Haven't been on for a while so thought I'd update you on my 2009 Fabia Greenline 1.4 TDi FAP.

I had prepped the car back in May with headlamp covers for driving in mainland Europe, but actually didn't get away until the beginning of September. This was the source of my second experience with terrible dealer service, the headlamp covers I bought from Turners in Erlestoke were removed to be cleaned and the blackouts fitted. Upon gently removing one, it went 'crack' and from the bottom of the cover where the plastic is folded over to slide under the lamp a split several inches rose upwards. A cellotape front and back job fixed it, as one day before leaving didn't allow time to get another. The dealers line was 'well people dont take them off right' so this lead to somewhat of an argument over the cost of them vs quality, and Skoda Customer Services, as I'm still away from home I've not been back yet but I suspect I'll just have to write the cost off. So, that's two Skoda dealers in a row I'm rather unhappy with. Moving on, Westover Skoda in Corfe Mullen perform the second service costing £196. I was pleased with the attention to the car, with the wheels rotated and the handbrake adjusted along with the normal stuff, although they didn't wash it saying we normally do, do you want that. I'd of thought it should not of been a question!

My drive over the last two weeks has started at home in Bournemouth -> London -> Berlin -> London -> Bournemouth -> Devizes -> Porthmadog-> Tamworth -> London- where I am now, so without getting too detailed around 2000 odd miles in two weeks.

The Greenline was well loaded up with luggage and two people on the London -> Berlin leg, and the high ratio gearbox really came in to its own on the Autobahn across Germany, I think the speedo does over read, but kind of a feel good seeing it easily rise to 120mph and maintain speeds off 100+ . The GPS recorded 185kph, which is 115mph so it really performed well for a 1.4 diesel. What was interesting the rpm, at maximum speed it was turning at only 3400rpm, well away from the red line so perhaps it is electronically limited? The overall London->Berlin->London run returned 57mpg.

The service was carried out on route to Wales after coming from Berlin. The car felt so much smoother and flexible after that service, making the roads around Snowdonia rather a drivers pleasure in the Greenline. I met a friend there with his Airstream, and I followed him back to Tamworth, so running at normal UK speeds up to 60mph across the hills/motorway the car returned 87mpg. The Tamworth->London motorway run, and city drive returned 68mpg. So I'm going to try my Bournemouth-Devizes run in a couple of weeks and see if I can beat my 98mpg best, and go in to three figures.

Great report and those consumption figures are amazing - as are the autobahn figures!

It's just a shame that your experiences with dealerships hasn't been as positive.

Cracking write up, cracking car you have there and cracking fuel figures.

Davy

Great fuel mpg figures.

25652

Blackrock sands?portmadoc

Thought we hadn't seen you lately on the board. Glad you had a nice trip...and as the others are saying, a great write up. Thanks for that, it's good information.

Your engine is limited, but not until around 4,600rpm. Just inside the red zone. If you were hitting those heady speeds in 5th gear, it's unlikely you will ever get to max power revs of 4,000rpm. In fact, you may find her faster in 4th gear as you will get substantially more power nearer 4,000rpm and beyond, but speed gains may be modest. My standard PD 1.4tdi estate has a listed top speed of 109mph, but my GPS has shown 112mph on two occassions (sorry that is naughty I know) and she was showing 116mph. That mean my speedo is pretty accurate.

Nice one! Keep the reports coming.

It just seems a little odd, the performance was rather brisk all the way up to the top speed then it just stopped going any faster but was happy to cruise at that point. The car didn't seem unstable on the smaller wheels and was quite at home.

The beach shots were at Ynyslas north of Cardigan Bay. Here are a couple more non Skoda ones, but still quite a dramatic weather front that even had everything from mist, heavy rain to bright sunshine.

OK enough of the Nissan!

Grrrr..... come to file away the service paperwork this morning, didn't really pay any attention to it when they gave it to me as was on route to Wales with the car already loaded up.

They've used a QC1 flexible inspection service checklist, and invoiced it as an estate. Would this explain why it cost a little more than that I was expecting?

The MPG figures are very impressive. I hope my Greenline II is a good if not better .

