I love my VRs. Its currently just ticked over 174,000 miles, has been remapped for the past 90,000 miles and has only had its first clutch replacement at 160,000. Proper rocket ship if you get a good mapper to map it :)
@@Chr15py_ and end of the day is still disgusting Skoda. Map it how much you want,throw Bugatti Veyron engine on the back seats,make it go to the moon and back..still dull and disgusting Skoda toilet. Inside disgusting fabrics,cheap plastic rubber and even the smell is cheap. Even my dog will brake throughout the window if i chain him inside. What kind of person would buy such piece of toilet is beyond me...
@@eleonik76 - wow....did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? Just going to address your comments: "and end of the day is still disgusting Skoda" - You are correct, it is a Skoda. Well done. Disgusting? That is your close minded opinion. "Map it how much you want, throw Bugatti Veyron engine on the back seats, make it go to the moon and back...still dull and disgusting Skoda toilet" - Well a Bugatti Veyron engine wouldn't fit in the back as its based on the chassis of a VW Polo. Also, lets not forget, if you've got the money for a Veyron engine, you wouldn't be looking at Skodas anyway. If you've seen a Skoda that looks like a toilet, then that's because someone has used it as one. "Inside disgusting fabrics, cheap plastic rubber and even the smell is cheap" - Ok so when this car was made, Skoda were the cheapest of the VAG brands...this is a simple fact. The interior is dated and if you compare to an Audi of the same age then yes, its cheap looking. "Even my dog will brake throughout the window if i chain him inside" - goes to say enough about you as a dog owner...irresponsible. You shouldn't lock (let alone chain) dogs in cars as they can die due to heat. Surely you know this fact? Poor dog... "What kind of person would buy such piece of toilet is beyond me" - and this statement proves it is really is beyond you in each and every way! I feel sorry for small, close minded people like you. You're not really living life, you're just hating on everyone else's and that's a bit sad really. As you're obviously in a super happy mood, just stay away from anything you could hurt yourself on ok. Have a great day.
@@Chr15py_ wow man,you went through all that copy/paste shit to prove what?🙈😆 I tell you what. To prove me right,that you guys,Skoda owners,are the saddest and dumbest creatures on earth. And let me give you full stop right here.
One of the best Vag cars in relatively recent times. And as you said - it's getting very difficult now to find a clean example which hasn't been ragged to death and modified to an inch of its life.
Had one of these for 4.5 years in my early 20’s and put over 100k miles on it. Great little car, reliable, cheap to run and could upset a lot of people who simple thought ‘it’s just a skoda’ 👍🏻
I had the ibiza FR equivalent with the 1.9 tdi and after a quick remap by r-tech (176bhp and 440nm) the power delivery was amazing fun in the day! Yes it was a diesel but still put a smile on my face. Now I'm a family man I've stuck with VAG and got an octavia vrs 230 tsi and very happy indeed.
Did some work on a mates one once, had some remap on it and I took it for a drive. I owned a Clio 172 at the time and I never admitted to him that his Fabia would leave my Clio for dust in a straight line.
@@NeedMoarRage Yeh but the Fabia would drive past you at the next petrol station. I was about to spend £5k on a Nissan 350Z when I read that I'd spend £4,500 on petrol to do 12,000 miles in it. F*ck that!!!
These reviews on affordable daily cars are so much fun to watch. The quality of video and sound has improved so much. Maybe you could review some japanese daily cars. Like the yaris T-sport (my car), corolla T-sport, any lexus or suzuki ignis sport?
Great review. Love mine, got it chipped to 174bhp and fitted AP coil overs. Dropped it 15mm, not too severe. Fitted good tyres. Great fun to drive. (My other car is a 911 and I am 75!)
@@edwardkarran4963 Very pleased with AP coilovers. I just lowered the car about 12mm which sets the wheels centrally in the arch. Car much more stable and planted. Comfort about the same small bumps like road divisions more noticeable but large bumps more controlled. Wheelspin much reduced, both wheels will eventually let go but the traction control doesn't see this and that let's you drive through it. AP a good price point mine where around 480 euro. Others options 200 (bit cheap) or 950 (bit much for a 2005 car) Enjoy....
I almost went with one of these as my first car 6 months ago. Ended up with a pd140 4wd mk5 golf. Same idea in a slightly nicer (to my mind) package and better chassis with the fun addition of some extra traction when needed. Have absolutely loved it so far! With a set of all terrain tyres it’s done me a snowy expedition to Scotland, gets 50 mpg if I’m nice to it and still lets me play pretty nicely on B roads!
Wanted one of these as a first car but couldn't afford it. My friend (who runs a skoda specialist dealership now) had one, and it was talk of the town when we were first driving. He has some in the showroom and sometimes uses them for long runs (instead of his RS6) and he still raves about them to this day. A side note for 17 year olds - A fabia 1.2 classic (of this same shape) is one of the cheapest cars I ever found to insure.
That is true, my 1.2 cost me like £300 in my 2nd year of insurance. It's actually quite a nice engine for what it is as it's under square and therefore more torquey than you'd expect
My current line up. Daily : mk1 fabia vrs completely standard on 69k Toy: e92 m3 frozen silver edition 36k Love both equally for very different reasons. Greet review jay
My dad had one of these new in 2006 in this colour. My brother had it after him and it got to around 130,000 miles before the cam belt went. I thought it was brilliant as a kid, especially seeing as all my mate’s dads had very normal and boring cars. I even looked at getting my own a few years ago, but I got a 62 reg mk2 octavia vrs tdi instead. Great video!
I have had mine for nearly two years. I have probably spent near a grand on it over that time on suspension components, oil changes and very recently a new camshaft and other engine parts. It's almost standard ( has tinted rear windows and a 15mm drop. Apart from that everything's standard. On 107k. Love driving it. Previous car was a MK5 Fiesta Zetec S which drove and gripped much better but didn't quite have the oomph. Still fun to drive spiritedly.
