[serious_maniac]

Originally Posted by ritzy

Congratulations on the Fab.. Thats my personal favorite between Polo and Fabia due to its practicality. Great Write-up.

FYI, following features are now offered on Fabia Elegance Trim.

1. Rear defogger
2. Rear wiper
2. 15" alloys with new design.

You should be able to see them shortly in the showrooms.

Hey Ritzy, many thanks for this info. Is this confirmed news? I am booking one in Elegance trim and would definitely not want to miss out on these features. And any price change for these features? I believe Skoda is going to maintain its policy of same trim level for both diesel & petrol.

~maniac

[iSpoke]

Originally Posted by rajcs

Its been six months and some 9000 km since the silver Skoda Fabia 1.6 came home.

hey rajcs, I knew you got one from other fabia threads but couldn't found any ownership thread of yours. Today when I'm reading it, makes me feel like it takes both time and efforts to start an ownership thread (some what similar to owning a car!) because mine is due post 2 months (less 1 day) for the 1.6 that I got after lots of thinking and jumping between 1.2 and 1.6!

Originally Posted by rajcs

Its not until you drive around a bit that you get to see what's wrong. When you gently press down the accelerator, the initial signal to engine is so calibrated that speed build up is slow. Even in neutral, the engine doesn't race for a few mm movement of the accelerator. Its like a play in the accelerator and you need to understand the sweet spot where the engine takes off (as fellow bhpian @shivir put it),

Exactly, what I too observed and dislike. Seems like they designed it to suite more for highway runs rather our typical city traffic driving conditions where we need to keep tapping the accelerator every other minute.

[mempheS.D]

rajcs, rajcs, rajcs !!! I bow before thee for your stupendous write-up.

I made an attempt to write something on my ownership experience, and it ended up in the Assembly Line section. It's still lying there btw.

Back to the content. As always, you spoke exactly what I've been feeling for the past 4000kms I've clocked with my Fab 1.6. I mean, from the interiors, to the exteriors, to the performance, to the kmpl. As someone mentioned it on this thread, it's true that it's very easy to get sold out to the Fabia 1.6 if driven around once.

The sweet spot needs to be discovered and proves to be a hidden yet mighty sword to pull out against some souped-up-swifts/i20s and innovas at times when the lead foot hears the calling during those signal-to-signal drags.

Sorry to hear about the pile-up, but thank god both you and lady are back up in good shape. I haven't yet had a full-blown chance to check on the Skoda A.S.S., but I did happen to drop by at TAFE Service Center on Hosur road about 2 weeks ago for a few observations, which still unfortunately remain observations.
1. Roughly about 1-in-15-times the reverse gear has trouble slotting into the gear smoothly, and needs to disengaged back to neutral and tried again. This is ok, but tends to get a little frustrating over the tight u-turns when just one turn wouldn't do the trick, but you already have the guy on the other side honking and flashing at you. The service engineer took the car into the bay for a checkup and returned saying there 'could' be a switch problem. I didn't understand. He said he's re-fixing it back in and asked me to try. In the meantime, he said he has taken some pics which he has sent over to skoda cz. Err! Mine's just a 7 lac car dude. Neverthless, no harm in getting a checkup from Europe. . However, now I see the infection has spread to slotting into 1st and 2nd too. SO, need to go in for another checkup some time this week.

2. Maybe it's the long driving that I've been doing. Two 450-km trips and two 280-km trips. The steering when held straight using the skoda badge on the steering as a reference check, the vehicle moves towards the left. I think it's an alignment issue.

That apart, the vehicle is a blast into comfort, best luxury-in-class when compared to the Polo, and just like you mentioned it once. One tends to get over his fears after a while of driving the Skoda that "Nothing CAN go wrong!"

However, we customers need to push Skoda India even more to give us what we need. A Service experience like that in a Maruti showroom. Yep!

Thanks rajcs.

Memphes
Bangalore

[rajcs]

Originally Posted by mempheS.D

I made an attempt to write something on my ownership experience, and it ended up in the Assembly Line section. It's still lying there btw.


1. Roughly about 1-in-15-times the reverse gear has trouble slotting into the gear smoothly, and needs to disengaged back to neutral and tried again. This is ok, but tends to get a little frustrating over the tight u-turns when just one turn wouldn't do the trick, but you already have the guy on the other side honking and flashing at you. The service engineer took the car into the bay for a checkup and returned saying there 'could' be a switch problem. I didn't understand. He said he's re-fixing it back in and asked me to try. In the meantime, he said he has taken some pics which he has sent over to skoda cz. Err! Mine's just a 7 lac car dude. Neverthless, no harm in getting a checkup from Europe. . However, now I see the infection has spread to slotting into 1st and 2nd too. SO, need to go in for another checkup some time this week.

2. Maybe it's the long driving that I've been doing. Two 450-km trips and two 280-km trips. The steering when held straight using the skoda badge on the steering as a reference check, the vehicle moves towards the left. I think it's an alignment issue.

Thank you Memphes for the encouraging words.
All I can say is sit down on a weekend and key in your thoughts - your review would be out of the Assembly line in a jiffy. More people would benefit from your write up than you'd imagine.

The gearbox issue needs urgent attention. I think the car is conveying something - could be something as elementary as clutch adjustment. Anyways visit a service station (may be a different one this time) as early as possible. Lodge a tech query on the Skoda India website as well.

