Hi,

 

Im just looking for a little bit of information really. I've owned a MK1 vRS and currently have got a Octavia vRS TDI however due to a recent house purchase I'm probably going to have to be downsizing the car. The monthly fuel bills, yearly tax bill and tyre costs etc are just going to be too much. How do owners find their Fabia 1.4TDi's? Are these cars in the £30 a year road tax bracket?? what is the fuel consumption like in the real world and how do they perform? I know its not going to be a vRS or anything but would just like to hear what people think of them.

 

Thanks guys!

Didn't know they did a 1.4tdi sport, I only know I the 1.9 tdi sport which will be identical running costs to a fabia vrs mk1.

Matty, had the 1422cc PD TDI Fabia mk2 Estate for 5 years and it was wonderful. Very fast for what it is and frugal beyond belief. Never had any problems with it and it returned in an urban environment (which includes some town work and lots of shorter trips around the outskirts of town) a creditable 54-57mpg depending on winter or summer diesel etc. On a run she would easily achieve an actual 68-70mpg (best of 76mpg in 4th gear on an 'A' road at 45-50mph) depending on how fast you go and the road conditions encountered. If I was tanking along at 80mph, something it is easily capable of without any stress, it would turn in 58-59mpg. But at 65-70mph it was normal to achieve around the 62-65mpg mark. But the thing is you will need to learn to drive it to get the best out of that 3 cylinder engine. It's different to all the rest and brilliant too. Yes, it's in the £30pa tax bracket. Good luck.

 

And of course this is just how I found my car to be. Your driving and roads, topography may influence things to the better or detriment.

Edited 2 July, 201313 yr by Estate Man

1.4TDi 3-pot is the best diesel motor VAG ever produced. I had it in my Lupo TDi and I loved it. I was allways giving it full beans and I never had mpg drop below 45...

The only problems I had was fuel pump developing a small leak (no effects on driving, got used part from breakers for penuts) and turbo hose splitting (big effect on driving ). I'd recommend that motor fully!

 If you are based in Cumbria, I assume you will be faced with lots of hills. We have a Mk1 1.4TDI 70 and a Mk2 1.4TDI 80 Greenline. My commute is from Manchester to Sheffield and due to the high gearing in the Greenline, the Mk1 is actually more economical (68 vs 65 mpg average for the journey to Sheffield, less returning due to the long climb out of Holmfirth on the return, on the tripmeter - tank to tank fill supports the better economy in the Mk1). As Estate man said, they do return a good turn of speed - the extra 10bhp being felt through the seat of your pants due to the higher torque (114 vs 143 ft/lbs?), even without continually thrashing them, but they are by no means a VRS alternative.

I have one and it's great fun. I love it. Never seen less than 45 to the gallon and I work the little thing.

Thanks guys. At the moment it's between a Yaris 1.4 diesel, a Fabia sport diesel or a Fiesta Zetec S TDCi. Just struggling to get my head around the Fabia 2 styling, never been a massive fan of it really, the fiesta looks nicer and the Yaris has the 5 year warranty which is useful as well.

Try Kia and Hyunday as well, really nnice cars with lots of toys in basic price and massive 7 years warranty with Kia.

 

When I was on the market for a car I was looking at the same ones you are now and look what I ended up with

I've got a Fabia 2 1.4 TDI and it goes very well. My previous was the old 1.9SDI and this one immediately impressed with the extra power. It is not a sports car but it goes very nicely. When I got it, I noticed that I needed to rev it more than the old SDI.  I've only done 18000 miles in it so far so it is barely run in, but I don't get the mileage Estate Man gets. Around town it will produce about 50/55 depending on winter or summer diesel and lights and wipers and such, and on the motorway at about 70/75 indicated speed it will do about 58mpg. On a slow 'A' road it will return about 63mpg. I don't think I ever saw a trip with better fuel consumption than 65 wheras my old 1.9 SDI would easily do 68. That thing just chugged along like a steam engine and sipped on the juice. It still does - one of my sons has it. I love the car. It feels really solid and is built to a very nice quality standard.

Edited 5 July, 201312 yr by EvilV