Hi everyone,

As mentioned in the infamous "Blackhole" post I am now in possession of the following:

Stock Fabia Greenline II Estate in Blue + reversing sensors

Initial Reaction @ the dealers

Personally I prefer the more proportional shape of the estate over the hatchback (which seems a little scrunched up!)

Body work was obviously fine for a new car but more importantly the exterior glass and plastics all looked fine - no wonky bits

Interior is only cloth and plastic but the finish doesn't seem cheap. All fitted together as well as the exterior.

In the front

Seat has the usual adjustment - just missing tilt to be perfect - steering wheel adjust has a surprising amount of range.

All the dials and controls were instantly familiar as I also own a Passat

Pockets everywhere! I love the double glovebox: receipts in the top, phone chargers etc. in the bottom one. Nice to have so many cubby holes for everything, even the cup holders in the Passat are rubbish.

Waiting on an MDI lead for my music :( However, the Swing radio is more than adequate for anyone over the age of 25 :p

In the back

Nothing beats a PT Cruiser for leg room but it's fine for such a small car. The seat folding thing threw me for a bit but I noticed the swabs? (the bit your bum goes on!) are just foam covered in cloth. I suspect these may be susceptible to damage when upright. Time will tell. The back parts of the seats are solid though.

In the boot

Again, lots of handy storage bays. Very easy to keep small items from rattling around. Nice to see a 12V outlet. Damn... one of those inflation kits, I suppose it keeps the weight down.

The first drive

Bearing in mind I've been driving mostly a Ford Ka with a crippled lawnmower engine for the last 8 months for work and then the Passat with its 20 valve 1.8 turbo petrol engine, the Greenline II engine was bound to be a little odd!

First I felt like I should give it a lot more throttle but I've driven diesel before and know there's a surprising amount of torque at the low end. Anyway it's still running-in so I can't boot it yet

The STOP-START feature should really freak me out but to be honest I didn't notice it much. I tend to either switch to neutral and apply the hand brake at traffic lights or have my foot on the clutch and the brake (lazy!) say at a roundabout and the STOP-START fits my driving style perfectly. There's also a brake-assist for hill starts and again it just fitted in quite nicely as I rarely apply the handbrake on all but the steepest hill anyway.

I'm glad of the gear change indicator, coming from the petrol cars, as I have to get back into "diesel mode" again.

One thing I didn't notice: any issue with steering, braking, clutch or gears. What I mean is if you're used to any previous VW/Audi/Skoda the driving feels natural.

I shall update when I'm over the initial running-in period about the fuel economy and performance. So far I'm very happy!

Please feel free to post questions.

Best Regards,

Andy

Congratulations on the new arrival.

Run a white one myself and also a fan of the estate styling.

Yes, I was also concerned about having no spare, so I got the kit from the dealer with spare, jack and wheelbrace.

In the first six months I had two punctures. I am SO glad I got it or I'd have been stranded waiting for assistance... twice.

Nice little review of your initial thoughts, totally agree with you that the estate looks much better than the hatchback.

So after a 5 1/2 month wait, our Greenline II Estate has arrive. Think I agree with POSITality's review. I'm very happy with the car. I think we were a bit spoilt having had an Octavia Elegance courtesy car while waiting for ours.

Just out of curiosity, this is for all the Greenline II owners. What sort of mpg were you getting straight from the dealers? I know this is a tight engine but we're getting mid 50s from our car at the moment which seems a little low.

Dan

Taken the Greenline on a nice long run from South London to Manchester yesterday. 500 mile round trip so it's almost run in, nice consistent motorway driving too.

Fiddling with the MPG thing on the computer is easier on a long wrong. There's the "live" version which drops like a stone accelerating or up steep hills but checking the average I got around ~65mpg which I'm really happy with out of the box. I kept at around 70 for most of the journey. If you're on a nice piece of long, flat road you might want to experiment with where between 60 to 70mph you want to sit. This isn't the car to be cruising at 80 in - legally or for fuel economy!

