General sporting vs fabia vrs

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General sporting vs fabia vrs

I bought a fabia vRS new and did 80k in it, I bought the GPS1.9 new and have done over 100k in it.....

both have plus and bad points, they thing people are describing about the power delivery of the vRS is down to the PD engine, over the commonrail, common rail is much smoother, PD is one big lump of torque so it feels more brutal, the standard vRS certainly "feels" faster, but back to back on the road (I am still a member of briskoda, and go to the meets often) there is no difference, remapped there is no difference... (both remapped)

as far as tuning goes, there is way more available for the vRS, I've tried like hell to get a hybrid for the fiat, but struggled, you could book your vRS into somewhere like awsome gti for a hybrid conversion, and walk out with 220bhp... (If you have the money that is)

realiabilty, well contentious point , my fiat has been more reliable than my vRS was, but then mostly the story of ownership is the other way round.....

I'd say the skoda has better build quality (and anyone who make jokes about the badge is making a fool of themselves, skoda make some of the best cars out there) I'd also say my local fiat dealership is better than any of the skoda dealers I had the misfortune to encounter, but I guess I'm lucky going on other peoples experiances..

the fiat is better equipped.

The fiat handles better out of the box, but the vRS's tendancly to understeer badly can easily be fixed with a simple rear anti-roll bar mod, and some cupra bushes.

all in all , I prefere my GPS to the vRS, but that is probably because I had such bad experiances with skoda customer services, that it upset the ownership of the vRS, the car was nice.

value for money? the vRS is expensive second hand, you will struggle to get a 53 plate with 90k on for £4500 (one thats not a shed anyway) you can buy my 07 plate with 100k for the same price, and its a 4 year younger car!

horses for courses, not much in it.
 
Not true. Go back even earlier.

indeed, I've seen skodas at meets with the starting handle hole, really old (and I might add impressive) ones....

also, skoda's rally sucess puts many to shame..... including fiat/ferrari racing history, skoda even had a 2 seater race car at one point....
 
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I've been seing some really bad things about Fabias of late... quite big engine fault type things related to new to 3 - 4 year old petrol examples (not necessarily the vRS I have to say..) but the vRS is not as reliable as folklore would have us believe, all that put me off buying one before I had the GPS was the silly white edges to the seat covers... No Way would they stay looking good!
And an interesting little snippet in this weeks AutoExpress from a disgruntled Skoda owner who claims Skoda have lost the art of Customer care in the pursuit of higher volume sales for the low to middle cost models.
I must say the Superb is... well... its superb... & I recall an old Octavia my mate had 1970 I think! Now that looked god-awful, sounded like a sewing machine but went on & on & on....
 
I've been seing some really bad things about Fabias of late... quite big engine fault type things related to new to 3 - 4 year old petrol examples (not necessarily the vRS I have to say..) but the vRS is not as reliable as folklore would have us believe, all that put me off buying one before I had the GPS was the silly white edges to the seat covers... No Way would they stay looking good!

like anything ... if you service and look after things you tend to get a trouble some ride. The seats in my VRS were immaculate until the day it went... in my GP from the day i got it on 23k the seat bottom bucket edge is sagged and collapsed from people getting in and out of it. and a few weeks into getting it the power steering failed needing to fit a new unit as the only cure.

Also you dont see fiat GP with a top class wrc car.. unlike the fabia..

people could go on forever arguing the toss but end of the day it is personal preferance

some people have bad experiances of both cars...

i love my gp and loved my VRS but they are two good very different cars
 
I've been seing some really bad things about Fabias of late... quite big engine fault type things related to new to 3 - 4 year old petrol examples (not necessarily the vRS I have to say..) but the vRS is not as reliable as folklore would have us believe, all that put me off buying one before I had the GPS was the silly white edges to the seat covers... No Way would they stay looking good!

like anything ... if you service and look after things you tend to get a trouble some ride. The seats in my VRS were immaculate until the day it went... in my GP from the day i got it on 23k the seat bottom bucket edge is sagged and collapsed from people getting in and out of it. and a few weeks into getting it the power steering failed needing to fit a new unit as the only cure.

Also you dont see fiat GP with a top class wrc car.. unlike the fabia..

people could go on forever arguing the toss but end of the day it is personal preferance

some people have bad experiances of both cars...

i love my gp and loved my VRS but they are two good very different cars

And the Fabia WRC car is exactly the same as the Fabia I could buy from a Skoda dealer... ? :shakehead:

Just as a Fiat isnt quite like a Ferrari F1 car... oh & I dont see Skoda running an F1 team either... but we are being pedantic, I never owned a vRS but I drove a few... My GPS was amazing in all ways & extremely reliable.

Other than those points, no arguments here.
 
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Fiat did make a GP rally car (S2000)

fiat-grande-punto-abarth-s2000-rallye-montecarlo_08.jpg


What like foxy says why the hell does it matter? I'd rather they put the resources into making better road cars (which in reality rally does) and into better than mediocre customer service.

I really miss Reg Vardy Fiat at Croft in Darlington closing :(. Was the only good fiat dealer I've ever found within my range.
 
