Skoda Laura VRS - Officially Unofficial Review and Initial Ownership Report Skoda Laura VRS Ownership Experience and Review
This is my ownership report of the only affordable 'sports' car in India - The Skoda Laura VRS.
A little background, I have owned quite a few hardcore sports cars in the past, ranging from 2003 Evo 8, 2009 Evo X, 2005 STI, 2008 Legacy Spec B and was a license SCCA track instructor in the US. Also I own a 2010 Laura TSI Ambiente as well, so expect comparisons in the review, which I expect will help people make up their choice between the two.
I know.. I know.. the RS and TSI have the same engine, but trust me that’s where the similarities end. Exteriors
Upfront the RS gets a new bumper with LED DRLs, and round fogs. I've heard mixed review of this look, but personally I like this look better than the Ambiente's, more aggressive airdams and the DRLs give a nice euro touch. Also the bumper dimensions have changed, where as the ambiente's bumper curve as you go lower, these stay flat. And finally there seems to be enough space behind the airdam grille for a nice FMIC if anyone decides to up the power while retaining the honeycomb grill.
The DRLs are on high intensity when the light switch is in the off position and dim out as you increase the lights. The fogs are cornering, means at slow speeds the one in the direction of the turn comes on and the sweetly dims out, which makes my guard constantly tell me ”Bhaiya, ek bulb kharab hai”. The headlights are auto-levelling which means there is no beam adjustment dial like in the Ambiente. They do a nice little configuration and reset dance when you turn them on. It’s not for show, they actually need to reset themselves with the levelling sensor in the front and back of the car. Also at speeds of above 40kmph, the lights swivel in the direction your turning in, which is a pretty impressive feature for driving in dark roads, especially helpful in the mountains. Move to the back and the car gets a slightly modified rear bumper. Honestly i'll take a while for anyone to figure out what changed, but if u look carefully, its very much in line with the changes up front, straighter lines going down. There is the standard Skoda spoiler, which is purely for show and the chrome exhaust tips stick out about two inches from the bumper to prevent buring the bumper should you decide to drive cat-less.
The rims are 16 inch versions of the standard Euro VRS 17 inchers, and come wrapped in 205s and look OK. Nothing too exciting about them but they help complete the look of the car's subtle sporty intent.
The car gets a sunroof but honestly I never understood sunroofs on a car with sporty intentions... It adds weight to the wrong end of the car, pushing up the center of gravity which negatively affects handling. I've grown to like it as it gets give a nice airy feel to the cabin, even when closed as it lets the light in.
The turn signals are integrated into the side mirrors (like the L&K) and has nice puddle lamps which come surprisingly handy in India. The mirrors are power closing unlike the Ambiente, and can be remotely closed by the key FoB which i must say is surprisingly useful. Also if the mirrors are closed using the remote, and you unlock the car, they remain closed till you open the driver side door, and voila, they open with the door. Pretty sweet feature. Only disadvantage is that the puddle light on the mirrors don’t turn on until the mirror is in open position. Interiors
Step inside and your treated to some of the nicest/comfortable sport buckets i've ever been in. I can pretty much place these next to the Recaro Buckets in the RS5. The problem with most bucket seats is that in the daily 'non' track drive, they will literally kill you (especially in Indian Roads). The VRS seats are a great compromise between hardcore side bolsters and daily driving cushion comfort. The combination of leather and gripper cloth on the contact surfaces makes a very comfortable seating place. If the price of these seats wasn’t insanely high, I’d have ordered another set for the Ambiente as well.. :-). The seats get manual adjustments which is fine by me. Only weird thing is the choice of WHITE alcantara for the seat tops.. no clue as to why they chose such a color. It’s going to be task to clean it a few years down the line.
Beyond the seats you'll notice something pretty refreshing.. all black interiors, which seem to have become a rarity in Indian cars. My preference has always been black interiors, easier to clean, makes the car feel more cozy, and good for privacy. The plastics and soft touch components are the same as the Ambiente which already oozes quality. I have Stanley interiors on the Ambiente and this is at par. The leather grains are very small and make the surface very smooth. But with time i see this as a bit of an issue as the wrinkles would be more apparent here than on the grain style on the stanleys..
The dashboard cluster has changed with new dials, different lettering on the dials, and an aluminium lookalike surround connecting the two gauges. Red marks exist on the speedo at 40 and 60, I suppose indicating the speed limits for city and highway driving. The HVAC controls are very slightly different, particularly the temp control dial. The stereo gets the touchscreen VAG unit, which is a pretty capable unit. It takes a bit of fiddling to find all the settings. I find the speed sensitive volume particularly useful as the stiff suspension and wide tires do howl a bit. I am totally puzzled why Skoda left out the Bluetooth on this car though. The gear leaver is from the 2011 build cars, which is slightly shorter and looses the tacky chrome shifter from the 2009 Ambiente, for a nice simpler white on black pattern.