I had one of these in a Spanish frock (Seat Ibiza FR) as my first car. Could do a full service (oil, filter, air filter, cabin filter, fuel filter) every year for about £60. Put in a decent DAB single din radio with bluetooth handsfree and just kept driving it. Replaced the boost pipes with a set of silicone hoses from Forge Motorsport because the standard items do fail. Seized brake calipers, rusty arches and snapped coil springs are also common weaknesses of the whole platform and a Whiteline rear ARB is another good value upgrade for less than £200. When I sold it, the buyer was exporting it back to Portugal for parts. A shame because it was still a solid car but they love these cars out there and do some crazy mods to them.
I bought this car when I was 18 as my first car. It's been 2 and a half years since then, and the car has been really really good on a day to day basis. It's reliable, very low maintenance, perfect on the motorway as opposed to the typical one litre shitbox that people my age usually have to buy due to insurance. the pd130 is a fantastic engine. The audio system once paired with an aftermarket head unit is pretty nice and inside the car it's not too loud so you can converse with others without needing to scream. The suspensions a bit worn out but it's no issue for me. The biggest downside with this car is its lack of agility. When trying to push on through a string of corners it really feels like it's stumbling it's way through them and doesn't want to be pushed that hard. Maybe I've been spoiled by my MX-5, but this thing is not a hot hatch at all. It can keep up with a modern 118d really nicely tho, even without a remap. My experience with this car has been fantastic but ultimately if your looking for a hot hatch then I wouldn't recommend this. But if your looking for a car to mod, 10000% I recommend one of these
I never a driven skoda fabia but I have driven my Fathers Audi A1 2.0L TDI car which he owned from new for just over 7 years. Engine was good and fuel economy was over 50MPG all the time. He sold that car now for a VW GTI TCR which he currently has.
I had one, loved it. Came with some awesome alcantara seats. No idea why I sold it really, bought a Subaru and it was a pig. Drove it like a right twat though, getting the cams to lift was addictive.
Driven a few of these. One standard one tuned to the gills will 250ish bhp, hybrid turbo, intercooler, remap, air filter, exhaust. Both put a huge smile on my face. Closest VW to this being the quite rare Polo GT 130pd. One thing I detest about these is the seats. Get incredibly dirty very fast. There was a late special edition in metallic blue with black leather. Not the best quality leather but at least it's not white cloth!
I still smoke an '03' Furby' VRS to this day. Hands down the biggest bang for buck / smiles per gallon available at the moment. What a car! Cheers JayEmm
I had a Fabia VRS fir 3 years and it was a brilliant little car..it was a real Wolf in Sheep's clothing! Very reliable with reasonable comfort to boot.
This car is really underrated overall but loved by the few that know. Tunes really well and is still economical. In my eyes this is probably one of the nicest looking hot hatches of the last 20 years. I honestly like the fabia mk1 look anyway so Im biased but the vrs kit looked superb! If you could imagine an evo hothatch the vrs would look like that. I had a few things done to mine. exterior wise was standard, it was remapped (already when I bought it) added a front mount intercooler and bigger air filter from The Honda s2000 cus 🤷🏼♂️. whiteline anti roll bar kit on the rear and another upper brace bar on the boot well that tucked nicely against the seats but I removed mine. Decatted and egr removal kit from allard performance had the single mass fly wheel in there which was a bit jerky in first gear but made a difference when on the road itself. I miss that car. I currently have an immaculate mk1 petrol skoda in the same colour tucked away for a PD build over the next few months maybe a year or two
I’ve been running the 1.9tdi in estate for years now and still love it. So much low down torque, next to no lag. Yet have had it averaging over 70mpg if super careful round town. Being such a heavy front I think the estate is probably more balanced than the hatch version. It likes its tyres hard, 36psi all round it seems to love.
I had one of these in 2009. It replaced a FIAT Coupe because I got a job with a 75 miles a day commute. Doing that journey on country roads every day in the vRS was a blast. It also returned near enough 60mpg on that trip. I swapped it for a Superb when I couldn't get a baby seat and a passenger in the car at the same time. Such a difference - it was comfortable and spacious but sooooo dull compared to the pocket rocket that was the Fabia.
I owned a 2007 Special Edition in the Race Blue with Black leather bucket seats. I put 50k miles on it and it never missed a beat. Great car and you could rag it all day and still get great fuel economy. I had it remapped to around 180hp and 280lbs/ft. I do miss it. Especially when I heard it was written off last year
I considered this in 2004 before buying my first brand new car - a Nissan Almera 2.2 dci 136 SXE in gun metal grey. Even less cool than the Skoda - but brutally effective at high motorway speeds blowing away 2.0i petrol repmobiles! Fantastic !
I had one for seven years. They’re great cars. Another issue is the intercooler hoses that uses the most stupid clip system, which wear out and detach after a few years.
I love mine. I have had it from new and will run it into the ground. It is just run in at 103k. Left the engine as stock but still really shifts even though it sounds like a tractor. Only mod I need to put on it is a rear ant roll bar as tbh the handling is pretty roly poly and ho hum
Got mine in 2019 for my daily. Been a decent car overall. Had to replace cam and crank sensor, boot struts, input shaft shim and alternator. It was pretty neglected when I got it though at £800 swap value but still pretty good for a 2006 model. I get 50mpg easily. Mine is completely standard except EGR delete.. and some rust😁
Change the oil every 5k and the pd lump will do 300,000 easy. No dpf to worry about. A light tickle on the ecu brings the pd lumps to life. Only had mine 8 years ;)
I had a VW Passat 1.9TDI 130bhp 2003&a SEAT Toledo1.9TDI SE 110bhp 2002. I've also driven the 1.9TDI 90 bhp&150bhp. My OH had a 1980s Škoda Estelle &1.36 Rapid, I enjoyed driving the Rapid. We test drove the Favorit&the Felicia&Octavia mk1.
