I'm considering a Fabia for my wife, up to 2 years old. Is it worth seeking out the more powerful 115 bhp engine? Does economy suffer with the higher output engine at all?

Economy is almost identical. Only you can say whether she would appreciate the extra performance and whether it’s worth whatever the premium is.

For (say) a 2023/2024-built Skoda Fabia with the 1.0-litre 3-cylinder petrol engines, the lower-specification SE Comfort and Colour Edition models had (as standard) a 80hp or 95hp unit with a 5-speed manual, gearbox, while the SE L model (like my 2024 version) had a 110hp motor with a six-speed manual gearbox or (optional) 7-speed DCT automatic transmission.

Fuel consumption will depend on where and how the owner drives the car.

Regarding performance, the Owner's Manual for a 2023/2024 Fabia provides data on 6 possible motors. The two 999cc 3-cylinder turbocharged motors are said to have a power output of 94bhp (5000-5500rpm) or 109bhp (5500rpm).

The 94bhp version has a maximum torque of 175Nm at 2000-3500rpm and (manual transmission) a maximum speed (in 5th) of 118mph with a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 10.7 seconds.

The 109bhp version has a maximum torque of 200Nm at 1500-3000rpm and (manual transmission, a maximum speed (in 5th) of 126mph with a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 9.9 seconds. The variant with 7-speed DCT automatic transmission has a maximum speed (in 6th) of 125mph and a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 9.8 seconds.

21 hours ago, skoda998 said:

I'm considering a Fabia for my wife, up to 2 years old. Is it worth seeking out the more powerful 115 bhp engine? Does economy suffer with the higher output engine at all?

Fabia MK4 brakes

You might find that the 1.0TSI 70kW/95PS version has the smaller 256x22mm (build code 1ZG) front disc brakes and 203x38mm (build code 1KG) or 228x42mm (build code 1KA) rear drum brakes.

You might find that the 1.0TSI 81kW/110PS and 1.0TSI 85kW/116PS versions have the bigger 276x24mm (build code 1ZE) front disc brakes and 230x9mm (build code 1KV) rear disc brakes.

256x22mm front disc brakes need at least 14" wheels to clear the front brake calipers.

276x24mm front disc brakes need at least 15" wheels to clear the front brake calipers...so you wouldn't be able to use the Fabia MK4's 185/70R14 5Jx14 ET38 5/100 57.1 wheels.

Edited 1 September, 20251 Sep by Carlston

This long 2024 forum thread discussed the brakes of UK-marketed Fabia Mk4 models.

It was eventually established that the rear brakes of UK-marketed Monte Carlo models (that were the only Mk4s at that time available in the UK with the 1.5litre 4-cylinder motor) had disc rear brakes, whereas all the rest had drum rear brakes.

All current UK-marketed Fabia cars have (as standard) a minimum road-wheel diameter of 15" and - to the best of my knowledge - that has always been the case since the Mk4 range was introduced in 2021.

My 2024-built Fabia SE L has a front-disc/rear-drum braking system and the SE L model's standard 16"-diameter alloy road wheels. It also has the (optional) 15"-diameter steel emergency wheel + tool kit/jack that Skoda offers for Fabia Mk4s that have 16", 17" or 18"-diameter wheels.

As one might reasonably expect (!!!) the 15"-diameter steel emergency wheel fits to my car without any clearance problems on its front-discs or rear-drums (Confirming this was at the top of my check-list when I obtained the car.)

It's possible that' low-powered' Fabia Mk4 cars have smaller-diameter front-discs than more powerful models, but that should not impact on skoda998's 94bhp or 115bhp choices.

Edited 2 September, 20252 Sep by DerekU

12 hours ago, DerekU said:

It's possible that' low-powered' Fabia Mk4 cars have smaller-diameter front-discs than more powerful models, but that should not impact on skoda998's 94bhp or 115bhp choices.

If the the 1.0TSI 110PS/116PS has 276x24mm front disc brakes and 228x42mm rear drum brakes and the 1.0TSI 95PS has 256x22mm front disc brakes and 203x38mm rear drum brakes...then that is quite a big upgrade in braking performance...perhaps more important than the upgrade from 5 to 6 speed manual gearbox that you get when going from 1.0TSI 95PS to 1.0TSI 110PS/116PS.

