Hi,

Looking to by buy a new (or slightly used) car and really liking the Fabia Estate in a diesel (father in law is very happy with his Roomster) for a small family with a medium-sized dog. The only concern is from reviews that state that it has quite a bit of body roll and understeer in the corners. We do a fair amount of driving in the lake and peak districts with an almost fully loaded car, so this would be important, especially with a child and dog.

Any Fabia estate owners that can comment? Would the sport suspension option or the stability control options (or even better tyres) help with this?

Thank you!

No problem with mine and I can drive quite briskly at times... however, mine is a vRS so has uprated suspension/XDS and 17'' tyres.

Add the sports suspension if you don't mind a slightly firmer ride and ESP will help.

I think a good test drive will quell any doubt you have.

mine doesn't roll too much even though its on stilts but it does have a some under steer like all fwd cars.

The only thing that i am not keen on is the steering its really vague feeling so i tend not to push car hard as it inspires little confidence.

The estate is a good car though as it has a boot as big as a C Class Merc

If you corner fast enough to be worried about body roll and understeer, I think the dog would be thrown about to an unacceptable degree.

Without the dog and children on board I would not think you would be disappointed.

Tony

The ride quality is slightly compromised with the 'sports suspension' option (a little crashy over crappy roads) but body roll is reduced. I'm running 16" wheels with 205/45 tyres and it understeers a little, but predictably, if you push it in the wet. You have to push it really hard to get it to break away on dry roads.

It will understeer but you really have to be going mad to do that, if you are at that point you are going to fast. Mine has ESP which is very good in the wet for keeping control but again only needed if you drive with a heavy foot.

I haven't driven the non-vRS version, but Daveyboy used to be able to hustle his along at meets at a very respectable pace compaired to the vRS's! and it was a 1.4 diesel lol..

sports suspension and good tyres will help...

a mod not mentioned yet is the rear anti roll bar, this changes the characteristics and reduces understeer, if you use this be ready for a bit of oversteer though

treb, I've got one, the diesel version and it's fine. I carry just about everything in mine over all sorts of roads. I drive fairly quickly most of the time when I'm working and have to go cross country a lot sometimes with a hefty load (diesel motorcycle engines onboard). Away from work, I conserve diesel by driving more slowly. I don't have sports suspension or anything like that either. It rides the bumps well either loaded or unloaded and doesn't understeer unless you are really pushing at silly speeds into tight bends which you should prolly not be doing anyway. I don't experience vague steering or poor feedback either and I'm fussy about that sort of thing. Brakes are brilliant too. Mine has the standard 15" Antares wheels which give a very good ride with the standard tyres. If you go for the 16" sport wheels with the even lower profile tyres that alters things somewhat and it does indeed understeer more and give a much harsher ride, but it's still abosulutely fine and better than most. Bear in mind we all have slightly differing opinions on these sort of things and different driving abilities and understandings. So the best way is for you to go drive one!

Wow, thanks everyone for the replies, very much appreciated! Ok, so it sounds like the reviews were a bit off the mark on this one and they may have tried to drive it to its extremes. The comments have been very helpful and so it sounds like the ESP and sport suspension would help (but the latter may not be necessary). Will definitely test drive it (unfortunately it will be in city conditions rather than winding country road conditions, but the comments you all have contributed should give me a better idea now of what to expect).

Thank you all again!

I had an Audi A4 before my Fabia and as it is the Elegance I have the 205/45/16 tyres which sharpen the handling but make the ride a bit harder than the 195/55/15 fitted as standard to the S and SE.

Given it is taller and narrower plus less sports orientated I expected the Fabia to have more roll on corners and be a softer ride but not so. Personally I would trade a softer ride for a little more roll and less sharp handing. The loading ratings are the same so I don't think the estate gets different suspension to the hatch.

As you say you will normally have a good load that will make the ride less harsh. In a nearly empty car B roads can be quite a rough ride and in particular trenches dug across roads often give quite a jolt.