Hi all,

After 2 years of lurking the site I have decided to come out and start the ball rolling so to speak with an advice request.

I already own a Roomster and a greenline Fabia and am thinking about changing the Roomster for a 1200 cc automatic Fabia estate.

My query is that is a 1200 cc automatic Fabia up to the job.

My main driving is done around town with the occasional long distance tour.

When I say long distance I mean 350 miles in one day down through France.

In this country I do not frequent the BMW lane on motorways but prefer to take my time and enjoy the scenery and driving.

I would appreciate any comments,opinions or reviews from anyone out there who owns a 1200 automatic Fabia estate.

Thanks for taking the time to read this thread.

Terry Smith

So your thinking of a fairly new one then? If so that's a DSG gearbox (didn't make a 1.2 auto) which is a manual gearbox with dual clutch and electronic control so kinda mimics an auto.

Pretty good combination with the 1.2 TSI engine but drive one first they are not for everyone. There are some new software updates now which sort out the delay in pulling away issue which bugged the early ones. If it is the TSi engine it's really a marvel of modern technology, 100ish bhp (in top guise) from a 1.2 8v engine, pulls well and the estate is in my view very practical. When I'm borrowing a loan car from work I always try to nab our 1.2TSi Scout, it's my fav car out of the lot.

Welcome Tailend, nice to know you are not stalking us anymore!!...

I own the estate, but the diesel version and it is very practical as Tech1e says. I have often driven the estate petrol TSI manual version however with 105ps engine. If you want to frequent the BMW lane, that's not a problem with this engine...it has oodles of power. If I was buying a new car and wanted petrol, it would be my choice. Good luck and post back to let us know what you eventually buy.

BMW LANE..?

BMW LANE..?

outside lane up your ar&^s

1327841786[/url]' post='2665090']

outside lane up your ar&^s

Oh the old Audi lane ?

We have the 1.2 TSi DSG hatchback. Wife uses it fio short commutes, shopping etc, but about once a month we do a 350+ mile round trip to Norfolk. Stands up to it easily. Only word of caution, 80mph cruising gives you a fuel consumption of around 35mpg. Otherwise a very nice car.

We have the 1.2 TSi DSG hatchback. Wife uses it fio short commutes, shopping etc, but about once a month we do a 350+ mile round trip to Norfolk. Stands up to it easily. Only word of caution, 80mph cruising gives you a fuel consumption of around 35mpg. Otherwise a very nice car.

Wow, my vRS equals or betters that.

DSG is good but i do have the padels to overide the system whenever i want and can easily switch back to 'auto' mode. I don't think these are available in any of the non vRS DSG cars but you can still drive in tiptronic mode (knock the selector to the left and just push forward to change up and back to change down) push the selector to the right again to re enable auto mode. Really surprised the other day when i went for a ride in a friends A1 1.4 with DSG (non turbo), no paddles.

I don't have the DSG, but do have the 1.2 TSI.

It's an absolute cracker. My usual mileage is a short commute, but recently I have needed to do a 600 mile round trip to visit my girlfriend The third such trip is coming up.

The car just eats it up, no problem whatsoever.

A steady 80mph gets me 38/39 mpg. If I stick to 70, it's 45-49 mpg.

Edited 30 January, 201214 yr by Mike Wrightson

Wow, my vRS equals or betters that.

DSG is good but i do have the padels to overide the system whenever i want and can easily switch back to 'auto' mode. I don't think these are available in any of the non vRS DSG cars but you can still drive in tiptronic mode (knock the selector to the left and just push forward to change up and back to change down) push the selector to the right again to re enable auto mode. Really surprised the other day when i went for a ride in a friends A1 1.4 with DSG (non turbo), no paddles.

I don't think that it's using auto mode that's the problem, probably asking a lot of a 1.2 engine as compared to your 1.4. As the next poster points out, you get a lot more miles for your money if you drive slower.

I don't have the DSG, but do have the 1.2 TSI.

It's an absolute cracker. My usual mileage is a short commute, but recently I have needed to do a 600 mile round trip to visit my girlfriend The third such trip is coming up.

The car just eats it up, no problem whatsoever.

A steady 80mph gets me 38/39 mpg. If I stick to 70, it's 45-49 mpg.

So Mike, which speed do you drive at when you are going to see your girlfriend? :yes:

I find the 1.2 TSi/DSG combo relatively effortless because it will pull hard low revs with very low noise. Can zip out at roundabouts without making a fuss, 60-70 in 6th or 7th is pretty reasonable too.