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I am thinking of taking a lease out on a fabia vrs. I've never taken a car out on lease before, I wonder if those that had had any tips or things to look out for. Of the car itself has anyone a vrs what's it like? What is the dsg like I've heard mixed stories some say it's a bit jerky on roundabouts and can leave you 'hanging' what's it like on a motorway? Thanks.
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Nice car :-) I would say that though!
There's tons of these in the dealer network as demonstrators, i'd book a test drive. There's a guy on PH, i like reading his posts on them, he doesn't hold back and tells it like it is, he hates the DSG in his:
>> 1. Build quality good? Yes, very good.
>> 2. Performance sprightly enough? Yes, it's fine.
>> 3. DSG gearbox excellent or frustrating? hate it with a passion!
>> 4. Ride and handling decent enough or too hard? Yes, fine.
>> 5. Standard stereo any good? Not bad at all.
>> 6. What is your real world mpg? 28-32mpg at best, 14mpg at worst, and it drinks oil too.
I think his frustrations are when he's booting it, he's bumping into an issue where in manual mode if you go low enough to stall it'll change down, or if you hit the limiter it'll change up.
He's not all sour on the DSG right enough, he even posted this:
>> It's a nice auto, if you want an auto, but it's no manual.
Sorry to crib from another person on the net but it's hard to argue with the way he tells it :-)
If you've not already had a gander, briskoda.net/forums/forum/113-skoda-fabia-ii/
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 12 Apr 11 at 21:15
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I test drove one when they announced the VAT free deal. I liked it, quick, comfy (I am 6'4), decent interior space for a small car. I experienced a lot of wind noise over 60 (more than the i10 I was driving at the time) which concerned me as I have a lot of fast A roads around me.
If they had a VRS at the VAT free price available in less than the 14 weeks they quoted for a new one (a couple of weeks perhaps) then I reckon I would have bought it.
In the end I bought a year old, 200 BHP A3 cabriolet instead.
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Whilst in my local Skoda garage, I was chatting with the sales guy who sold me a diesel Fabia vRS a few years ago and he said that they had loads of diesel vrs owners rush in to test drive the new petrol vrs and not one went ahead with a purchase the vast majority citing their dislike of the DSG box over their existing manual.
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Aye some folks really don't seem to get on with the DSG at all, but i doubt the OP will have any trouble getting a test drive to see if it's for him or not.
I don't think i'd like to be without my DSG now. I've had fun trying to recreate the 2 problems folks mention commonly - the roundabouts one and starting off.
The best i can recreate the roundabouts one is to slow down over a long stretch approaching a roundabout then boot it really hard, but even then it's only ~1 second (kickdown) before you're launched into next week. Anything else just causes you to move off as you'd expect.
Starting off, some folks complain it's jerky and uncouth in traffic, all i can recreate is gentle composed moving off, or if you give it a generous bit of throttle, whiplash from the launch, but not jerky, you can jump between gears rapidly on the flappy paddles to try and provoke a jerky response but it's never anything other than silky smooth.
I love it, this is how auto's should be. Although i fancy that pre-cog system off the McLaren MP4-12C - you half pull a flappy paddle to tell the car in advance what way you'll be shifting, up or down, and it lines up the next cog for an ultra fast shift.
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I had a very brief test drive (20 min) of a Passat 170PS with DSG. I was mindful of the 'roundabout' problem and I thought it behaved like a very good auto. Never had to chance to try the engine out properly.
The VAG DSG box is very quick on up changes but slower on down changes but probably quicker than I would be.
I would have liked the DSG on the Passat CC but emissions made it expensive for a company car compared to the manual. My gripe about the 140PS was it lacked acceleration in sixth on the motorway. Two ways for me to sort it (a) the DSG would kick down or (b) the 170PS. And yes I could change down in the 140PS but for those moments when some xxxxx makes you have to react to their stupidity I wanted something that meant I could just floor it in sixth. I can anticipate idiots but not always.
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How are DSG cars for low speed parking maneouvres?
The last automatic I drove was my dad's Cavalier and I seem to remember it being jerky at low speeds, having to use left foot braking and using creep when parking.
I assume automatics of all types have progressed somewhat since the Cavalier?
I do remember it had a wee sport button that made the car go fast, very quickly!
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It creeps a bit slower than the auto in the 7er - don't find myself riding the brake into parking spaces much.
Strangest difference is it always creeps everywhere at the same speed. In the 7er if you're creeping along and get to a hill you'll need some throttle to continue up it smoothly, but with the DSG if you're sitting on a steep hill it'll raise the revs slightly for you. Weird at first but pretty handy - you're not left wondering how much throttle to give it on a hill as you come off the brakes.
Sport mode is pointless in the DSG. In the 7er sport mode tries to keep the revs around 2500, doesn't sound like much but you rarely do anything above 2000rpm in that car. It'll continue up to the red line if you boot it but come off the throttle and it'll change up to get back around 2500rpm. With the DSG it's brain dead in sport mode. Only changes up once you're at 7000rpm and only changes down at 2000rpm, no other logic at all. Flappy paddles are essential on a DSG i'd say. Strange that they've polished everything else but not the sport mode.
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>> Flappy paddles are essential on
>> a DSG i'd say. Strange that they've polished everything else but not the sport mode.
>>
Interesting that you should say that. I believe what you say since I have no experience of DSG.
IIRC, flappy paddles are an optional extra on most (if not all) DSG cars. Quite a significant little extra on some cars as well - hundreds of pounds.
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I'm sure i read VAG had plans to change that, all DSGs from a 1.2 to whatever, would come with flappy paddles.
They are not worth hundreds of pounds as an option though :( that's daylight robbery for what's effectively 2 switches.
EDIT: stand corrected, it's only Skoda are fitting them on everything, VW are keeping them as options. That's pretty cheeky really.
Last edited by: Skoda on Thu 14 Apr 11 at 19:14
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Drift alert...
I've had a few autos over the years, in fact my current car is a slusher. Quite nice around London in particular or if crawling in some interminable motorway queue but I can't say I'd rush to pay extra for any form of auto box. I can't really say I prefer autos over manuals to drive or indeed vice versa but I've never felt deprived or hard done to in a manual.
Maybe DSGs and flappy paddles are different of course but it strikes me that by the time you've flapped your paddle you could have shifted your stick. Manuals have got to be better for avoiding deep vein thrombosis too. My left leg gets very bored on a long run and often makes its feelings known by going numb and refusing to cooperate with the task of walking the first few steps after getting out at the end of a long journey.
This then in turn creates the embarrassing spectacle of ungainly lurching in a circular pattern upon exiting the car. All very well in the winter months when it's dark most of the time but now the evening mowing season has begun it has become more of an irritation.
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Thu 14 Apr 11 at 19:28
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£12,995 for the furby via drivethedeal.com Is there a cheaper 180bhp on the Market?
Cheap to tweak too, want better handling? £750 will make it handle more effortlessly than a Clio with the cup pack.
Want to go faster? £450 for 225bhp.
Want to stop quicker? £400 for bigger discs and appropriate calipers.
... Give a BMW 325d a sore nose in factory spec.
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Skoda Fabia 2 - VRS and leasing - Skoda
