I've had to be out and about quite a bit over the last few days in the Fabia Estate 1.4TDI. The snow and ice has posed a few problems...but not as many as I thought I would experience. The car has been absolutely great in the slippery weather. I found I could go places many others could not go without getting stuck. General handling of the car on snowy roads and badly iced/rutted roads was excellent. Good feedback through the steering etc. The extra weight of the diesel engine compared to it's petrol counterparts does make a positive difference, helping with traction. ABS also much appreciated.

Impressed!!

Edited 8 January, 201016 yr by Estate Man

Havent had any snow here, but mines been pretty good on the slippery roads. Had a couple of very minor twitches on icy stuff but that was a pretty bad night. I really like the high ride height, as I have driven on some fairly rough roads and the height certainly meant I could progress without fear of grounding it.

I don't know what went wrong this morning, I got about 200 yards up the road went to turn and the car went straight on heading for a concrete wall, I mounted the kerb with a loud bang and stopped inches away from the wall. The only damage was a bit of a dent in the alloy wheel. It was very strange considering other cars were driving around quite normally in the snow. My heart was in my heart all the way to Blackpool and the M55 being shut didn't help.

I don't know what went wrong this morning, I got about 200 yards up the road went to turn and the car went straight on heading for a concrete wall, I mounted the kerb with a loud bang and stopped inches away from the wall. The only damage was a bit of a dent in the alloy wheel. It was very strange considering other cars were driving around quite normally in the snow. My heart was in my heart all the way to Blackpool and the M55 being shut didn't help.

Have you got ESP on your car?

Have you got ESP on your car?

If ESP is an optional extra then I don't have it.

Im the same chap, altho mine isnt a estate, the handling has been quiet amazing, the level of grip is staggering altho that could be because I got rid of the god awful bridgestone furanza tyres and fitted some uniroyal rainsport 2 tyres which have just been the best money I have ever spent on a car, there sublime!

If ESP is an optional extra then I don't have it.

If you don't have an ESP button on your dash then you don't have it.

I'm finding it works really well in the snow. Not sure how it does it but if the back end slides out it pulls it back straight. It sounds like individual brakes are being applied.

David

Hi David,

Yes, that is exactly what is happening...but it is electronically controlled. Great eh!

If you don't have an ESP button on your dash then you don't have it.

I'm finding it works really well in the snow. Not sure how it does it but if the back end slides out it pulls it back straight. It sounds like individual brakes are being applied.

David

Hi Mr Cheap,

Interesting to hear your thoughts on the Uniroyal tyres. What's the handling and roadholding like in the dry though?

Im the same chap, altho mine isnt a estate, the handling has been quiet amazing, the level of grip is staggering altho that could be because I got rid of the god awful bridgestone furanza tyres and fitted some uniroyal rainsport 2 tyres which have just been the best money I have ever spent on a car, there sublime!

Yeah, the tyres are very important... Mine came with some sort of Dunlops I think... dreadful handling in the snow, absolute disaster. But there isn't much point in fitting winter tyres for a few proper winter days. I just avoid driving in the snow now.

Another interesting observation - it seems that when reversing the ABS does not work... is that the case or I'm wrong?

I'm finding mine is not at all good in the snow.

Probably the tyres - having level 3 trim is has the big alloys and the Continental Sport Contact 2 tyres which are fine in warm weather, not bad in the wet but just clog up in the snow.

It's so bad that I'm seriously considering a set of spare steel wheels and some proper winter tyres. Living where I do and going where I go, I just don't have faith in the front tyres' ability to get and keep me moving.

I passed my test in Yorkshire in 1985 and have lots if experience driving on snow covered hills. This Fabia is one of the worst cars I've had for it and inspires even less confidence than the18 year old Volvo 460 Turbo automatic I drove a few times in February's snow.

Pete

No matter what you have, it will be difficult to stop a slide on frozen snow

or ice unless you have the right tyres.....

What are the standard tyres for the Fabia 3 spec (Atria, 16")?

What are the standard tyres for the Fabia 3 spec (Atria, 16")?

Bridgestone Turanzas are fitted to my Fabia 3 (1.9 TDi estate). I haven't assessed their snow performance yet but the grip seemed good on icy roads prior to Christmas,

Edited 6 January, 201016 yr by MarginWalker

Bridgestone Turanzas are fitted to my Fabia 3 (1.9 TDi estate). I haven't assessed their snow performance yet but the grip seemed good on icy roads prior to Christmas,

Talking to my dealer when I took delivery, it seems that there is no 'standard tyre' - it seems down to what Brand is giving Skoda a good deal when they need to buy a batch. Mine came with the Contis but he said they'd had idential cars with a couple of different brnds come from the factory previously.

