Skoda Fabia

Call for best rate

This in an example leasing company site, powered by Car and Driving

Skoda Fabia

  • 2.0 TDI SE Business 5dr

  • 6+47 8k Miles p/a

  • Monthly payments: Call for best rate

  • Per month, excl VAT

CALL ME BACK

What's this model like?

View an independent guide to buying this type of car below

Car & Driving
The independent definitive Skoda Fabia video review
How will you view?

This is a sample, showing 30 seconds of each section.

    The Definitive Review - Skoda Fabia

    AB FAB

    Skoda's fourth generation Fabia will appeal to sensibly-minded supermini folk, thinks Jonathan Crouch.

    Skoda's fourth generation Fabia makes up in sense and practicality for anything it might lack in dynamic looks and pin-sharp handling. All the latest VW Group chassis technology has finally made it to this supermini model line and the result is a very complete product indeed.

    Background

    Skoda's modern day renaissance can broadly be traced to one model, this one, the Fabia supermini. The design we look at here is the fourth generation version, building on a heritage stretching back to 1999 when the MK1 Fabia arrived to replace the old-fashioned Felicia model. That all seems very long time ago now. Today, the Skoda brand is so in tune with the times that the Volkswagen Group has chosen it to develop its forthcoming range of small electric cars. But for the time being anyway, in the Czech maker's line-up, there still a place for a conventional combustion supermini like the Fabia. This MK4 version was the last of the VW Group superminis to get the brand's MQB-A0 chassis, a platform that's already been in use in cars like Volkswagen's Polo, SEAT's Ibiza and Audi's A1 for half a generation. It was certainly needed for this Fabia, the previous car having been based on elderly PQ35 underpinnings dating all the way back to a turn-of-the-century MK5 Golf. It should make this fourth generation Fabia bigger. But has it made it better?

    Driving Experience

    If you're looking for the fundamental changes made here, you won't find many of them beneath the bonnet. At the foot of the range, a normally aspirated three cylinder 1.0-litre MPI petrol unit mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox is offered for budget minded folk, offering either 80PS, but we'd avoid it unless you particularly need the cheap insurance ratings that come with that engine. As before, the range is mainly based around the usual VW Group 1.0-litre TSI three cylinder turbo petrol engine, offered as ever in 95 and 110PS states of tune. You get a six-speed manual gearbox with the 95PS version and a seven-speed DSG auto with the 110PS variant. There's no longer a diesel option, or any sort of fast vRS hot hatch model. But you can ask your dealer about a larger 1.5-litre TSI four-cylinder petrol unit with 150PS, paired non-negotiably with the DSG auto 'box. Expect roadgoing drive dynamics similar to those of the previous generation model - in other words, tuned for comfort rather than engaging handling. Skoda has made the damping noticeably softer than, say, SEAT Ibiza and more like a Volkswagen Polo, which shares this Czech model's conventional torsion beam rear suspension set-up. There are no mild hybrid or plug-in powertrain options - they'd push the price too much.

    Design and Build

    Visually, this fourth generation Fabia is clearly an evolution of what went before. It looks noticeably bigger than its predecessor and is, 11cm longer than the previous version. The restyled headlights feature part-LED technology as standard and the sharply drawn crystalline tail lights can also be had with LED tech on request. There are sleeker aerodynamics to - the Cd factor has fallen to 0.28. The biggest changes though, are found inside, where mid and high-spec models gain a 10.25-inch digital instrument panel; conventional dials separated by tiny 3.5-inch display are retained further down the range. The centre stack screen offers further sophistication, available in a choice of 8.0 or 9.2-inch sizes. Soft plastics are noticeable by their absence, but there's a strip of fabric along the middle of the fascia to break things up. As usual with Skoda, the cabin features a range of 'Simply Clever' touches - a possible 42 in all - like an umbrella in the door armrest, smart phone holders in the front seatbacks and rubbish containers in the door cards. Rear seat space, aided by the 94mm wheelbase increase, is near class-leading, as is leg room. There's a big boot (for a supermini) too; it's 380-litres in capacity - as big as you get from a Volkswagen Golf from the next class up. And it's full of various nets and partitions, plus a hammock for loose items.

    Scoring

    Category: Compact Car

    Performance
    60%
    Handling
    70%
    Comfort
    70%
    Space
    80%
    Styling
    60%
    Build
    70%
    Value
    80%
    Equipment
    60%
    Economy
    70%
    Depreciation
    70%
    Insurance
    70%
    Total
    69%
    Mobile
    Narrow
    Narrower
    Normal
    Wide