Skoda Fabia 2000 test drive - 2007 -

All photos of Skoda Fabia 2000 - 2007

A serious baby

The wonderful Czech company Skoda Auto A.S., some more ten years ago, who was a typical socialist enterprise without special prospects, today pursues aggressive policy in the European market. Of course, under the wise leadership of their new German owners from Wolfsburg. Each of its model is found by buyers with undisguised interest: it was with accessible to Felicia and with roomy octavia, and this happens with Fabia.

The last novelty of the brand for the year has dispersed 100,000 copies, but this figure is artificially limited by the capabilities of the enterprise in Mlada-Boleva, because in a number of countries the demand for the car still exceeds the proposal.

But there is one important difference between Fabia and its neighbors on the conveyor, and it consists in how the car is presented.

If earlier the rate was made at an attractive price, which, however, was harmful, either quality or perfection of the structure, now the technical advancedness of the car is being foreseen. For which, of course, you have to pay. For example, the highest level of passive and active security - it is confirmed during the next series of tests, recently conducted by specialists of the European Committee of EURONCAP. So, two airbags and belt pretensions are included in the standard configuration of Fabia, and in the case of pillows, the sensor automatically turns off the fuel supply. Anti -locking and anti -boom systems, electronic differential blocking and side pillows are included in the list of options. All gasoline engines installed on the car are satisfied with the ecological requirements of Euro 4, entering into force only in 2005 - very few manufacturers can boast of a similar achievement today! And a ten -year warranty from through corrosion is given for a fully galvanized body.

Skoda Fabia is built on the corporate platform A, the one that forms the future Volkswagen Polo V and Seat Ibiza III. The car was launched in the series in August 1999, and today it is offered with five -door bodies such as hatchback or station wagon, with one of the seven engines to choose from: the base Classic, Comfort and Elegance. For Russian dealers, living cars in a sufficient assortment appeared only this fall (we are talking about hatchbacks, since the receipts of the station wagons should not be expected before spring), prices have also been stabilized by this moment, so the time has come to talk more about the car. Let me imagine: Skoda Fabia 1.4 MPI performed by Comfort.

This baby tries to look very serious. Strict all such, business. Like, I’m not some kind of toy on wheels, content with the role of a second or even third car in the family, I am a real car in which it will be easier for you to move around the city. Indeed, if you take a photograph of Fabia in a profile and close your hands with a short nose and a curly tail, then the imagination itself finishes the motor compartment and a high trunk of decent sedan sizes to the central part of the body. But, as it turns out later, a spacious interior is hidden behind a little unusual proportions of the car, which is not much inferior to the very sedan.

And a certain conservatism and angular appearance developed by a team of stylists led by Dirk Van Brahekel, derives the design of the machine from the influence of a changeable fashion and will allow it not to obsolete for a long time. What should not only like the client’s clients of middle and elderly, but also save money on regular cosmetic updates, which now have become a necessary means of survival in the fight against the army of competitors.

Another feature of an adult design is the block factory covered with simple glasses made of polycarbonate. True, they are more easily scratched than ordinary ones, they should not wipe them with rags, so the presence of headlight washers is very desirable (they are not provided for in the Classic configuration). The washers here are the most modern: in a non -working state, they hide from dirt and vandals in the front bumper, and if necessary, they are advanced and pouring heads of headlights with powerful jets.

And how Fabia goes a piercing red rally! No, in no case he will forgive the car and does not make it frivolous, but he manages to dispel her excessive seriousness, without violating the innate nobility of the features. In this color, Fabia seems to come to life, becomes animated. And, of course, before this color, not to maintain peace of mind to a single woman, which we watched throughout the trip around the city.

The car interior made a great impression. He called associations with an expensive suit - impeccable cut, strict, but stylish. In the design of the interior, clean lines and flat surfaces prevail: not a single far -fetched part, indestructible monolith of form and function. It resembles household electronics of the Hi-End class. Take at least ventilation deflectors: they work on the principle of blinds, that is, in a completely closed state form a flat surface. In general, a breed is felt, and this breed is German. More precisely, Volkswagenovskaya, because many design solutions used in Fabia are well known in the representative Audi A8, standing in the automobile hierarchy four steps higher.

The ergonomics of the driver's place is good. A convenient hard seat with tangible lateral support is equipped with three adjustments, including in height, a pleasant steering wheel with a thick rim can also be moved up and down, and the setting supply is provided. In general, a person of any growth will be able to find a comfortable pose. One remark is a slightly crowded pedals, but in consolation there is a large area for the left leg, greatly helping out on the long road. The layout of the car in the best way affected visibility: there are no so -called blind areas here. A short nose and a practically absent rear overhang allow you to quickly realize the dimensions of the car, and after a few minutes confidently park in the most constrained conditions. A well -organized dashboard combines two dials with intelligible scales, two signs and two displays. Her backlight is light green, close to the branded Skodov color. Massive steering wheel switches look very reliable. However, the right, responsible for the operation of the wipers, seemed to be overloaded with buttons and levers.

