RS 169 or 245 any opinions?

[TurboYodaSkoda]

Hey Peeps,

We have been looking at replacing our 12yo Jetta TDI, don't like the SUV route at all, so definitely after a wagon. On the shopping list was Golf R wagon used, Golf Alltrack TSI used, demo or new, Audi A4 wagon used, Golf wagon TSI new and Skoda Octavia RS wagon. We don't do the kms that we used to so wanting petrol instead of diesel, most of our journey's seem to be short and I've noticed the fuel economy of the tai has increased due to this.

After looking at a few cars the wife has decided she loves the Octavia (USB ports in the rear seats sold it), It was top of my list as well but thought that she wouldn't be interested in anything sporty, win, win!!

Now comes the tricky bit, there doesn't seem to be a big difference in price between the RS169 fully loaded ($45-49K) and a 245 with tech pack ($49-50K). Is if worth the extra to get the 245 with less options, the big difference is the LSD, which I'm a big fan of but the wife will be driving the car 60% of the time. I've always been a bit dubious about lots of power going through the front wheels, it is much of an issue on the 169? Would love to hear from any 245 owners opinions.

Cheers

[pittster]

Gday,

I was in your position not long ago.

We picked up a MY18 ex-dealer vehicle with Tech, Luxury Packs and 19"wheels. for 40k flat.

The 245 does have a couple of extra things but my wife using it as a daily driver I didn't see the point.

Yes the 169 version will spin wheels if you get on it hard. But I wouldn't say its been a issue in day to day driving.

Going off reviews of the 245 it still can break traction etc and perhaps not the best LSD ever ? (going off car journalist reviews).

IMO I would rather the extra packs over the 11kw and 20nm of torque. Power can always be added with tunes on the 169.

One thing I will say that I really didn't notice until I bought the 169.

There is no exhaust note at all vs the 245 having some note and DSG farts.

We have rectified this by replacing the centre resonator which is a popular modification on the RS's


IF you are weekend thrashing the car in the mountains I could see the value in the 245 maybe with the LSD.

But its still FWD which can only do so much if the 245 was All wheel drive then it would be a no brainier for me.

irrelevant of your choice 169 or 245 there both awesome cars.

[TurboYodaSkoda]

Thanx pittster,

I'm looking at a Rallye Green Fully optioned (Tech, Lux, Auto boot, 19's, Sunroof) 169 demo in QLD at $44,990. It's a pain to do the purchase from QLD though and the only fully optioned 169s in NSW are $49K+. My wife loves the green, I know it's a bit of a halo colour with the RS, so I think resale should be fine. 245s are the same price, just without the Sunroof.
I'm going to have to find time to take a 169 for another drive, the first drive I had was short and in traffic.

Doesn't the 169 have the sound resonator on it though? I thought they all had them.

Wow, you got a great deal on yours though!! Are you happy so far?

[HPRS230]

Double Post

[HPRS230]

As said, get the 245 if you want the Diff for some weekend fun, everyone that I know that has a 162/169 wishes they got a RS230 or 245 as they have tune their RS.
You can you tune a 169 with a ~$500 JB4 Piggyback kit. With extra bolt on's, JB4 make well over 220kw at the wheels.
And Also noted is the Res delete, easy job for ~$100
Yea they all have the fake engine sound pumped through the center speaker, you can turn this to eco to shut it up, as when in "sport" it rattles...
Check out my timeline mate, you'll get some good feedback in there.

Also grab your self a Dog bone insert, that will get rid of the axle tramp and help taking off at the lights
Check out Skoda Modderz public group | Facebook

[pittster]

Yeah it was a good deal why we jumped on it quickly.

RS is a good car we came from a Ford Focus XR5 Turbo which the wife loved and was hard to find something to exceed how good it was.

The RS suits our needs easy to drive, auto, has some power, large interior/boot, cool tech etc.

As HPRS230 mentioned it has the electronic soundaktor on the engine bay side of the firewall it simulates a engine note. The wife actually really likes it, but I wanted a note outside the car as well which is taken care of with a aftermarket 15" center resonator.

I was also eyeing off the Green one in QLD but at the price and then Rego transfer for NSW couldn't justify the extra $$$ also the wife didn't want a sunroof.

I think if the difference was only a couple of thousand to go the 245 its the logical way but as you mentioned your not getting the same equipment levels, personally I wouldn't have it without tech/lux packs but that was my minimum when I was purchasing.

