Skoda Fabia vRS (2010) review
by David Finlay (1 December 2010)
If you're on the lookout for a supermini-based hot hatch, a difficult choice awaits you. At the top of the tree, at least in terms of power output, there's the Clio Renaultsport 200 Cup, which as its name suggests produces a maximum of 200bhp. Then comes the SEAT Ibiza Cupra - along with the visually different but mechanically identical Bocanegra - with 178bhp. You might also consider the Abarth Punto Evo, which gives 165bhp in standard form and 180bhp with the optional esseesse tuning kit. And in among all that there's the Skoda Fabia vRS.
There are good reasons for buying every one of them, but the Skoda undoubtedly leads the field in terms of value for money. Even the more expensive estate version (yes, there's an estate version) is cheaper than the Ibiza Cupra, you have to pay more for the Abarth even in 165bhp form, and although the Clio is faster you need an extra £1000 to buy it. If budget is high on the list of priorities, the Fabia - costing just £15,700 at the time of writing, before the 2011 VAT increase - is the obvious choice.
Even if money is less of an issue, though, there's a strong case for giving your cheque to the Czechs. The Fabia uses exactly the same powertrain as the Ibiza, namely the Volkswagen Group's 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine mated to a seven-speed semi-automatic DSG gearbox, and it's very similar to drive, though I prefer the Fabia's slightly firmer steering. On a test track the handling can dissolve into a mess of understeer if you push too hard through a slow corner, but only at speeds which would be beyond reason on the public highway. In everyday circumstances the car feels well-planted and well-balanced.
I'm still in two minds about the DSG transmission (which is all you get - there's no manual alternative). On the track it's rather slow-witted, and will sometimes refuse to change down a gear when you want it to because it thinks bad things will happen. In the quite different conditions of a gentle take-off from a standstill, it feels a little clumsy, taking longer than it seems it should to get going and then pausing as it shifts almost immediately into second. For both these reasons I'd rather have a manual, but otherwise there's nothing to complain about.
On a long and dull trip it's quite relaxing to be able to leave DSG to get on with the gearchanging itself in automatic mode. Contrariwise, on a journey of quite a different kind there's a certain joy to be had in flicking the steering wheel-mounted paddles and shifting from one ratio to another more quickly than you could expect to do in a manual (though I'm glad that manufacturers of transmissions such as this have abandoned any claims that they "F1 style", since they operate quite differently from an F1 gearbox).
That little turbo engine is a delight. There is hardly any lag at all (how different from the days when at least a second would pass between you flooring the throttle and the power coming in), and whether you rev it hard or not there's always going to be enough power available for a rapid piece of overtaking. All that needs to be done now is to make it sound better, but four-cylinder turbo units generally don't, and even if they could be made to do so there's too much spoilsport legislation around nowadays for that sort of thing.
The straightline performance is sturdy - a top speed of 139mph and 0-62mph in 7.3 seconds are nearly in the same territory as the lighter Clio. Official combined economy of 45.6mpg looks very good, but as our Fuel Economy Testing feature makes clear turbocharged cars have an inherent advantage on the EU test, and you'd be doing well to get within 10mpg of that figure if you use the power very often (and if you didn't, why would you buy a vRS in the first place?). A CO2 rating of 139g/km means you'll have to pay £110 each year in Vehicle Excise Duty.
Given a free choice of cars in this class, I'd probably go for the Abarth, partly because of the manual gearbox and partly because I think it's the most attractive. But the rather odd-looking Fabia is very good, and if I were being careful with my money it would be the most obvious candidate for it.
Add new comment