ROADTEST SKODA FABIA RS:Skoda, long the prodigal son of the Volkswagen Group, has breathed new life into the high-performance hatchback segment, writes PADDY COMYN
MOTORING IS getting very boring. And it isn’t hard to see why. The majority of us, some 63 per cent, have flipped over to diesel cars and while this is pretty good for the environment, it isn’t always a lot of fun.
The default choice for most new buyers is the small diesel engine with the lowest emissions and therefore the lowest running costs. If you are fortunate enough to be able to buy a new car, you aren’t likely to want to spend a lot on running it. If only you could still have lots of fun and it wouldn’t cost the earth. Well, maybe you can.
There isn’t much of a market for the proper hot hatch anymore. The larger ones don’t sell in big numbers because they usually cost more than €30,000 and their petrol engines, although relatively clean, are still likely to land you with a hefty annual road tax bill. But they have also become bigger and heavier than they used to be and have perhaps lost some of their character.
Back in the 1980s, cars like the Peugeot 205 GTi and Volkswagen Golf GTi were lightweight and relatively potent, but then in the late 1980s and 1990s they started to get weighty and bland. The Mark III GTi of the early 1990s came with a 2.0-litre engine putting out 115bhp until someone finally saw sense and offered it with 150bhp.
What we need is a return to the way the hot hatch used to be. We need it to be small, potent and affordable.
Enter the Skoda Fabia RS. Ironically enough, the last time there was one of these on sale, it was the first diesel hot hatch, and while it was worthy, it never really caught the imagination. But now the Fabia, which itself is better built and closer to its Volkswagen Polo cousin than ever before, looks like it has come over all Golf GTi.
Skoda are the prodigal son in the Volkswagen Group: one day they gave up the student lifestyle, bought a suit, went to Harvard and came home all clever. Now their cars are so good that they are embarrassing the rest of the family. And yet again, Skoda has managed to claim one of the best engines available and one of the best gearboxes around for its flagship hatchback.
So that means that under the bonnet of this new RS is a 1.4-litre TSi engine which employs both a turbocharger and a supercharger to produce an impressive 180bhp and 250Nm of torque. That makes it as powerful as the 2002 25th Anniversary Golf GTi.
It is a reasonably pretty thing. The RS model gains 17-inch alloy wheels, a double exhaust tailpipe and diffuser, sports seats and lots of RS badging. It looks aggressive, but perhaps not aggressive enough.
The rather high roof of the car doesn’t lend itself to a sporty look and when you sit inside you find a cabin that isn’t all that different to a regular Fabia. There is a lot of black plastic around and while there are better seats, it all just looks a little bland.
However, the equipment levels are impressive. There is “climatic” air-conditioning, cruise control, and Bluetooth for your phone that will also stream music. Also, there is no manual gearbox, rather the clever seven-speed DSG gearbox with paddle shifters for that racing car experience.
All this sounds, looks and feels good. Start it up and there is a satisfying burble. It is snarly and mischievous in the way that a car like this ought to be. It is well behaved around town. The joy of the DSG box is that when you don’t want to change gear you treat it like a standard automatic and it changes seamlessly all by itself, which is great when you are sitting in stop/start traffic.
Find a gap or escape the confines of the city and you can pull on the paddles and the double-clutch gearbox has already lined up the correct gear. It is ultra responsive and once you have tried this gearbox you will be converted. Even manual gearbox fundamentalists who try it have to tip their hat to how good it is, plus it doesn’t cause the car to guzzle fuel and doesn’t sap performance either. It changes gear faster than a human can anyway.
This car feels fast. Weighing in at 1,243kg, it is 171kg lighter than a five-door Golf GTi so does quite a lot with its 180bhp. 0-100km/h takes just 7.3 seconds, which is 0.4 seconds slower than the Golf and it is just 12km/h slower at full tilt. The steering is good, with plenty of feedback so it provides immense fun and, quite surprisingly, the ride is good enough that it isn’t overly hard.
The fact that it is a five-door makes it practical too. There is decent space in the rear and 300 litres of boot space is handy too. If that isn’t enough, you can have an estate version with 480 litres.
A quick scribble on an imaginary notepad and you will reckon that, given the price of its rivals, this car should cost between €25,000 and €28,000, especially given the equipment levels. Well, you would be wrong.
This Fabia – with 180bhp, that gearbox and that equipment – will cost you €22,690 which is an absolute bargain.
Even more clever is the fact that this engine won’t have you wincing every year paying your road tax. Emissions of 148g/km put it in motor tax band C, so it’s just €302 per year to tax. We are pretty sure, although we are open to correction, that this is the most horsepower you can get for the least amount of money.
This is a practical car that won’t cost the earth to run, is well equipped, blistering fun when you want it to be, and anything but boring. And it costs €16,095 less than a Golf GTi with DSG.
Even compared to its closer rival, it is significantly cheaper than the Mini Cooper S, and although it might not match the Mini in terms of out and out craic, it comes very close. But it is more practical and better equipped out of the box.
You can have the Fiat 500 Abarth but at the moment, without a proper dealer, it might end up costing you a lot more. And you also have to order the Renault Clio Renault Sport specially if you want one of those, even though that is a better performance car. Plus, the Fabia has advantages over all of these with extra rear doors and a decent-sized boot.
We have one bit of advice about the Fabia RS: form an orderly queue.
Factfile
Engine1,390cc four-cylinder turbo with supercharger putting out 180bhp at 6,200rpm, with 250Nm of torque at 2,000rpm-4,500 rpm with a seven-speed DSG transmission
Maximum speed224km/h
0-100km/h7.3 secs
L/100km (mpg)Urban - 7.7 (36.7); extra-urban - 5.2 (54.3); combined - 6.2 (45.6)
Emissions148 g/km
Bootspace300 litres
Price€22,690