Well, after having a little bump a couple of weeks ago (grill cracked, some bumper scratches etc) my cars gone in for repair at my main dealer so got a courtesy Fabia..

My god its slow - slower than a slow thing but reckon the MPG will be top on it I guess.. Looked up in the book and its got 54bhp - its the 6v engine I think. Also car doesnt have aircon - a big downside right now.. Having said that it cracks a ton.. eventually.

Anyways.. at least its free to use!!

Paul..

Isn't the 1.2 a 12v engine? I bet it's better than the 1litre 12v Corsa I had the benefit of using while my car was being repaired, although that could crack a ton eventually too (I'm told)!

Rob.

There seems to be 2 engines - the 1.2 6v (54bhp) and the 1.2 12v (64bhp) ...

Not pleasant really but free so who am I to complain. Was a surprise when I booted it and nothing at all happened..! Makes me appreciate the power of the vRS more and more!

Paul..

Ah, right. Economy will be good round town, but if you take it anywhere near a motorway it'll cost a fortune...

Rob.

Paul it probably goes quicker than the Metro when we met at the Prom Stages

Hmmm fiance is thinking of something along those lines or a Polo, suppose it has to be better than a 1000cc Micra though

Changing subject a bit ~ are you still looking for a shell, saw a seam welded example yesterday, fresh paint but nothing attached.

Erik

At least I got a 1.4 16V for today and tomorrow

Quite nippy really, also free

Can't wait to get mine back and it could have been worse, last time I got a 4x4 estate

Driven the 1.4, found it quite fun. Ok, it has a bit less power than my octy but still chuckable.

Only passengered in 1.2 - think it was the 12v - surprisingly nippy.

Jon, stop stirring! How old are you now? (and don't say 28! )

29 tomorrow

Nah it was a light metallic blue 4x4 estate, with virulent teddy bear coloured leather seats.

I was in tandem with a 1.2 around the Exeter outer ring road, and despite my best prejudices, it was going considerably quicker than I would have thought (given it has half my BHP, nearly...)

(it may have been the 12v - it has HTP written on the back...)

I don't think I've ever driven anything as low as 54 bhp. I had a couple of 1000cc minis a few years ago, don't know what the power output was, but they felt relatively quick at the time - could only make 85mph flat out but that was 85mph on the straights, round the corners, round the roundabouts ...........

I've driven a bog-standard xsara that had something like 60bhp, and really noticed the difference.

Might have been to do with xsara's being pants too, as well....

I drove a poxy work fiesta from Plymouth to Exeter - SO slow I was being overtaken by juggernauts going up the hills on the A38. A trip I NEVER wish to re-live any time soon.

Originally posted by RallyMarshal in this post

There seems to be 2 engines - the 1.2 6v (54bhp) and the 1.2 12v (64bhp) ... B]

It must be a 3 pot engine then if it's got 6 valves...

The other half and I had a 1.2 6v Fabia for the weekend a few weeks back, just to have a play... I was surprised that it was so good on fuel on the motorway between my place and Brighton, but f@ck... was it slow. And that's coming from someone who's never driven larger than a 1.6!

Yeah, 'tis a three pot engine...

Rob.

Originally posted by Jimmy in this post

It must be a 3 pot engine then if it's got 6 valves...

Yep, 3 cylinder engine, and there are 2 types- the 54bhp 6v and the 64bhp 12v.

Both good on fuel, by the way.

Yeah - I thought it was 3 cylinder too - Would that have benefits on speed of RPM acceleration compared to a 4-cyl. I remember my cuz's awful 3 cyl 12V corsa - not special at all!

Think it would run smoother (3 cylinders is traditionally a very geometrically balanced design), and

probably have more torque...

Was it the 1.2 Corsa engine or the 1.0? Either way, Vauxhall transmissions are a bit lazy anyway...

Rob.

I think it was a 1.0, at least I think. He now has more sense and is driving around in a 52 reg 1.8 SRI Astra... A wee bit quicker and slightly better quality (let down by the vauxhall badge on the bonnet... )

Originally posted by robmawer in this post

Think it would run smoother (3 cylinders is traditionally a very geometrically balanced design).

Rob.

3 cylinders have good secondary balance (conrods & crankshafts), so no side-to-side vibration, but the primary balance is a bit iffy, because the pistons at each end aren't moving together, so there's longitudinal vibration (which can be damped by a countershaft running at engine speed). 6-cylinder in-line engines are much smoother.

Dons anorak, exits stage left...

Just browsed some tech specs on the Parkers website - most of you probably already know this - but the Octy SDi is certainly NOT a "brisk skoda"

64 bhp 100 mph 18.3 secs 0-60

Blimey ! Surprised they're putting that engine into something the size of an Octy ! Compared to me vRS that's more than twice as long 0-60 and nearly a third of the horsepower ............

Presume there aren't any Octy SDi owners on these forums then ?

They must do something special to them when they're sold as taxis.

As mentioned elsewhere there's hundreds of them around Edinburgh, and they seem to go approximatly twice the speed of light.

Yes the Taxi drivers are obviously chipping them to make them go that fast!