Skoda Fabia test drive since 2007 -

Children of a big city

In multimillion -dollar stone jungle with tense traffic and a shortage of parking spaces, compact on the outside, but the spacious inside city cars are very in demand
 
Our current heroes Honda Jazz, Peugeot 207 and Skoda Fabia are one of the most striking representatives of this vast segment.
Despite the age-rather solid age by the standards of modern automotive, Honda Jazz (or, as it is called in homeland, Fit) still looks fresh. But the model debuted in 2002. True, Little Honda got to Russian customers with a decent delay: sales began only in 2005.
The success of the model directly depended on the flexibility of pricing policy. The Japanese, who considered Jazz only as an elegant addition to traditional bestsellers like Accord and Civic, did not show it. In general, the Russian debut of a very interesting and promising, but unreasonably expensive baby turned out to be greased.
However, judging by the results of the last year, the situation is being straightened. Either the domestic buyer finally felt the potential of JAZZ, or its current price no longer seems sky -high, but the model demonstrates a positive sales dynamics and significantly overtakes last year’s debutants of the Russian PEUGEOT 207 market and the new Skoda Fabia (3267 cars against 2617 and 2250, respectively).
However, back to our heroes. Outwardly, Honda Jazz is more likely to be a hatchback. But this is not surprising: they come to a similar option for the layout, willy-nilly, having the task of entering the most spacious salon into a modest volume.
Characteristic features of single -combination are also noticeable in the puffy proportions of Peugeot 207. It is good or bad a matter of taste, but now it is so fashionable.
And, abstracting from stylistic assessments, we only visit the inconvenience of mirrors led back.
But Skoda Fabia still fits into the image of a classic hatchback. The exterior of the baby evokes the memories of Suzuki Swift or even Mini, which the creators of both Czech and Japanese models were clearly inspired. Although the front of the body patriotically copies Roomster.
Unlike rivals, little Honda inside is much more interesting than outside. Beautiful and solid front panel, spectacular devices, climate control (already in the basic configuration), the original design of the standard audio system. The driver's seat is equipped with reliable side support. With the selection of convenient planting problems, three mechanical adjustments, plus change in the height of the steering, will not arise.
PEUGEOT designers also worked well: the 207th salon looks elegant, moderately strictly and not at all boring. Materials are expensive in appearance and to the touch (unlike competitors, the car can be ordered with a leather salon), the excellent quality of the panels fitting. Planting questions does not raise questions. Armchairs with developed lateral support and the steering column offer wide range of settings (by the way, the steering wheel can be adjusted not only in height, but also by departure). Ergonomics is almost impeccable. Unless the windows control unit would move forward: it is painfully inconvenient to grope buttons, unnaturally bending the brush.
The boring interior of Fabia, if desired, can be revived due to the bright upholstery of the seats or by ordering a machine with a two-tone (gray-black or beige-black) interior decoration. You practically do not give up ergonomics. Seats, especially in the Sport version, perfectly fix the body. The steering wheel is tuned in two planes. The lever of the mechanical gearbox pleases with exemplary clarity clarity. True, the harmony of communication with the manual transmission is greatly violated by the long-license box. But after all, it can be removed (frankly, the author guessed the existence of this useful 1.2-liter capacity in the cabin only during a photo shoot).
But what is especially pleasant, the joy of the driver is quite capable of sharing Fabia passengers. Behind the backs of the front seats, there is enough space for the longest legs. And the ceiling does not press. It’s not bad and the trunk, carefully equipped with comfortable hooks, a net and even an original plastic pen that does not allow any trifle to dangle on an empty compartment on the go.
