pauper

We've recently bought a 2013 Fabia 1.6tdi 105bhp, and i thought the forum might be interested in our fuel consumption findings. The Fabia replaces a diesel Fiat Panda. It is quite a bit bigger and heavier, and considerably more lively in terms of acceleration. We were therefore expecting some penalty in fuel consumption. However, our first tankful, measuring brim to brim and ignoring the trip computer, averaged 66mpg, which is about the same as we used to get from the Panda. Our second tankful, which included a long trip from west wales where we live to Hertfordshire, averaged 70mpg, which is rather better than the Panda under the same circumstances. Unlike the Panda whose trip computer was a few mpg pessimistic, the Fabia's is a few mpg optimistic. The second point is about towing and the trailer socket. Our Fabia has the factory towing kit, with a removable towbar. Today I tried towing for the first time. Before I plugged in the socket converter (13pin car socket to a socket accepting 7 pin trailer plug) the rear proximity sensor went bananas when putting the car in reverse, but when the converter and lead are plugged in you get a lovely picture of a trailer on the display! My question is, when plugging in the converter (which bayonets into place nicely, and can only fit in one position) the car's sidelights come on, and so do the trailer's when its lead is connected. Is this normal? A sort of involuntary volvoisation when towing? Or is it a fault in the socket converter? All the other lights on the trailer work ok.

We live on a smallholding in rural Wales. We currently have a diesel Fiat Panda, which we chose partly for its fuel economy. We currently average 60 - 65mpg which is excellent, but that is mainly because we seldom have to do much stop-start driving in traffic, and quite a lot of our milage comprises long journeys to the SE of England to visit aged parents. The other reason we bought the Panda (it's a 2006 one we got s/h a couple of years ago) is that it can tow 1000kg braked which is quite generous for a small car - better I think than most of the petrol versions. We need to occasionally tow a braked trailer and the 1 tonne limit is very useful. However we will need to replace it before it's worn out and worth less, or indeed worthless. We have been looking at the Fabias, the diesels seem to have a similar generous towing limit, and our attention was drawn to the fuel economy claims for the Greenline. However, see my earlier post about why Skoda won't allow a towbar on a Greenline. What sort of fuel economy (not while towing, just normal use in non-urban roads) might we expect from a non-greenline diesel? We think we must be fairly light of foot because not many other people seem to manage as much as 65mpg from a Panda. Before that we had in succession two 1.5 diesel peugeot 106's, which were both actually better on fuel than the Panda. When we first got the Panda with its modern common rail turbocharged engine we drove it like we used to drive the Peugeots (non-turbo non-electronic diesels), and the Panda got much worse fuel consumption than the Peugeot, in the mid 50's. We have since learned to modify our driving style to try to keep the turbocharger spinning - it is completely gutless below about 2000rpm and also apparently very fuel inefficient. I wonder if different driving styles (including just driving faster and harder of course) account for the wildly different figures that people on this forum claim for the same cars? Anyway we'd be interested to hear anyone else's experience with the various diesel Fabia II models.

Hello, Just joined the forum, see "Hello" in the new members area for background. On the skoda website, the greenline II is said to be able to tow 1000kg braked. However, in the optional extra section, you can't order one with a towbar fitted. I emailed skoda to ask them if it was due to some technical reason such as lower ground clearance. Much to my surprise, someone actually bothered to phone me back to give me an answer. He said it's because the TUV type approval for the zero road tax band depends on the kerb weight of the car being precisely as standard, and if a towbar was fitted it might increase the weight and thus the CO2 emissions. So I asked if that meant it was not possible to retro fit a towbar, and he said even if you could find a firm to supply one, you would not strictly speaking be allowed to fit it and still have the car in the zero tax band. And it's not the same as having a fat passenger or a large load of shopping because you are changing the unladen weight of the car. I know you could argue that if you want to minimise your fuel consumption you shouldn't be towing anything, but we need to tow a trailer about once a month and would like to minimise our fuel consumption all the rest of the time! Has anyone actually fitted a towbar to a greenline, and if so do they manage to sleep at night and live with their guilt?

Good evening, or Noswaith Da as we say round here. My wife and i live on a smallholding in West Wales. We currently drive a Fiat Panda diesel. We do 12-15,000 miles a year, and we occasionally need to tow a trailer - the Panda can tow 1000kg braked (as our trailer is). We will need to replace the panda soon, before it is worn out and worth almost nothing, and we want to replace it with something at least as good on fuel economy, and equally able to tow 1 tonne braked. We wondered if a Skoda of some sort might do? The Panda is ok, but hasn't got much room in the back, I've made a square section tubular steel frame + plywood floor which goes in place of the back seats, but a bigger hatchback or small estate would be more useful to us. Is there one made by Skoda which will do mid 60's mpg average (not while towing obviously!)? There isn't much traffic round here, so not much stop-start, and a lot of the annual milage is taken up by trips to the SE of England to visit aged parents. Anyway, I hope to pick the brains of other forum users in due course!