Skoda Fabia

The Skoda Fabia vRS has spent 12 months on the Auto Express fleet, and now it's time to say cheerio - which gives us a chance to reflect on 16,000 miles of happy motoring. After all, it's no secret that the vRS was a firm favourite with all who drove it. In fact, the comment book is full of praise, with colleagues citing both the great straight-line pace and incredible fuel economy.

You may remember that we took our vRS to Superchips, which altered the engine management software, upping the power from 130bhp to 160bhp and providing an additional 73Nm of torque. On the whole, the changes have been successful, not only giving the Fabia a 0-60mph time of seven seconds (down from 8.5 seconds), but also providing a smoother, more linear mid-range.

Fuel economy has barely suffered (we regularly return in excess of 50mpg), although recently we have noticed more black smoke from the exhaust and soot build-up on the tailgate - raising concerns about engine emissions and longevity.

Still, we've had loads of correspondence from readers, and one has even equipped his car with a chip from Javasport in Peterborough, Cambs, so it now develops 190bhp and 510Nm! However, we reckon that's too much for the Fabia. Yet when our model had its 10,000-mile service, the dealer, HL Austin in Wandsworth, south London, didn't even notice it had been chipped! Nor was it a problem that a trip to Belgium had taken us 600 miles over the service point. Even though the vRS was booked in at short notice, when we picked it up, it had been cleaned and the CD-munching stereo replaced under warranty, sweetening the £212 bill.

I made one last trip back to Austin before Christmas, however, because the Fabia developed a couple of faults. First and foremost, the dark winter nights highlighted the fact that the xenon headlights needed adjusting, so they illuminated the road further ahead. Also, some plastic cabin trim had to be reattached on the passenger door and around the air-conditioning controls.

The latter presented more of a problem, because even though I rang in advance and told the garage what had broken, it ordered the wrong part - so I had to leave the Fabia there overnight.

Still, for the most part, running the hot Skoda has been an absolute pleasure, whether on the grind to work through central London or weekend jaunts to the countryside. My enthusiasm has been tempered slightly by the build quality issues, the dated dashboard design, the light trim - which shows the dirt so easily - and the fact that the car was starting to feel tired. So while I still love its effortless pace, eager nature and nimble handling, the niggles were starting to take the shine off.

Second opinion

There's no denying the Fabia offers great performance and economy, but a recent motorway trip threw up a real shortcoming for me. I'm a good bit taller than Piers, and after a couple of hours at the wheel, my back was aching on account of the firm seats. The tatty trim also disappointed, and proved that despite Skoda's progress, it still lags some way behind parent firm Volkswagen in this area.
Graham Hope, managing editor