However, check the build codes to be sure what brakes are fitted.

Edited 2 September, 20252 Sep by Carlston

As Skoda's quoted top speed and acceleration times for 94bhp and 109bhp Fabia Mk4s are very similar, the chances are minimal that their braking system's specification will be different.

When I said "It's possible that' low-powered' Fabia Mk4 cars have smaller-diameter front-discs than more powerful models...", I meant models with 3-cylinder MPI (non-turbo) motors with power outputs of 64bhp or 80bhp and (respectively) inferior quoted top speed/acceleration figures of 106mph/16 seconds and 110mph/15.6 seconds.

However, the original enquiry was

I'm considering a Fabia for my wife, up to 2 years old. Is it worth seeking out the more powerful 115 bhp engine? Does economy suffer with the higher output engine at all?

and I don't see a Fabia Mk4's brake dimensions having any real-world effect on fuel economy.

For a while I owned a 2021 Hyundai i20 that had a 100bhp turbo 3-cylinder 1.0litre motor with 6-speed manual transmission. When driving on rural roads I was forever shifting backwards and forwards between 5th and 6th, eventually concluding that it would have been better (for me) if the car had a 5-speed gearbox with revised ratios.

So it's POSSIBLE that, if skoda998's wife had a 109bhp Fabia with 6-speed manual transmission but did not optimise the use of those 6 ratios for fuel economy, she could obtain a lower fuel consumption if she owned a 94bhp Fabia with 5-speed gearbox instead.

With a history of driving quick motorbikes and cars, overall fuel economy has never really concerned me. Nowadays I let my Fabia's SE L's DCT automatic transmission decide what ratios to select and I'm confident that, fuel economy-wise, it does a better job than if I were selecting gears myself using a manual gearbox.

It's to be expected that (everything else being equal) the higher the specification of a secondhand Fabia Mk4, the higher its asking-price will be, and that factor (not just fuel consumption data) would need to be taken into account when considering the vehicle's overall 'economy' across the period of ownership.

On 03/09/2025 at 08:52, DerekU said:

...As Skoda's quoted top speed and acceleration times for 94bhp and 109bhp Fabia Mk4s are very similar, the chances are minimal that their braking system's specification will be different...

The Fabia MK4 has two different sized front brakes.

The Fabia MK3 also has two different sized front brakes. The small brakes on the Fabia MK3 are fitted to models with an engine power below 100BHP. Anything above 100BHP is fitted with big front brakes.

The OP may not have realised that these 94BHP and 109BHP engines might be fitted with different sized front brakes...like they were on the Fabia MK3.

It's easy to check what size front brakes are fitted to the Fabia MK4 if you have the car's build codes, as shown in the chart below.

Build codes for front brakes (Fabia MK4)

1ZG 256x22mm (small front brakes)

1ZE 276x24mm (big front brakes)

Edited 4 September, 20254 Sep by Carlston

OK, but (as I suggested above) I don't see the diameter of the front brake discs of a Fabia Mk4 with 94bhp motor being smaller than the diameter of a 109bhp-motor Mk4's front discs having any perceptible impact on the fuel consumption.

Buying-wise, it may be more important for skoda998 to be aware that the 116PS (114bhp) 3-cylinder EVO2 motor only became available for the Fabia range in the 2nd-half of 2024, together with significant specification/equipment 'enhancements' to all Fabia models.

https://www.skoda.co.uk/news/details/skoda-updates-fabia-and-karoq-lineups

On 31/08/2025 at 20:22, skoda998 said:

I'm considering a Fabia for my wife, up to 2 years old. Is it worth seeking out the more powerful 115 bhp engine? Does economy suffer with the higher output engine at all?

I've got the 95bhp TSI engine in my 2022 Fabia and find it plenty powerful enough especially with the turbo. Avoid the MPI engine as it's a bit sluggish. The 115 bhp engine only gives you marginally more acceleration - a difference of about 1 second on 0-60mph. Hardly worth the extra money. Fuel consumption on my Fabia is excellent - mid 50's around town and on long journeys I get mid 60's