probs selling the diesel ones. In my time of selling MK3's we must have sold the TDI's almost 10 to 1 vs petrol. Yes one could argue that the petrol will be rarer. But experience tells me VRS people want a nice looking, pretty quick and very spacious car which is cheap to run, i.e the TDI.

All that being said, I'd have the petrol, it really does go very well especially compared to the MK2, and the TDI doesn't feel really any faster than the MK2 it replaces.

[sjg]

If you're buying nearly-new and want a petrol then the old "diesels depreciate less" thing works to your advantage when negotiating. The new list price difference is very small on the vRS though - less than £300 iirc.

I'd have a petrol all day long for 12k miles a year. At that mileage and current fuel prices (assuming 30mpg petrol / 45 diesel), it's under £600/year difference to fuel.

[Moley RUFC]

I did a little review of the difference between a mk2 and mk3 diesel vRS. A few months on and I'm finding the mk3 is loosening up nicely. Sure, it is no rocket off the line but in 3rd or 4th it goes great. Just be careful of enjoying this too much when you have filled the boot with precious breakables......
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=...

[the-photographer]

Try both the petrol and diesel together, a colleague has a 2014 VRS diesel, my old MK5 GTI is far more refined, especially in town driving!

[davehRS4]

The diesels of these have so much torque which is what makes the difference in real world driving. And the OP did mention in particular about overtaking. Overall comparison,I'd go diesel.

[missing the VR6]

davehRS4 said:

The diesels of these have so much torque which is what makes the difference in real world driving. And the OP did mention in particular about overtaking. Overall comparison,I'd go diesel.

True of the older one's I'd say. With the MK3 VRS the torque figure is 350Nm which is exactly the same as the old TDI version. The newer TDI version has 380Nm if memory serves. Think the old petrol one was 280Nm.

[va1o]

the-photographer said:

Try both the petrol and diesel together, a colleague has a 2014 VRS diesel, my old MK5 GTI is far more refined, especially in town driving!

davehRS4 said:

The diesels of these have so much torque which is what makes the difference in real world driving. And the OP did mention in particular about overtaking. Overall comparison,I'd go diesel.

Both of these fair points demonstrate it entirely comes down to the type of driving you do!

On the motorway the extra torque the diesel offers comes into its own especially for overtaking, and there are no refinement issues.

Around town the petrol is the smoother more pleasant car to drive and nippier off the line.

[Silverbrick]

Well I took another drive in a diesel today with 4k miles on then took a drive in a golf gti with a performance pack. The petrol golf put a big smile on my face where the diesels just didn't. I want the best of both worlds, the gti engine and a big boot :-D :-D handy skoda does such a thing :-D

[silentbrown]

Audi A4 Avant 2.0 TFSI is basically the same engine too. My ('09 quattro model) gives about 31mpg on average (mostly B road driving) which isn't too bad considering the 4WD.

I'd expect around 34-35 from a 2WD petrol Octavia.

[liner33]

I have to say I would be tempted to buy the petrol for that mileage , having had two VAG 2.0 diesels although the engines are excellent the petrol is better. I would be tempted to buy a pre-owned 12month old one though.

[Maty]

I went for a 2010 Petrol VRS back in September last year. Absolutely love it, simple as that.

Having driven diesels for 7 years and 150k it is great to be in a decent, fast petrol engine car again. I tried the petrol and diesel back to back in similar age Octavia's and there is no comparison, the diesel is just another 2.0TDi, plenty of punch mid range, boring noise and short rev band. The petrol on the other hand makes a relatively nice noise, just as much get up and go mid range and the economy hasn't been bad either.

In 7k I've averaged 34mpg, that's a good mix of round town and long runs though as I go up to Scotland (from Manchester) every month. If your only doing 12k a year I'd go for the petrol every time!

[Silverbrick]

I`ve had a V70 D5 for the past 7 years so I know what you mean DPF and dual mass flywheels are starting to rear their ugly heads in a lot of modern diesels as well. Seems petrol power is starting to be the way forward

I did consider a demo/ used one buts it`s working out cheaper for me to buy new with the finance deals getting put out, I`ve never had a brand new car before lol I can spec it out with what I want as well and dig into some discount with 2 dealers wanting my cash depends on how hard faced I can be

[Silverbrick]

Moley RUFC said:

I did a little review of the difference between a mk2 and mk3 diesel vRS. A few months on and I'm finding the mk3 is loosening up nicely. Sure, it is no rocket off the line but in 3rd or 4th it goes great. Just be careful of enjoying this too much when you have filled the boot with precious breakables......
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=...

Nice review and gorgeous looking motor who would`ve thought we`d be saying that about Skodas!