Fastest-ever Skoda Fabia launched
Probably best not to get too excited - though new 177hp flagship suggests petrol hot hatch not quite dead yet
If you build it, they will come. Not always necessarily true for cars, of course, but having just lamented the abject lack of anything approaching a hot hatch in the sub £30k category (and suggesting that Dacia might be well-placed to solve the problem), it is heartening at least to know that Skoda has evidently spent the last few months considering the same gap in the market.
Its solution is the Fabia 130, a celebratory (because 130 years of Skoda) new range-topper breathlessly described as the ‘fastest production’ derivative to date. This is not particularly saying much on the basis that the last time the manufacturer applied a vRS badge to its supermini, it signified the presence of a diesel engine - but on the basis that so few manufacturers are prepared to make performance a marketing virtue of whatever petrol-powered superminis they have left, we’re not going to gripe. Or not too much.
At any rate, the newcomer is powered by an uprated version of the omnipresent 1.5-litre TSI EVO2 motor, which develops 177hp where once there was only 150hp. If that doesn’t sound like enough to make tears stream horizontally across your cheeks, it isn’t: Skoda quotes a 0-62mph time of 7.4 seconds and a top speed of 142mph, neither of which could be mistaken for warp speed in this day and age. Or indeed, recent memory.
Nevertheless, it claims to have invested in genuine hardware changes to make the bigger output viable - think optimised intake plenum, vibration damper and rocker arms - and reckons that ‘sharper, stronger performance’ results across the rev range. You get the same 184lb ft of torque from 1,500rpm, mind, although the seven-speed DSG has been reprogrammed with higher shift points, so it ought to seem more fun than before.
We’d lay odds that the lighter, torquier Mk1 vRS would still give it a run for its money, but Skoda has also gone to the trouble of fitting sports suspension (15mm lower than standard) alongside 18-inch alloys and ‘recalibrated steering’, so it ought to corner more aggressively. It has been breathed on visually, too, with a light smattering of spoiler and diffuser to go with some bespoke badging, and even mildly conspicuous twin tailpipes. Imagine!
Inside, there are slightly more sporty front seats and an appropriately generous amount of kit for a supermini that starts at £29,995. If that thought has you spluttering sandwich all over your screen, we geddit - barely five years ago, you could buy a limited edition Fiesta ST for significantly less than that and it would come with 200hp and coilovers and a manual gearbox. But beggars, we’re told, cannot be choosers. Or not choosy anyway, because it’s either this or a VW Polo GTI or a Mini JCW, which cost from £31,415 and £33,265 respectively. Tempted?
Not to mention the MK1 VRS was second only to a mapped 335d on the road as the quickest production car of its time....
Still, I'm glad it exists. Everyone will think it is a 130bhp tepid hatch though and not understand the 130 years or the Skoda 130 RS reference.
I'm sure that was definitely quicker to 60. Weren't they between a 170 to 185bhp depending on what the engine was in.
At £30,000 needs to have VRS badges on it & made to look more like it's something special.
I'm so old that 177bhp still sounds impressive! I can't get past a 205 GTi having an impressive 130 in 1.9 form... I know, I know...
I suppose this will weigh a bit more than 80's/90's tin but I expect it'll still feeling lively enough to me.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff