Jabo's new Fabia vRS (with Pictures)

[vRSy]

doing 8-10 lap stints on trackdays put the oil temps about 125 degrees. In the heat summer before my rad upgrade (the oil is water cooled) and we were into the 130degree regions

[Jabozuma]

MOTORWAY UPDATE

Yesterday I put wife and kids into Skoda and we drove to Birmingham to see friends and go to the German X-mas Market. Never had a chance to sight see the second biggest city in the UK and was well impressed with it. Really lovely place - I was informed that it has more canals than Venice . German X-mas Market is a blast, would recommend to anyone.

The Trip

The trip was 110 miles one way. Filled her up earlier today and it made 290 miles to ... - turned the house upside down but couldn't find that pesky receipt! I think it was 37 liters, not sure... giving 35 mpg - MAXIDOT was showing 38 mpg.

Travelling 70mph on cruise control with bursts on overtaking. I must admit, despite early days, I am a tad disappointed with the fuel consumption I got. Jabo, Mrs Jabo and two kids, 10 & 5 years old with no luggage and external temps around 2C. I DO HOPE it will get a better. Know I cannot believe how people can be getting high forties from their vRS's . George, how did you manage to squeeze over 50mpg from your vRS?!?

Impressions and comfort

Didn't get any whining and only a few "Dad, are we there yet?" from my 5 yr old daughter. Last time we did that trip in 520d she was beside herself and our ears were bleeding LOL. From my point of view all was brilliant comfort wise. Seat REALLY comfy, no back pains or any other for that matter and I didn't have to adjust anything at all. I usually had to in all my previous cars except old Passat Estate. I also like the ing mirrors very much, they are large and provide really good field of view with minimal blind spots.

One niggle is road noise from the tyres, I did notice it and it was bugging me a bit. Especially I couldn't drown it out with louder music for obvious reasons . I do hope, especially with new tyre labeling, there is some good rubber out there which is a tad quieter.

Performance and Engine

Performance department is faultless. Chugs along happily at 70mph and when requested sprints forward like a stung donkey

I was specifically monitoring oil temps following earlier posts here. With external temps after 9pm being around 1.5C the cruise iol temp was at 93C but fluctuating between 91-94C. Max was 96C after longish acceleration (to get away from a genius hell bent on reading the book my kid was reading on the back seat). Then it was a longish D7 overrun deceleration and to my surprise oil temp dropped to 89C! It got back to nineties as soon as normal plodding along resumed.

Grip and Handling

I was on summer tyres (I know I know - no money now for winter set and temps down south once dropped below 7C in the morning) and find it spinning even on rather docile starts from the lights on dry surface. Another example of how much performance summer tyres lose when temps drop below 7-8C. Handling was flawless. I was not driving in any way of shape aggressively but not slouching either. Did not notice and instability, tracks perfectly with no need to correct the wheel. It is a very relaxed drive as the feedback is predictable and direction is retained 100%. I am also very positively surprised by how tight the turning circle is - came rather handy negotiating Birmingham City Centre car parks

Other Notes

Black paint and wheels are impossible to keep clean!! It must be ionized to attract ALL the dirt within 50 yards radius! Same with Black Gigaros, two days and the are a dashing shade of grey, especially the back ones.

I am not sure if it is me being paranoid (thanks to some Briskie threads no doubt) but I have an impression that there is a smell of petrol/oil in the cabin. It might be all the new plastics being subjected to cabin heating etc as neither SWMBO not sprogsies noticed anything and I think they would . Car nut friend of mine didn't notice anything either. It was brilliant to se his face splitting in a manic grin on hard acceleration and some fast direction changes through roundabouts - this car is a serious smile inducer!

I bought USB cable and are playing with dumping all my musing onto a large pen drive. Looked at HDD/SDD USB powered enclosure route but pen drive is way cheaper a solution. I dumped some folders with mp3 in them but it only managed to recognize one audiobook - need to investigate why.