Aside from load-lugging, probably the best all-round small hatch of its time. Drive from Cornwall to the Highlands in a day? Absolutely comfortable and epic MPG. Then onto the B-roads and it'll hold it's own. Had one of these after an e39 530i Sport, and I've got to say I miss this more.
For about 4 years I had a petrol 1.4 16v 100bhp Fabia and it was such a good laugh to own. Plus being a petrol you had to rev it so max power was at 6000rpm and red line was at 7000rpm so you had to keep it between 4.500-7000rpm to have fun but it was good fun to do it. Sadly the petrol car was only a 5 speed. But i got it for 1100 pounds and I sold it for 1000 pounds small cars bought at the right time never lose to much money.
Started seeing ads for getting compensation for "having been convinced to buy a diesel from 2007-2020". Pretty telling of where they're going, but then who in the right mind would've looked at the back end of a diesel on the pull and thought "mhmmmmm, cleaner air!". Just a shame big ol' Estates are getting rolled under the bus with it
FINALLY! I had one of these in bright yellow as my second car, I loved it. It was quite a late 2006 example, I think it was a Skoda UK car as it came with xenon headlights, a 6-CD changer and the nav from the Superb of the time. A great little car, but at 6' 6" I found it a bit small for major long distances and it had some unreliability which made me lose faith in it. Ahh, OE56 CMZ, what happened to you? EDIT: It's still on the road, glad someone's still enjoying it.
Had to scrub back to hear the forester comment. Ha ha. Made me pay attention. I have a forester Sti. Bit quicker than a vrs. Great video. Good work. Keep it up.
Great review Jay and from Skoda’s golden era when their VRS models were better than VWs equivalent. Such great cars from the early 2000s, a sweet spot for reliable and road comfortable cars before the Nurburgring obsession ruined things ! I had the A3 with the same engine and a cheap tuning box and it was rapid for what it was!
Owned this car very punchy just small niggles & cream seats that get filthy or marked super easily. The 2.2 Civic ICDTI is also from the same era a real hidden gem but with the reliability.
As the owner I can speak on this haha! Yes it was bought new in Armagh, had one owner until I bought it in January. It was actually babied it's whole life and I've only put the very best parts on it! Pure white diesel lol. Red won't do it any harm but dippers are while for PDs
During my 2 year UK experience and because of my vehicle tech job I had the privilege to sit behind the wheel of some brilliant cars from Merc and Porsche...I still remember a pristine red Golf mk3 VR6 of a customer who wanted a remap on it...on the other hand I had the honour to own some very popular cars such as a 2003 Vauxhall Corsa C 1.2 and a Renault Clio 1.5 DCi...But far the best one was a 2001 Y reg blue Fiat Punto ELX JTD 1.9 that I bought for 300 pounds...yes 300 POUNDS...not in the best condition but nothing really serious apart from some cosmetic issues and a blowing downpipe...it had the best interior i ve ever been in for a car from this category...Red cloth upholstery the beafy ELX seats,red doorcards a fully operative (!) sunroof and A/C...but its highlight was the engine...1.9 8v JTD with 90 hp on paper...cause it never seemed to have that power...incredible economy (i managed 40mpg) really torquy (spining the 2nd gear on UK asphalt) unbelievably comfortable for a car of that age,category and manufacturer! You see down here in Greece we tend not to trust that much the Italian cars...but this little Punto...unforgettable...one of the things I really miss from my time in UK...
Just bought my VRS SE (167/1000) today, bone stock at 168k miles, lovely car with a few minor paint, rust and panel problems. To be expected of an 07 car of this type. Lovely motor, coming from a 2011 Scirocco TDI (Remapped + DPF delete) Sick of scirocco's and wanted something sportier, loving the car so far, drive back was so much fun despite it being a stock PD130 Highly recommend as insurance is cheap and tax is £14 a month. If you want an easily modifiable, good looking hot hatch for relatively cheap, get a VRS. Just be VERY careful when shopping around, some sketchy blokes out there (personal experience dictates this very obviously)
My first and current car - the SE. Reasonable enough to insure at 17 too. Resisted any temptation to modify it so completely stock at the moment. Happy to see it’s passed the sniff test with you.
@@muhammadmore parked up the other day and when I came back another SE was parked next to me W/ a body kit and behind a black Vrs. I didn’t stop to talk but it was quite funny 😄
We run a vrs daily and have done for 45k miles. Great car for the 40 mile round commute, especially on night shifts. Quite a lot of understeer without a rear anti-roll bar fitted. Worth noting the steering feel improves (less assistance) with the traction control turned off (compulsory). Octavia vrs front and rear brake upgrade really sorts these out.
Great cars. Just got my second recently, 230bhp with 355ftlbs (480nm) almost smokeless. with 200k on the clock. To be fair I have taken everything apart to refurbish/clean. But the engine looks not a day past 50k on the insides! Great engines I know people who have ran 400bhp with 300 shot of NOS for well over 80 runs at Santapod before blowing anything 😵!
@@rh9224 Yeah but this was 600-700bhp totally standard apart from the camshaft and it still lasted 70+ runs at stantapod before it cracked the block and bent the rods smashed to pieces lol just crazy it can hold 5-6x it’s stock power for that long
I don’t know why I’ve never really looked at the Fabia before. It’s very similar to the Polo of the same age and that’s a very capable car. I’m very tempted to view a few of them now with a view to buying one as a long term keeper
Good review. It would be improved if you had it on the ramps and a mechanic checked it out, pointing out common issues. Might save others buying a bad one.
