Hi

I'm thinking of ordering a new Fabia for delivery on March 1st 2012.

The specification I'm interested in is as follows:-

SE Plus

1.6 TDI 75PS 5spd DPF

Pacific Blue

Options:-

ESP inc ABS+ASR+EDL+HBA

Space saver steel wheel

Some Questions about this car:-

I've only test driven a 90PS version of the engine. Is there much difference in performance between the 75PS and 90PS version?

Does adding ESP mean that the drum brakes get replaced by rear disc brakes?

Is the integrated Satellite Navigation system worth the investment over a stand alone system, as I will also be using the MDI to connect my ipod to play music?

Are there any dealer discounts on top of the 5% reduction in price?

Any other suggestions or comments about the car would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Lou

with your spec carfile.net came back with £11783.2, the dealer is in mansfield area if you are near there

why not go for dsg as that include ESP and it is not much more money, since you are choosing 75bhp do you really need esp?

Adding ESP does not give you disc brakes on the rear wheels and is worth having for safety reasons. Sat Nav is worth the money. I have the 105 PS version of the TDi and love it. Can't comment on the 75 PS version I'm afraid.

I would advise you to add maxidot to your spec list. It gives a much nicer dash and integrates really well with the Sat Nav.

esp no point, i see no difference i have 1 with 1 with out

Thank you both for your replies.

with your spec carfile.net came back with £11783.2, the dealer is in mansfield area if you are near there

why not go for dsg as that include ESP and it is not much more money, since you are choosing 75bhp do you really need esp?

I prefer the diesel engine with manual transmission. I don't think there is a DSG option for the diesel.

I will go back to the dealers and ask if they will price match with carfile.net there seems to be a big saving by buying through them.

As rkenny said the reason for going for ESP is the safety side of having stability control feature to stop the car spinning in wet or icy conditions. CarFile only quotes for ESP plus which has hill hold and tyre pressure monitor not ESP on its own for some reason but it is almost £80 cheaper than what Skoda quotes for the same option.

Adding ESP does not give you disc brakes on the rear wheels and is worth having for safety reasons. Sat Nav is worth the money. I have the 105 PS version of the TDi and love it. Can't comment on the 75 PS version I'm afraid.

I would advise you to add maxidot to your spec list. It gives a much nicer dash and integrates really well with the Sat Nav.

According to the online car builder on Skoda's website it has “'Amundsen+' satellite navigation system and Maxi-dot†for the same price. This is not stated in the June 2011 brochure.

Can the Sat-Nav be used as a CD player at the same time as giving directions?

Thanks for your help guys.

75 engine is too slow, its like driving a normal tdi that has one massive flat spot from 2.5k onwards.

esp no point, i see no difference i have 1 with 1 with out

I agree with you under day-to-day driving ESP doesn't cut in except when pulling out of a junction too fast.

But if its needed when something goes wrong, like having to change lane on a motorway sharply, then it could be life saver. It would just give me added peace of mind.

Thanks,

Lou

75 engine is too slow, its like driving a normal tdi that has one massive flat spot from 2.5k onwards.

Ok, but how does the 75 compare to the 90, as I found the 90 was adequate to my needs when I test drove it?

Heres my view of the satnav I wrote in another post. yes it can be used as a cd player whilst giving directions as the Amunsden + stores the maps on an internal hard drive. If you do order it PLEASE get the salesman to list maxidot as a SEPERATE item on the order sheet not just putting 'Amunsden Sat Nav' because the brochure says it includes Maxidot... I got caught out with it and my car was delivered without it.

Integrates very nicely, especially if you have the Maxidot (ooo sore subject!)

It's a very good sat nav though, it recaluclates a route literally INSTANTLY, quicker than any other Sat Nav i've ever seen! Never ever had it 'finding GPS' its always on. The system does have some funny one liners for example.

If you join a motorway and need to continue down the road for say 30 miles... instead of 'Continue on this road for 30 miles' it will just say 'Continue on this road for a while' but obviously when your near the junction it will say 'Please keep left in 600 yards'... 'Please exit at the next junction' etc etc.

The POI is brill, you can type in things like 'Starbucks' or 'Greggs' or 'Halfords' or even just 'Restaurant' and it will search for them and bring up a list in order of whats closest. If you hit details it will give you the full address with telephone number, let you store the address or navigate to it. Also when your driving around it will show little petrol station icons on the screen too so you know your near one.