Couple of tips I read on "Fuelly" I'll pass on:

• 50/50 rule - at low speed, wind the window down. Over 50mph keep the windows closed and switch on the A/C only if absolutely necessary. Wind resistance does make a difference!
  
• On the subject of A/C, it's worth running it at least once a month otherwise you tend to get that mildewy smell.
  
• Gradual acceleration and changing gears early are best on this sort of engine - dull but the power output over the rev range is almost the exact opposite of a 16v petrol lump where it all sits in the high revs.
  
• Try to cruise at a consistent speed. Accelerating around someone doing 68 when you were doing 70 is a complete waste. Just dial down the cruise control a couple of notches instead.
  
• Patience! This car is about saving money (or the planet I guess!) I'm already doing better than twice the mileage than my Passat could ever dream of.
  
• Don't be scared of the STOP-START in town. Diesel engines reach peak efficiency once warmed-up. Restarting them doesn't waste fuel, like a petrol engine, just battery power and you're getting that back from the regen-braking.
  

The game has definitely changed. I see a lot of different business people with my job and I've mentioned the car to most. When I talk about the zero road tax, zero congestion charge and possibly doing 80mpg... jaws drop

"I do 0 to 60 in blah blah..." is dead, mileage is the new king. Long live the King!

I'd not worry about what the display says, fill it, run it down, refill and work out what you get. Displays can be rather optimistic.

Last two tanks I've averaged 78 mpg. On the first tank with 6 miles on the clock it did 62 mpg. I noticed it get better over the first 6000 miles.

And I don't open the window, I have the climate control on all the time. Also the 1.2 diesel hates 1500 revs or less under load. Economy plummets.

Thanks for the reply. Its reassuring to know that we can expect the mpg to increase!

Glad you have it and enjoying it, looks very nice.

I've done around the 1500km running in mileage. Nice long run to Manchester and back, then off to Dover

I'd have to say the engine seems to have plenty of go for 1.2l and 3 cylinders. Certainly enough to avoid scraps in town. There isn't alot of umph @ 60+ mph but I'm too old for that now I wouldn't recommend it for towing a big caravan though.

Nice to know the mileage improves, I think the computer gives an average of 60mpg which is still pretty impressive but I take the point the computer is only making an estimate. Next time I'm near empty I'll fill up and see how far I can get on one tank.

Obviously I'm very happy with the car but I'll try and think of the absolutely worst features just to be objective...

Cigarette lighter socket - terrible spot right by the hand brake. Fine for charging a phone but not nice with a Sat-Nag cable draped across the dash.

Absolutely no doubt you have a diesel engine when starting. However, cruising down the motorway engine noise isn't noticeable.

Pouring rain - the wing mirrors seem to funnel the rain right at the side windows... car doesn't like me smoking it seems!

Regarding the cigarette lighter problem:

I bought a cheap double adapter from Maplin, cut the plug off and added a 5A inline fuse. For the earth I crimped on a ring and bolted it to the chassis (I found a spot where a plastic air vent is screwed to metal right under the steering wheel.) For power I crimped on a standard blade and jacked an unused fuse spot. Ignoring the mini-fuses on the right side of the fuse panel, the bottom right fuse (from the standard size ones) is for the heated seats. The third one in from there is unused though. The bus behind is 30A cable so my 5A doodad won't be a problem. This bus is only active with the ignition on unlike the cigarette adapter which is always on.

After tucking the cables out of the way I stuck the double adapter on the plastic to the right of the accelerator pedal with a double sided sticky pad. Voilà! Now I can run the Sat-Nag cable around the outside of the dash and back up into the foot well.

More on the mileage later

POSitality, nice review. I'm enjoying reading your posts. On you earlier point about the rear seat squabs when folded up and possibily being damaged or becoming worn, I would say don't worry. My Mk2 Fabia diesel estate is over 3 years old now and has been used for everything and anything in that time. The seats are amazingly robust and resistant to damage and wear. Ours looks like new inside and out. I did however, have the whole car treated inside and out with Supagard for protection, but even so, I don't know anyone personally who has complained of poor seat wear. Keep posting and enjoy your new car.

