Had a little drive of both the new Alfa Romeo Guilietta and the new Skoda Fabia thanks to James and the nice folks at Allams. It seems with Diesel cars getting more and more expensive to produce, due to ever more stringent emissions legislation, manufacturers are switcing their attention to smaller capacity, forced induction petrols. As I don't do enough long runs I will probably take this option when I do change next year so it was an interesting experience to drive the Skoda with 177bhp from the ittle twincharge TSI motor (and I think 177 lb ft of torque at 2500rpm) and the Alfa with the new 1.4 Turbo Multiair with 170 bhp and the same amount of torque at the same revs.

The Skoda with the DSG box was the first car I drove and it is a terrific little engine. It pulls strongly and evenly from virtually tickover and has a really strong midrange punch when you call on kickdown in drive mode or drop it down via the wheel mounted paddles or gear stick. At the same time the engine is perfectly willing to scream round to the 7000 rpm limiter without showing the least sign of strain. Indeed this seems to be the default setting if you slip the DSG into sport mode, with the box refusing to change up until the redline. To be honest I found this a bit ridiculous since a bootful of throttle in drive mode will kick the down a gear or two virtually instantly. My only concern with this little car ( and it is top of the list for replacing my first gen VRS next year) is the long term reliability of the engine and transmission. There is no doubt that the twincharged engine, (with that supercharger boosting low down and then disengaging at 2500rpm to hand over to the turbo) along with the DSG a great combnation and wins you over on the testdrive but what will it be like in 150000 miles and what would be the cost of fixng it? Having said that the whole setup did have an unburstable feel to it.

After driving the Skoda it was interesting to drive the Alfa which achieves virtually the same power through a different approach. It is a turbocharged single overhead cam 16 valve engine which uses a hydro electric intake valve actuation via a variable high pressure oil chamber operated by a solenoid valve between the camshaft and the intake valves. FIAT claim that the multi variable intake valve timing from this boosts low down torque whilst allowing the engne to rev freely and improve economy and emissions. It certainly feels like FIAT have done the job. Putting the car in Dynamic mode (you will want this all the time as normal kills the throttle response) and the engine is terrific. It sounds a bit Diesel like at tickover and doesn't kick quite so hard as the little Fabia but what it does give you is strong, smooth lag free acceleration from idle right around to the 6800 rpm redline. Turbo lag is completely non existant with this engine. It feels totally unstressed as well, and not what I would expect from a little engine with over 140 bhp per litre. In fact I was disappointed that the engine was so smooth and refined. Even under load it is so civilised you find yourself wishing for some of that old style Italian rortiness that you got from Alfa fours until they killed off the Twin Spark. But I found that this engine is so nice that it would be crazy to pay £2K more for the 2.0 Diesel especially as this engine is capable of 45 mpg.

Proof of how far engine technology has come on even in a few years came when I took a Yeti 1.8 TSI out. I think this engine was great: quiet, torquey and effortlessly quick. However it still doesn't match up to the Skoda and the Alfa's 1.4 litre engnes for ouright grunt and, I suspect fuel economy. I personally love my Mark one Fabia VRS but I certainly won't be going back to Diesel with efficient little Petrols as sweet as these. I will be watching and waiting for a while to see if the technology is reliable first though.

Anyway hope this is informative. I'm no Jeremy Clarkson but just thought you would appreciate my layman's observations. Thanks to Beryls Chief for coming up with me, Octygone for the heads up and James and all at Allams for aaccomodating us. I got to drive a Fabia VRS again at the Maidstone meet and thanks to Barry and Tom from Hayes Skoda in Clacton from coming all the way down too!

Edited 9 August, 201015 yr by Matt Bodycombe

nice reveiws, thanks

Nicely done!

Very interesting Matt. You obviously liked both the Skoda and the Alfa - but supposing you had to choose between them, with no other alternative, which whould you go for?

Very interesting Matt. You obviously liked both the Skoda and the Alfa - but supposing you had to choose between them, with no other alternative, which whould you go for?

The Skoda Zdenek as it is 4 grand cheaper and the engine and transmission work perfectly together. Will want to see how the car copes reliability wise though, although this engine has been doing the business in the Golf and Scirocco for a while.

