2005 Skoda Fabia vRS review from Australia and New Zealand

Misaligned rear door

Misaligned upholstery on rear seat

Creaking drivers seat.

Hi all

I live in Canterbury, New Zealand and have a 2005 Fabia vRS. I bought it completely on the strength of reviews both here and on other sites on the Net. In fact I didn't even drive it before buying (kind of nuts for a NZ$34000 purchase really!) from Giltrap Prestige in Auckland and got it transported down. It is now a year old and has done 25000km.

So how has it been?...

Firstly, as has been stated by other reviewers, this car excels on 2 points - fun and frugality.

On an even country/city driving mix we get a consistent 6.1 litres/100km (46MPG). On a recent 2000km trip to Lake Taupo and back we averaged 4.9 litres/100km (58MPG) and this was fully loaded with 2 adults and 2 kids and 2 weeks of toys/gear etc. Now we consider this pretty good since I drive it pretty aggressively. Which brings me to the fun part...I'm definitely no boy racer but I've turned into a bit of a power junky. The car is just addictive between 1900 and 3500 RPM.

Pulling away from lights or overtaking unleashes a neck bending surge of pace...snick it up another gear (shift gets smoother with age) and it just keeps coming. In fact the best analogy I can think of for the feeling is that of the ropes in a boxing ring. Imagine someone throws you against the ropes, the ropes slowly arrest your momentum then with building force, fling you back into the ring. Once the ropes have gone slack you stop accelerating. In the vRS it's just like this. Under 1900 RPM there is no power to speak of it is just gently edging you forward then suddenly there is this rush of acceleration and you are flung forward with brutish force but come 3500 RPM it is all over and there's not much point revving higher.

But this narrow power band has another big plus - you can have great thrills without actually going that fast. You don't need to drive like an idiot, incurring fines and demerit points to have a great time. Just enjoy the surge between 20 and 60kph around town and 80 to 120kph on the open road. Lovely stuff.

So what else?...

One thing to note is that extra weight in the car really dents performance. The car with one person in it is a rocketship but put a passenger in and it is merely brisk. I guess this is a function of relative weight increase for a small car.

The ride is pretty good for the type of car it is. It rarely feels harsh. The steering seems to tramline easily (probably the 45 profile tyres). The engine is a bit coarse compared to other diesels I've driven.

The car is a surprisingly relaxing tourer. Mostly because of its effortless power. In fact although our previous car (1998 VW Passat) was a more refined and spacious cruiser, I feel fresher after driving long distances in the vRS than the Passat.

Handling is responsive but can get uncomposed sometimes. It's not quite a go kart but is well matched to the power.

Problems?...

The bloody silly white upholstery was obviously designed by an urban 20-something with no concept of transporting young kids around muddy playgrounds etc. It gets filthy very easily but seems to clean OK with a bit of elbow grease. Likewise the rear tail gate seems be a dust and soot magnet.

The quality of the build was a let down. The Passat is in a different world for build quality. Having said this it is ahead of Japanese offerings as far as tactility of materials is concerned. Welds seem roughly executed though, the plastics flimsy and general alignment of panels/doors etc not on a par with VW. On our car an ill fitting rear passenger door creates wind noise and there's misaligned seat upholstery on rear seat (especially around the handles for releasing the seat backs). We have not had any mechanical problems yet so top marks for that.

Conclusion

Would I buy it again? - YES. Because it satisfies my main two criteria extremely well. It's a fun and frugal day to day car for our 70km commute. How could Skoda improve it? Get rid of the silly white upholstery, use nicer plastics and assemble it better. Isolating the engine vibration more would be a big win. I'm really looking forward to the next model due next year - as long as they don't let extra weight kill off the thrills.