Skoda Fabia VRS

[JackD]

Its been a while since I posted last but since getting my Fabia I’ve actually enjoyed owning it, finding myself browsing forums and looking for bits to tinker with so thought I’d document here and as ever, gleam CS for its endless knowledge!

The car itself is the mk2 1.4 TFSI VRS, which only comes in DSG (part of the appeal) and is the twin scroll engine also found in the Polo R I believe?

Spec wise all I cared about was parking sensors and Bluetooth pairing for music. As I started looking I saw the red flags about the older CAVE engine, and after the issues I had with my E46 M3s SMG I couldn’t bear a chronic issue hampering my ownership experience again. I still miss that bloody M3 though! Can’t drive past one without hankering for another (manual) M3 but with a carbon air box this time!

Ended up buying a slightly higher mileage 14 plate, towards the top end of the market, probably paid more than it’s worth, but that’s todays market for you. Annoyingly I had to concede on the Bluetooth as so few had the sat nav spec’d.

This is it as it stands now. Overdue a proper clean but as I’m awaiting back surgery for a ruptured disc, it’s not really possible currently!

 

[JackD]

First up was changing the stereo, from the standard spec CD player to an Amundsen+ with DAB, Sat nav and Bluetooth audio/hands free.

Got lucky and found one on eBay for £200 with the shark fin aerial included. Messed around fitting that, took longer than necessary as I’m pretty much crippled at the moment, but fired it up, updated the maps from V4 to V9 and everything worked perfectly!

It’s not the most modern interface, but for a factory fit unit, which will only help come re-sale, can’t really fault it

Whilst I was messing around I also fitted an auto light switch with in built light sensor. It does the job, I know it’s lazy, but every day I drive cars at work with auto lights, my last 3 cars have had it, and it’s a small thing which just irritated me! So £20 on aliexpress and it was sorted.

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

Polo GTi had the same engine, didn’t they?

 

[Crayola]

Polo GTi and the Ibiza Bocanegra have the same engine iirc

1.4 oilburner. Good little cars though

 

[JackD]

One thing that is still bugging me is the alloys.

I hate black alloys, but on this car they seem to work, but I still hate them. Am tempted to get them refurbished in a bright silver? Also looks like it could do with a 20mm drop, but not sure if I can bring myself to do it or not.

 

[JackD]

Polo GTi had the same engine, didn’t they?

Polo GTi and the Ibiza Bocanegra have the same engine iirc

1.4 oilburner. Good little cars though

Ah yeah that’s the one.

Mine (so far!) hasn’t used a drop. Time will tell!

 

[Daniel]

Nice, I like these and they drive really well.

I think you could be right with the 20mm drop and silver wheels. Looks a bit too Bradford with the black wheels.

Loving the sat nav upgrade too, will work wonders come resale time.

 

[R3k1355]

Ah yeah that’s the one.

Mine (so far!) hasn’t used a drop. Time will tell!

The engine was massively revised around 2013, fixed alot of the inherent problems that cause em to blow up.

Pity it took them so long to sort it out, there were some pretty big design flaws.

 

[Chocice]

I had a cupra ibiza, basically the same car, they shift well but the gearbox is no good for a track if you planned on tracking it all. It likes to shift up quite early when in manual, really limits engine braking and even with upgraded pads and discs the brakes overheated. Really liked the general straight line thump of acceleration on the motorway when a bully van is on your case.

 

[Danith]

Didn't know they did a VRs in this shape, its a petrol?

 

[Chocice]

Didn't know they did a VRs in this shape, its a petrol?

There is an estate version too

 

[PP200t]

I absolutely love these. I had a drive in one and it was awesome but my budget at the time only got me an early one with the cave engine (or the other way round!) I think it was but the later ones were revised to stop the oil usage issue. Such a cool design with both a turbo and supercharger! There were some very high power ones created that are still knocking about.
it looks lovely and is a really nice colour. I think a drop might make the wheels look better. They are a nice design though so maybe silver would work.

 

[Clio_fool]

I had a bocanegra years ago and it had a decent turn of speed for a tiddly engine, they rev out really well too. The mpg was pants though and I got bored of putting oil in every week 🙄.

 

[JackD]

Nice, I like these and they drive really well.

I think you could be right with the 20mm drop and silver wheels. Looks a bit too Bradford with the black wheels.

Loving the sat nav upgrade too, will work wonders come resale time.

Yeah I think I’ll bite the bullet and go for either 20mm or 30mm eibach pro springs. Alloys will probably be getting done in a bright silver later this month. I may even just do it all in one and get the rear ARB everyone raves about, then it’s sorted and ready to just enjoy.

Didn't know they did a VRs in this shape, its a petrol?

Yeah, the mark 2 Fabia only comes in the 1.4 TFSI twin scroll engine.

I had a bocanegra years ago and it had a decent turn of speed for a tiddly engine, they rev out really well too. The mpg was pants though and I got bored of putting oil in every week 🙄.

Mine hasn’t used any oil since I got it in May, so clearly the engine revision worked!

 

[andybond]

Mine hasn’t used any oil since I got it in May, so clearly the engine revision worked!

Or its used all the oil!

 

[yeecup]

my dad has a black one of these hes owned from new. it had a full engine rebuild by skoda not long after getting it due to oil consumption/rings and its been spot on ever since and never missed a beat. his alloys are bright silver and personally i think it looks better with them silver rather than black. it goes pretty well for a 1.4 tbf.

 

[Adey.]

I've got a green one, been our family car for 7.5 years. Ours is povo spec though. Had the full rebuild for the oil issues early on in its life and doesn't use a drop. I don't top it up between yearly services. Great easy car to drive and can get a fair bit in it. I think in that time its snapped one front spring, had a failed alternator, other than that it had a dsg service on a recall. Decent mpg and goes well enough when asked.

 

[Adey.]

Didn't know they did a VRs in this shape, its a petrol?

supercharged and turbocharged 1.4 petrol

 

[Dave182T]

I owned one before my clio, was a great car before someone crashed into me at the Ring.. 😂😂. Like youve already mentioned, RARB makes a huge difference on them.

 

[AJFisher]

I had a 2010 version with the CAVE engine back in 2012, I defo had the oil problem but I sold it back to the dealer within 6 months as I decided I didn’t want the finance. Loved mine, fun to drive, enjoyed the gearbox. Would definitely have one again

 

[Brett]

I had a little drive in one whilst doing some trade plating driving (furlough boredom casual job) and I thought it was great.

the engine was really really cool and the switchover from the SC to the turbo is totally seamless and made interesting noises.

Enjoy OP!

 

[JackD]

I recently had surgery on a ruptured disc, so have been largely bed bound and bored. Which obviously means I’ve been spending a lot of time browsing the internet, so after doing the inevitable, I started looking at fixing the little niggles which taint its ownership slightly.

Though it’s faults aren’t overwhelming, I never fix a car immediately and then enjoy it for my ownership, I usually tolerate, ignore and slowly fix things just before I sell it. Not this time!

As observed, it’s on stilts, but at the same time I’m in my 30s with a dodgy back and have never been one for the slammed(broken) look.

A bit of searching and I found Eibach pro springs (-20mm) for about £140 delivered, usually £200, so it was an easy case of man-maths and suddenly I had saved myself £60. Also ordered plain plates as mine are a little worn and have rusty marks from where they’re screwed in.

Now comes the controversy…

The headlights are atrocious. I’ve had xenons in practically every car I’ve owned the last 15 years and s**t headlights are a massive gripe of mine. Annoyingly there’s no other models to steal better headlights off, none of the 5J Fabias have xenon’s.

So after a lot of deliberating, and against everything I believe in, I have bought a 35W HID kit with 5000K bulbs. From the many threads I’ve read out there, as my headlights are projectors it will be a decent beam pattern and won’t be blinding in anyway. If it is, I’ll take them straight off and eBay them, but for the relatively low cost I feel it’s worth a try.

I’m also likely getting an APR remap in the near future, and am undecided on an ITG CAI, which should see around 220bhp? But mainly a much better power and torque curve without putting too much strain on anything.

Then the only other mod will be to add a little sound deadening, remove the 25kg weights hidden in the rear bumper, then sit back and enjoy!

