Thinking of buying a 2019 Fabia SE. I currently drive a Hyundai i10 1.0 so I'm not looking for a ball of fire. I'm just a little concerned because some reviews say the MPI 75 engine is dangerously slow. On paper it's the same as my Hyundai but the Fabia is heavier. Any advice would be appreciated.

Welcome.

I can not see how a 75ps car can be dangerously slow in the UK just because there is not a turbo.

Unless fully loaded and towing a trailer / caravan with a roof box fitted but then it is limited to 50mph on NSL roads.

 

Best try one before buying one. 

If it was dangerous, it would be in a high insurance group. It doesn't have anything like the low down pulling power of the turbo models. Skoda really should make the non-turbo a 1.2 litre like the Peugeot/Citroen 1.2 litre PureTech non-turbo petrol engine. That engine can produce maximum torque from 2,750rpm so if the top gear is geared at 20mph/1,000rpm you would get maximum torque in top gear when driving at just 55mph. This makes for a very nice and leisurely driving experience, not the frantic gutless behaviour of less civilised engines.

 

The Fabia 1.0 litre petrol non-turbo produces 95Nm of torque at 3,000rpm compared to the Peugeot 1.2 litre petrol non-turbo with 118Nm of torque at 2,750rpm. So the Peugeot produces 24% more torque than the Fabia and does so at a lower engine speed. Compared to the Peugeot engine, the Fabia engine is very disappointing.

Edited 14 July, 20205 yr by Carlston

VW Group have done 1.2 cc petrol engines long enough now in Euro 5 & Euro 6 and discontinued them.

N/A and Turbo and just so so. 110 ps max, but they have done 60,70,75,90,105 & 110ps and now they are no more.

If someone wants a 1.2PSA engine vehicle they are there to be bought in various Peugeot, Opel / Vauxhall, Citroen / DS.

Or Suzuki, Honda, Kia / Hyundai or just anyone. But then they are now having to go mild hybrid as well now.

 

Wishing for better from VW is just a waste of time, they are going light hybrid with their small capacity turbo petrol engines now simply because the biggest car manufacturer in the world builds so so ebgines.

Simple 1.2 n/a engines are not a bad thing to have if you do want a small VW vehicle & now a 1.0 litre n/a engine.

Edited 14 July, 20205 yr by Roottoot

If I may, as an owner of a Fabia MPI 75 estate & previously owned a Fabia MPI 75 hatch put in my experience.

 

It all depends on how you drive. It is not a ball of fire.

 

If in 5th gear you are looking to overtake & change down to 4th thinking to rapidly accelerate, you will  probably notice very little extra acceleration, down to 3rd you might get something.

 

I live in Cheshire & my normal route takes me to the Wirral. That journey involves some town driving, a fair amount of country roads & a fair chunk of motorway it also includes a long steepening hill.

In general the car is capable, without stress, of keeping up with traffic. Nowadays virtually all of the country roads are covered by 50mph limits. Kelsall Hill requires entering at the maximum permissible speed[70mph], but if not baulked it will, in 5th gear keep up with & be faster than many vehicles on the hill usually reaching the top at around 65mph. If however the speed drops away for whatever reason, you will not get it back, even changing down to 3rd.

It will happily cruise on the motorway at 70mph &it  keep up with town traffic

 

Driven with foresight & anticipation it is in todays speed controlled roads, perfectly acceptable.

 

It is not the engine for someone wanting to overtake by going for gaps in traffic, or tear away from the lights.

 

The computer says on such trips that it is giving me 53-54mpg - it lies. From experience it is less, probably around 50mpg   - but from that I think you can judge that I do not flog the engine.

Cheshirecat - Many thanks for taking the time to go into such detail. From your description it sounds very much like my i10 in terms of performance, which is fine.  I just need something a little bigger and ideally with more refinement. I think the Fabia will do just fine. Thanks again.