This Fabia is one of the worst cars I've had for it and inspires even less confidence .....

Exactly my impression... don't know if it's only the tyres. I had number of cars previously and it seems that Fabia is the worst of them on snow. On dry/wet is quite OK but on snow/ice is dreadful. My previous car was 17 y old Civic and had vastly superior snow handling.

This is the first time I have used the car since New Years day. Why am I the only car struggling on a virtually dry road? I will use the Panda tomorrow.

I took mine out on some pretty icy and snowy roads through the New Forest in Hampshire today, didnt have a single slip or slide. On getting home, I decided to wash all the salt off it but our flat is down a slope, not very long but fairly steep. Anyway, after seeing some goon wheelspin and slide about in a mk1 Punto, I moved the Fabia after its wash. With a fair bit of trepidation after seeing the Punto nearly slide back down I let the clutch out and gave her a tiny bit of gas, and she just pulled herself up the slope with no drama whatsoever, very impressed. Ive got the Brigestones btw.

Lemon...that's the experience I've had too. I'm not sure the make of tyres make too much difference in the snow and ice but certainly the amount of rubber or footprint the tyre has is important. The other most important factor of course it your driving. You obviously have the technique which has put you in good stead. Unfortunately, many do not know or practice the proper snow/ice driving technique and slip all over the road and/or get stuck easily. There are very few situations in normal driving when you will not be able to get your car to move if the right technique is applied. Many years ago whilst teaching Police officers to drive to class one certificate standard, we proved it doesn't actually matter that much what car anyone is driving to get good snow/ice handling...it's mainly in the drivers technique. Of course some vehicles are a little better than others especially if it has front wheel or four wheel drive and with plenty of weight over the drive wheels (a'la Skoda Fabia Diesels). Most of the electronic gadgets to assist the driver also don't give much real advantage although EBD is quite useful. Sometimes a driver will change cars and finds he or she needs to adapt their driving to suit a different model of car to obtain good driving experience in the snow or ice, but they fail to do so and unwittingly blame the car.

Edited 9 January, 201016 yr by Estate Man

Yes, I would agree that the driving technique is important too... together with the tyres, of course. I would say tyres give you 80 % of your traction, the rest is driving skills, electronic gadgets, etc.

Anyway, does anyone have any observations on the ABS performance when reversing? Now I remember, years ago, I had Golf II Syncro... in similar winter conditions I noticed that when reversing neither the ABS was active, nor the four-wheel drive - the car behaved as an ordinary front-wheel drive.

Edited 9 January, 201016 yr by MZPRX

Yes...it doesn't work in reverse.

Yes, I would agree that the driving technique is important too... together with the tyres, of course. I would say tyres give you 80 % of your traction, the rest is driving skills, electronic gadgets, etc.

Anyway, does anyone have any observations on the ABS performance when reversing? Now I remember, years ago, I had Golf II Syncro... in similar winter conditions I noticed that when reversing neither the ABS was active, nor the four-wheel drive - the car behaved as an ordinary front-wheel drive.

But there isn't much point in fitting winter tyres for a few proper winter days. I just avoid driving in the snow now.

Another interesting observation - it seems that when reversing the ABS does not work... is that the case or I'm wrong?

winter tryes aren't just for snow.Summer tyres lose traction progressively below 9 c and we've been below that for a few months now. There's been thick snow since mid December and forecast for a couple of weeks yet at least.

My octavia has Nokian winter tyres and they make an enormous difference. Outperforms 4x4s on summer tyres easily

Thank goodness I still have the Panda. No problem driving today except the last 200 yds down side streets.

I've never used winter tyres...your comments are very interesting. Do you keep them on for just the winter months and then change to summer or normal tyres?

winter tryes aren't just for snow.Summer tyres lose traction progressively below 9 c and we've been below that for a few months now. There's been thick snow since mid December and forecast for a couple of weeks yet at least.

My octavia has Nokian winter tyres and they make an enormous difference. Outperforms 4x4s on summer tyres easily

I've never used winter tyres...your comments are very interesting. Do you keep them on for just the winter months and then change to summer or normal tyres?

I'm looking at buying a 2nd hand set of steel wheels for my Fabia so I can put winter tyres on nthem and just swap the wheels in the autumn and spring.