Whoa! Been a while... work work work

Done about 3500 miles in the Greenline now so I really have a good feel for it. So a few catch-up points:

Mileage - I've mostly been doing short journeys around London and hardly any motorway miles. Rubbish for mileage of course but from what I'm seeing you should expect 50mpg as your absolute worst base line, driving like a complete idiot...

Performance - it won't scream off the lights and it won't lose you your license doing over a ton (hopefully boredom will kick in before you get to 100!) Fine for me In between though there's plenty of power to do some fast manoeuvring and handles very nicely.

Comfort - I spend more time in this car travelling to jobs than actually working it seems and the seats have suited me fine. I do miss the lumbar support my old Chrysler had a little. Glad I don't have the stupid arm rest some have mentioned.

Improvements - apart from the stupid cigarette socket placement I've said about before, only a couple of things come to mind. The front styling is lovely but given the bullseye / giant marble headlamps it would have been nice to have the rear light clusters in a similar style. Expecting a bit too much from an estate I guess. One other thing might not yet be important: if the government does up the speed limit to 80 (as has been threatened for the last few decades) this car is really begging for a 6th gear. On a nice flat road you want to be in 5th around 50mph and getting to 70 on the motorway I really itch to change up one more gear. Most of the time I do 65-68 which is fine but if I was doing 75-68...

Anyway, as I said before, if you like VAG cars in general this is great. If, like me, you're a service engineer going into the congestion zone this (or maybe the Roomster) is the only thing to get. Fancy getting a ladder on a Prius? And you have to pay £25 road tax on that

My father-in-law got a note the other day about his 10 year old VW Transporter. Either he scraps it, rebuilds the exhaust system or pays the £100 per day (yes read that again!) to cross into the Low Emission Zone. And that runs 24/7 365 days a year from January next year. "This, Frank, is why I got the Greenline..." I'd be surprised if the LEZ would affect me in the next decade let alone the time I own this car!

Hehe, Greenlines could only be greener if they ran off the rocking-horse **** they're as rare as :p

Regards,

Andy

Prius are road tax exempt as well mate.

Glad you are enjoying you car mind...

Wow! Really?! Yes... that would make sense: even though they chuck out more pollution than my Greenline we can't upset the Clapham set :p

I see the DVLA re-jigged the charges from 2010 to encourage lower emission cars. Thanks for the correction but I'll still sneer at anyone with a Prius for destroying the planet though, all those rare-earth minerals have to come from somewhere!

That's a nice colour! When I was in Holland a few weeks ago 90% of fabias were greenline combis :-)

So that's where they've all gone

They were really popular!

I think I've seen this car around London... Looked nice.

There can't be many Greenline II Estates in that colour in London.

I'd not worry about what the display says, fill it, run it down, refill and work out what you get. Displays can be rather optimistic.

Last two tanks I've averaged 78 mpg. On the first tank with 6 miles on the clock it did 62 mpg. I noticed it get better over the first 6000 miles.

And I don't open the window, I have the climate control on all the time. Also the 1.2 diesel hates 1500 revs or less under load. Economy plummets.

Some very interesting points you have raised there BossFox. Since driving my 1.2 diesel greenline .. 5 weeks old now with about 1700 miles up .. I've been quite disappointed with the mpg as I drive like the proverbial vicars' wife. Skoda have claimed well over 80 mpg in the 'mixed' class for consumption yet I've never got beyond 72 mpg! As in tank to tank and not the onboard poot. Now it has occured to me that I may have been pussy footing it a bit judging by your comments, and your post seems to suggest getting a little more vigorous and get up above 1500 revs whatever the gear. Is this something you've derived from your own experience or is there some technical reference elsewhere? All the same you are suggesting it's good for economy so I must try changing my driving style. I think someone posted in another post that we need to get quite a few thousand miles on the clock before the real economy for this models really boots in. So should I be optimistic after a few more thousand miles on the clock for a better return on the consumption?

Really enjoying my car but had hoped for a few more miles to the gallon. Could still come by the sound of it.

