Skoda Fabia Hatchback (07 on) - Review

The handsome new Fabia sticks to what the original model has been doing since it was launched in 2000. It's well built, practical and good value - in short an appealing car to own, while excellent ride quality makes it comfortable too so it's great for town driving. It's equally capable on the open road, but despite precise steering the Fabia isn't particularly agile on more demanding roads. Plus the diesel engines are noisy - especially on the motorway. Although it looks all-new, much of what's underneath the metal is carried over from the old car but that's good news - the Fabia has built a reputation for strong reliability and the latest model will doubtless carry this over. There's also an eco-friendly model, badged Greenline, which emits just 109g/km of CO2 and averages 69mpg. In 2010 the Fabia was tweaked with a new front end, this included a reworked radiator grille and the 3D-shaped headlamps have been widened. The Czech maker also introduced an 85bhp 1.2-litre TSI petrol engine to its line-up. Skoda has also added the vRS variants in hatch and estate guises to complete the Fabia range, along with a special edition hatchback model called the Monte Carlo.