Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2010 | Page 82

motoring

To test drive the new VRS contact
F.H. Winter on 01983 882455
The new Fabia vRS is the latest
incarnation of Skoda’s likeable
pint-sized hot hatch. What it isn’t,
however, is a diesel. Unlike the previous
version, which was powered by a
130bhp 1.9 TDI unit, the new version
gets the Volkswagen Group’s 1.4
TSI turbo and supercharged engine
producing 178bhp and 184lb ft.
The Fabia vRS also gets a seven-speed
DSG 'box as standard (there’s no
manual option), LED running lights and
smart 17-inch alloys.
The 178bhp twincharged TSI motor
is feisty but refined, if a little vocal
at times, with a healthy wallop in the
midrange and a decent kick up at the

82

Island Life - August/September 2010

Pint-sized
hot hatch
top. The 0-62mph sprint takes just
7.3sec, and it will push on to 139mph
should the need arise.
The Fabia is agile and steers and
grips well, aided by ESP and the XDS
electronic differential system, which
operates for the most part quite
unobtrusively. It’s an engaging and
highly entertaining drive.
The vRS sports seats are comfortable,
while the interior is smartly finished
with decent plastics and tasteful with
acceptable trim. The ride is surprisingly
good, too, for a car with such sporting
pretensions, with firm but well damped
suspension coping exceptionally with all
but the worst of potholes and irregular

surfaces.
At £15,700 the Fabia vRS isn’t quite
being given away, but you get a lot of
car, and a lot of performance, for the
money.
It’s well built, well equipped as
standard, stylish and a hefty chunk of
cash less than a Polo GTI, although to
be fair Skoda and VW probably aren’t
chasing quite the same customers with
their respective offerings.
But most of all the Fabia is cracking
fun to drive when you’re in the mood,
and entirely agreeable – not to mention
practical and will manage 44.1mpg.

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