Now let me think about this, :confused:

1.9 l engine compared to the mini's 1.6 engine. That is a bit of mismatch don't you think. Now if it had a 1.6 engine, then you could compare the two.

It's the same as everyone comparing the Ford Focus RS against the CooperS. They do not have the same size engine.

I saw the program and they said the Skoda had pants handling. I know which one I would have, and it definately would not be a diesel, you' d be laughed out the pub.

If you want to go fast round a track on the cheap, buy a decent 3 year old motorbike and a pair of sticky tyres. If you want to be laughed at, drive aforementioned Skoda around said racetrack. Let's face it folks, the Mini was picked because it's the benchmark, the car that defines the class it's in. If I want mad thrills I will go skydiving, but I will get there in remarkable style in my Mini. Can't imagine the Italian Job with 3 Skodas - what would they have stolen instead of the gold? 3 pension books and a tartan blanket? :D

Jibes aside. I've owned two MINI Cooper S's and I've lived the dream (and the nightmares) of my time with them. They're great cars, don't get me wrong. But to say that I'll be laughed at by people for owning a Skoda instead is frankly: laughable in itself. In the 68 weeks of MINI ownership, I'd been back to the dealer in excess of 40 times and been recovered 4 times too. My friends, family, colleagues and even the dealer all just laughed and shook their heads whenever another fault happened, only to be treated like I was a piece of crap by BMW/MINI. That awful feeling is being increased by the extremely negative and pre-concieved attitude people on this MINI site have to Skoda's too. Very worrying.

During the MINI ownership, you take stock in what makes a good product and what 'value' your getting from it. If you think that doing more than 8,000 miles in various Vauxhall hire cars like Meriva's and Corsa's is a good thing instead of my 'great' MINI Cooper S's then, you should have been in my shoes.

Wishing you the best for the future.

Now let me think about this, :confused:

1.9 l engine compared to the mini's 1.6 engine. That is a bit of mismatch don't you think. Now if it had a 1.6 engine, then you could compare the two.
No.. I think its perfectly fine to compare engines that has differnt liters, now if they had different cylinders then maybe its a mismatch... lets face it MINI lost its ok... but which would you rather drive? not the other thing... :D

Id rather be driving a MINI though :D

But you would then have the embarassment of driving a Skoda.



There is absolutely no embarrasment driving a Skoda these days - they are good cars which are no doubt better built than the MINI :(

That awful feeling is being increased by the extremely negative and pre-concieved attitude people on this MINI site have to Skoda's too. Very worrying.

Touched a nerve? I guess that when it comes to spending our own money, we all have a choice. Skodas have tried for years to overcome their "extremely negative and pre-concieved attitude" that many people have about them, and are indeed good cars. After all, they are one of the most successful manufacturers in world rally, and have the backing of the VW group nowadays. But it's my money, I'll spend it on what I want, which isn't a Skoda. It's horses for courses - I could have bought a myriad of different cars for what I paid for my Mini, but I chose the Mini. Once upon a time Skoda did make a few 'dogs' as did Seat. Do you remember Alfa Romeo's Alfasud? "It rusted away around you but it went like nothing else on the road" to quote one of my high school teachers who used to own one. That rust problem is something Alfa Romeo has had to work hard on to dispel preconceptions. British Leyland's reputation is also one of legend, even our beloved original Mini had the occasional problem, especially if you went through a large puddle! These reputations have stuck, to a degree, and whilst almost everyone has forgotten how bad early Seats really were it seems that Skoda is still having problems with its image. Even Maserati has had to give their engineers the hard word to make sure that their new saloon is extremely reliable, as they too are still seen in some eyes as unreliable since the company directors of today remember the Masers breaking down in the 70's which is no use when you're competing with Mercedes. You've had bad experiences with Mini, I've had a Renault Clio blow it's engine to bits after 28000 miles, check out my homepage at http://homepage.mac.com/robertjhick/Menu3.html for pictures. These things happen, and always will. Chill out, we know all the Skoda & Lada jokes, but we know the facts as well. With something like a car, as opposed to a kettle, past history, current reputation and image counts far more than it should. But I'm not passionate about my kettle! :D

Touched a nerve?...Chill out...
All your words are very true. Your also wise enough to be able to talk about cars with a great deal of knowledge and I thank you for that. But what is getting my goat is the number of people (teeanagers I am finding) that have never ever driven a car let alone owned them, that are contacting me how wrong the choice is. I can read your words and see through them, but some of the brain-deads that have been reading this and other threads where I've posted frankly need to get some experience before jumping on the next band-wagon.