I've got a Yellow Fabia vRS in my garage, totally standard with 54k on the clock - brilliant cars, it's currently for sale on Pistonheads as i write this......but part of me wants to keep it too!
Had one of these nearly new when I was in my mid 20s... I don't know if it'll be the map, or the age/miles.. but I'm surprised Jay doesn't once mention the LUMP of torque around 3k rpm... Like a rocket going off for 500 rpm or so. Again, perhaps it's the map on the video car.. but they used to run out of steam at higher speeds. Loved mine, though went on to own some 90s BMWs and realised that the vRS was ALL about the power and practicality, handling very much being the stock Fabia with a minor tweak or two (I had a 1.4 16v Fabia before the vRS).
I had an Octvia vRS in 2002 and loved it for the most part, these little Fabia's were also great fun. Took mine down to Jabba Sport for a stage 2 remap.... Different car once that had been done. They seem fairly reliable too. I recall Top Gear back in the day racing a Fabia against a Mini Cooper around their track and the Mini got whipped by the little Skoda.
A decade or so ago, a certain type of driver could be seen hooning around in a Peugeot 306 turbo diesel, with a back end covered in soot from a bad ECU remap. That type of driver can now be seen hooning around in a Skodia Fabia with a similarly coloured rear end.
For some reason TH-camrs don't know driving a modified car on a public road is completely illegal..... especially when your bypassing emissions.....thanks jay
Love my little Fabia vrs. Pulls like a train, pretty nimble, fun and 60mpg. You probably won't remember @jayemms but I saw you in mine outside Porsche Reading a while back, my other cars are a 3.2 Carrera and a V8 vantage, but as a fun daily for under £3k you can't beat the Fabia.
I like these cars and test drove one new in 2006. I would have bought one were it not for the absolute tw*t of a salesman who offered me an insulting trade in value against my old car, and when I attempted some polite negotiation told me, "I don't need to sell this car to you. I'm making a fortune here." Always wonder what happened to him. A real gem in his field.
Only recently did it happen, that I looked at one of these and thought to myself: "It still is a nice car." Then I realized, that production started in the late 90's. What a great design, it is a classic design. Change my mind
I've had 2 of these first i got too 350000 miles b4 the electrics went engine still solid. My second one is at 200k with a remap. The wee cars are absolute tanks. Cheap parts amd start nonmatter what. As a delivery driver I'd say possibly the best wee car I've ever owned.
Thanks to CarVertical www.carvertical.com/gb/landing/v3?a=JayEmm&b=38b26e3a&voucher=UK for sponsoring today's video.
That car,the brand and the model are the most dull, boring,ugly and disgusting thing on wheels you can buy. Full stop right here.
I love my VRs. Its currently just ticked over 174,000 miles, has been remapped for the past 90,000 miles and has only had its first clutch replacement at 160,000. Proper rocket ship if you get a good mapper to map it :)
@@Chr15py_ and end of the day is still disgusting Skoda. Map it how much you want,throw Bugatti Veyron engine on the back seats,make it go to the moon and back..still dull and disgusting Skoda toilet. Inside disgusting fabrics,cheap plastic rubber and even the smell is cheap. Even my dog will brake throughout the window if i chain him inside. What kind of person would buy such piece of toilet is beyond me...
@@eleonik76 - wow....did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? Just going to address your comments:
"and end of the day is still disgusting Skoda" - You are correct, it is a Skoda. Well done. Disgusting? That is your close minded opinion.
"Map it how much you want, throw Bugatti Veyron engine on the back seats, make it go to the moon and back...still dull and disgusting Skoda toilet" - Well a Bugatti Veyron engine wouldn't fit in the back as its based on the chassis of a VW Polo. Also, lets not forget, if you've got the money for a Veyron engine, you wouldn't be looking at Skodas anyway. If you've seen a Skoda that looks like a toilet, then that's because someone has used it as one.
"Inside disgusting fabrics, cheap plastic rubber and even the smell is cheap" - Ok so when this car was made, Skoda were the cheapest of the VAG brands...this is a simple fact. The interior is dated and if you compare to an Audi of the same age then yes, its cheap looking.
"Even my dog will brake throughout the window if i chain him inside" - goes to say enough about you as a dog owner...irresponsible. You shouldn't lock (let alone chain) dogs in cars as they can die due to heat. Surely you know this fact? Poor dog...
"What kind of person would buy such piece of toilet is beyond me" - and this statement proves it is really is beyond you in each and every way! I feel sorry for small, close minded people like you. You're not really living life, you're just hating on everyone else's and that's a bit sad really.
As you're obviously in a super happy mood, just stay away from anything you could hurt yourself on ok. Have a great day.
@@Chr15py_ wow man,you went through all that copy/paste shit to prove what?🙈😆 I tell you what. To prove me right,that you guys,Skoda owners,are the saddest and dumbest creatures on earth. And let me give you full stop right here.
These more “normal” cars are my favorite to watch. Especially because we don’t get many of them here in the USA
I guess you're not in China anymore. Haven't watched in a while.
They are as well for me, because I live in eastern Europe
We only have normal cars because fuel is mega expensive in the UK lol!!!!!in fact everything is bloody expensive over here, mainly because of tax.
@laowhy86 Nice to see you commenting. It’s like seeing a celebrity.
Ayy Yoo
Thanks so much James was a pleasure!
One of the best Vag cars in relatively recent times. And as you said - it's getting very difficult now to find a clean example which hasn't been ragged to death and modified to an inch of its life.
Stage 3+ hybrid turbo no service history pulls like a train
Don't need to worry about no service history on them. They're super simple to rebuild and can buy a spare engine for £200
@@tdp2612 dont forget the cosmetic mods i.e. black spray painted alloys, and wind deflectors (the go-to chav mod for 2021)
@@ReplicantBattyman if wind deflectors put you off buying a car you’ll not have a lot of variety 😂
@@Mr330d just helps me avoid the chav magnets. "this audi rs3 looks sick but you know what its missing? some shitty pieces of plastic on the windows"
Reviewing a car like that tells us as much about the reviewer as the car - you did a good job, thanks !