If there is one thing that sold me on this car, it was the steering wheel. Its so perfect, almost at par with the MOMO steerings on the Evos, or the Flat bottom ones on the VW Golf Rs. Size, thickness of the grip, thumb pads, perforated leather... NICE !!! Once complaint I've had with the Ambiente's steering is that its was BIG, making the car a bit hard to push around. Make no mistake it was small compared to the massive steering on my Accord V6, but compared to the tiny 530i, its a BIG one. In my experience, the size of the steering should complement the cars size and handling capabilities. If its too big on a car with good handling characteristics, you end up struggling to place the car on the right line and understeer. If it’s too small on a car with a longer wheelbase, you’ll oversteer all over the place and need to constantly correct your line. The one on the VRS is PERFECT for the car.
The sunroof is surprisingly small in size and odd in location. I've a E350 and a 530i both with sunroofs that are huge, and serve the purpose a sunroof is supposed to serve, but the Skoda's appears to be a designer afterthought.. rather than a integrated design element. The Drive
Everything above is of no value if a sports car, doesn’t drive like a sports car, and that is one thing that works for the RS.. It drives NICE. Acceleration times are marginally better than the Ambiente’s as the wider tires and stiffer suspension help get a good grip by increasing contact patch and reducing sqat at launch. Launched both cars at same rpms and the RS always pulls ahead. Engine + Transmission
The 1.8TSI is the same unit as in the Ambiente which is a gem to drive with enough torque accessible any time, due to the gearing. The 1.8TSI mated to the 6 speed makes the power accessible all the time, making this car behave faster than my v6 accord which has a 4AT. For those mileage seekers for whom every kmpl counts, and drive their cars at 1k rpm, this is NOT the car for you. Keep this car boiling above 2k, and you are going to love it in any gear, the sheer passing power this car has over most cars on the roads is hilarious(and this means you Mr new 320d). Unless it’s got a V under the hood, or a nice 328i on its back, or costs upward of 35 Lacs, your pretty much set to take on any 4 banger midsize sedan out on the streets. Also the exhaust is marginally louder than the Ambiente. Where as the Ambiente is super quite unless your killing it at 6k rpm, the vRS makes a nice burble. I’d put it down to the exhaust setup which seems to be from the 2.0TSI vRS version rather than the 1.8TSI. I may be wrong here but we’ll find out when I swap this exhaust into my Ambiente, and put a milotek on the vRS. Handling
The only mechanical changes from the Ambiente are the suspension, and combined with the bigger rims and wider tyres, makes it a damn fun car to drive. Plough it into a corner and find out how different this drives compared to the regular Lauras, trust me its day and night. The ride height plays a bit of a spoilsport and dials a bit of roll into the stiffened setup, but its easily predictable and can be countered by taking corners on the rebound. The stiffer setup is NOT for everyone though. I love it as it does communicate a lot more than the Ambiente. It does get a bit annoying over bad patches, forcing you to go faster as this is the only way to smoothen out the ride. The wider tires tend to tramline a bit on bad patches, but it’s nothing that you can’t get used to or predict.
The added roll due to the increased ride height which is overcome by the stiffer springs. BUT it does increase the centre of gravity of the car which gets pretty visible when u try a force oversteer using a Scandinavian flick. Kind of a ‘shit in your pants’ feeling as the weight swings from left to right as the car behaves like a pendulum, swinging between the two springs playing compression and rebound ping pong. This is due to the increased ride height combined with the stiff suspension, and then you hit the ASC button which helps sort out your line but does little for the stains in your pants. It’s not what you’d expect, especially because it drives so well in all other situations. I’ve repeatedly tried to find a way to predict this and get used to it, but NOPES, no way to get any confidence during this kind of a move, plus my laundry bill keeps getting bigger. Only way to correct this is lower the car. Anti Rollbars won’t help either. Just know that this happens and DONT do it on the stock suspension ride height. And let’s get this straight, 99.999% of us are not going to drive this car that hard anyways, so it’s a non issue. This is just for the 0.001% of us who do, so knowing this behavior is good. Overall Impressions
Having driven the original Octavia vRS, this car is a huge step up in terms of being a better blend of comfort and sportiness. The new 1.8TSI motor is hugely refined than the old RS, and the gearing has improved. The ride is also marginally better although the ride height is the spoiler to the improvements. It definitely makes the car more usable in Indian conditions but hurts the handling a bit and look a lot. I know that they should have gotten the 2.0T from the A4, but the 1.8T is not behind by much, plus the power band is better suited to Indian traffic conditions.
The car is a very good VFM (@ the current price of 13.5L) for enthusiasts in the Indian market. Aftermarket Parts a plenty, and Pete’s does a good tune job from what I’ve heard. I know I’ll be paying him a visit for some springs and a tune sometime in the coming months.
I’ve done 4000 kms so far, mostly highway, mountains with the little driving in town and am loving every min of it.
A note for those wanting to put Anti-Roll Bars on this car, please ensure you get the sets meant for cars that with auto leveling lights, as getting the other set would make the lights malfunction.
Pictures are attached. Enjoy!
Last edited by prithwi-81 : 14th December 2012 at 02:27.
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