Skoda Fabia Estate (08 on) - Review

There's a decent choice of engines in the Fabia Estate range, although none offer scintillating performance. The entry-level model is the 1.2-litre petrol with 70bhp. This is fine around town and feels quite peppy, but it can struggle, especially if you have four adults and luggage on board. The 1.4-litre petrol with 85bhp is better for motorway driving while there's a 105bhp 1.6-litre which manages 0-62mph in a respectable 10.4 seconds. This engine is also available with a Tiptronic automatic gearbox. It's the diesel that prove most popular though. The 1.4 TDI is on the noisy side, especially on start-up, but it is very frugal with average fuel economy around 60mpg. Available with 70bhp or 80bhp is offers decent in-gear pace and will happily keep up with motorway traffic. The 80bhp 1.4 TDI is also used in the Greenline model which - thanks to aerodynamic tweaks and longer gearing - emits 109g/km of CO2 (meaning it's cheap to tax) and return a very impressive 69mpg. The final diesel is a 1.9 TDI that's pretty coarse and noisy, but does offer good pulling power and manages 0-62mph in 11 seconds while economy is 58mpg. In August 2010 Skoda introduced the latest vRS Estate mode. It comes with the same 1.4-litre TSi engine as the vRS hatchback - covered in a seperate review - that comes with 180bhp and a slick seven-speed DSG gearbox. The vRS will cover 0-62mph in 7.3 seconds and go on to a top speed of 140mph. are three petrol and three diesel engines to choose between, ranging from the 1.'s 2-litre petrol to the 1.9-litre diesel. Although the 1.2-litre is lively around town, it can struggle uphill – particularly when you have four adults and luggage on board – and plenty of planning is required to overtake safely on single carriageways. Skoda expects the 1.9-litre diesel to sell best as it’s well powered, quick off the mark and easy on the fuel, though the energetic 1.4-litre diesel unit is a cheaper alternative. It isn’t quite as fast, but it’s a good all-rounder with better fuel economy and lower emissions. Automatic transmission is optional on the 1.6.

The Fabia feels assured at speed. It corners confidently and deals with rough road surfaces well. Country B-roads are surprisingly good fun - particularly for a car of this price - and twisty bends are handled confidently. Unlike larger estates, the smaller Fabia is easy to manoeuvre at low speeds and the power steering makes light work of parking. Drivers may find the rear window too small and the rear pillars too thick when reversing, though the large door mirrors, optional rear parking sensors and tidy turning circle do compensate for this. A Scout version was introduced in June 2009 but unlike the Octavia Scout, doesn't have four-wheel drive or raised suspension. As a result it drives just like a normal Fabia Estate. Introduced in August 2010 the vRS model is a little disappointing on the handling front and feels a little vague and could benefit from a bit of extra weight.