I'm very surprised by people calling skoda crap when they basically vw. Badge snobbery :p

Every fiat I've owned,which is 4, have always rattled, bits of trim fallen off here and there etc, so the build quality of fiat cars is questionable. But fiats are always cheaper to buy and insure.

I've read plenty of good reports on the fab vrs and like others have said, if you look after your car then it should last a long time.

Personally though I would say the gps is the better looking car and has plenty of character, I'm not too fussed on the interior of the fab vrs, unlike it's big brother, the octy vrs :yum:
 
I'm very surprised by people calling skoda crap

I dont think anyone has said they are crap - to say it is basically a golf is wrong - it may share running gear but theres no comparison with a golf - it is ulgy and looks cheap. You could say badge snobbery but image is important to people.
I hear what others say in conversion about collegues who own a Skoda and it is always the same.
As their ads say if you you want a golf buy a golf, dont pretend you have one because you dont its a Skoda :yuck:
 
Fiat did make a GP rally car (S2000)

fiat-grande-punto-abarth-s2000-rallye-montecarlo_08.jpg


What like foxy says why the hell does it matter? I'd rather they put the resources into making better road cars (which in reality rally does) and into better than mediocre customer service.

I really miss Reg Vardy Fiat at Croft in Darlington closing :(. Was the only good fiat dealer I've ever found within my range.


which is the fiat dealer now in darlington?? SG Petch?
 
No way are Skoda crap... they just not quite as trouble free as most imagine... or more accurately are led to believe. The VW / Audi total reliability thing is a myth.... how many times have we been over this on here?

Pay for the privelege & a dealer will cosset you & make you feel good about spending too much on an OK car, and you'll love it & probably go back when you want to replace the car.

Buy a cheap car & it will be OK... Might break a bit but here is the difference... Fiat dealerships have still... in the main (T)! to learn how to cosset a Customer for no money.

Buy a brilliant car (can anyone name one, that is totally reliable?) & I'll bet it costa fortuna!

All the big successful brands lavish attention on Customers & curry favour through no quibble Warrantys & in the case of the BMW Mini, "cheap" servicing packs (in truth already paid for in the purchase price)

Any arguments?
 
dholmes2407 said:
which is the fiat dealer now in darlington?? SG Petch?

Yeah although that is now closed and reopened as a fiat professional selling vans only. Probably due to the shear amount of complaints and lack of customer service.

They really are beyond useless, they tried saying my MK2 punto alloys on a mk2b painted dark grey were the cause of gearbox failure. I then had to tell them they are standard alloys and that as a FIAT workshop manager he should already bloody know. I got stalled until my 3rd year warranty was expired and told to sod off.

That's my last experience buying a new fiat and infact any new car.
 
Nice pic there chris, the s2000 won the euro rally championship not too long ago!

This is really a daft thread tbh, did the op also put on the skoda forum asking the same thing? Probably!

Fact is, if you go on to a car enthusiasts site specialising in a particular brand then the majority will go for that sort of car brand, hell I know Coz I would!

Go on to these sites and have a look at the problems that have cropped up for quite a few members but also look at how many of these problems have cropped up, not just the one problem where joe bloggs engine blew up because they really happen once in a blue moon!
 
Nice pic there chris, the s2000 won the euro rally championship not too long ago!

This is really a daft thread tbh, did the op also put on the skoda forum asking the same thing? Probably!

Fact is, if you go on to a car enthusiasts site specialising in a particular brand then the majority will go for that sort of car brand, hell I know Coz I would!

Go on to these sites and have a look at the problems that have cropped up for quite a few members but also look at how many of these problems have cropped up, not just the one problem where joe bloggs engine blew up because they really happen once in a blue moon!

I deliberately asked for owners of both cars to post if u read my original post I have written this. I have looked around briskoda and other sites I realise its pot luck with cars.
 
Ok but you haven't read my post properly, I have basically said that because ff and the skoda site you mentioned will be bias due to being enthusiasts sites then you aren't going to get a proper gauge of an honest opinion! It's the same with other enthusiasts sites of every other kind.;)
 
Ok but you haven't read my post properly, I have basically said that because ff and the skoda site you mentioned will be bias due to being enthusiasts sites then you aren't going to get a proper gauge of an honest opinion! It's the same with other enthusiasts sites of every other kind.;)

I'm on briskoda from when I had the vRS, and I'm on here because of the GPS :p, hope my post helped bladecs_04 (y) Any more Q's just ask, done more than 180,000 miles in both cars together over the last 5 years :eek:
 
I'm on briskoda from when I had the vRS, and I'm on here because of the GPS :p, hope my post helped bladecs_04 (y) Any more Q's just ask, done more than 180,000 miles in both cars together over the last 5 years :eek:

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being on both sites, just saying that there will be bias views that's all, it's like me going onto a xbox360 site and then asking if the xbox or ps3 was better lol:rolleyes:

But I'm with sharkrider in the fact that if you need info then people will try their hardest here to help!(y)
 
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