Sorry for not having updated the thread in a long time.
The vRS has now done 318xx kms.Its been 1.5 years of pleasureable drives.Highways/late night empty city streets/occasional weekend runs within the city.
One memorable trip that stands out among all this is a drive to Shantiniketan in sometime in Feb. 2011, where the car really displayed what high speed handling was all about.Having started early morning we covered the 197 kms in 2 hrs 20 mins approx. consistently doing 150-160 and touching just short of 210 kmph a couple of times(i even hav a pic of the speedo on my friend's cam.Now before you all start flaming me, let me clarify that I was driving while my friend clicked the pic) as the highway was relatively traffic free.The stability and the amazing steering+handling combo of the car at such high speeds is something to be experienced first hand.Apart from the monstrous power this car puts out, this car is an out and out driver's car for the sheer handling prowess(not as famed as the "150 bhp turbo" engine that everyone keeps raving about) it possesses.
Apart from this, this car is still a head-turner.I mean I've had a guy in a modded civic with FFE/DRLs/Sound systyem and the works, come up to me and ask me about the "vRS" when I was out on a quiet date with my gal sitting inside the car at a drive-in.It was quite amusing.After the guy left, she asks me almost as amused as me "what's so special about this car?" and I just went

.Now that is saying something.
For all the "highly expensive to maintain" talk that surrounds Skodas on this forum, I would like to say that I personally beleive that the Octavia(1.9 tdi/vRS) is the most reliable Skoda that the company has made till date.Routine maintenance is all that it has gone in for till date in my 1year 6 months of ownership.
Apart from the Yoko S-Drives(30k), Streetglow strobes(10k), 5 years road tax(28k), I have spend around 17k INR on the two times Ive taken the car for service including oil changes.The car has till date NEVER(touchwood) given me any trouble(including the famed EPC lights glowing up that you hear on most modern Skodas, or the uneven idling or the engine overheating problems that I had almost come to expect from it the day I bought it going by the horror stories on the forum here).I just remember once, when I was out with my gal on a late night, the car had started rattling from somewhere in the engine bay and me, fearing the worst, had parked it by the side of the road for a good 20 minutes thinking it was the Timing belt on its way out.But then, better sense prevailed and I started the car reasoning that such a mild rattle could not be associatiad with the TB.It was later diagnosed as the the throwout bearing which was later adjusted during the routine service.So that 's the vRS for you.I still love it as much as I yearned for it all those 13 months when I was on the lookout for such a pristine car.
P.S.The thought of selling it did come into my mind 4 months back when owing to some financial commitments I had to arrange for funds.To be honest I did get calls from a people including a couple of team bhpians..one of them from Chandigarh of all places.The deal was struck , but thankfully, my cousin who's doing his grads from Bangalore, somehow convinced me not to sell this beauty, as according to him a vRS is a very Rare Sight(pun intended) even in Bangalore and that he would love to take this car to his college campus in Bangalore just for the bragging rights.That was what sealed it right there.For a car that has been so very involving and trouble-free(touchwood) for all the time that it had spent with me, something did'nt feel right inside me.I could'nt part with it.Even thinking of this Dude being driven by someone else was agonising.So as I type this post out, the RS is standing there in my office basement, shoulders above the rest, doing what is does best..bully other lesser(and at times bigger) cars with that sinister snout.
octane.