I am very glad that you told me about the 172 as well. It was the other car that I was looking at, before I decided on the vRS.

Lets join together in covering this wonderful country in a fine layer of soot. Your car looks like a million dollars by the way.

Wishing you [all] the best of fortune,

Thanks for that, it's nice to find someone else with a little knowledge, and a good eye for a nice Mini One D, ie. mine! ;) It's a shame you've been slated by some for your choice, about 15 years ago you would have been ridiculed for buying a Subaru. How times change! Unfortunately people are easily influenced, I remember studying the 0-60 times in my Dad's autocar magazines and deciding that the Ferrari BB512i was the best car ever made. Hmmm! The thing I like most is knowing that I am driving something that I am happy with, it just so happens that I have a lot of knowledge upon which to base my choice, as do you. I can't help but grin every time I see a new Golf Mk5 and think what they could have bought for less money that does the same job, only better. And even uses the same floorpan! Hopefully some of our less folically challenged young friends will read these posts and have a rethink, but I doubt it! Take care.

You will never get an objective response in here when comparing a skoda with a MINI. I will try though.......er the Skoda looks sh*ite, and has the appeal of Baghdad, its like any other anonymous blancmange (sp) type car.

I hope this adds value to the debate.

Next.....

:D

Hmmm. Thanks for that verbal onslaught. I notice that your 18 years old and call yourself a 'lazy ass student'. How do you afford to insure these cars to drive them and form these opinions? I want your part-time job! Seriously

All I’m going to say here is that I haven’t driven a Type R or have i Driven a Works S, but I have been in them both with friends (not the works just the S) and I have read reviews and listened to opinions of these cars. I was mealy stating the fact why the soda it performs better 30-50 than Type R and also saying why it is a figure that sounds like it was sold by a politician!

And as for going down the track and paper differences... if you bring track racing into this then a car is as only as good as its driver.


Please don’t have a go at me just because i have been objectionable to a statistic, all statistics can be bent....

No.. I think its perfectly fine to compare engines that has differnt liters, now if they had different cylinders then maybe its a mismatch... lets face it MINI lost its ok... but which would you rather drive? not the other thing... :D

What planet are you on. If you are going to compare cars then they should at least be similar what is the point of comparing a 1.6L petrol engined car against a 1.9L diesel car. If you really want to make a comparison at how good the diesel engine was, why not put it up against a 1.9L petrol engined car. The reason being it would lose. Such as the Focus RS or why not choose a JCW Cooper if it is a hot hatch, or was it a carefully marketed ploy to make the Skoda look good.

It is no big deal as Diesel engines have been pulling out better performance recently, VW have used a diesel engine in one of their race cars, Skoda have also be extremely succesful in rallying for years. However there is a stigma attached to them, the same as Vectra's and mundanoes :D

Truce MINI people please!

The fact remains that I have a vested interest in the Skoda Fabia vRS as I am just about to take ownership of one soon. I've driven all the other cars listed, in many different conditions and after owning two MINI Cooper S's for as long as I did, it made me realise that money doesn't always buy you quality. Yes I am sure that many 1000 more MINI owners have not had a single issue with their fabulous MINI cars, but I was one of the unlucky ones. ":bad::bad::bad::bad: happens and you've got to move on" as Rydale BMW told me.

Please MINI-people, keep your compassionate views of other road-users that I have enjoyed being part of, and don't adopt an elitest snobby attitude like the BMW brand. Your all bigger than that.

I'll be the one covering the country in a thin layer of black soot somewhere near you soon.

Keep on truckin'.
:)

Truce MINI people please!