Had one of these for 4.5 years in my early 20’s and put over 100k miles on it. Great little car, reliable, cheap to run and could upset a lot of people who simple thought ‘it’s just a skoda’ 👍🏻
Jay Emm bringing some really quirky cars lately. Love it!
PD130 is unstoppable! Really enjoyed the video
I bought mine new 17 years ago. Now on 170k miles and still going strong.
Mines just ticked past 173k. Love my Skud missile lol 😂
I have the PD100 version of one of these, on 181k. Gets 55mpg in town, pulls well and runs like a new car. Brilliant investment for £500.
I had the ibiza FR equivalent with the 1.9 tdi and after a quick remap by r-tech (176bhp and 440nm) the power delivery was amazing fun in the day! Yes it was a diesel but still put a smile on my face. Now I'm a family man I've stuck with VAG and got an octavia vrs 230 tsi and very happy indeed.
Still remember when Skoda had a reputation for being a skip on wheels..... the Fabia and Octavia changed all that though.
Did some work on a mates one once, had some remap on it and I took it for a drive.
I owned a Clio 172 at the time and I never admitted to him that his Fabia would leave my Clio for dust in a straight line.
only in a straight line though :) and I bet it won't put a smile on your face like the Clio would. Probably is a bit one dimensional too
@@NeedMoarRage Yeh but the Fabia would drive past you at the next petrol station. I was about to spend £5k on a Nissan 350Z when I read that I'd spend £4,500 on petrol to do 12,000 miles in it. F*ck that!!!
These reviews on affordable daily cars are so much fun to watch. The quality of video and sound has improved so much. Maybe you could review some japanese daily cars. Like the yaris T-sport (my car), corolla T-sport, any lexus or suzuki ignis sport?
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Get a stage 1 remap and it never fails to put a smile on my face
This was my first fun car and I bloody loved mine.
Great review. Love mine, got it chipped to 174bhp and fitted AP coil overs. Dropped it 15mm, not too severe. Fitted good tyres. Great fun to drive. (My other car is a 911 and I am 75!)
How do you find the coilovers? I'm considering a set and lowering slightly, want to body roll gone but don't want to break my back!
@@edwardkarran4963 Very pleased with AP coilovers. I just lowered the car about 12mm which sets the wheels centrally in the arch. Car much more stable and planted. Comfort about the same small bumps like road divisions more noticeable but large bumps more controlled. Wheelspin much reduced, both wheels will eventually let go but the traction control doesn't see this and that let's you drive through it. AP a good price point mine where around 480 euro. Others options 200 (bit cheap) or 950 (bit much for a 2005 car) Enjoy....
@@tube7432 Excellent thanks for the advice, I'm looking at a set that are £300
I almost went with one of these as my first car 6 months ago. Ended up with a pd140 4wd mk5 golf. Same idea in a slightly nicer (to my mind) package and better chassis with the fun addition of some extra traction when needed. Have absolutely loved it so far! With a set of all terrain tyres it’s done me a snowy expedition to Scotland, gets 50 mpg if I’m nice to it and still lets me play pretty nicely on B roads!
Wanted one of these as a first car but couldn't afford it. My friend (who runs a skoda specialist dealership now) had one, and it was talk of the town when we were first driving. He has some in the showroom and sometimes uses them for long runs (instead of his RS6) and he still raves about them to this day.
A side note for 17 year olds - A fabia 1.2 classic (of this same shape) is one of the cheapest cars I ever found to insure.
That is true, my 1.2 cost me like £300 in my 2nd year of insurance. It's actually quite a nice engine for what it is as it's under square and therefore more torquey than you'd expect
My current line up.
Daily : mk1 fabia vrs completely standard on 69k
Toy: e92 m3 frozen silver edition 36k
Love both equally for very different reasons. Greet review jay
What I like about Jay is, you get it says on the tin without being blunt and no blowing smoke up your stack.
My dad had one of these new in 2006 in this colour. My brother had it after him and it got to around 130,000 miles before the cam belt went. I thought it was brilliant as a kid, especially seeing as all my mate’s dads had very normal and boring cars. I even looked at getting my own a few years ago, but I got a 62 reg mk2 octavia vrs tdi instead. Great video!
Why does it have a czech engine light on - because it's a Skoda! Sorry about that, I couldn't resist. Thanks for your patience James .......
I have had mine for nearly two years. I have probably spent near a grand on it over that time on suspension components, oil changes and very recently a new camshaft and other engine parts. It's almost standard ( has tinted rear windows and a 15mm drop. Apart from that everything's standard. On 107k. Love driving it. Previous car was a MK5 Fiesta Zetec S which drove and gripped much better but didn't quite have the oomph. Still fun to drive spiritedly.
My parents had one of these from brand new in 2004. They kept it till 2016 so 12 years shows how good of a car it was. Never failed them.
I had one of these in a Spanish frock (Seat Ibiza FR) as my first car.
Could do a full service (oil, filter, air filter, cabin filter, fuel filter) every year for about £60.
Put in a decent DAB single din radio with bluetooth handsfree and just kept driving it.
Replaced the boost pipes with a set of silicone hoses from Forge Motorsport because the standard items do fail. Seized brake calipers, rusty arches and snapped coil springs are also common weaknesses of the whole platform and a Whiteline rear ARB is another good value upgrade for less than £200.
When I sold it, the buyer was exporting it back to Portugal for parts. A shame because it was still a solid car but they love these cars out there and do some crazy mods to them.
