I picked up my new 16 plate SE L Fabia in Race Blue today and love it.

 

Took it on a longish trip out and thought it handled really well and was very comfortable.

 

Two minor criticisms; The armrest gets in the way of the handbrake and the electric windows have to be held down to open fully,otherwise thrilled to bits.

 

I just have to get my head round the infotainment system now and I've still to work out how Front Assist works properly.

Good news. I rather suspect the armrest in our car will spend most of its time in the "up" position.

Yes it is slightly irritating but no big deal really.

 

Does anyone know if I have to activate 'front assist' via Maxi Dot?

Good news. I rather suspect the armrest in our car will spend most of its time in the "up" position.

 

Maybe better news, the section of the raised armrest at the hinged end acts a bit like an arm rest?  What annoys me with the one on wife's Polo is that you can not get it to engage the "ratchet" while the handbrake is ON!

I thought the front assist thingy worked automatically if you get too close to something in front. Not sure how you test the operation of this safely/easily though.

 

http://www.skoda.co.uk/models/fabiahatch2015/safety

Yes it is slightly irritating but no big deal really.

 

Does anyone know if I have to activate 'front assist' via Maxi Dot?

 

 

Default is ON.

You will notice at an occasion.

 

 

You can test it by killing a soft rubber conduit if in doubt.

Edited 2 March, 201610 yr by pfaff

I thought the front assist thingy worked automatically if you get too close to something in front. Not sure how you test the operation of this safely/easily though.

 

http://www.skoda.co.uk/models/fabiahatch2015/safety

 I'm afraid I bottled out at the last second as nothing seemed to be happening with an empty wheelie bin and nothing showed on Maxi Dot.

I'm afraid I bottled out at the last second as nothing seemed to be happening with an empty wheelie bin and nothing showed on Maxi Dot.

Glad you are liking your new Furby, they are immensely likeable cars. Centre armrest is a bit of poor design, but I tend not to use the handbrake very much so not a problem. Lack of "one touch" windows is bit cheap, really. Front assist is on by default. Mine has scared me witless once...entirely my fault...but it is both visual and loud.

Congrats on the new car, I am sure you will enjoy it. The brake assist is enabled by default but you can disable it in stages. There's an "inadequate-distance" warning, then a loud noise with a big white graphic, then the brake pedal trembles and, apparently, if you have not reacted, full-on anchors.

  I find that it reacts pretty quickly but I have always reacted to the situation just before it warns me. I like that because I know it works well and that one day I might be distracted and slower than the detector. But once, leaving a secure area with security gates that ran on horizontal rails just above the ground, the system activated and warned me by vibrating the brake pedal in the same way as the ABS system. Someone else on this forum reported the same activation but his system went into full powerful braking and he said it was very impressive.

  You will see it activating before long, e.g. someone pulling out of a side road a bit close or someone braking in front of you. I would not test it by driving towards anything though, I think it may only operate above a certain minimum speed. It also reacts to smaller items than a car like cyclists and people.

  Lots of SEL people have complained about the arm rest getting in the way, I've got an SE and don't have that problem. Another theme is that pedestrians don't seem to be aware of the presence of the car. Mine is a dark blue DSG and often, when leaving a car park, people just don't seem to be aware and walk right in front or behind. The engine is exceptionally quiet at low speed and I think that might be something to do with it.

Picked up my SE L DSG on Monday.  Came from a Fabia II manual.  Am also impressed but still getting used to the DSG.  Agree with you over having to hold the window button down - seems to be a step backwards from the earlier model.  Don't think the seats are as comfortable than in my previous car but no doubt I will get used to them.  Still finding my way around the numerous controls and settings.  No doubt all will become clear in time.

I came to my TSi 110 DSG from an 07 diesel Yaris. Things have moved on since then. The Yaris was slow and noisy, but it was a very comfortable car on long journeys. And it had one-touch windows. Compared with that, the Fabia is quiet and fast. With the DSG especially, I recommend that you deliberately move you left leg about frequently when you are driving or you will end up with a frozen left knee when you get out of the car. The 110 + DSG is a good combination, it can give reasonable mpg or pretty good performance. Let us know how you get on. I had a lot of trouble getting a smooth getaway at first but I have come to terms. The gear box has a personality that you will learn and respect. I find that it can guess what you want to do and it will become a mechanical friend.

Glad you are liking your new Furby, they are immensely likeable cars. Centre armrest is a bit of poor design, but I tend not to use the handbrake very much so not a problem. Lack of "one touch" windows is bit cheap, really. Front assist is on by default. Mine has scared me witless once...entirely my fault...but it is both visual and loud.

You "don't use the hand brake very much"... eh?

Typed on a phone

You "don't use the hand brake very much"... eh?

Typed on a phone

 

 

The handbrake will freeze.

Leave the car engaged in 1st or reverse, frontwheels toed to the right. Well, left if thats what you prefer. Inwards to the sidewalk in any case.

