Skoda Fabia vRS LE | Spotted
The most desirable hot hatches are often the low mileage, run-out specials. Even the diesel Skoda ones
Once upon a time, nothing quite said bang for your buck like a Skoda vRS. There really wasn’t anything else out there that could rival the fast Skodas for a combination of performance, value, sturdy build quality and plentiful equipment. Maybe they weren’t always the sharpest tools in the shed to drive, though that didn’t matter so much given the price being asked and the power on offer.
Today’s vRS Skodas are very decent - the Octavia especially so - but they don’t represent quite such conspicuous value as before. See the £55k Enyaq Coupe vRS, for example. It might be said that MG offers up the closest thing to a new, electric Skoda vRS from the old school, with its 435hp 4 XPower for less than £40k. But before we get lost in that argument, time to revisit one of those cult classic Skodas…
This is a Fabia vRS, the 130hp diesel-powered follow-up to the 180hp Octavia vRS of 2001. Back in the early '00s, there was nothing really like it, miles faster (in a straight line, at least) than anything at comparable money. 229lb ft of torque was simply unheard of in a small car, let alone one that cost £13k. The vRS proved hugely popular in its few years on sale as a fast, frugal, cheap-to-run alternative to the hot hatch norm.
So much so, in fact, that Skoda didn’t really change anything at all about the first generation between 2003 and 2007. The vRS fan will say that’s because nothing needed any tweaking; keeping things the same also meant the price could stay super competitive. Even when it came to the run-out special edition, the LE, the overhaul was modest. There was Race Blue metallic paint, blue piped leather, red calipers, cruise control and tinted rear windows - that was it. But then it did mean an RRP of just £13,010. Even today, with inflation as it is, that’s £21k - or a decent amount less than any Fabia Monte Carlo might cost.
This is one of the 1000 LEs sold, #362 if the number on the seat is to be believed. Typically these Fabias tend to be found on higher mileages, being cheap, strong and well suited to 50mpg+ motorway cruising, but this one has racked up just 53k since 2007. The condition reflects that, with paint, wheels and upholstery in very good order. The MOT history shows just one fail since 2010, with the current advisory-free ticket running until February. Everything points to this being one of those low mileage, cherished examples of a cult hero hot hatch, right down to the numberplate; it’s just that this is the diesel Fabia hero.
Slowly but surely, prices for the best vRSes are creeping up. The twincharged replacement never caught the imagination in the same way, not helped by its torrid reliability record, so now the fast Fabias with a turbodiesel are now worth more than younger, lower mileage cars that are turbo and supercharged. Funny old world. As so many of the originals have accrued monster mileages and eventually bills that outweighed their value when they were really cheap, numbers have declined. Now £5k is your entry point, on PH at least, with this LE on offer at £7,995. That surely won’t be a bad return for what the second owner paid. And if unlikely to shoot up in value like so many hot hatches have given the uncertainty around diesel, the fondness for this engine in the vRS means good ones will surely always be in demand. Anyone who needs a motorway hack that’ll get loads of love at a Sunday Service won’t do very much better.
SPECIFICATION | SKODA FABIA VRS
Engine: 1,896cc, four-cyl diesel
Transmission: six-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 130@4,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 229@1,900rpm
0-62mph: 9.5 secs
Top speed: 128mph
MPG: 52.3
CO2: 140g/km
Year registered: 2007
Recorded mileage: 53,000
Price new: £13,010 (2007)
Yours for: £7,995
Mine is just going though a period of' old car wearing out' bits - steering rack, alternator, all front and rear suspension, it's had most of the calipers replaced, springs, welding. I think the turbo isn't 100% now, but it gets pushed hard. Thankfully it's not one of the awful straight-piped smoke boxes with 250bhp and soot all over the back.
8 grand gets you a very nice Fiesta ST seven years newer with similar mileage.
A common misconception that the Fabia was the hottest diesel supermini.
The MG ZR 2.0 TDi (115) had 260lb ft of torque, a slightly faster 0-60 time and cost a little less.
You could argue that the ZR didn't have the build quality of the Fabia (true), but the ZR was the better drivers car!
Oddly enough, both of ours went on two different rolling roads and both pushed out 150bhp as near as dammit as standard. The technicians at each said the later engine codes seemed to have that bit more go.
Great little things although I’m not a fan of leather seats, especially when SWMBO used to surreptitiously flick the heated seat on and make me feel like I wet myself.
Sadly those that I do see (SE and standard) seem to be driven by yoofs, with the tailgate covered in black soot…
A common misconception that the Fabia was the hottest diesel supermini.
The MG ZR 2.0 TDi (115) had 260lb ft of torque, a slightly faster 0-60 time and cost a little less.
You could argue that the ZR didn't have the build quality of the Fabia (true), but the ZR was the better drivers car!
I assume the 0-60 difference was related to an extra gearchange for the Skoda.
My vRS fell to pieces beneath me, breaking things that I've never had fail before or since on any car like the steering rack and a window regulator, but it was tremendous fun because it was so punchy out of corners or roundabouts. As the poster above mentions, mine always seemed happiest on Uniroyal Rainsport 2s too.
A common misconception that the Fabia was the hottest diesel supermini.
The MG ZR 2.0 TDi (115) had 260lb ft of torque, a slightly faster 0-60 time and cost a little less.
You could argue that the ZR didn't have the build quality of the Fabia (true), but the ZR was the better drivers car!
Not sure the MGZR was really a hot hatch either
8 grand gets you a very nice Fiesta ST seven years newer with similar mileage.
A common misconception that the Fabia was the hottest diesel supermini.
The MG ZR 2.0 TDi (115) had 260lb ft of torque, a slightly faster 0-60 time and cost a little less.
You could argue that the ZR didn't have the build quality of the Fabia (true), but the ZR was the better drivers car!
Not sure the MGZR was really a hot hatch either
The second one that SWMBO had a terrific sound system installed by its first and only owner, and was putting out 220bhp. Sadly, or not, the torque used to overwhelm the tyres and wheel spin in 4th gear could be easily the order of the day if the road was anything other than bone dry.
Have to say it was a well thought out conversion as there were no clouds of black smoke, no torque ‘spikes’, just seemingly unending push (albeit to a diesel engine red line..!)
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