In the blurb for the Grreenline II it says the gear ratios are the same as in the other Fabias, hopefully no need to learn a new way of driving just extra mpg.

I am sure the gear ratios for the greenline are not the same... The intervals between changing are longer and you change less, overall. around town (30mph), 3rd is all you need so 4th becomes all but redundant! I have a greenline, just got a set of eyebrows odrered so when they get here, see if I like 'em, if so, paint and fit 'em soon as long as they don't obscure the indicators!

I am sure the gear ratios for the greenline are not the same... The intervals between changing are longer and you change less, overall. around town (30mph), 3rd is all you need so 4th becomes all but redundant! I have a greenline, just got a set of eyebrows odrered so when they get here, see if I like 'em, if so, paint and fit 'em soon as long as they don't obscure the indicators!

Eyebrows - Would be intrested to see what they look like in the pics?

I'm sure the gear ratios are diffrent on the greenline, I find in my 1.4TDI that 4th Gear is now redundant and I tend to use 3rd gear more and mine is just the normal 1.4TDI Fabia 2.

I am sure the gear ratios for the greenline are not the same... The intervals between changing are longer and you change less, overall. around town (30mph), 3rd is all you need so 4th becomes all but redundant! I have a greenline, just got a set of eyebrows odrered so when they get here, see if I like 'em, if so, paint and fit 'em soon as long as they don't obscure the indicators!

Just looked at the Which website and it says "the Fabia Estate and Roomster GreenLine II models achieve efficiency gains with the same gear ratios as other models with this engine – saving costs and maintaining the same responsive driving experience.

However, in addition GreenLine II also features a ‘gear recommendation system’, which helps you pick the most efficient gear at all times, lowered suspension for better aerodynamics, and low rolling resistance tyres.".

"http://www.which.co.uk/news/2010/05/skoda-announces-greenline-ii-fabia-and-roomster-213905?src=rss156452"

The proof will be in delivery

Yes...the gearbox is the same on both the Greenline Mk2 and the standard 1422cc TDI. However, the final drive ratio is different, lowering the overall engine speed for any given road speed over the standard version. Hence the standard version (my version) is ticking over at 2450rpm at 70mph in 5th gear, and the Greenline is at 2000rpm in 5th at the same speed.

Thought we hadn't seen you lately on the board. Glad you had a nice trip...and as the others are saying, a great write up. Thanks for that, it's good information.

Your engine is limited, but not until around 4,600rpm. Just inside the red zone. If you were hitting those heady speeds in 5th gear, it's unlikely you will ever get to max power revs of 4,000rpm. In fact, you may find her faster in 4th gear as you will get substantially more power nearer 4,000rpm and beyond, but speed gains may be modest. My standard PD 1.4tdi estate has a listed top speed of 109mph, but my GPS has shown 112mph on two occassions (sorry that is naughty I know) and she was showing 116mph. That mean my speedo is pretty accurate.

Nice one! Keep the reports coming.

Disclaimer: while travelling on a disused airfield........

Most I got up to was 110 before my sense of self preservation kicked in. It was pulling like a train right up until I decided that was fast enough on my skinny wheels......

The car may well produce more power at high rpm but at that sort of speed and wind resistance, torque accounts for a lot. The Greenline torque tails off at higher rpm.

If my college lecturer was telling me the truth, power is the rate of energy conversion but torque is the actual twisting force. More power may not always be translated as more oomph to the wheels. I have never been at that speed in a car that sounded like it was out for an afternoon stroll.......

Now all i need is a diesel motorbike (no not an Enfield)

If my college lecturer was telling me the truth, power is the rate of energy conversion but torque is the actual twisting force. More power may not always be translated as more oomph to the wheels.

Power = Torque times rotational speed

specifically

Power (kw) = Torque (Nm) x RPM x 2 x pi / 60000

Now all i need is a diesel motorbike (no not an Enfield)

There are one or two available but they are a bit pricey... I think there was one designed for military use, in particular!

Or failing a diesel, you could try the new Yamaha V-MAX.... Thats if you dont mind being able to scratch your ankles without bending your knees!