This is what you meant by you have Skoda content coming 😂👍🏽
LOVE THIS! That Fabia generation was wonderful and a brisk turbo Diesel engine can be sooo nice to drive
Quiet day in work and a new JayEmm video... Perfect
The shear variety of car's on this channel is what makes it .
The Saxo VTR next please JayEmm 🇫🇷
Or VTS as it was the fast one 👍
Mark my words - Saxo’s will have their day. Last of the truly tiny, sit on the floor, crash and you die - hot hatch.
@@davespooney8472 love the crash and you die line. Best description of them.
My dad had one before a EP3 Type R, then on to this fabia.
Rare to find a good one these days!
I’ve had 2 of them loved them both, cheap fast reliable motoring, moved to a mk7 fiesta st after watching your review.
I bought this car when I was 18 as my first car. It's been 2 and a half years since then, and the car has been really really good on a day to day basis. It's reliable, very low maintenance, perfect on the motorway as opposed to the typical one litre shitbox that people my age usually have to buy due to insurance. the pd130 is a fantastic engine. The audio system once paired with an aftermarket head unit is pretty nice and inside the car it's not too loud so you can converse with others without needing to scream. The suspensions a bit worn out but it's no issue for me. The biggest downside with this car is its lack of agility. When trying to push on through a string of corners it really feels like it's stumbling it's way through them and doesn't want to be pushed that hard. Maybe I've been spoiled by my MX-5, but this thing is not a hot hatch at all. It can keep up with a modern 118d really nicely tho, even without a remap. My experience with this car has been fantastic but ultimately if your looking for a hot hatch then I wouldn't recommend this. But if your looking for a car to mod, 10000% I recommend one of these
good luck trying to insure that as a new driver, 1.9 diesel 2k a year
@@ZeulDac 1600 first year, 700 second year on a multicar policy with an mx5. Then I got rid of the car
2001 Y reg skoda fabia 1.4 was my first car when I was 17. So many memories. Thanks for the content!
I never a driven skoda fabia but I have driven my Fathers Audi A1 2.0L TDI car which he owned from new for just over 7 years. Engine was good and fuel economy was over 50MPG all the time. He sold that car now for a VW GTI TCR which he currently has.
Love seeing these types of cars. Cheap and sporty.
Had the Seat Leon 1.4 TSI with a manual.
It is still the best driving car I have ever owned.
The new nova for the young team. Pd130 is a cracking engine.
I own one same colour as this and it’s the funnest car I’ve ever owned !! And can take a beating
I never thought I would enjoy watching a review of a Skoda diesel. Only a great Reviewer can do that.
Defo will be looking for these when I can drive
I want to see a Corolla t sport facelift on here, i love mine to bits
I had one, loved it. Came with some awesome alcantara seats. No idea why I sold it really, bought a Subaru and it was a pig. Drove it like a right twat though, getting the cams to lift was addictive.
Driven a few of these. One standard one tuned to the gills will 250ish bhp, hybrid turbo, intercooler, remap, air filter, exhaust. Both put a huge smile on my face. Closest VW to this being the quite rare Polo GT 130pd. One thing I detest about these is the seats. Get incredibly dirty very fast. There was a late special edition in metallic blue with black leather. Not the best quality leather but at least it's not white cloth!
Once remapped to 170bhp + it then becomes a LOT of fun. Loved my last 2 vRS’s
Ahh, the fabia. My first car. Always amazed me with how much more grown up it felt versus it's price and it's market positioning.
Always loved the look of the vrs, so aggressive and under stated... one of few diesels i actually kinda like lol
I still smoke an '03' Furby' VRS to this day. Hands down the biggest bang for buck / smiles per gallon available at the moment. What a car! Cheers JayEmm
I had a Fabia VRS fir 3 years and it was a brilliant little car..it was a real Wolf in Sheep's clothing!
Very reliable with reasonable comfort to boot.
Cool car back when it was launched and still is today !
This car is really underrated overall but loved by the few that know. Tunes really well and is still economical. In my eyes this is probably one of the nicest looking hot hatches of the last 20 years. I honestly like the fabia mk1 look anyway so Im biased but the vrs kit looked superb! If you could imagine an evo hothatch the vrs would look like that. I had a few things done to mine. exterior wise was standard, it was remapped (already when I bought it) added a front mount intercooler and bigger air filter from The Honda s2000 cus 🤷🏼♂️. whiteline anti roll bar kit on the rear and another upper brace bar on the boot well that tucked nicely against the seats but I removed mine. Decatted and egr removal kit from allard performance had the single mass fly wheel in there which was a bit jerky in first gear but made a difference when on the road itself. I miss that car. I currently have an immaculate mk1 petrol skoda in the same colour tucked away for a PD build over the next few months maybe a year or two
I’ve been running the 1.9tdi in estate for years now and still love it. So much low down torque, next to no lag. Yet have had it averaging over 70mpg if super careful round town.
Being such a heavy front I think the estate is probably more balanced than the hatch version. It likes its tyres hard, 36psi all round it seems to love.
I had one of these in 2009. It replaced a FIAT Coupe because I got a job with a 75 miles a day commute. Doing that journey on country roads every day in the vRS was a blast. It also returned near enough 60mpg on that trip.
I swapped it for a Superb when I couldn't get a baby seat and a passenger in the car at the same time. Such a difference - it was comfortable and spacious but sooooo dull compared to the pocket rocket that was the Fabia.
I owned a 2007 Special Edition in the Race Blue with Black leather bucket seats. I put 50k miles on it and it never missed a beat. Great car and you could rag it all day and still get great fuel economy. I had it remapped to around 180hp and 280lbs/ft. I do miss it. Especially when I heard it was written off last year
I considered this in 2004 before buying my first brand new car - a Nissan Almera 2.2 dci 136 SXE in gun metal grey. Even less cool than the Skoda - but brutally effective at high motorway speeds blowing away 2.0i petrol repmobiles! Fantastic !