The fact remains that I have a vested interest in the Skoda Fabia vRS as I am just about to take ownership of one soon. I've driven all the other cars listed, in many different conditions and after owning two MINI Cooper S's for as long as I did, it made me realise that money doesn't always buy you quality. Yes I am sure that many 1000 more MINI owners have not had a single issue with their fabulous MINI cars, but I was one of the unlucky ones. ":bad::bad::bad::bad: happens and you've got to move on" as Rydale BMW told me.

Please MINI-people, keep your compassionate views of other road-users that I have enjoyed being part of, and don't adopt an elitest snobby attitude like the BMW brand. Your all bigger than that.

I'll be the one covering the country in a thin layer of black soot somewhere near you soon.

Keep on truckin'.
:)

This is a MINI site for MINI people, we'll have no Skodas here ! ;)

Seriously though to have two Coopers S's sent back is rather unlucky, so someone with your luck should not expect anything better from any other brand.

Do they do Skoda meets, imagine 15 Skoda's in a multitude of colours and trim level, do they salute as they pass each other ? It doesn't work and its got nothing to do with snobbery as you will discover.

I do wish you luck though and happy motoring.

adios :D

I do wish you luck though and happy motoring.
Thanks.

They were tested together as they cost about the same...

interesting Video Wayne..........:) even better responces!!! Ding Ding!

However there is a stigma attached [to diesels], the same as Vectra's and mundanoes :DWhich is a shame really isn't it?

Only as the diesels are concerned ofcourse because having run both the Vectra and the Mondeo a while ago, I can confirm that they are utterly unutterable. The only redeeming factor about the Mondeo 2.0 GLX that I ran was that it pulled like a train throughout each gear and just kept going easily past 135mph (on the clock) in Germany. It is a very strong engine, but dynamically... bollo :)

interesting Video Wayne..........:) even better responces!!! Ding Ding!
I know, I know! And all I was trying to do was to show people a video of their favourite car (the MINI) going around a track in Anglesey that they might have missed.

Oh well :rolleyes:. Seconds out... and the winner is.

... And all I was trying to do was to show people a video of their favourite car (the MINI) going around a track in Anglesey that they might have missed.




lol .... of course ;)

Extract taken from (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3641001.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3641001.stm))

Skoda's quality enjoys last laugh


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40058000/jpg/_40058221_skoda.jpg Skoda has been quietly motoring ahead

Once the butt of jokes, carmaker Skoda is certainly having the last laugh.

The Czech-based company, today owned by Volkswagen, has come second in a survey of the best cars on UK roads.

So much has its quality improved over recent years that Skoda was beaten only by upmarket Lexus in the JD Power and What Car? customer satisfaction table.

The survey, as in previous years, was dominated by Japanese firms, with Lexus joined by Mazda in third place, Toyota in fourth and Honda in fifth.



Europe behind

BMW was the second highest placed European firm in sixth position.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif Skoda's emergence as one of the top-ranked manufacturers is a surprising success story to many, considering its image just a decade ago http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif


Dave Sargent, director at JD Power

The UK's MG Rover was 25th out of 33, with a customer satisfaction score of 77.7, compared with the industry average of 79.7.

Lexus scored 87.2 and Skoda 85.2.

Bottom was Alfa Romeo on 74.9, closely followed by Land Rover on 74.9.

The highest scoring individual model was the Honda Jazz super-mini on 88.4.

Bringing up the rear was the Fiat Bravo on 69.3.

Skoda renaissance

"While the performance of the Lexus continues to impress, Skoda's emergence as one of the top-ranked manufacturers is a surprising success story to many, considering its image just a decade ago," said Dave Sargent, director of European operations at research company JD Power and Associates.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifBEST FIVE MAKES
1. Lexus
2. Skoda
3. Mazda
4. Toyota
5. Honda

Source: JD Power/What Car?
"However, the study does show a disappointing performance from some European brands, which still have some way to go to compete with the levels of customer satisfaction enjoyed by owners of most Japanese car brands."

Despite the strong performance of some cars, the report showed that overall quality and reliability figures for cars fell for the first time since 2001.

Mazda was however certainly one firm that bucked this trend, winning the award for "most improved", having seen the largest improvement in customer satisfaction.

