My Dad's had both the Mk1 Octavia vRS from new and followed it up with the Mk2 Octavia vRS - Both were good cars.
The Boot on the Octavia is huge, seriously mahooooosive so great for racing etc. Visibility isn't great out of the rear window due to the angle of it, but then a lot of them will have parking sensors so i'm sure the other half will cope fine with it!
The 1.8T is a great lump, coil packs were about the only common failure a few years ago but they were all replaced under warranty with a revised part so shouldn't be an issue. They go well and will average around 32mpg with average A & B road driving, on a motorway you'll get 35+ depending on speed, at 75mph i'd think around 37-38mpg easily! The brakes are straight from the TT and are suberb.
The Fabia is a great car but they are pretty small mate, i think you'd struggle to get all your gear in one let alone being 6ft+ tall haha.
The Rs is way better then the standard cars as it has big brakes, sports seats and suspension so don't worry about the handling...
Personally i'd go for the Octavia - so comfortable and a decent size car - bargain car for that money to be honest.
Either can be remapped, you'll easily get from 130bhp to around 170/180 on the Fabia, but the clutch can become a weak point with the increased torque too so be wary of that. With the 1.8t you'd get 210bhp comfortably without needing to upgrade the interooler but to be honest i think you'd find it good as standard!
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