RE: Skoda axes Fabia vRS

[ED209]

Zajda said:

Not sure about prices of Fabia vRS globally, but at domestic market it is even more expensive than the Polo GTI.

Fabia vRS: 504,900 CZK
Clio RS 1,6T: 564,900 CZK
Clio RS 2,0 was about 550,000 CZK
Polo GTI: 497,900 CZK
Ibiza Cupra: 449,900 CZK
Fiesta ST: 429,990 CZK
Swift Sport 379,900 CZK

That pricing could never work. With manual gearbox a price tag could have been more reasonable. And even die hard Škoda fans would be mad to not buy Octavia vRS instead for 619,900 CZK.

Suprised they sell them, Was in the czech republic for a week in march. Millions of octavia's but i cannot remember seeing one VRS version.

[hedges88]

The mistake was keeping it on the MK1 floor plan, the Polo and Ibiza moved on and are better to drive as a result. The Twin charger was also a mistake, the diesel model really appealed to the "Diesel head" market, which is surprisingly large

Problem with the original if you drove it though was it was very nose heavy, weighed more than a MK3 Golf and handling was still set more on the comfort side than sporty.

Im sad there will be one less vRS in the range, but a Rapid vRS with the 2.0 turbo would be adequate compensation

[matchmaker]

JB! said:

They DO die, watch out for cam and follows wear, damaged injector seats and consumable turbos.

great cars though, loved mine!!!

Is that the opposite of this?




Anyway - a poster above predicted that a similar fate would befall the new Octavia vRS. I doubt it!

[drgoatboy]

For me (a Skoda and VRS fan), I was simply put off by the reliability issues around the 1.4tsi. I know the internet only ever gives bad news but there was a lot of horror stories out there.

[CampDavid]

JB! said:

They DO die, watch out for cam and follows wear, damaged injector seats and consumable turbos.

great cars though, loved mine!!!

That's most likely a problem if driven hard or modified though?

Neither applies to ours, I don't drive it much

[panholio]

The old one had quite a masculine/ solid look, was relatively cool, appealed to younger buyers and the tuning market, was cheap to insure and run and the low down step like torque delivery meant it felt like it was fast as hell to its target audience, despite the lower bhp figures.

This one looks st. It's like a fking noddy car.

What did they expect?

[LuS1fer]

I'm not too sure about the image issue. When looking for a car recently, the Skoda garage was largely empty (though it looked like a successful sale of a burgundy Fabia was imminent) as were Nissan and Hyundai but across the road, the Vauxhall dealer was heaving with customers at every desk (and they had the Hyundai franchise too).

Rumours of Vauxhall's demise were certainly not evident from what I saw, easily the busiest showroom I was in all week.

[dxg]

drgoatboy said:

For me (a Skoda and VRS fan), I was simply put off by the reliability issues around the 1.4tsi. I know the internet only ever gives bad news but there was a lot of horror stories out there.

Yup. I was all set to get a Polo GTI until those stories appeared...

I had a MK1 VRS and it was one of the best cars I've owned. Nondescript, so no-one paid it any attention and the perfect motorway car if you were commuting 100 miles a day as I was back then...

[Zajda]

ED209 said:

Suprised they sell them, Was in the czech republic for a week in march. Millions of octavia's but i cannot remember seeing one VRS version.

I live here but honestly I have never ever seen MK2 Fabia vRS on road, apart from showcars with dealer stickers. Plenty of MK1 vRS's though.

Edited by Zajda on Friday 13th September 13:11

[traffman]

I dont reckon the badge puts me off at all , its the God awful styling . Very awkward looking machine.

[Podie]

dxg said:

I had a MK1 VRS and it was one of the best cars I've owned. Nondescript, so no-one paid it any attention and the perfect motorway car if you were commuting 100 miles a day as I was back then...

Exactly why the missus bought them.

[Hub]

I loved my Mk1 VRS. It looked alright with the chunky bumpers and alloys, was very cheap to run, reliable and felt quick with the torque.

They then ballsed up by removing the USP of the Mk1, making it petrol only and DSG only, limiting the market a lot more. The Mk1 was popular as it was, they should have had a diesel option - even more people are buying diesel now too!

The Mk2, as said, is also very ugly and awkward looking - too tall/narrow. The interior is also naff.

Learn from their mistakes and I'm sure they could do well again.

[cupofbeans]

LuS1fer said:

I think the styling works against it - it's definitely more last generation than current generation hot hatch. having said that, I looked at and love the grey vRS Monte Carlo I recently saw in a Skoda showroom (but it's still very staid).

I never really paid any attention to the Monte Carlo until I saw a TDI in red last week. Did a bit of reading on it and I'd be sorely tempted. Ok it's only a 1.6 105bhp engine, but I've driven that in a Seat Leon and it's still fairly nippy. I imagine it would be good in a smaller lighter car. Plus the Tech version that's currently out has some good options on it.

[Mr2Mike]

C.A.R. said:

Quite, but being a diesel it wasn't about the powaaa at all, was it? For its' class it was a very quick car and is still quite brisk IMO.

It always about the power. Chuck a 20bhp Kubota engine from a mini digger into it and it's not going to be quick just because it's a diesel.

[iamrcb]

I'm running a MK1 VRS and its current only 180k, it's perfect for my needs.

If Skoda had a comparable replacement I'd buy one. The Monte Carlo is a little shy in terms of power in comparison.

They won't axe the Octavia VRS because they have a diesel version, which sells plenty.

[Podie]

Mr2Mike said:

C.A.R. said:

Quite, but being a diesel it wasn't about the powaaa at all, was it? For its' class it was a very quick car and is still quite brisk IMO.

It always about the power. Chuck a 20bhp Kubota engine from a mini digger into it and it's not going to be quick just because it's a diesel.

I think he meant it is about the torque...

[Zajda]

Hub said:

I loved my Mk1 VRS. It looked alright with the chunky bumpers and alloys

And did you know that these bumpers were there to fulfil WRC homologation rules? They needed to sell 4m long car. So practically MK1 was WRC homologation special :-)

Hub said:

Learn from their mistakes and I'm sure they could do well again.

I'm sure that they would glady do that, but the VW are the ones in charge.

[MrBig]

The cynical side of me suggests this is more to do with VAG internal politics and target markets than poor sales?

[astrsxi77]

Hot hatch branded failure due to not being a Diesel.
Pistonheads Forum (2013)

[Podie]

astrsxi77 said:

Hot warm hatch branded failure due to not being a Diesel.
Pistonheads Forum (2013)