[TurboYodaSkoda]

I actually would like the sunroof, the Jetta is the only car I've had without one. The rego transfer and the travel to QLD is the thing that is holding me back otherwise we would have bought the green one a few weeks ago. If it was closer to $40K, it would be a no brainer!! There is a steel grey 245 that I could get for $50K drive away! Again I think I'm going to have to take it for a drive and then drive a 169 back to back.

That is an awesome piece of kit you have there HPRS230!! I'm a big fan of the steel grey! I wish I could get the manual, but the wife refuses to even learn...Such is life. You have some really great mods on that beast. Nice work!! I'll be referencing your build for time once I get mine for sure, thanks so much for your advice.

I'm a moddder from way back, have spent way too much money in the past modding cars, first one was a 2l Escort which ended up being a weapon with full rally spec engine with 150bhp at the wheels, full roll cage, disc brake rear end, full suspension from Old Man Emu. Then got into Peugeots with a 205gti, 405Mi16 and 306S16, all had a few tweeks. Then got a Porsche 944S2, which has got to be one of the most underrated cars of all time, absolute sublime handling, good power...really miss that car!!

[HPRS230]

Thanks for the comments, the Manuals have a weak clutch, that's the only problem, Tax return will be going on a clutch so I can turn the JB4 back up to 200kw

Oh Mate some nice cars in that list!
I had an old Sapphire Cosworth (stock), but I have a soft spot for an old Esky!!

Yea jump on the FB page mate, lots more there lol

[VR28LT]

I actually went in to buy a standard RS after the family out grew our GTI but left in a fully optioned RS245 for $47500 plus 3 years servicing.... If you plan on running a tune or even a JB4 go the rs245 because that's when having the diff comes into its own. If you just want to leave it stock then yeh save the money and get the RS

[TurboYodaSkoda]

Thanks VR28LT, that makes total sense, I'm not 100% sure if I'm going to mod it until I get it. Having said that I'm already looking at SuperSkoda for some minor cosmetic mods. Again that is an awesome deal you got, where was that from? and do you think there is a bit of room to move on the dealer prices? My understanding was that these are in demand and it was outstripping supply!

If I could get an RS 245 loaded for that price, I think I'd definitely go there! Here you enjoying the RS? Positives & negatives?

Again, thanks for all your responses

[Tigger]

Great thread!

I went through the same decision dilemma...
For me, it was the colour that clinched it...(sad hey??) I really wanted the Green, and that doesn't come in the 245.

So I got a fully optioned RS wagon...I mean fully optioned...and I love it!
I will do the Resonator delete...for the pops and DSG farts.

Otherwise, I do notice the axle tramp when it is given a heavy boot from a standstill. (Not as bad as my MY13 was) And in saying that, I came from a Volvo Polestar which is AWD...so the front wheel drive axle tramp is more noticeable now.

However, all in all, for 90% of the driving most of us will do, the standard RS is a fine car!

[TurboYodaSkoda]

I understanding the colour thing, we are looking at the exact same colour, exact same spec as yours. It's unique to the 169!

What sort of price do you think is possible to get on one of these? A lot of them are at $49,990. I don't want spend that much on a 169, I've convinced myself that the 245 is worth that much though.

[TurboYodaSkoda]

I just got back from a proper test drive of both, below are my thoughts on the differences:

I drove the 245 first, then the 169 on pretty much the same route. I thought the 245 felt a little bit torquier, but the 169 seem to rev a little quicker, also the fake sound resonator was more obvious on the 169, a bit less understeer on the 245 under power, which is obviously the diff doing it's thing. You could feel the diff working and there's a bit more traction than I was expecting on both, the difference would be much more telling in the wet. They're both pretty quick when you really stand on the gas as well. I ran through all of the driving modes, it seemed like the differences in the modes was throttle percentage and how long the hold onto each gear. I'm not a great deal closer to making a decision, but think that in the end, it doesn't matter which, they're both good. It'll come down to the deal I can get, if there is only $1K difference it'll be the 245 though.

[Antiplastix]

"stand on the gas" ...........cringe. Aus. not USA.

[golfage]

One thing I will say that I really didn't notice until I bought the 169.

There is no exhaust note at all vs the 245 having some note and DSG farts.

We have rectified this by replacing the centre resonator which is a popular modification on the RS's.

Hey mate

What did you replace your centre resonator with?