Skoda hatch is still Fab fun

Facelift tweaks style of megaseller

EVERYTHING fell into place one day last month. It was one of the last extraordinarily warm days of the year, traffic seemed to have deserted the roads and I was in a truly entertaining car.

The North Yorkshire moors in a Ferrari 488GTB, perhaps? Actually no, it was a Skoda Fabia in Buckingshamshire.

I was at the launch of the facelifted Fabia, Skoda’s megaselling top value hatchback.

There’s nothing odd about a facelift halfway through a car’s life but there is in this instance because the Fabia is built on the same platform as the VW Polo and Seat Ibiza. Both of those have recently been totally revamped and use the new Volkswagen Group small car platform known as MQB AO, whereas the Fabia doesn’t.

The fact its handling might be made a bit sharper with a new chassis is unlikely to be noticed by Fabia buyers and it’s already spacious enough without the need to stretch the wheelbase with a new platform.

Certainly there isn’t much wrong with the way the Fabia

drives. One change for 2018 is that a diesel engine is no longer offered. Only 5% of the previous cars were ordered this way so Skoda has rightly decided not to bother. All the petrol engines are 1.0-litre three-cylinder units – one is naturally aspirated and produces 75bhp and two others are turbocharged and put out

95bhp and 110bhp. We’re driving a car with the middle option.

The range starts with the entry level S and goes up through SE, SE-L, Monte Carlo and Colour Edition. Ours is the latter which, without options, costs £15,395. Still good value.

This is the most economical of all the engines available (61.4mpg) and the one that Skoda reckons will be its top seller. It doesn’t quite have the character of Ford’s three-cylinder engine but it’s smooth and quiet. Neither does the Fabia handle quite as well as the Fiesta but it’s comfortable and safe.

The roads I mentioned earlier, twisty with lots of crests and unexpected bumps, needed a car with springs that soak up bumps, and comfortable seats. The Skoda Fabia has both. You can have as much fun in a car like this as you can a flash supercar, although it’s not quite so good for posing.

Inside, we have a 6.5in infotainment screen which is a bit on the small side but it works fine. The interior trim is still pretty utilitarian, but that’s OK. The sportier Monte Carlo gets fake carbon fibre trim but it doesn’t look right.

As before, the Fabia’s ace card is its interior space. Luggage capacity is 350 litres with the seats up and 1,150 litres with them flat, which is equal to the new Polo on its space-efficient platform and more spacious than the Fiesta.

What other manufacturers don’t provide are the little details that set the Fabia apart. Like the umbrella under the passenger seat (OK, you do get one with a Rollsroyce), the ice scraper and tread depth gauge in the fuel filler cap, the waste bin in the passenger’s door pocket and the nets on the sides of the front seats.

Skoda has been wise not to change much on the Fabia. The styling has been revised with new front and rear bumpers, and LED headlamps are now available as an option – but read the story above about the cost of replacing fancy headlamps before you tick that option box. All the Fabia now really needs is a brighter and more modern feeling interior.

Interior space is equal to the Polo, the boot is bigger than the Fiesta’s