I have a 2003 Fabia Mk1, which I love for many reasons, but it's fitted with a 1.2 6v engine with a whopping 54bhp when new. My question is this: Is there any way to improve performance? If not, how difficult is it to swap the engine to something better, say a 1.4 100bhp from another fabia? Because as of right now, if I want to go somewhere with more than 1 other person in the car, I have to be very careful to avoid hills  

 

Another question: What are the best interior improvements that people have done to their fabias?

 

Ta!

Sell it and buy one with a bigger engine as your insurance will be ridiculous with an engine transplant. Plus a hell of a lot of work all for essentially a standard Fabia.

 

I have a VRS coming up for sale soon... buy it lol

Yeah, it wouldn't be ideal  I am very tempted by the Fabia VRS, although I do prefer the mk1 Octavia VRS. I can't really afford either though!

Assuming you are a new driver? I would wait a couple of years for the insurance to come down a bit before buying a vrs of any kind. I had the same engine as you in a polo for a first car so I understand what you mean

Surprisingly, the insurance for my 1.2 Fabia and a 1.9 VRS Fabia would be about the same... Insurance is weird. Yeah, I've been driving for just over a year now, but I've driven allsorts of cars on an airfield at a gliding club I fly from (Audi S4, BMW M3, Golf GTI would be the most exciting ones) I think insurance companies just dont like me!

That does surprise me that the insurance is the same but if they don't like you, they must hate me . I now own a Polo GT TDI which shares the same engine as the fabia Vrs and I must say the difference between the two engines (54bhp-130bhp) was massive. I love the bucket loads of torque it has, overtaking it's very handy. I would recommend the fabia vrs over the octy to be honest just based on power/weight ratio really, just my opinion! 

Yeah. To be honest, an octy would be more to insure just because of the 1.8t petrol engine. I would love a Fabia VRS, especially seeing as my Fabia is breaking   I do love my little Fabia though, I've done over 12000 miles in it in less than a year, given that my daily commute to college is 45 minutes one way and I frequently drive to devon and back I think it's done pretty well, but a diesel would make sense. That being said, my car does cope with everything pretty well, and ive made a fair few personal touches (Body colour mirrors, door handles, leather steering wheel, Polo 9n seats, alloys etc) I think a Fabia VRS would be a decent upgrade!

 

I used to do and still do actually 12,000-14,000 miles a year in my cars through travelling to work and things and my old polo never missed a beat, slow as hell but it balanced that out with bullet proof reliability. What's exactly wrong with it to be breaking mate?

Mostly suspension/undercarriage issues, super but the engine is lumpy, airbag, ABS and EML lights keep coming on, rust splotches all over the place, window regulators keep breaking (one decided to break when we were about to leave for my theory test... leaving the window wide open  Oh yeah, and the clutch is going. It had to have the exhaust valves replaced when I first got it, that was expensive.

Oh christ, that's a shame :/ , I guess at this stage it would come down to how much sentimental value your car holds and whether you would rather repair the car or replace it really. FYI rust on the wheel arches is common on polo 9n's apparently if the rust is there on yours, just something for you to look out for in case you look at buying another polo instead. Mine bubbled up bad on the passenger side and I had the wing replaced by VW body shop under 13yr paint warranty.

It really is a shame. It does hold quite a lot of sentimental value to me but it isn't going to last forever. It's just a matter of time until I'm stranded at the side of the road waiting for the AA given how shocking some of the noises it's making are!

I think you need to find a better (for you) car. If you like sporty handling, don't get a Fabia VRS, it's not sporty. Maybe have a look at the (2 generations old?) Fiesta 1.6i etc.

4 hours ago, vindaloo said:

I think you need to find a better (for you) car. If you like sporty handling, don't get a Fabia VRS, it's not sporty. Maybe have a look at the (2 generations old?) Fiesta 1.6i etc.

I find the VRS is okay handling but definitely a point and squirt car. I put Meyle Heavy Duty ARB drop links and console bushes plus bilstein B4 dampers and replaced every single bush apart from the D bushes then did the tracking and it made a huge improvement.

OP- perhaps I'm biased, but the 1.4TDi seems to be a low insurance group ,( or is it that I'm in the geriatric insurance group), but I've never found it wanting even with 4+me and a mobility scooter in boot. Alternatively, learn to drive to anticipate hills.

If you just want a run around till you can get insurance down, are not worried about speed, can manage hills without problems, and want exceptional economy, can highly recommend the Fabia 1.9 SDi.

 

I second the 1.9sdi recommend, typically got 550 miles out of tank on my daily motorway commute. It was pretty much bombproof from 60k when I got it to 180k when it died.