Has anyone got first hand experience of the 1.2 diesel now used in the Fab and the Roomster?

I'd value the views of anyone who drives a car with his power plant.

Thanks.

SWIMBO used to have a 1.4 diesel Fabia. Pulled the car fine, good mileage but not a quiet or smooth as a 4 pot.

I have a Fabia Greenline II with this engine and have had it from new since September 2011 and have done 30,000 miles:

There are some characteristics that are partially down to the Greenline additions than just the engine on it's own- however this engine is only available on the Greenline models from Skoda (Seat and VW do 'normal' Ibizas and Polos with this engine)

It's a fine engine for what it is, although never going to be as smooth as a 4 cylinder. It doesn't do racing starts and is quite noisy in town and until it is fully warmed up. The gearing does take some getting used to as it is very widely spaced. On the motorway it is surprisingly capable for a car of such meagre spec. and has a reasonable amount of pull and cruises quietly when a lot of other small engined cars would be revving very high and starting to get unpleasantly noisy and have no pull at all.

Although getting away from the engine -the Greenline II is very nicely equipped with things like cruise control, alarm, ESC, MDI interface and Extra speakers.

I drive in central London so being Congestion Charge exempt is important, I also do a lot of motorway miles.

In summary I'm very happy with mine

Edited 27 January, 201313 yr by greenstripe

Had my Fabia Greenline Hatch since january 2nd and love it. Surprised at how much poke for a small engine and cruises on the motorway like a dream (love cruise control). I am not a speed demon and therefore am quite happy to admit it is not a Vrs etc, but i do find that once you get to know the car, pulling out at roundabouts and junctions presents no problems. Most of all i love my mpg. I am probably not driving as economically as i could, as i cannot be bothered to watch the gear change indicator etc, but as i do a mix of town and motorway driving, getting an average of 58 mpg over the last three weeks makes me happy :-)

All in all i have no regrets.

Cheers

I had a roomster 1.2 tdi as a loan car & i have to say i hated it,it was so underpowered that it became dangerous to pull out on some of the roads i use(my old transit van was quicker!),i do have a petrol vrs so am used to a bit of power but id say try one & see what you think,one may be fine for you & your usage.

I had the 1.2 3cyl diesel in a Fabia Greenline II during 2011.

Bought new in January and kept for a year and 20,000 miles.

The most noticable thing is that due to being a 3cyl diesel it is a bit vocal, particularly when cold, certainly noisier than the other diesel engines available.

But once you get used to it I found it fine, didn't bother me at all. The fact that it has stop-start is handy as you don't actually sit listening to the engine very often.

It's not particularly slow, getting to 62mph in around 12 or 13 seconds and has enough punch to keep up with regular traffic. You just have to work it a bit more.

The gear ratios seem a little bit too wildly spaced, so you do occasionally find that you need to be revving it on a lower gear as a higher gear is not quite usuable yet. But you soon get used to it. It was in 50mph zones mainly as top gear would struggle, so it had to be left in forth unless you drove around 4 or 5 mph over the limit.

Overall I was impressed with the engine, over 20k miles from new I averaged 72mpg in real figures. (not from the car's optimistic display)

Driving as economically as possible I did get 78mpg over three tanks, but then I got bored and got 61mpg on the next tank by driving it like a total loon.

So that gives you a good iea what you can get at both ends of the scale.

What I did find quite handy was that as it comes in a greenline they have lowered suspension, do the Fabia could really carry speed well round corners.

The standard spec is very good for the price of the car.

If I was in the price bracket for a new car around 10k as my everyday transport I'd buy another as the runing costs and space of a Fabia estate make a good package.

With the standard spec you do get a lot for your money IMO.

Thanks for your views fellahs