FirstDrive:Skoda's new Fabia Supermini buyers are notoriously disloyal but Skoda's new Fabia should win one or two people over, writes Paddy Comyn
Setting out to buy a small car these days is pretty confusing. Not only is there a bewildering choice, but small cars are not really all that small anymore.
Heading out to showrooms now, with SSIA money burning a hole in their pocket, or an easily received bank loan, the supermini buyer - a notoriously disloyal buyer - will be baffled by where to put their money.
There are so many offerings - many of them very good - that car firms have trouble making an impact with the jaded buyer.
Skoda is somewhat up against it then as the arrival of the new Fabia looms. It's also got the problem of arriving on the Irish market in April, just as our annual car buying season begins to taper off.
Not that Skoda is all that worried. It has just enjoyed its best ever month as regards sales in Ireland. The new Fabia, the successor to its popular if seldom talked about supermini, arrives on forecourts in April and while this might be a little late for the average, impulsive supermini buyer, it will be music to the ears of the more discerning buyer who has realised that paying premium prices for similar cars from Volkswagen or Toyota is just plain silly.
The new Fabia visually has gone down the route of so many superminis these days. There seems to be an unnecessary amount of headroom and the styling - while on the sharp side of cute - is not really anything that we haven't seen quite a lot of this year. There are shades of Suzuki Swift about the rear end but the front is all Skoda Roomster - the wacky-looking MPV that arrived just before Christmas.
The previous Fabia was one of the largest superminis in its class so there was not really that much need to make this one a lot bigger or else it would need to be reclassified, but the new model has grown. It is 22mm longer and a whopping 47mm taller but has, oddly, got a fraction narrower. The boot is bigger too, now boasting an impressive 300-litres.
Inside, there is the usual blend of hard-wearing plastics, with lighter shades in the areas you don't see and darker, more Germanic-looking tones in the areas in front of you.
The additional headroom is the first thing you notice when you sit behind the wheel, and while there are not that many padded surfaces, everything has been put together seriously well and the overall fit and finish of the car on first impression was remarkable.
You sit higher up in the Fabia than before and this allows you to see over the higher boot and also to get in and out of the car more easily - something that is bound to appeal to older drivers.
Our test drive gave us the opportunity to try out three of the seven available engines, so we chose the ones that will be most relevant to our market. The big sellers in Ireland have always been the smallest units and the two 1.2-litre, three-cylinder petrol engines offer 60 and 70bhp respectively.
Both engines growl like rabid dogs, doing their best to pull the 1,040kg Fabia, but 0-100km/h times of 16.5 and 14.9 seconds for these engines tell you a little about their lack of grunt. However, this lack of pace can be offset by their meanness in using fuel. Expect 5.9l/100km from both 1.2-litre versions. Plus, despite what the figures say, they feel perky enough and are likeable engines and one of these is the one to go for.
The other engine we tried was the 70bhp 1.4-litre diesel. This is sold alongside an 80bhp version and these offer substantial increases in torque which make the car less taxing to drive on hills but won't offer a saving in fuel that will justify what will undoubtedly be an increase in purchase price.
The Fabias have a soft suspension set up and this will suit our varied Irish roads and there is enough feedback from the electro-hydraulic power steering to let you know what the wheels are doing. There is plenty of grip and the brakes, while urgent, are not overly snappy.
What the Fabia is also likely to have in its favour is price. While Skoda sales manager Colin Sheridan wasn't giving too much away he did tell us to expect an entry-price of about €14,500, with the big seller likely to be the middle grade 1.2 60bhp, offered for a smidge under €15,000.
ENGINES: 4 petrol and 3 diesel engines. The petrol line-up starts with the 60 bhp 6-valve 1.2 litre; a 12-valve 70 bhp 1.2-litre; a 1.4 litre 86 bhp and a 105 bhp 1.6 litre. TDI diesel range is: 1.4 litre, three-cylinder engine (70 bhp and 80 bhp), and 1.9-litre with 105 bhp.
Statistics for 1.2-litre 60bhp:
0-100KM/H 16.5 secs
Top speed 154 km/h
Fuel consumption 5.9 L/100km
SPECIFICATION
ABS, EBD and four airbags are standard on all cars; boot now offers 300 litres up to 1,163 litres with rear seats folded down
ARRIVES
In April with a starting price expected to be around €14,500