Let me know if you find the above boring or in excess of waffling

[Ootohere]

Nice review, ta.

The MPG will improve after a few thousand miles.

(my economy is right down just now with lots of cold starts, lights heater etc on, 42 mpg is around AVG driving solo just now.)

last tank was 360 miles from 39 litres

Off to Edinburgh's German Xmas Market next weekend for a pig out,

almost certainly not by vRS if the forecasts come true. Big snow happening around Glasgow now & coming east,

but only for a few hours, its going to be falling on 2 days worth of black ice tho.

have fun.

george

[XK140]

Mmm...think I've got a slight issue with mine in that it doesn't seem to go straight hands off,there is a slight pull to the left which you have to counteract with a bit of right hand weight on the steering wheel.Wife hasn't noticed it,but she wouldn't anyway,just like I don't notice when the carpet needs hoovering...

However I've not checked the tyre pressures yet,which is unusual for me because I've got my own compressor complete with the "proper" PCL inflator.

Hope it's pressures because, if not, could be tracking,which warranty does not cover,I think.

Done 1000 miles now,no oil added,although there may be slight usage,level is in centre of hatched area now,but,tbh,not sure what it was at start,what with this hot/cold/whatever check fiasco.

[Ootohere]

I would check the pressures because they are very noticeable when slightly wrong, or mis-matched

& once done re-set your TPMS by pressing and holding the button.

Cold weather pressure may well show low & needs set accordingly.

http://www.michelin....ld-weather-tips

george

[XK140]

OK,George,I'll check the pressures tomorrow.

[sharkrider]

Sharkrider, did you note what yours got to when drag racing the 'mongrel' and octy or whilst on the 'Ring'?

. was paying too much attention slow cars getting in your way means you are not really canning it ALL the time, getting out of the way of faster cars means backing off....

here you can see a fiat coupe turbo holding us up, and a mini getting past, then we have a nice blast of speed to over 100 mph , the GPS is slow to react... we made about 115 mph up that hill (up the dip that presses you right down, over a blind crest to a right hander ) I was just learning the track from jason really , learning the lines to take... learning what corner comes next..if you listen the engine rarely gets stressed... think it was running about 110c on the oil.....

its the brakes that get stressed! lol... better brakes need to go on before next time next time I will be going quicker, and hopefully using the brakes less knowing what corner comes next... I dont get track days often, but have got the bug, I will be going back to the ring next year on the next brisky trip

edit: highest I think I've had the oil temp was about 120 C up hartside pass in the summer low gears high revs all the time, often 2nd at 6-7k....

[philhoward]

The cold temps do kill economy - as does cruising speed. If you'd have sat at 60mph instead of 70 you'd see it rise quite quickly to over 40mpg average. If i got through a 50mph "SPECS" section, then its showing mid-high 40's mpg with ease with a cold start about 10-15 miles previous. Go back up to 70-ish mph and it falls quite quickly back to 38-39mpg. As for miles, I've got over 14k on the clock now - it does improve upto the 5-7k mark then tends to settle down.

I also find the seats very comfy and supportive - no problems running the whole distance of a tankful without stopping.

[Ootohere]

The car was cozy in the garage last night so taking it for a spin as the snow will be melting shortly.

Expecting 60 plus mpg as i take it easy.

george

[Jabozuma]

George, Are you sure the engine is on ? :p

Dear me, I do look forward to having anything above 40 mpg at the moment lol.

[philhoward]

Stay away from the loud pedal then...

[Jabozuma]

Mmm...think I've got a slight issue with mine in that it doesn't seem to go straight hands off,there is a slight pull to the left which you have to counteract with a bit of right hand weight on the steering wheel.Wife hasn't noticed it,but she wouldn't anyway,just like I don't notice when the carpet needs hoovering...

However I've not checked the tyre pressures yet,which is unusual for me because I've got my own compressor complete with the "proper" PCL inflator.