At night it automatically dims the screen (you can turn this off) so it doesnt glare in the car at night and it shows up Speed sign posts for each road your on which is handy.

Overall very impressed and it's extremely useful if your a bit erm... thick with directions like me! It's so nice to be able to jump in the car and pop a postcode in etc.

Also improves the look of things like the radio etc.

Oh and one final thing I forgot, if theres traffic the sat nav will say 'Warning, traffic on your route' and load up the traffic information. We had a bad fire in the tunnels where i live in South Wales and it popped up on the screen showing where the accident was and how long the tail back was too! Didn't even have a route programmed in, was listening to the radio and suddenly the car started talking to me!

With ESP I honestly think its a good investment, theres so much research to show it cuts accidents by massive percents. I dont think you get rear disc brakes with ESP (I put it on my car and it still has drums)

Edited 7 August, 201114 yr by adamc260

Thanks adamc260 I found your review very informative!

With regards to the ipod auxilary connection, does the Sat-nav have the functionality to select albums / playlists and not just play individual tracks?

Thanks

Thanks adamc260 I found your review very informative!

With regards to the ipod auxilary connection, does the Sat-nav have the functionality to select albums / playlists and not just play individual tracks?

Thanks

Nae bother

With the ipod yes you can pick albums/playlists, artists, genres.. everything thats on your ipod basically

Aww, that's great. Thanks again

Hello Lucky, with regard to the engine power output. I have driven all the CR1.6TDI engined cars. The 90ps and 105ps are very close in terms of performance and in actual fact you don't actually notice any difference in real terms when driving. This is due to the fact they produce very similar amounts of torque at the same rpm value. I have a 1422ccTDI PD engined estate fabia. I can say the 1.6CR 75ps is virtually identical to drive in terms of power to my 1422cc PD engine. My 1422cc has more power at 80ps @ 4,000rpm with 195nm of torque at 2200rpm. The 1.6CR 75ps is similar with 195nm of torque at 1500rpm. Driving the two, my 1422cc engined car felt a little bit brisker when planting my foot down hard. But in reality, there isn't much difference I found. Performance aside, potentially, I think the 75ps version could probably give even better fuel economy than my 3 cylinder 1422 engine, and this may be a good reason to go for one. Incidentally, just because I'm saying the 75ps version goes about the same as my 1422cc engine, that's meant as a compliment and is not intended to be derogatory to the 75ps version. It's a great car! The 1.4 PD TDI is no slug and just goes like hell. It will take a while for any new diesel to loosen up though and give it's best so bear that in mind. Good luck with your choice of car and keep posting! :yes:

I once had a 1.4 tdci 68bhp fiesta and that never felt slow... was quite nippy in fact and always gave me about 60mpg, if i ragged the hell out of it it would drop to about 53-55mpg. Once saw 71mpg on the motorway too.

I have both the 1.4tdi 70bhp fabia and the cr1.6tdi 105 bhp, and to be honest I prefer the 1.4tdi 3 pot strange but the power feels more instant

+1 on the maxi dot if your car does not have it as standard, specify it as an option. Well, well worth it.

Good luck

Hey guys,

Thanks for all your feedback re the engine. I'm going back to the dealer on the weekend to take a longer test drive in the 90ps. Will keep you posted on my decision!

TTFN

Lou

Expecting a Skoda for a specific date is lunacy but good luck with it.

Finally ordered the car. Went for the following spec:-

1.6 TDi 105ps

SE Plus

Pacific Blue

With the following options:-

Sat Nav

ESP

Spare Wheel

Maxi Dot

Rear Parking Sensors

The dealer said they couldn't delay delivery until March '12, so hopefully it'll be delivered November time.

Thanks all for helping me choose my first Skoda!

Drive safe,

Lou

Great Job, hope you got the £££ deal you wanted.

Keep us posted on delivery etc.

Finally ordered the car. Went for the following spec:-

1.6 TDi 105ps

SE Plus

Pacific Blue

With the following options:-

Sat Nav

ESP

Spare Wheel

Maxi Dot

Rear Parking Sensors

The dealer said they couldn't delay delivery until March '12, so hopefully it'll be delivered November time.

Thanks all for helping me choose my first Skoda!

Drive safe,

Lou

Well done!

I have had the privilege of driving a few variations of this engine, and I will be honest the 75ps version is depressingly slow. I know not everything is about pace, but I could not put up with that lack of power. The 105 is a happy medium I feel.