My dad had one of these brand new in 2006, coming from a EP3 Type R. I’m proud of him to say the least.
Loving the content recently, keep the cheap quick boys comin!
As a Czech I would like to mention your pronunciation of "Škoda" that was on point! overall nice review
I had one for seven years. They’re great cars. Another issue is the intercooler hoses that uses the most stupid clip system, which wear out and detach after a few years.
I love mine. I have had it from new and will run it into the ground. It is just run in at 103k. Left the engine as stock but still really shifts even though it sounds like a tractor. Only mod I need to put on it is a rear ant roll bar as tbh the handling is pretty roly poly and ho hum
What a nice surprise! Had been looking at these.
Owned one for 5 years. Was brilliant. Not the best handling at all. Not exciting 0-60 but enough pace to make life easier. V comfortable
Got mine in 2019 for my daily. Been a decent car overall. Had to replace cam and crank sensor, boot struts, input shaft shim and alternator. It was pretty neglected when I got it though at £800 swap value but still pretty good for a 2006 model. I get 50mpg easily. Mine is completely standard except EGR delete.. and some rust😁
Had one nearly new in 2007. Stuck a Superchips remap on it and the turbo went bang. Lucky for me, Skoda fixed it under warranty 😁
Change the oil every 5k and the pd lump will do 300,000 easy.
No dpf to worry about.
A light tickle on the ecu brings the pd lumps to life.
Only had mine 8 years ;)
I had a VW Passat 1.9TDI 130bhp 2003&a SEAT Toledo1.9TDI SE 110bhp 2002. I've also driven the 1.9TDI 90 bhp&150bhp. My OH had a 1980s Škoda Estelle &1.36 Rapid, I enjoyed driving the Rapid. We test drove the Favorit&the Felicia&Octavia mk1.
Got 71MPG out of my vrs on a 200 mile run, great cars, I have the SE and love it
Aside from load-lugging, probably the best all-round small hatch of its time. Drive from Cornwall to the Highlands in a day? Absolutely comfortable and epic MPG. Then onto the B-roads and it'll hold it's own. Had one of these after an e39 530i Sport, and I've got to say I miss this more.
Speaking of Bill Gates, it's not clear if he's necessarily "enjoying life to it's fullest" at the present time either!
Whether predicting corona or promoting synthetic so callled meat or ministry of home affairs
For about 4 years I had a petrol
1.4 16v 100bhp Fabia and it was such a good laugh to own. Plus being a petrol you had to rev it so max power was at 6000rpm and red line was at 7000rpm so you had to keep it between 4.500-7000rpm to have fun but it was good fun to do it. Sadly the petrol car was only a 5 speed. But i got it for 1100 pounds and I sold it for 1000 pounds small cars bought at the right time never lose to much money.
Started seeing ads for getting compensation for "having been convinced to buy a diesel from 2007-2020". Pretty telling of where they're going, but then who in the right mind would've looked at the back end of a diesel on the pull and thought "mhmmmmm, cleaner air!".
Just a shame big ol' Estates are getting rolled under the bus with it
FINALLY! I had one of these in bright yellow as my second car, I loved it. It was quite a late 2006 example, I think it was a Skoda UK car as it came with xenon headlights, a 6-CD changer and the nav from the Superb of the time. A great little car, but at 6' 6" I found it a bit small for major long distances and it had some unreliability which made me lose faith in it. Ahh, OE56 CMZ, what happened to you?
EDIT: It's still on the road, glad someone's still enjoying it.
Had to scrub back to hear the forester comment. Ha ha. Made me pay attention. I have a forester Sti. Bit quicker than a vrs. Great video. Good work. Keep it up.
Great review Jay and from Skoda’s golden era when their VRS models were better than VWs equivalent. Such great cars from the early 2000s, a sweet spot for reliable and road comfortable cars before the Nurburgring obsession ruined things ! I had the A3 with the same engine and a cheap tuning box and it was rapid for what it was!
Ps any chance of reviewing the Octavia mk1 VRS next?
There are a lot of reviews available.
Owned this car very punchy just small niggles & cream seats that get filthy or marked super easily. The 2.2 Civic ICDTI is also from the same era a real hidden gem but with the reliability.
Love the Armagh LZ reg, been a free litres of red though that yoke..... happy days
Shame now the aul reds up in price but at least it's not got buckfast stickers on the windows
@@daleboyd8010 kero and a drop of lawnmower oil, works well!
She’s carried many a round of ammunition to crossmaglen
@@Mr330d doubt that mate
As the owner I can speak on this haha! Yes it was bought new in Armagh, had one owner until I bought it in January. It was actually babied it's whole life and I've only put the very best parts on it! Pure white diesel lol. Red won't do it any harm but dippers are while for PDs
Strongest car I've ever owned
During my 2 year UK experience and because of my vehicle tech job I had the privilege to sit behind the wheel of some brilliant cars from Merc and Porsche...I still remember a pristine red Golf mk3 VR6 of a customer who wanted a remap on it...on the other hand I had the honour to own some very popular cars such as a 2003 Vauxhall Corsa C 1.2 and a Renault Clio 1.5 DCi...But far the best one was a 2001 Y reg blue Fiat Punto ELX JTD 1.9 that I bought for 300 pounds...yes 300 POUNDS...not in the best condition but nothing really serious apart from some cosmetic issues and a blowing downpipe...it had the best interior i ve ever been in for a car from this category...Red cloth upholstery the beafy ELX seats,red doorcards a fully operative (!) sunroof and A/C...but its highlight was the engine...1.9 8v JTD with 90 hp on paper...cause it never seemed to have that power...incredible economy (i managed 40mpg) really torquy (spining the 2nd gear on UK asphalt) unbelievably comfortable for a car of that age,category and manufacturer! You see down here in Greece we tend not to trust that much the Italian cars...but this little Punto...unforgettable...one of the things I really miss from my time in UK...