Anyway hope this is informative. I'm no Jeremy Clarkson but just thought you would appreciate my layman's observations. Thanks to Beryls Chief for coming up with me, Octygne for the heads up and James and all at Allams for aaccomodating us.

You're right Matt, you are no Jeremy Clarkson..............but you might just be the Stig!!

A very good day thanks mate & a damn fine review!

Personally, I wouldn't want either of them. But I'd go for the Fabia if they made it feel more involving to drive & the seat felt less like a bar stool & more of the sports feel that this incredibly capable little car deserves!

Only my opinion.......waiting for the backlash!

Matt

Nice back to back comparison, I thought you might have tried to get hold of a 500 arbath to try, even though the 500 is actually smaller that the Fabia, or the Alfa Mito, I know they now have a 140 bhp version, this is prob closer to the Fabia on size.

I suspect you were tyring to get a feel for the engines, rather than the car size.

Did you check out the fuel figures for the Alfa, given the Fiat Engine uses less bolt on tech, I suspect it may potentially be more reliable, only time will tell.

I get lost with what Alfas/Fiats are exactly, is this engine a reworked Vauxhall/Opel/GM engine or one of their own designs entirely?

I'd like to try the new Fabia VRS as I'm curious how the engine feels to drive, I was disappointed with the Clio's 200bhp two litre engine as it needed to be revved so hard to get the power out of it otherwise it felt sluggish. It's a shame it's DSG only when they're now offering the VRS in estate form but at least it doesn't make me regret going for the Octavia estate. How long has the 1.4TSI engine been available in VAG cars? I thought it was for a couple of years now, I assume they must be running ok if they continue to use them although like you I'd be concerned about the complexity coupled with the DSG box.

John

@Steve: sadly did not get a chance to check the consumption of the Alfa as the test drive was brief. They had a 170BHP Mito Cloverleaf with the same engine though up at Allams but didn't get a chance to drive it: and Allams are not a FIAT franchise so didn't get a chance to drive an Abarth though I would dearly like to. The Alfa promises about 45 mpg combined in the brochure if I can remember rightly but doubt if i'd get near that. The Fabia I would guess at about 35??? I know the non supercharged engine (and the 1.2 TSI) have been criticised by Autocar for having disappointing consumption.

@John The Mulitair is FIATs own design and from what I read in Autocar they are going to be much more careful with it than with Commonrail! I believe they are considering licencing the tech out to "selected rivals" though. It seems to work though as the engine goes as no 1,4 has a right to with less bolt on tech than the Fab as lfc said. No worries about lack of low down torque in the Fabia VRS: it pulls very well indeed from low down: effortless little engine as I have said and you find yourself doing silly speeds without realising it. The DSG is an acquired taste: I like it but you'd have to try it to see if you like it! The Twincharge has been around since 2006 in the Golf GT so hopefully it is a reliable engine now but with all that bolt on tech. Seriously tempted by the little VRS if I can afford one next year. I would go for the estate though as it looks happier and is unique.

Edited 9 August, 201015 yr by Matt Bodycombe

Small turbocharged gasoline engines are definately the future for the passenger car.

People knew it and tried it years ago, but back then they didn't have the technology to pull off the whole package. It's really good to see the industry realising the benefits and making it work this time.

The Japanese obviously tried it before with the Nissan March (MIcra) Super Turbo in '89, and Suzuki had a bash with the Cappuccino in '91. Those are just a couple of examples that spring to mind, but will be good to see how it takes off this time around.

Well I guess the 900bhp 1.5litre F1 engines of the 80's proved what could be done on the limit!

Turbo's FTW!

Turbo'd and Supercharger'd FTW!

Fixed it for you.

Just a quick note on the fabia vRS fuel consumption that everybody is getting tizzy about. we have had the car on the road for a little while now and is doing a genuine (not trip computer) 44 mpg (combined) which means the literature isnt to far out @ 45.6 mpg.

Also took the car to maidstone as most of you know and that tank of fuel worked out @ 57 mpg which is not bad but i must stress that was based on just that tank of juice.

That's pretty decent of fuel, bearing in mind the engine is still not fully worn in yet either.

I've been rather impressed with 1.2TSi DSG lately, been driving that around lately and checked the MPG for the last few hundred miles... 54mpg!!! It's basically a diesel.