I'm after a diesel Fabia to replace the Jazz. The key requirements are :

- economy

- anonymity (visit some pretty dodgy areas in the line of work)

- acceptable performance - ie. able to cruise on the motorway at 80mph with no problems.

I'm currently looking at the 1.4Tdi. I took it for a brief drive some months ago and was satisfied with the performance and amazed at the economy.

Has anyone any longer term experience of these?

Edited to add: Or should I be looking at one of the 1.9's? ( not vRS )

1.4 is a three cylinder engine, it produces more noise and it's not lot more economical than the 1.9 tdi. if you have money go for 1.9(either pd100 or pd130), and if not try considering 1.9sdi i think it's better solution than 1.4 tdi.

If you can afford the extra for the 1.9 pdi 100bhp version you will find it far better. Smooth, fast and almost as economical as the 75bhp. My wife used to have a VW Polo with the 1.4 3 cylinder engine. The car was underpowered for its weight and not particulary economical. I think you would find the older engined 64bhp SDI car very underpowered and coarse.

I can say I am pleased with the performance/ economy from my PD100.

Just been to look at my trip meter :1900 miles mpg 54.8. mostly round town driving (on a long run, once had 70mpg)

It will cruise all day at 80mph with plenty of grunt left.

In elegance trim you get plenty of toys to play with, plus decent road manners.

Drive the 1.9 before you order the 1.4 as I have heard there is a big difference between the two, even though there is not too much in it on paper.

We tried both and both agreed it had to be the 1.9.

The 1.4 and 1.9 have exactly the same economy figures for extra-urban driving, the 1.4 is slightly more economical on the urban figures but that is taken at speeds below 20mph on a cold engine.

Going for the 1.4 is not going to save you that much in fuel but where the 1.4 feels adequate the 1.9 feels strong and powerfull. The 1.9 is far more refined as well.

If you are looking at second hand there are far more 1.9's about as well.

Cheers

Lee

I had a lupo 1.4 tdi pd 75bhp and thought the engine was extremely capable!

John

I had a lupo 1.4 tdi pd 75bhp and thought the engine was extremely capable!

John

I drove a Lupo 1.4 TDi Sport on Holiday and it was great fun.

The Fabia is nearly 200kg heavier though, I'm not saying the 1.4TDi Fabia is poor its far from it, it's a good car. It's just the 1.9PD100 feels a massive step up from the 1.4tdi to drive and will hardly cost anymore to run.

If the purchase price isn't restrictive I would always go for the PD100.

Cheers

Lee

i have the 1,4 75bhp fabia estate and i am very pleased with it. it is alittle weak with 5 persons in it but how often do you load it up?

If you test drive the 1.9 diesels, don't test the TDI first, because the SDI will feel awful by comparison.

I had a Fabia TDI for 53K miles, and the economy and refinement just kept on improving - I even got 71 mpg out of it on a summer run (and not driving like a granny, either).

I've only driven a three-cylinder petrol Fabia. The engine sounded like a sewing machine. Not nice IMHO.

I've heard some people say the triple cylinder petrol engines sound like mini Porsche's...

They do have a bit of a roarty sound to them.

I had a lupo 1.4 tdi pd 75bhp and thought the engine was extremely capable!

John

I'll second that from my Polo (previous shape) experience. Most first-time passengers couldn'tbelieve it was a diesel of such small capacity. And an interesting sound. Managed almost 70mpg from one tankful and seldom below 50 even with a good caning.

Fabia 1.4 TDi Bought mine without trying 1.9, so can't compare. Now just 20K (04reg). Starting to feel run-in. Very tight for first 10K. Transmission was "chattery" on over run when new, but is much better now. Weight of car shows on stop start driving, but with steady motorway driving (60 is average in traffic) get 70 to 75 mpg. Not bad. Very quiet engine- main noise fron tyres. Toys are nice - I never thought that heated mirrors were desirable, but now... Takes a while to warm up 5 to 10 miles. Plenty of room, but it took me a long time to get the seat to be comfortable; ended up buying "liner" which gave better support. I use for towing trailers full of sand up slippery mud tracks (you never see a Range Rover where i live - they're all in town) and here there is a problem as there is no low rev grunt- you go from stall to wheelspin as the turbo cuts in. Maybe the traction control on bigger engines might help. Only letdown was a failed sensor at 1K (AA and agent - Mitchell's- very good). Check service costs.

