I live in Norway, but since we don't have our own forum there I thought I should join up with our friendly neighbours from across the North Sea. Right now I own a 2011 Fabia GreenLine Estate.

I had a 2006 Fabia Mk1 1.4 TDI PD Estate before, which I bought used in 2010 and drove some 66000kms or 39000 miles when I decided two months ago that I needed a new car. After changing jobs 18 months ago I was now doing 30000kms/year instead of 15000, and I needed something even more economical than my good old "Fabby", although 4,7L/100km or 60mpg on average over three years as recorded on spritmonitor.de wasn't too bad.

Being very happy with my old Fabia I had long ago decided that my new used car was going to be a Fabia, too, especially after the 2010 facelift. Initially I wanted a 1.6 litre engine, 90 or 105 HP, and while I found many of them on the market at the time, none of them had what i wanted most: cruise control. The only models that did have cruise control were quite a number of GreenLine-cars. While located all over Norway, most of them had clocked a similar number of miles, and I soon realized that there were rental or lease cars at the end of their leasing period. Nothing wrong with that, though. Also, none of the GLs had a tow bar (not that i really need one, but nice to have), and also no rear speakers, no factory-fitted alarm, no multi-function steering wheel (for my phone) or dark rear windows (for junior in the back) or other gadgetry. However, it did come with curtain side airbags, and rear disc brakes, which was an improvement over my old Fabby.

Essentially, the GL is a very basic car that does what a car should do: drive. Then again, that's all I need it for. What intruigued me the most were the fuel figures, 3.4L/100km or 89mpg in mixed driving. That was another reason for wanting the GL. Knowing that the factory figues were optimistic I guessed that I sould be able to do 3.7litres or 63mpg, which would save me some 300litres in fuel every year, money that I then could spend elsewhere.

After battling the pros and cons and still wanting the 1.6 TDI, I went for a 1.2 TDI GreenLine because the dealer made an exceptionally good offer. In hindsight, it's a decision I regret a little. The 1.6 TDI would have been much more fun to drive. That said, after covering some 4000kms or 2500miles, I am quite satisfied with my GreenLine, but I cannot say from the bottom of my heart that I am happy with it. What annoys me the most is the lack of torque at low revs. My fuel figures aren't as good as I hoped they would be, but I still manage to keep it just below the 4.0L/100km mark, that's just above 70mpg, as recorded on spritmonitor.de. Not bad at all, I'm still saving money compared to the old Fabia.

Anyway, besides driving my car, I do hope to read and write some good posts here.

Edited 31 May, 201313 yr by jankph

Welcome to the forum.

Yes, unlike the older PD engines you do have to rev the Common Rail units to get the torque.

I was averaging 72mpg, so similar to you.

Thanks for the welcome. Interesting...are you saying that the old PDs in general have better torque at lower revs than the new CRs?

Hi and welcome aboard.