Hope it's pressures because, if not, could be tracking,which warranty does not cover,I think.

Done 1000 miles now,no oil added,although there may be slight usage,level is in centre of hatched area now,but,tbh,not sure what it was at start,what with this hot/cold/whatever check fiasco.

I cannot understant what's with that obsession for cloths on the floor and hoovering either? :p

I do have to keep the right hand with a smidgen of weight on the wheel when driving on "more" camabered roads, m'way it is just going straigh.

I am not sure about tracking needing work after 1k miles not boing a warranty issue. If you didn't kerb it or hit a deep pothole there should be no tracking issues whatsoever. I'd speak to your dealer along those lines.

Edited 3 December, 2012 by Jabozuma

[Ootohere]

Looks like its going to have to be a 20 mpg day.

The vRS engine is not on, so using no fuel. (its getting a holiday,)

big proper snow now

the Fabia would cope, but not with being rear ended or T Boned with these half wits with no snow cleared from their cars & no lights other than DRL's if they have them,

& too much loud pedal.

george

[Jabozuma]

Stay away from the loud pedal then...

Ha! You might as well say buy Kia Rio with 1.1 chugger underthe bonnet

On that m'way trip I was staying off the loud pedal, only few times, when overtaking an erratic NSL cruiser I flooreed it for few seconds to clear the obstacle:)

[Jabozuma]

Looks like its going to have to be a 20 mpg day.

The vRS engine is not on, so using no fuel. (its getting a holiday,)

big proper snow now

the Fabia would cope, but not with being rear ended or T Boned with these half wits with no snow cleared from their cars & no lights other than DRL's if they have them,

& too much loud pedal.

george

Dear me, over past winters (no snow South East now) I did see some people having just a slit cleared in the windsheild and driving happily on public roads. Also, why people think that clearing your windows is just fine, never mind half a meter of snow on your roof and bonnet! Driving behing such a genius is like driving through a snow storm lol.

I like driving in winter conditions, keeps on your toes and you can play a little bit as well with traction and control limits All in a safe manner of course!

So you are going to use your 4x4 monsters today?

[MartynVRS]

Good chance I'm driving to Bedford and back on Friday for a funeral. Haven't been for a long drive since Goodwood so will be interesting to see what it is. It's about an 8 hour or so round trip. I've always found when it's wet my economy drops and drops even more if it's cold and wet.

Tyres I have Bridgestone Adrenalines on. Bought them on a gamble and they seem to have woken up and there's plenty of grip even in the wet. Slow corners is still this cars weakness though

[Jabozuma]

if you can be bothered, coul you please:

Record your rpm at speeds and gear you are in while cruising. look at oil temps as well and note the ext temps and dry/wet

cheers:)

[MartynVRS]

I'll try and remember all that lol

[Jabozuma]

Am I being anal ?

[MartynVRS]

You can keep that to yourself lol. Too much information

[Ad Lav]

Perhaps a tad anal - enjoy it and don't worry about the oil temps

Best mate has just bought a black 12 plate vrs hatch in black with black wheels after being in mine! He wanted a ds3 or a Mini Cooper s. great to see the Skoda come up trumps!

[Dexter619]

Just a quick update too. Just done 675 miles to date now and with the average mpg being around 37-42 mpg, it has not used one drop of oil, or from at least what I can tell it hasn't, at the top of the hatched area on the dipstick. (CTHE)

[A Woodster]

same as mine, 800miles and no problem with oil usage yet.

Andy

[Jabozuma]

Mine was the same and then at about 1100 miles oil dropped a little and stayed at 3/4 up the hatched area. I will check tomorrow at about 1700 miles. My economy is crap but perhaps it is due to me not being able to contain myself and blasting it at least once each time I drive it after oil gets above 70C

[Brimma]

I'll try and remember all that lol

And remember to actually look at the road every now and then too