Viewer

Managed almost 70mpg from one tankful and seldom below 50 even with a good caning.

Thank you so much for your replies so far.

The above is what I experienced on the test drive. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to get the computer to read less than 51mpg!! Very impressed.

Need to do some more research.

Huck,

For some idea of the 1.9PD100.

If I take my wifes car to work I get low to mid 60's mpg. My run to work is a 10mile "A" road run through one town centre, the figures quoted are from a cold start.

On a 80 mile run from Notts to the east coast on "A" and "B" roads I managed 68.9mpg from the Fabia which is exactly the same as the official figures.

In each of the above examples I was driving normally and not trying to achieve good figures.

My wife has the Fabia mainly and use it for round town journeys of just a couple of miles either way on a cold engine. She averages around 45mpg.

I expect these figures will rise a little when we get the warmer weather.

Interestingly our Octavia isn't far behind the Fabia on a run, only a few mpg in it.

Cheers

Lee

Cheers Lee!

Hmmmm, really is looking more along the lines of PD100 territory.

Stupid question time - have they always been PD engines in the Fabia?

Cheers Lee!

Hmmmm' date=' really is looking more along the lines of PD100 territory.

Stupid question time - have they always been PD engines in the Fabia?[/quote']

Yep!

I've driven many fabia's, of many specs, including the RS...

None have been brief test drives, alll have been courtesy cars I've had for a day or so...

If I was to go out and buy one tomorrow it would be... the 1.4tdi - has the balance and poise of the smaller engined fabs but with enough torque to be genuinely fun on back roads - and you know how I drive cross country!

Took my dad for a blat in the 1.4tdi.. and he didn't even realise it was a diesel!

The RS (and I suspect the other 1.9's, tho I have not driven them) was nose heavy and lost the whole ethos of a small fun car IMO.. also had too much torque in too brief a powerband.

Just my opinion, put your flamethrowers down

The petrol 1.2 is not bad, seemed pretty adequate for round-about-town runs and was not that noisy on the motorway, esp. compared with my Rover 100... Admitting straight away that's a LOT older too hehe.

I must admit the 1.4 TDI is probably smoother from a usable range perspective, the 1.9 has way more power but in a narrower band, so a lot more changing gear.

the vRS is way more narrow in it's power delivery, but then you'd expect that I suppose as it's tuned more for that kinda driving style and has a 6-speed box.

Drive them both

Wife has one and it is a very capable wee motor. They respond pretty well to a remap too!! Hers sounds like a mini subaru quite pleasant tbh!!

If I was to go out and buy one tomorrow it would be... the 1.4tdi - has the balance and poise of the smaller engined fabs but with enough torque to be genuinely fun on back roads - and you know how I drive cross country!

:iagree:

Rob.

Have driven a 1.2 12v HTP Fabia a couple of times now and been impressed.

Does have a rorty sound to it and you can get to 80mph without really knowing it.

Can't really say I was impressed with the economy but the trips I made were roughly 20 miles on the M3....and you've just got to see what it does don't ya?

Reckon it would make a good town car though.

Yeah grandparents-in-law drive a 1.2, mainly use it in town but we've had lifts in it on motorways.

Not driven the 1.4 TDI myself but it would seem it should be pretty decent as it will probably behave pretty well

I must admit the 1.4 TDI is probably smoother from a usable range perspective' date=' the 1.9 has way more power but in a narrower band, so a lot more changing gear.

the vRS is way more narrow in it's power delivery, but then you'd expect that I suppose as it's tuned more for that kinda driving style and has a 6-speed box.

Drive them both [/quote']

I can't say this has been my experience; the 1.4 is pretty dead below 2000rpm and runs out of steam about 4000rpm (in the Polo at least) but the vRS pulls way below and above those figures. That's how it seems to me anyway...