I drove a fabia 2004 1,9 tdi fabia and just can it’s a great car :) a future classic
Just bought my VRS SE (167/1000) today, bone stock at 168k miles, lovely car with a few minor paint, rust and panel problems. To be expected of an 07 car of this type. Lovely motor, coming from a 2011 Scirocco TDI (Remapped + DPF delete)
Sick of scirocco's and wanted something sportier, loving the car so far, drive back was so much fun despite it being a stock PD130
Highly recommend as insurance is cheap and tax is £14 a month. If you want an easily modifiable, good looking hot hatch for relatively cheap, get a VRS. Just be VERY careful when shopping around, some sketchy blokes out there (personal experience dictates this very obviously)
wow, first time i've seen an unmolested Fabia VRS that hasn't got a boot covered in carbon particles whilst going coo
Loool couldn't have said it better myself 🤣🤣
My first and current car - the SE. Reasonable enough to insure at 17 too. Resisted any temptation to modify it so completely stock at the moment. Happy to see it’s passed the sniff test with you.
Ayyyyyy I've got it as my first car as well. Insurance was cheaper on this compared to an Aygo surpassingly
@@muhammadmore parked up the other day and when I came back another SE was parked next to me W/ a body kit and behind a black Vrs. I didn’t stop to talk but it was quite funny 😄
We run a vrs daily and have done for 45k miles. Great car for the 40 mile round commute, especially on night shifts. Quite a lot of understeer without a rear anti-roll bar fitted. Worth noting the steering feel improves (less assistance) with the traction control turned off (compulsory). Octavia vrs front and rear brake upgrade really sorts these out.
Great cars. Just got my second recently, 230bhp with 355ftlbs (480nm) almost smokeless. with 200k on the clock. To be fair I have taken everything apart to refurbish/clean. But the engine looks not a day past 50k on the insides!
Great engines I know people who have ran 400bhp with 300 shot of NOS for well over 80 runs at Santapod before blowing anything 😵!
Luis Skilla made 600+ on his
@@rh9224 Not standard internals as far as I’m aware
@@EdderzX1 nah it’s not but easy power to be made
@@rh9224 Yeah but this was 600-700bhp totally standard apart from the camshaft and it still lasted 70+ runs at stantapod before it cracked the block and bent the rods smashed to pieces lol just crazy it can hold 5-6x it’s stock power for that long
Just drove 6.6l Duramax today and for the first time in my life I said to myself, that diesels are cool!
A few of my friends have owned these over the years, always had a soft spot for them.
I don’t know why I’ve never really looked at the Fabia before. It’s very similar to the Polo of the same age and that’s a very capable car. I’m very tempted to view a few of them now with a view to buying one as a long term keeper
Good review. It would be improved if you had it on the ramps and a mechanic checked it out, pointing out common issues. Might save others buying a bad one.
i was struggling to decide between one of these and the r53, this has sold me on the decision also the fact i love a turbo diesel
I've got a Yellow Fabia vRS in my garage, totally standard with 54k on the clock - brilliant cars, it's currently for sale on Pistonheads as i write this......but part of me wants to keep it too!
I had Fabia vRS 06 to 017. Best car I ever had
Had one of these a few years back. Great little car.
Had one of these nearly new when I was in my mid 20s... I don't know if it'll be the map, or the age/miles.. but I'm surprised Jay doesn't once mention the LUMP of torque around 3k rpm... Like a rocket going off for 500 rpm or so. Again, perhaps it's the map on the video car.. but they used to run out of steam at higher speeds. Loved mine, though went on to own some 90s BMWs and realised that the vRS was ALL about the power and practicality, handling very much being the stock Fabia with a minor tweak or two (I had a 1.4 16v Fabia before the vRS).
Yes this map was excellent it used to pick up from very low down and hold Torque until 4k, stock pd130 run out of puff just past 3k!
I had an Octvia vRS in 2002 and loved it for the most part, these little Fabia's were also great fun.
Took mine down to Jabba Sport for a stage 2 remap.... Different car once that had been done.
They seem fairly reliable too. I recall Top Gear back in the day racing a Fabia against a Mini Cooper around their track and the Mini got whipped by the little Skoda.
I have it with 200k miles it was dads old car…skoda octy vrs
A decade or so ago, a certain type of driver could be seen hooning around in a Peugeot 306 turbo diesel, with a back end covered in soot from a bad ECU remap. That type of driver can now be seen hooning around in a Skodia Fabia with a similarly coloured rear end.
So true, saw one yesterday the soot plumes were ridiculous 😂
For some reason TH-camrs don't know driving a modified car on a public road is completely illegal..... especially when your bypassing emissions.....thanks jay
Love my little Fabia vrs. Pulls like a train, pretty nimble, fun and 60mpg. You probably won't remember @jayemms but I saw you in mine outside Porsche Reading a while back, my other cars are a 3.2 Carrera and a V8 vantage, but as a fun daily for under £3k you can't beat the Fabia.
I like these cars and test drove one new in 2006. I would have bought one were it not for the absolute tw*t of a salesman who offered me an insulting trade in value against my old car, and when I attempted some polite negotiation told me, "I don't need to sell this car to you. I'm making a fortune here." Always wonder what happened to him. A real gem in his field.
Just got a fabia mk3 monte Carlo 110 , now I'm after one of these !
Only recently did it happen, that I looked at one of these and thought to myself: "It still is a nice car." Then I realized, that production started in the late 90's.
What a great design, it is a classic design. Change my mind
I've had 2 of these first i got too 350000 miles b4 the electrics went engine still solid. My second one is at 200k with a remap. The wee cars are absolute tanks. Cheap parts amd start nonmatter what. As a delivery driver I'd say possibly the best wee car I've ever owned.