Review: Skoda Fabia vRS

In what now seems a lifetime ago, the 1980's, some bright spark decided that using turbochargers on small engines was a great way of getting startling performance writes Sharon Walters.

This had, or so I thought been superseded by highly efficient small engine that sipped fuel but were never going to be exciting and the town car has become an ever increasing presence on our roads.

Now don't get me wrong, this is not a bad thing with the ever-increasing price of fuel that will soon see us requiring a separate mortgage to travel to see friends, however, as an unashamed car snob I have seen very little recently that inspired me in this sector, until now...

Welcome to the Fabia vRS, a little rocket ship in a town car package.

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The vRS sports not only a turbo charger but also a supercharger that allows the 1.4litre engine to punch way above its weight.

How do 7.3 seconds 0 — 60mph and 180bhp grab you?

Oh, before I get complaints from the green lobby for my enthusiastic outburst on performance, it also maintained a very respectable overall 45 mpg and was close to 55 mpg on my trips round the county and is Euro 5 compliant which compares favourably to its lower performance rivals in the class, so there is no need to demand a birching for me.

The car I had on test also had a striking white roof, which as an extra at £355 did strike me as a little steep but I have to admit looked great.

So what about the rest of the exterior? Well Skoda have skimped on absolutely nothing and you get flashy 17 inch alloy wheels that blend perfectly with the tidy body lines, that give a great looking car with a sporty stance that maintains practicality. The rear hatch opens up to reveal quite a large boot and I was quite surprised by how much it would hold before I needed to resort to putting down the rear seats.

Interior wise the Fabia scores again with sporty front seats that provide the balance between the support required to enjoy the twisty bits and the practicality to jump in and out of easily in town.

The dashboard is well laid out and everything is easily to hand. I especially liked the paddle controls for the stereo on the steering console with the three spoke leather-covered wheel.

I have left my favourite bit until the end, what it's like to drive. As you first pull away you notice that you don't need to rev the engine to commence forward motion as the torque generated makes it feel like a much bigger engine.

Now as a town car this is one of my criticisms of the competitors, as pulling away with loads of revs gets very tiring very quickly in town and the Fabia was a joy to use around town.

However, the best part of the package is when you use the power of the engine on the open road.

The engine responds with a willingness that would shame some larger engines and I found that because the engine has so much torque being caught in the wrong gear was quite rare.

If you add the engine to the handling, which is taught and provides enough feel so that you can send the car in to corners with great confidence, the town car turns in to a sports car.

The last piece of the package are the brakes which I am pleased to report have been matched perfectly to the car and provide progressive safe stopping no matter whether you are in town or using the sporty side of the car.

Overall, I think Skoda have produced a great car which performs a Jekyll and Hyde transformation from town car to sports car with consummate ease.

The price for all this starts at £15,700 and I recommend you take one for a test drive today.

Town cars are not all the same!

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