A clear mistake - a low -located microclimate control unit, for unknown reasons, gave way to the nest under the radio and a shelf with a rubberized coating. To communicate with him, you have to take your eyes off the road for a long time, which is not at all safe. Plus, the rotating handles of the block are small, and the average, which sets the speed of the air flow, is even smaller.

The air conditioner belongs to custom equipment, but in Fabia, in addition to its direct duties, it will cool the glove box and a department for drinks from the driver. The glove compartment deserves a separate mention: with illumination, roomy, and in its lid two cup holders are formed and there is a fountain holder. Long, but shallow pockets in the doors will only be able to hold small items, and a small shelf under the wheel is perfectly adapted for storing documents.

The comfort of the rear passengers is one of the undoubted trump cards of the car. Problems where to put your legs that are relevant for many machines of this class simply does not exist here. All thanks to a significant distance between the rows of seats and the recesses under the knees in the backs of the front seats. And this despite the fact that you can lean back on the back of the rear seat - it has a convenient angle of inclination, while on other cars for the sake of saving, it is put almost vertically! There are not so many spaces above your head, but you still do not reach the ceiling. For complete happiness, unless the folding armrest is enough. But then it is not so easy to go outside: a short and high threshold interferes, which is why you have to literally get out of the car. It's time to look into the trunk. He, like the gas tank hatch, opens from the driver's place with a lever located on the floor on the left. The back of the rear door works surprisingly softly and clearly, and its handle is arranged in such a way that on a rainy day you can not be afraid to stain your palm.

The trunk volume is small - 248 liters, since there is a lot of space a full -size reserve, however, with a completely folded back of the rear seat (for which it is necessary to remove the headrests), its volume exceeds the cubic meter.

We speak completely, because for the transportation of long items, the back can be disassembled in a ratio of 1: 2.

Remember, at the beginning of the article, it was about the compliance of the Euro4 requirements? Well, practice has once again proved the beaten truth: there are no miracles. The fact is that in Fabia there is an electronic gas pedal, that is, there is no strict connection between the actions of the driver and the power system. This allowed the engineers in the name of achieving maximum fuel supply to add some delay to the accelerator algorithm. As a result, it turns out like this: you move the gas pedal and wait until the engine itself gains the desired turnover.

With a sharp discharge of gas, everything occurs exactly the opposite. As you know, starting to move from a place is quite difficult, given that the clutch works at the very top. At first, from the habit, you stomp the gas pedal, the motor spins stronger than you want, and from the place you break off with the slip of the drive wheels. Probably, you can get used to it, but there is another solution. Dealers offer environmentally unprofitable Russian customers to put a simple gas cable on the car, but then fuel consumption will increase somewhere by one liter over every 100 kilometers of the journey.

The 68-horsepower engine does not shine with special dynamics, even if it is promoted to the limiter, adjusting the tachometer to the red zone. It can be assumed that the Skodovites' desire at all costs to meet the norms of Euro4 influenced the setting of the gearbox. The speed set occurs very smoothly, without pickups and failures. But the work of the gearbox is magnificent: the lever moves are small, the switching is light and clear. The brakes were also pleased - effective and very informative, allowing thoroughly monitor the process of slowing down.

In standard modes, the steering electric amplifier creates a clear returning force, and when maneuvering at low speeds, the steering wheel turns out to be very light, and with increasing speed it is noticeably heavy. However, in stressful turns, reactive action is sometimes not enough. Fabia reacts to the turn of the steering wheel quickly, but not nervously, with minimal body rolls and perfectly writes the trajectory on the highway, which is a considerable merit of low -profile tires. On the bends, the machine shows more neutral than insufficient rotation, when adding gas, it is very neat and predictable to go outside the trajectory, and confidently resisting the occurrence of the drift under the discharge of gas. It seems that the ski here can be caused by the only way - a clear provocation: after preliminary counter -mixing, the gas pedal is sharply released before the turn itself.

Well, the smoothness of Fabia should be recognized as exemplary. At least for a car of such sizes. The long -speed suspension of the car (by the way, the front suspension is assembled on the subframe) famously copes with any small irregularities, and even on the semi -legendary tram crossings gently swaying the car, without showing the slightest tendency to break. There is no shaking even on large pits. The only types of coating defects, literally removing Fabia from balance are transverse waves and tubercles, on which there is a slight tank of the body. The highest assessment deserves noise insulation, reliably protecting the ears of the riders from extraneous stimuli. Only one sound she lets in - the voice of the motor. And at high speeds it is pretty loud. We will not convince to acquire Fabia - this is useless. Useless because our fellow citizens most often buy such cars not at the call of the mind, but at the call of the heart.

Like, and at least kill. Or do not like it, and also kill. But the time of such technology will come very soon. Already today the city is suffocating from the number of cars, and under the extreme conditions of the metropolis, a small brisk car with a large salon will become a real find. About prices. The most basic Fabia costs $ 9,500 today. But in it you will not find a two -tone decoration of the salon, headlight washing, adjusting the seat in height and other useful little things. And the car that you see in the photographs will cost $ 11,300. The choice is yours.