Hi all,

 

Thought I would write up a wee review on my Fabia 1.0 MPI estate.

 

We bought the Fabia back in January to replace our diesel Astra hatchback as we were simply not covering the miles to warrant a diesel, we had done 5000 miles in total mostly commuting to work and doing the Nursery run.

 

At the time I had a second car so we plumped for the Base Model S with the MPI engine in it, as it would mostly be used for commuting to work 2 days a week and picking the wee man up from nursery.

 

Cut a long story short the second car got scrapped and the Fabia became the main car, so needless to say I stamped my own touch on the car with alloys, lowered it (see my project thread for full details) but one thing I had never really done with the car until this weekend was really spend some decent time driving the car to see how it would cope with a family break away and display it at a car show with the club that I ran.

 

So how did I find the car this weekend, well quite simply it’s put a huge smile on my face, for a family sized car with a 1.0 3 cylinder engine taken from a Citigo and a UP I was a bit sceptical of how it would lug a family about, but the first leg of the journey was mainly motorway heading out to Ayr and the car simply ate up the miles (as a passenger at the time it was quite relaxing while the wife drove) it returned at the end of the leg 1a mpg of about 54mpg.

 

The second leg of the journey was to head back home to prepare for the car show, so my route Which is more direct and avoiding motorways was cross country from west to east on the A70 and to be fair it was mostly uphill, bendy and this is where the real test for the MPI is and I admit there is a lot of gear changing to cope with some of the bends, but the car coped well, I find you have to push it hard before changing gear and for the type of roads I was on it was mainly 4th gear the car was in and changing to 3rd for the bends and the climbs, time I got home the car had returned about 52mpg.

 

The third leg of the journey was on my favourite road the A7 down to Selkirk and this is where I found the Fabia to be in its element, again it’s crossing through countryside into the Scottish Borders, and it’s got some good bends that you can push the car into, and the car simply ate up the miles, ate up the bends and proved to be as much fun with my friends behind me in a Micra 160SR and a Track prepared Focus ST170, and I honestly forget I am driving a estate car.

 

The fourth leg after the car show involved you guessed it cross country down to the M74 via Moffat and back up the M74 before cross country on the A70 again and the first leg to Moffat was again a work out for the little Fabia, the road down is narrow in places, bendy and a bit rough, again it was a road where you really can only use 4th gear maximum and 3rd gear for climbing or descending the hills, hitting the M74 I found the car just ate up the miles, kept up with traffic, my only quibble being is that it could do with Cruise Control and a extra cog on the gearbox, it’s not a noisy car on the motorway sits about 3600rpm on the motorway, by the time I hit the A70 again I started to push the car within the limits and road conditions, seeing the road from a different angle and the Fabia ate up the last 30 miles, again you think you are forgetting it’s a estate car, the standard swing infotainment system is adaquate for my needs, my only gripe I found is that it will not play one of my memory sticks which my last couple of cars did,  not sure if it’s the way it’s been formatted but it’s a PITA, the car also does not have air con and the summer months have been torture but we have coped to live without it and to be fair the cold air blowing at your face does keep you cool, until you change it to windscreen and you notice the heat difference, as I arrived back at Ayr I had a huge smile on my face, simply the most fun drive I have had in a while, fuel consumption was 53mpg.

 

The last leg I was a passenger again and it was motorway All the way home to Edinburgh and again the Fabia ate up the miles returning a average of 54mpg from the whole trip which was 443 miles, so what can I say about the MPI?? If you are looking for a economical, comfortable family estate, can live without things like air con, cruise control, alloys then I can recommend the MPI, I would have preferred a TSI at time of purchase but  because we had the second car we plumped for the MPI engine and it’s not failed to impress, if you like to drive you do have to work it hard but that’s something I enjoy is working it hard, it puts a smile on my face, I would say if you are doing long distance journeys then it’s most suited to motorways, it will keep up with traffic, it does eat up the miles, but if there is a cruise control option then spec it.

 

All in all after 440miles I can safely say it’s a dependable little car that will not let you down.

 

Davy

Yep, nice review. Not surprised at all that you are happy with it. The MPI is a trouble free little motor and goes really well. Is it 60ps or 70ps?

75bhp version which I guess is 70ps.

 

Davy

I don't see the need for an overly powerful vehicle on public roads where your speed is governed by the conditions, other traffic and the law.

Back in the day, Australian companies used to insist on locally built 6 and 8 cylinder cars as company cars. So I get to drive my first brand new managerial 4 litre car home, and use a bit of throttle away from traffic lights on an urban dual-carriageway, around a bend and straight into a speed trap!

I got fined for speeding at 68kph in a 60kph zone within 300 metres of leaving the office and a demerit point on my license.

