After 25 years of Skoda vRS, which should you buy?
Once upon a time, a sporty Skoda seemed a joke - how things have changed...
We’re all aware that the world in 2001 was a very different place to the world we know today. But some things, pleasingly, never change much at all. 25 years ago, Skoda launched in the UK a performance flagship of its family hatch; it was called the Octavia vRS, it looked sporty but still quite subtle, and it offered a lot of the good bits of the contemporary Golf GTI package for less money. Unsurprisingly, that proved a popular idea, appreciated by everyone from parents to police officers up and down the country. So the idea hasn’t altered a great deal since.
Which isn’t to do the Octavia vRS a disservice, of course, as it’s moved with the time as required. But the fundamentals of the idea - loads of space, ample performance, decent value - haven’t been messed with. Indeed those traits have become the calling card of the entire vRS brand, and here we are after 25 years of them with the idea of a sporty Skoda perhaps as desirable as ever.
While the Octavia has remained a constant throughout, the vRS range diversified over the years in ways you might have forgotten about. The first Fabia vRS is the famous one, using diesel power to outmuscle Minis, but the follow-up used both a supercharger and a turbocharger to make 180hp. And quite a few reliability issues, but at least that makes them cheap now. There have been hybrid vRS models, electric ones, SUV ones and maybe, if the new Fabia 130 does well, the return of hot hatch ones. None have been the kind of performance cars to get you out of bed on a Sunday morning, but a carefully judged compromise of talents - fast enough, fun enough, smart enough, practical enough - has kept them perennially popular.
And well used, to be frank, which means it’s hard to find good examples of the early vRSes almost a quarter of a century on. Cheap to buy and cheap to run is good news for new customers, but precious few of those early Octavias and Fabias were cherished later in their lives. There’s just one of the latter on PH at the moment, actually one of the very last special editions, that looks really good (in what the photos let us see). For some idea of the desirability, it’s for sale at six grand - or almost twice as much as the cheapest versions of the Mk2 Fabia vRS.
On paper, the idea of a small engine with a supercharger and a turbocharger sort of worked, with small capacity consumption alongside decent power. There’s supercharged response with turbo torque, too. And you could say a Skoda was like a Delta S4. But the 1.4 TSI was troublesome, to say the least. The upside of that is they’re cheap, and those that have made it this far (having been launched in 2010) must be alright. Or at least had some work done. That era of Fabia still looks smart, there was even an estate if you fancy, and 140mph for four grand is quite persuasive. But there are safer bets out there, let’s put it that way. An Octavia of the same era, for example.
With such a strong focus on the vRS EVs of late, the humble Kodiaq equivalent has been forgotten just a little. For those that need seven seats, however, it’s a really good package: a tuneable turbo engine, smart looks, and a whole lot less money than anything else that can offer up the same sort of skillset. It was even a diesel at launch, for those with far-reaching family holiday plans. As has happened with so many cars recently, the Kodiaq vRS has become uglier and more expensive in the past couple of years, so lightly used looks more tempting than ever - this one is £20,000 less than a 2026 car, with just 20hp fewer, after 15,000 miles.
As for the EVs, you probably don’t need us to tell you that big savings are out there. Enyaqs that are more than £50,000 new are less than £30,000 with 73 plates on them, and there are some funky colours around. Certainly it’s a lot easier to overlook a slightly plain driving experience at little more than half price.
To answer the question posed at the start, though, there’s one Skoda vRS from the past 25 years of them that stands head and shoulders above the rest as the most recommendable. It’s an Octavia vRS, of course, specifically the previous Mk3. The current car is good, no doubt, if more annoying and more expensive than ever. You can get used, higher mileage ones from £15k now, but we’d put that money into an older one; not quite as sharp to drive, sure, but nicer to look at, nicer to be in, just a nicer car truth be told.
There’s even a manual gearbox for those that really want it, as in this £8k hatch. That sort of money buys decent-looking early examples of everything in fact: diesel, petrol, hatch, estate, manual and DSG. While later cars looked a bit weirder, they did gain a bit of extra power and, in the 245 variant, the VAQ front axle and the seven-speed DSG option for the first time, so they’re probably worth seeking out. This red manual is a bit less than £14k.
Once beyond that sort of money, you’re looking at the best low examples of the Mk3, including the Challenge special edition, cars with fewer than 20,000 miles, and the ultimate iteration of the vRS as peak holdall: the 4x4 TDI wagon. Whichever you go for, the Mk3 Octavia feels like the best exponent of everything that’s made for a great Skoda vRS over the past 25 years. Here’s hoping for a few more of them over the next quarter of a century.
The real highlight of it surprisingly was the chassis. Damping was just about perfect for A/B roads I like to play on and you could manage some pace in it.
The real highlight of it surprisingly was the chassis. Damping was just about perfect for A/B roads I like to play on and you could manage some pace in it.
This generation of VAG group hot hatches was brilliant.
The real highlight of it surprisingly was the chassis. Damping was just about perfect for A/B roads I like to play on and you could manage some pace in it.
The real highlight of it surprisingly was the chassis. Damping was just about perfect for A/B roads I like to play on and you could manage some pace in it.
Spot on about the noise though, there's a definite boom at 70ish.
One estate had been used by a very well known tuning company as a development vehicle nd it was terrific, powerful and well-planted.
My only gripes, which were common for both hatch and estate were a lack of a 6 speed gearbox, and the carpet; who in their right mind sticks a light cream carpet in a car that will be used every day?
I never owned a mk2 vRS but have to say the mk3 vRS I had was the sweet spot for me, the looks were spot on and the performance really strong for what was the family hack.
But value for money, if you can find a decent one, has to be the mk1 vRS, and if I could find one for my son, I’d buy it in a heartbeat…
The Skoda name takes me back to my first car back in 1990 as well, the mighty rear engined 1982 Estelle 120L!
I wasn't quite ready for RWD back then either, and I wrapped the thing around a lamppost in the rain after 2 years of having it!
Nice Estelle's fetch pretty decent money nowadays though, whereas back then they were just ridiculed left right and centre in comparison.
It had a Dragon tuning box, Cupra 150 strut brace and a few other bits on it by the time I sold it 40k later. I lost £800 on it from new.
I loved it, but it was a compromise as my commute was 130 miles per day. I once saw a calculated (fill to fill) 82mpg during the first fuel crisis.
Sounded like a tractor but it pulled well for the time.
Had it for 4 years and chalked up about 95k miles. The ONLY issue I ever had was one of the rear door handles stopped working. Dealer got me a courtesy car (on a SUNDAY) and had it fixed in 2 days. The rest of the time it was absolutely flawless. Comfortable, economical, plenty of room and a reasonable turn of speed.
There are quite a few cheap mods on these that improve the drive. I like the Golf clubsport rear ARB on mine.
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