Skoda has got it right this time. The Czech company, a subsidiary of German car maker Volkswagen AG, had positioned Fabia as a premium hatchback with a premium so high that not many people were willing to pay for it. Now, the entire facelifted Fabia range has come with a significantly lower price tag, which makes Skoda?s premium hatch more affordable.
Skoda has slashed prices across the BS IV Fabia range and the top-of-the-line Fabia 1.6 Elegance costs Rs 5.99 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). That?s a nicely rounded Rs 75,000 off the earlier Fabia 1.2 Elegance. Skoda?s done this by increasing the localisation level in the Fabia (up from 15% to 40%). To put it simply, you get more power for less money.
The Fabia is not a slow car by any means, not with a 1598cc motor that produces 105 bhp@5250 rpm and 15.6 kgm@3800 rpm. Throttle response is crisp and the Fabia eagerly leaps forward at the slightest prod of the pedal. During the aforementioned acceleration runs, the 1.6-litre motor showed its true colours, catapulting the Fabia to 60 kph in 5.2 seconds, while the 100 kph mark was crossed in 11.3 seconds. Keep it pinned and the Fabia 1.6 will take you to a true 170 kph, with a bit more to come if you are patient and brave enough to do so on our roads. The Fabia, on the other hand, is as calm and confident near its top speed, as it is crawling around at city speeds.
Driving it for an hour, I was relieved that this engine did not feel sluggish like the previous Fabias; it has the ability to cross a ton mark in just 11.3 sec. Even at high speed, you feel you are going slow. Speeds around 140 felt as if you are driving at 90 or 100, such is the beauty of German engineering.
However, we would have liked to see sportier accessories like bigger wheels and different bodywork. Also, this car looks way too close to the old car for comfort. Sure, the headlights and grille have been stretched outward and there?s a new front bumper with bigger foglamps, but even this is so subtle that you?d be hard-pressed to tell if one whizzed past you on the road. The wheels and tyres are the same size as the old car and Skoda would have done well to give bigger wheels and wider tyres (at least on the 1.6). There?s also that big question mark over Skoda?s aftersales service. As for fuel efficiency, you can expect it to be slightly better than the Vento petrol, which means around 10kpl in the city and around 16kpl on the highway.
Interior quality is faultless; the car feels built like a tank, but there is a slight step down in equipment levels. Even this top-end Elegance (the 1.6 is available only in this trim) misses powered mirrors, the rear-wash wipe and even a demister for the rear windscreen. All said, notwithstanding minor underpinnings, the new Fabia, with its newfound performance and now realistic price, is fab.