Agree about the armrest mine is up most of the time though nice on a longer motorway run. Brake assist image has come on the maxidot display twice but I had my foot on the break pedal pretty quickly. The nearest miss was when the car in front breaker suddenly due to a flooded road that was hard to see. The other time was when I pulled forward out of a parking space the parked car on the other side of the road set it off and that was at low speed.

Be careful in snow if the unit gets covered it may not work properly. Enjoy your new car Joe

The handbrake will freeze.

Leave the car engaged in 1st or reverse, frontwheels toed to the right. Well, left if thats what you prefer. Inwards to the sidewalk in any case.

I'm not following what you're talking about, sorry.

Typed on a phone

I'm not following what you're talking about, sorry.

Typed on a phone

That is textbook. I don't use handbrake either as it can freeze. Instead the car is parked so that, should it had to move, the wheels are turned in such a way that the car's any potential movement will be blocked by the sidewalk.

Agree about the armrest mine is up most of the time though nice on a longer motorway run. Brake assist image has come on the maxidot display twice but I had my foot on the break pedal pretty quickly. The nearest miss was when the car in front breaker suddenly due to a flooded road that was hard to see. The other time was when I pulled forward out of a parking space the parked car on the other side of the road set it off and that was at low speed.

Be careful in snow if the unit gets covered it may not work properly. Enjoy your new car Joe

I suppose front assist is one of those things that you never want to see on the display but its nice to know it's there.

 

The other thing I'm trying to work out is the speed limiter/cruise control thing. The handbook isn't always too clear,as if something has been lost in translation from the Czech language.

 

I've also noticed how quickly the rear of the car gets dirty in this weather,having previously owned a saloon car.

Cruise control is quite easy - just turn it on, set and go. Adjust up/down the speed if you want. Restore if turned of - can turn off by brake or by slightly pushing the turn on lever.

You can also turn off cruise control and instead switch to speed limited, which will allow you to not go above certain speed limit. Just reach the wanted speed, press set and you don't have to worry that you accidently get carried away and press down the accelerator pedal. Good for speed camera zones.

cruise control is excellent. 

 

Front assist has also scared the bejesus out of me and it even braked for me which i found disturbing.....Admittedly i was going too fast so well done car.

 

Still have no idea how to activate the voice control from the steering wheel. says it is not activated. At a loss with that one. 

That is textbook. I don't use handbrake either as it can freeze. Instead the car is parked so that, should it had to move, the wheels are turned in such a way that the car's any potential movement will be blocked by the sidewalk.

Okay so I understand that, if you happen to be parked on a road, but what about whilst you're driving? When stopped at traffic lights etc? "I rarely use my handbrake" seems an odd claim to make from the person I was originally quoting...

Typed on a phone

Still have no idea how to activate the voice control from the steering wheel. says it is not activated. At a loss with that one.

Mine says the same, though it does work when I have my phone plugged in with android auto.

I have to hold the button for a couple of seconds. While holding the button it says not activated but it still triggers the Google voice command thing in android auto.

Mine says the same, though it does work when I have my phone plugged in with android auto.

I have to hold the button for a couple of seconds. While holding the button it says not activated but it still triggers the Google voice command thing in android auto.

 

 

nothing happens with the iphone. will try again. thanks for info. 

You "don't use the hand brake very much"... eh?

Typed on a phone

You "don't use the hand brake very much"... eh?

Typed on a phone

Thougt my comment was fairly straightforward. My car is DSG. "P" holds the car more than adequately on all but quite severe inclines when parked. "Hill hold" sorts it out in traffic. Previous 3 cars have all been autos and never ever had a car roll forwards or back whilst parked. On ferries I do use the handbrake, and also on Eurotunnel as it is mandatory. Previous to those cars I drove manuals for many years and invariably left them in 1st gear...without problems. Compression is a wonderful thing...particularly with diesel engines.

With the Fabia in traffic, short stops are D/S+Start/Stop, N+footbrake if S/S not yet active, (cold etc), and "P" for long stops. I simply use the available technology and, provided you engage "P" with mechanical sympathy, why would there be a problem?

Maybe I've just been lucky for 45+ years.

Thougt my comment was fairly straightforward. My car is DSG. "P" holds the car more than adequately on all but quite severe inclines when parked. "Hill hold" sorts it out in traffic. Previous 3 cars have all been autos and never ever had a car roll forwards or back whilst parked. On ferries I do use the handbrake, and also on Eurotunnel as it is mandatory. Previous to those cars I drove manuals for many years and invariably left them in 1st gear...without problems. Compression is a wonderful thing...particularly with diesel engines.

With the Fabia in traffic, short stops are D/S+Start/Stop, N+footbrake if S/S not yet active, (cold etc), and "P" for long stops. I simply use the available technology and, provided you engage "P" with mechanical sympathy, why would there be a problem?

Maybe I've just been lucky for 45+ years.

I see... you never mentioned your car was a DSG [emoji6]

Typed on a phone

I see... you never mentioned your car was a DSG [emoji6]

Typed on a phone

That's true. Sorry. However, it is mentioned on my id stuff to the left.