It's my experience from having done 13,000 miles in my GL2 Estate since January.

Peak torque is at 2000rpm, so you need to be there or just under.

Under 1500 rpm the turbo is not helping and it's pretty uneconomical, it seems to just throw fuel through the engine when under load without producing much power.

So you really need to keep it between 1500-2000rpm if you can unless coasting down hills.

I never rev the engine over about 2250rpm because there is no need, it produces plenty of torque once you clear 1500rpm and changing up in the low 2000s means you drop nicely into the powerband where the turbno is working but not using too much fuel.

You've probably still got another 4000/5000 miles or so before you start to see noticably better economy too.

If you get chance, try this:

Drive up a gentle hill at 40-45mph in 5th gear and press the accelerator to maintain speed. You're off the turbo. See what the "instant mpg" display says.

Then change down to 4th and look a few seconds later.

In my car the instant mpg display jumps up by about 10mpg once the turbo is working more efficiently in 4th.

The engine and turbo are spinning faster, but running more efficiently using less fuel.

Seems common to the CR diesels that very low revs kills economy. The 1.6TDi Fabia owners have been saying the same.

I noticed the same on the 2.0CR TDi DSG, max torque is available 1750-2500rpm, the DSG will change up at over 2000rpm if driving gently and will change down before 1500. The box tries to keep the rev's around 1750rpm. If I override this in manual mode and change up earlier and hold gears longer the economy actually drops.

It seems the CR engines like a bit of boost to be efficient, this is quite different from the PD diesels that liked to be in a higher gear as possible for economy.

Cheers

Lee

Wow! Really?! Yes... that would make sense: even though they chuck out more pollution than my Greenline we can't upset the Clapham set :p

Ah, a fellow Greenline driver who hates the Prius and is aware of its huge environmental build costs. Hope you shout "mug" at them like I do!

Enjoying the reviews!

Hope you are able to enjoy your Greenline.

Hi guys,

I've got a Fabia Greenline II Estate and have a couple of questions for fellow drivers:-

1) I've done about 1500 miles so far but only average 60mpg. What do you have to do to get 80+!

2) Quite often the car overheats (I know because Stop-Start becomes disabled) and the fan goes on - there's a strong smell of hot rubber. I do mixed urban driving with some country driving and it seems quite random. Has anyone else's got hot and the fan is going like the clappers when you park and walk into work! I've checked oil & water, of course.

3) How do I know it's a greenline II? I expected a II badge to differentiate, but it's just marked as a Greenline - is that correct?

Thanks for your help.

Russell

Edited 27 November, 201114 yr by russell G

Hi guys,

I've got a Fabia Greenline II Estate and have a couple of questions for fellow drivers:-

1) I've done about 1500 miles so far but only average 60mpg. What do you have to do to get 80+!

2) Quite often the car overheats (I know because Stop-Start becomes disabled) and the fan goes on - there's a strong smell of hot rubber. I do mixed urban driving with some country driving and it seems quite random. Has anyone else's got hot and the fan is going like the clappers when you park and walk into work! I've checked oil & water, of course.

3) How do I know it's a greenline II? I expected a II badge to differentiate, but it's just marked as a Greenline - is that correct?

Thanks for your help.

Russell

In reverse order.

3 Yes, mine has only a badge on the back and I believe the GL1 did not have an estate.

2 This sounds like the car is going through a DPF regeneration and the smell and fan is normal, the smell gets less and less over time.

3. Your engine is still running in and the MPG might get better, but due to driving style and terrain you might not get to the 83+ mpg. The official MPG is calculated on the flat under best conditions and is not actually a measure of fuel used but the gases created and then converted to MPG.

I have a Greenline 2 estate and would agree with Dempsek's comments. On point one, I have only achieved 83 mpg twice. once from Stoke to Birmingham, averaging about 60mph and drafting lorries, the other time going from Birmingham to Loughborough at similar sorts of speeds. Normally, every day commuting to work, I'm somewhere in the region of 53-58 mpg but that's commuting directly through Birmingham city centre (averaging 16-20mph). Car's dome 4000 miles.