That sort of thing scars you for life and I swore I would avoid another such stupid incident and so far I have been successful.

 

My road rules are:

Abide by the indicated road speeds, however know the (in)accuracy of your speedometer so you don't concede unnecessary kph.

Only overtake slower moving vehicles (I know 'duh') if there is a real benefit. No point if you only make a few hundred metres to the next slow moving set of vehicles.

If you are overtaking a slow moving vehicle then be prepared to break the speed limit to complete the manoeuvre with the least amount of time on the wrong side of the road. For some reason a person cruising at 90kph on a 110kph road will speed up when overtaken, I think it is an Australian thing.

 

The traffic on UK roads and motorways is just extraordinary 24/7,  but by and large the standard of driving is much better than in Australia and most adhere to the road rules, unless they drive a BMW of course . During the month I spent there last year I only saw one case of extreme speeding on a relatively empty Kent motorway and that was a motorcycle doing close to 150mph by my reckoning.

 

Our secondary vehicle is a 15 yo 1.3L Toyota Echo (Yaris) probably similar performance to yours (when our air-con is not switched on) but I'd happily drive almost anywhere in Australia in it, although cruise control would be nice if driving the 3000 km to Darwin. I don't think it would have any problems with the Northern Territory 130kph speed limits either. I have never had any issues overtaking with it either.

 

Our main car is a base 1.4tsi Octavia wagon and over 4 years have only had to use anywhere near its potential performance on three occasions.

I love the car for many things,  including its fuel economy, While I appreciate what it can do but I have absolutely no need for more performance. 98% of the time I use less than 50% of its performance potential.

 

I am a bit stunned at UK prices but Skoda Australia have just announced new drive-away pricing on their range (inc all delivery charges and road tax) and a 1.0tsi manual Fabia wagon starts at A$16990 which is under 10,000 pounds.  Could be an interesting downsize option for us if the need arises although by then we would probably need the pricier DSG and cruise control fitted if we did want to travel interstate in it.

https://www.carsales.com.au/editorial/details/skoda-fabia-and-rapid-upgraded-114686/

 

 

 

 

 

12 hours ago, Estate Man said:

Yep, nice review. Not surprised at all that you are happy with it. The MPI is a trouble free little motor and goes really well. Is it 60ps or 70ps?

 

Actually, my bad. Meant to ask, is it 60 or 75ps? So you have the 75ps. That's about 74bhp. Very good and is the best one to have in the estate car. Quite a nice combination of car size and power output for economy. Good choice!

Before we picked the car up I did think it was the 60bhp version my last car was a 165bhp astra so it's a bit of a comedown powerwise. 

 

Davy

The joys of a 10 gallon ( or thereabouts ) tank:

 

The miles since refuelling plus the range will give mpg X 10 ( or thereabouts )

No need for mental gymnastics !

I think I spotted your car at the Selkirk classic car rally, parked near the catering vans.  IIRC there was some other fairly modern cars there also, but yours looked to have had the most effort put into it.   I remember saying to my mate "that's a bit fresh for a classic rally, if they're letting something as shiny and new as that in I should bring my Yeti, it's older and out of production, and we'd save the admission charges for the public"

 

I'd have taken some photos, but the weather wasn't great for photography. It was dull and threatening to rain for most of the time we were there, so I'd left the camera in the car.

Yeah that was me, I run a car club so we managed to get a club stand going to be fair I think they were struggling for cars I think the ring area as they asked our club if we wanted to drive round the ring. We declined as there might have been a uproar. 

Perhaps the unpromising weather caused some of those from further afield to call off.  TBH my first impression was that the Biggar rally was better (and bigger  ) .  More commercial vehicles (well - it's organised by the Albion Trust, so not a surprise really), military, PSV's, farming, etc as well as more cars.  Plus it seemed better organised, my mate felt much the same, he said that he thought the best organised bit of the Selkirk show was the visitor car park!  I think yours was the only Skoda of any age that was there though.

I did spot a kodiaq but think it was towing something. 

 

Anyhow car is back to normal bus now of commuting and fuel consumption has dropped to between 52 and 53.

 

Looks like its heading for I would say a 520 mile tank. 

 

Davy

Well today the fuel light came on....

 

Got to say I am impressed with what I got out of the little Fabia, could have pushed it another day but did not want to chance it.

 

Davy

How many litres on the refill?

I only stuck 30 quid in so only took it to 3/4 full. 

 

Davy

1 hour ago, Skodaboy1983 said:

I only stuck 30 quid in so only took it to 3/4 full. 

 

Davy

Nooooooooooooooooooooo......

How could you.......

Disappointed! :(