 

[Adey.]

ooo please update with the hidden weight mod when done. I can do the same to mine then

also a link to the auto headlight switch retro fit would be great cheers

 

[JackD]

ooo please update with the hidden weight mod when done. I can do the same to mine then

also a link to the auto headlight switch retro fit would be great cheers

Basically they added weights to the rear crash bar, so it’s simply bumper off and remove 3 bolts and you’ve saved 25+KG.

Removing Rear Weights - MK2 Fabia vRS TSi Hatch **GUIDE**

Tools/Parts Needed : A decent toolbox with torx bits etc Car Used : 2011 MK2 Skoda Fabia vRS 1.4 TSi Hatchback Time Needed : About 40 minutes Difficulty 3/5 - A little fiddly Right let's get started! First off we need to pop out the rear lights, start by undoing this large screw inside the boot :...

www.briskoda.net

I’ll find where I got my light switch from and PM you 👍

 

[R3k1355]

Did the same thing on the Audi TT's, helps with damping out vibration and road harshness.

 

[JackD]

There seems to be two theories for it, either weighing it down versus the higher end VAG competition, or a counter balancing weight which if you remove you lose control on the first corner, crashing into a family of 7 killing them - all because of your selfishness.

 

[JackD]

Well as I’m house bound (ish…) having picked up covid, I thought I’d crack on with the sound deadening. Never done it before, probably all wrong, but by my initial unscientific testing, it’s helped.

Both front door cards are done as well as under the rear bench. Rear door cards, boot and possibly roof can wait until tomorrow as I can’t do too much at the moment.

 

[David Stuart]

I bought an original mk1 VRS in yellow. It’s a stop gap until my new car comes in December. Class we car though. 50mpg and 170bhp. Perfect for these times. Better than the clio 200 that went before it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Not a Diesel!!!]

When I see Fabia VRS written I expect to see a Mk1 tdi.

I remember going to test drive one and ended up buing as it was so cheap. New it was £12k in 2005 and they gave discount to take it to £10.5. I think they were on last legs & went bust a few months later.

Did 45k across 3 years sold it for £8.5k. 50 mpg all day. Cheap motoring.

 

[JackD]

Certainly suits silver better! Have the springs to fit still but have been quoted £2-400 to fit them and that pains me just for springs, but I’m still too much of a cripple to do it myself.

Still the odd niggle sort, small tear in the bolster, need to sound deaden the roof and floor but am in no rush.

 

[JackD]

Still have this, does everything pretty well and has averaged about 40 mpg over the last year.

I should like it more than I do.

Can’t help but find myself on AT looking at Z4 coupes, so we’ll see if head or heart wins.

 

[BIFCAIDS]

Still have this, does everything pretty well and has averaged about 40 mpg over the last year.

I should like it more than I do.

Can’t help but find myself on AT looking at Z4 coupes, so we’ll see if head or heart wins.

Did you get the springs fitted?

 

[JackD]

Did you get the springs fitted?

Nope, sitting in my loft unopened!

 

[BIFCAIDS]

Nope, sitting in my loft unopened!

Poor show

 

[davo172]

Had a mk6 golf GT with same engine twin charged as this from brand new nothing but problems, oil use, misfires breakdowns etc cracked a piston at 23k! repair done under warranty, fiucked off sharpish as trade in soon as I got it back.

Most unreliable car I have ever owned.

Sounds like you have been lucky with your engine.

 

[R3k1355]

The twin charged engines were notorious for problems, really poor design flaws. There were some Cupra's running around on their third engine before 100k

They were heavily revised in later models and supposedly much better.

 

[JackD]

Oops…

 

[R3k1355]

Looks mint after fitting them lowering springs lad, proper job.

 

[davo172]

The twin charged engines were notorious for problems, really poor design flaws. There were some Cupra's running around on their third engine before 100k

They were heavily revised in later models and supposedly much better.

Absolute dogshit engines

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

Had a mk6 golf GT with same engine twin charged as this from brand new nothing but problems, oil use, misfires breakdowns etc cracked a piston at 23k! repair done under warranty, fiucked off sharpish as trade in soon as I got it back.

Most unreliable car I have ever owned.

Sounds like you have been lucky with your engine.

Not according to his latest post lol