'Worrying'

"The proof of any car's performance is in feedback from its owner," said What Car? editor Rob Aherne.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifWORST FIVE MAKES
29. Fiat
30. Peugeot
31. Kia
32. Land Rover
33. Alfa Romeo

Source: JD Power/What Car?


"It's worrying that car owners are less happy with the quality and reliability of their cars than they used to be."

Mr Aherne added: "Carmakers should certainly take these kinds of fluctuations seriously in order to meet their customers' expectations." The survey questioned motorists about reliability, efficiency, design and dealer service among other criteria. It was based on 51 and 02-plate cars after an average of two years on the road and covered 33 brands and 120 models in total.

A BMW MINI Cooper being beaten by a diesel Skoda. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Now that is really embarrassing. :bad: :bad: :bad:

Glad I sold my MINI. :p :p :p :p

So did no one hear Tiff tell us that the Cooper (on 15" 175/65R15) handles better than the Skoda on 205/xx/16? Now there's a compliment :)

It may have only been a 0.6 second victory for the Vrs on lap times, but in the real world of congested A-roads the skoda is much faster. Whilst on papaer the mini may have a faster 0-60 time the Vrs has much better mid range acceleration. I now find that in the Vrs I can make my weekly cross country runs much quicker and safer, thanks to its much better overtaking ability. The Cooper is great for driving on empty roads where you can fully exploit its better handling, but then again empty roads are now few and far between!

Don't forget that the CVT however is very fast mid-range. I'm faster than most modern 2-litre petrol cars and keep up with or am slightly faster than many modern diesels. I think the 80-120km/h of the CVT is about 7 seconds (in SD that is).

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......................... ..... ;)

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......................... ..... ;)
Here, now we have it. The first person that got sleepy over a Tsjech car :D

http://www.whatcar.co.uk/News_SpecialReport.asp?NA_ID=207800&EL_ID=3060977 (http://www.whatcar.co.uk/News_SpecialReport.asp?NA_ID=207800&EL_ID=3060977)

The Skoda Octavia is 4th and the Fabia is 7th in the UK best rated car by owner/drivers.
The MINI scores a 57th place. Over 23,641 drivers took part in the survey.


In a recent AutoExpress (UK) magazine Driver Power survey, the results were quite similar, with the Octavia in 7th and the Fabia in 12th. The MINI was in 50th place. Over 37,000 drivers took part in the survey.

So can you see the reason why I would pick this brand and level of service after my MINI Adventures? They are streets ahead - and this is a fact - backed up by undeniable figures.

You ought to take a look, you'd all be suprised. I have been.

All the best.

http://www.whatcar.co.uk/News_SpecialReport.asp?NA_ID=207800&EL_ID=3060977 (http://www.whatcar.co.uk/News_SpecialReport.asp?NA_ID=207800&EL_ID=3060977)

The Skoda Octavia is 4th and the Fabia is 7th in the UK best rated car by owner/drivers.
The MINI scores a 57th place. Over 23,641 drivers took part in the survey.


In a recent AutoExpress (UK) magazine Driver Power survey, the results were quite similar, with the Octavia in 7th and the Fabia in 12th. The MINI was in 50th place. Over 37,000 drivers took part in the survey.

So can you see the reason why I would pick this brand and level of service after my MINI Adventures? They are streets ahead - and this is a fact - backed up by undeniable figures.



I think what you are looking for is a medal waynef, so here it is :D


\ /
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O

Seriously though, hopefully you will get better luck with your Skoda - but not all MINI's are bad and I think both of yours had a bad case of lemonitus.

I think what you are looking for is a medal waynef, so here it is :D


\ /
\ /
\ /
\ /
\ /
\ /
O

Seriously though, hopefully you will get better luck with your Skoda - but not all MINI's are bad and I think both of yours had a bad case of lemonitus.
Thanks, now all I need is a big hairy chest ;)

On your comment, "...but not all MINI's are bad...", I know otherwise this great website (for a great car) wouldn't exist in the form it does. I am just stimulating peoples brains. Planin and simple.

Thanks for stopping by and showing an interest ;)