Evening. Popped in the dealers on Tuesday for a chat about changing my 56 Fabia Elegance to a new Fabia 3 + options (Octavia L&K a tad too much ) Pretty much decided on the estate in either Anthracite or Silver with: ESP Heated seats Multifunction module Under seat boxes Curve projector headlights Sunset glass rear electric windows My only other decision is engine. Will be petrol, but will it be the 1.4 85 or the 1.6 105. Opinions? Darren

Edited 19 March, 200917 yr by darrenw
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HiI have a Fabia 3 estate (1.4 16v) with ESP and love it. After 17 years of driving Vauxhalls (a 2001 1.4 16v Astra for six of those), changing to Skoda wasn't something I'd have predicted. However, the Fabia 3 estate is a nice package. It has good spec, is very comfortable and we're more than pleased with it.The 85 bhp engine is slgihtly underpowered for the estate, but it works well. I'm not a diesel fan, and wasn't willing to pay extra for the diesel variants. When it's new and still tight, it feels very sluggish, but as you pass 5000 miles it really starts to loosen up and it's still improving. Most of the time there's only me in the car.The estate is cavernous despite its compact dimensions. That boot really does swallow lots. It's the neat little touches that make the big difference. True, it doesn't win any prizes in the styling department, but wins hands down in terms of practicality. Handling is pretty good too. On the motorway, we routinely achieve 50 mpg.So, I'd give your choice a big thumbs up - the underseat storage is worthwhile, we found it particularly useful on days out. You may want to consider the 1.6 if you need the performance. The 1.4 is fine for my use, but if you are likely to spend a lot of time on hills or on motorways, that bit of extra oomph will come in useful.Happy motoring!

Thanks Jo Looking around, I'll probably add the silver roof bars too as the black on my mk1 do look like an afterthought.

Hi I think Jo is right that the 1.4 may not be quite enough for the estate, especially if you regularly carry passengers and luggage or do motorway miles. Also the 3 is a little heavier than the 2 because of the extra spec, and yours will be slightly heavier yet with heated seats. So i'd definitely go for the 1.6Regarding options I think the centre rear headrest is also a good choice for families and aligns the Fabia with many other cars which have this as standard. Personally I'd go for anthracite grey as an elegant colour, though the current silver which is quite "hard edged" looks good.

Evening. Popped in the dealers on Tuesday for a chat about changing my 56 Fabia Elegance to a new Fabia 3 + options (Octavia L&K a tad too much ) Pretty much decided on the estate in either Anthracite or Silver with: ESP Heated seats Multifunction module Under seat boxes Curve projector headlights Sunset glass rear electric windows My only other decision is engine. Will be petrol, but will it be the 1.4 85 or the 1.6 105. Opinions? Darren

Hi Darren

rereading your question, it looks like you might have considered getting an Octavia

i understand you want a high spec given your options list, but it occurred to me that at list price you'll be paying the best part of 14.5k for your Fabia if you went for the 1.6.and you wouldn'tget much return on your options at resale time.

For about the same money you could get the Octavia SE estate or the Elegance hatch with the new, highly regarded and pokey 1.4tsi engine. Not such high spec but you would get your electic rear windows and under seat storage even on the SE, and you'd get a lot of kit with the Elegance. Just a thought!

Hi Darren

rereading your question, it looks like you might have considered getting an Octavia

i understand you want a high spec given your options list, but it occurred to me that at list price you'll be paying the best part of 14.5k for your Fabia if you went for the 1.6.and you wouldn'tget much return on your options at resale time.

For about the same money you could get the Octavia SE estate or the Elegance hatch with the new, highly regarded and pokey 1.4tsi engine. Not such high spec but you would get your electic rear windows and under seat storage even on the SE, and you'd get a lot of kit with the Elegance. Just a thought!

Could not agree more, you took the words out of my mouth.

The price difference would not be vast and you do not get your money back with fitted extras.

Just by way of comparison with the two engines, the larger 1.6 unit in the smaller and lighter Fabia produces 105ps, top speed of 118mph, 0-62 of 10.1 secs, combined mpg figure of 40.9 and CO2 emissions 165 .

The 1.4 TSi unit in the larger and heavier Octavia produces 122ps, top speed of 126mph, 0-62 of 9.7secs, combined mpg figure of 42.8 and CO2 emissions 154 .

It is the maximum torque figures that tell the real story though, the Fabia's normally aspirated 1.6 is 153Nm at 3,800 rpm compared to the turbocharged 1.4 TSI's 200Nm between 1500 and 4000rpm .

Octavia is the better bet - unless they put that TSi into the Fabia!