I haven't had problem with any gears except the first in the initial 100 odd km. It settled down thereafter. One thing - make sure you fully depress the clutch and the gear lever while slotting in reverse. And get rid of that habit of resting left hand on the gear knob while cruising... you could use the hand brake for that

On highways cars do tend to pull left at lower speeds due to the camber provided for drainage. However, if it persists at higher speeds you could check the alignment. Also check if any abnormal tire wear pattern.

[eastwind]

Excellent write up and well supported by pics. Rated a well deserved 5 stars.

[mb_jg]

Wow, I own a Fabia 1.6 & I read the review word to word :o) excellent coverage!! I just completed a trip to Goa from Pune, & the drive was fabulous. The car was rock steady at speeds of 140kmph & above. I honestly did not bother looking at the mileage, but we used approx 60liters of fuel for the entire journey!
The car is easy to drive, doesn't strain you out, just point & shoot :o)

[rajcs]

Originally Posted by mb_jg

I just completed a trip to Goa from Pune, & the drive was fabulous. The car was rock steady at speeds of 140kmph & above. I honestly did not bother looking at the mileage, but we used approx 60liters of fuel for the entire journey!

Its great you are able to do some long journeys - does justice to the car. FE on your round trip looks good - above 15 kmpl by my reckoning.

[mb_jg]

Originally Posted by rajcs

Its great you are able to do some long journeys - does justice to the car. FE on your round trip looks good - above 15 kmpl by my reckoning.

Yep, the engine is much more free revving now! The engine sounds so damn sweet when revved, it's addictive, although I made sure the engine was warm enough before I did that. I am planning on getting the oil changed since it has completed it's running-in.
Considering the speeds I was doing, even a 12-13kmpl is decent we touched Goa in 7hrs from Pune (door to door), including umpteen breaks. We had lunch directly at Infantaria/

[mb_jg]

Need some help from the 1.6 owners. What is the optimal tire pressure to maintain? And, how do you use all the damn features on the MID. I am too impatient to go through the manual & learn.

[SinghBHP]

Awesome, Detailed, Unbiased and very nicely structured and organized write up. Man rajcs you have great writing skills and this writeup of yours is surely going to help lot of people on forum to make decisions. This is is the first review which I read about Fabia -1.6 and believe me I am floored with your writing skills and eye for details. Thanks a lot for giving us such details of the car, 5 *'s from my side.

[rajcs]

@SinghBHP; Thanks a lot for the compliments. I hope enthusiasts will make informed purchased decisions complemented by personal experience in TD.

[rajcs]

Originally Posted by mb_jg

Need some help from the 1.6 owners. What is the optimal tire pressure to maintain? And, how do you use all the damn features on the MID. I am too impatient to go through the manual & learn.

Tire Pressure


Regular Drive : 32 psi on both front and rear. Good for driving alone or with up to two passengers

Regular Car pool (four passengers) : 32 psi front and 34 psi rear

Vacation Drive (Five passengers + boot full of luggage) : 34 psi front 48 psi rear.

MID:


Time, Fuel level and Trip A / Odo are always displayed.
Use RESET button to toggle between Odo and Trip A. Trip A is reset by pressing RESET button for five seconds. Use SET button to set the time.



Press SET button again after setting clock to display Days and Distance remaining for next service. Press SET button again to return to regular display.


Use the selection switch on wiper stack to cycle through trip data on the MFD. Use the RESET button at the bottom of stack to reset current trip data.

Ambient temp

Driving time during Current Trip. Current Trip gets reset if you halt for over two hours.

Instantaneous fuel consumption in litres per 100 km. Useful if you take part in fuel consumption race.

Average fuel consumption in current trip in litres per 100km. Recommend display this on regular driving. Divide 100 by this value to get FE in kmpl.
9.09=11 kmpl; 8.33=12 kmpl; 7.69=13 kmpl; 7.14=14 kmpl; 6.66=15 kmpl; 6.25=16kmpl; 5.88=17 kmpl;
5.55=18 kmpl; 5.23=19 kmpl; 4.99=Give me that car.

Distance to Empty. Display this when low on fuel.

Current Trip Distance.

Average speed in current trip. Ignores time when engine was off.

Current speed digital read out. Same as analogue speedo.

Hope this post was not worse than that damn manual.

[mb_jg]

Wow, you are really thorough in your posts!! Thanks a ton chief for all the MID info. I was looking for the tire pressure sticker all over the car, missed the fuel lid :o)

[Palio_2005]

Nicely written review. You are obviously enjoying the car. I find a Fabia much better as compared to the Polo in looks and interior feel (feels more upmarket). Major grouse is the rear wash and wipe which is not offered even as a option and it's most essential for the highway drives.

[rajcs]

Originally Posted by Palio_2005

I find a Fabia much better as compared to the Polo in looks and interior feel (feels more upmarket). Major grouse is the rear wash and wipe which is not offered even as a option and it's most essential for the highway drives.

Thanks Palio_2005.
@ritzy's prediction should set things right in the near future.

Originally Posted by ritzy

FYI, following features are now offered on Fabia Elegance Trim.

1. Rear defogger
2. Rear wiper
2. 15" alloys with new design.

You should be able to see them shortly in the showrooms.