17 hours ago, Tonobo said:

Thinking of buying a 2019 Fabia SE. I currently drive a Hyundai i10 1.0 so I'm not looking for a ball of fire. I'm just a little concerned because some reviews say the MPI 75 engine is dangerously slow. On paper it's the same as my Hyundai but the Fabia is heavier. Any advice would be appreciated.

https://autobible.euro.cz/srovnavaci-test-3x-skoda-fabia-1-0/

 

Škoda Fabia 1.0 MPI vs. 1.0 TSI 70 kW vs. 1.0 TSI 81 kW: Verdict

If you buy the Fabia as a universal means of transport, with which you will also go on holiday with your family, or every weekend to visit your relatives in Moravia, you would probably come across its limits with the MPI soon and take the TSI. Just, if possible, do not drive around the city or "around the chimney" every day. Škoda Auto has now saved you the dilemma of choosing between the 95k and 110k versions, the second is now only with the machine, the first exclusively with the manual. But if you are not in a hurry, you usually ride solo and you cannot avoid frequent short trips, MPI is ideal for you. It drives better than you think, saves a lot in purchasing and service, and is significantly more pleasant than TSIs in the city due to faster responses and shorter gears. At the same time, it is usually surprisingly more economical when driving quietly at low speeds. And because the families who use the Fabia as a family or vacation car are slowly but surely declining, we consider the benefits provided by the MPI engine to be more important. And we also declare him the clear winner of the test.

To add to my missive, in view of Korculas posting, I should point out that the car is usually driven one up & only some photographic gear [inc tripod] in the boot. Pretty light therefore. On the few occasions it has been more heavily loaded I confess to not having noticed much difference - perhaps I wasn't thinking about it.

I've got this engine in my Fabia. It drives fine, and wouldn't hesitate in buying one again. People who have been in the car are surprised how nippy/quick it is and don't know what spec or engine it is. Most of our driving is around town and dual carriageways/A roads. We have just come back from a short break holiday, the boot was fully loaded (having a wife and daughter who take everything but the kitchen sink with them) and the car was fine and at no point did i feel the car was under powered. I've had `fast' and bigger/turbo'd cars (Golf TDI/Toyota RAV4) and don't drive my Fabia any different. The reason I got this car is because I got a loan one for 2 weeks whilst my Citigo was at the dealers for a clutch problem. I did'nt know what engine it had or anything, but was impressed how it drove. When I took it back I asked the dealership what engine it had and was really surprised when the woman told me. She laughed and said "yes, we often get that reaction, as people think it will be a slow lump". This is an argument I have on various forums as people only see the spec on paper and automatically and think it will be a lumbering slow granny car, but i know it is not.

Edited 16 July, 20205 yr by ncd

I tried The Mpi in black, it looked cool.

I bought the 110 Fabia estate because it was cool and could carry passengers and luggage

without struggling.

Just an update on buying a Fabia, I hate it when people ask for advice and then don't post an update how they got on.

I was all set to buy a nice 2018 SE -L model until I got talking about servicing costs. It turns out that Skoda recommend changing the timing belt every 4 years. I'll be honest I was a bit shocked. I've never heard of a car that requires such frequent timing belt changes. A Fiesta is good for 120K.  It's not even so much the cost involved, it's more to do with how little faith Skoda have in their own engine.

Thanks for the advice but it's back to the drawing board for me.

4 hours ago, Tonobo said:

It turns out that Skoda recommend changing the timing belt every 4 years

 

They also recommend it gets checked at 160000 miles and then every 20000 if not changed.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

All a bit confusing then. What do you guys who own a Fabia do about the timing belt?

Last car I changed it at 8 years and 96 K miles.

Car still good at 17 years and 135 K miles.

 

Present cars one has a chain and all good at 11 years and 120 K miles.

 

Haven't heard reports of the present TSI engines with broken cam belts.

 

Will inspect it in a few years time, at about 6-8 years old.

It is Skoda UK that reccomed the 4 year change not the belt manufacture.

 

Thanks AG Falco

Edited 2 August, 20205 yr by AGFalco
Added UK line

The timing belt change interval caught me out. I bought a Rapid Spaceback 1.2 TSI 110. It will be 4 in November and has only done 15k. Skoda told me the belt isn't due until it is 5 years old though. My last car was a Fiesta which I had for near on 17 years and only had to change the belt once when it was 10 years old. Skoda have quoted around 500ish for the belt when it is due. 

I have to admit that as much as I would have loved to buy the Fabia I was looking at there is now too much doubt in my mind.  I'm going to look at a Mazda 2 today. Thank you all for the advice and info.