The Peugeot is definitely closely closely. It seems that of the additional 20 centimeters of the body length (it is so much the 207th model that exceeds the length of the predecessor) for the share of passengers did not allocate a millimeter. But lonely egoists, to which marketers include a fair amount of the target audience of Peugeot 207, rarely take fellow travelers. In addition, the trunk is very decent for cars of this class.
But the real champion in Honda cargo and passenger capacity. Even behind the highest driver, an impressive supply of free space is guaranteed in front of the knees and above his head. In addition, the salon has an original transformation scheme. In a folded form of the JAZZ seat, they form a low and absolutely flat cargo platform, and two luggles are laid out. An additional luggage compartment is obtained due to the rising pillows of the rear seats.
But on the go, Honda loses somewhat. At autobahous speeds, a high body is hungry, sharp maneuvers are fraught with noticeable rolls. The steering is lacking information. In addition, the electronic stabilization system for Russian clients JAZZ is not offered even for surcharge.
PEUGEOT 207 and Fabia buyers are available as an option. But even without its delicate intervention, the controllability of these machines can be considered almost exemplary. The settings of the steering and pendants will not disappoint. Even in critical situations, Peugeot 207 behaves extremely correctly and predictably. The steering wheel is delightfully informative, and the chassis settings allow a lot. In a steep turn of Fabia, it follows the wheel, the swift and the rolls are minimal. Light insufficient rotation almost does not interfere, the tendency to skidding occurs only with too sharp maneuvers.
As for the dynamic characteristics, they naturally depend on the power unit. In the case of Honda, everything is quite simple. Only a 1.4-liter 83-horsepower engine is available to customers JAZZ. The basic version of Elegance will cost 454,000 rubles with a manual transmission-5 or 479,000 rubles with a CVT-7 variator. In the performance of Sport, which differs in the presence of rear electric windows, four speakers instead of two, tinting glasses and aerodynamic body kit, Jazz costs 497,000 rubles.
With Peugeot 207 is already more complicated. Depending on the power unit and the level of configuration, prices are 410,000665,000 rubles. The most affordable machine is equipped with an archaic 1.4-liter engine with a capacity of 75 hp. But there is a modern 90-horsepower version of this engine. The 1,6-liter (120 hp) version is crowned by the range of pairs with AKP-4.
For the basic Fabia Classic 1.2 (69 hp) they ask for 343,000 rubles. Prices for cars with engines of 1.4 liters (86 hp) start with 373,000 rubles, and for version 1.6 (105 hp) will have to be laid out from 444,000 rubles. The machine costs 54,000 rubles and is available only paired with a 1.6 liter engine. Given the cost of additional equipment, the price of Fabia can significantly exceed 600,000 rubles.
Honda Jazz crash test
In a series of tests, Euroncap Jazz earned 4 stars. The total car rating was 25 points. Of these, 11 (69%) were obtained in the frontal crash test, and 13 (72%) in the lateral. Experts awarded an additional score for the availability of alarm about the unsaturated seat belts (SNRB). Protection of passengers, traveling in special chairs, was estimated at 31 points (63%), and the safety of pedestrians when hitting 19 (53%). In the Russian market, the base Honda Jazz is equipped with four airbags and ABS.
PEUGEOT 207 crash test
In the ranking of EURONCAP Peugeot 207, 5 stars (35 points) received. The front test brought 15 (94%) points, and the side is 17 (94%). As many as 3 points gave SNRB. The car protects passengers for 4 stars out of 5, and for pedestrians the experts awarded him 3 stars out of 4 possible. In the initial configuration, the Peugeot 207 is equipped with frontal and lateral airbags, belt attachments, ISOFIX and ABS mounts. In more expensive versions, safety curtains and ESP are available.
Skoda Fabia crash test
Equipped with 6 safety pillows Fabia earned 4 stars of 5 possible in crash tests of the EURONCAP program (32 points). The traumatic front panel and the back of the rear door, which had opened during the side blow, had prevented more. The protection of passengers-children has worked well 3 stars (36 points) out of 5. The safety of pedestrians was estimated at 2 stars (17 points) out of 4 possible. In the basic configuration, Skoda Fabia is equipped only with a driver's airplane and belt -toothers.
Andrey Tsybulsky
Author photo: Yan Segal
 

Source: MKOMBILA magazine [February/2008]