Skoda Fabia 1.4 TDI (Old)

To truly appreciate the Fabia, you need to add a little bit of heart to cold logic

Published on Dec 09, 2009 08:00:00 AM

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Powered by a 1422cc, direct-injection diesel motor that allows Skoda to pull an excise sop, the Fabia delivers adequate performance. The motor is actually a familiar one, this three-cylinder unit is the Skoda Laura’s motor minus one cylinder. Using two valves per cylinder and a fixed geometry turbo, this motor uses Volkswagen’s Pumpe Duse method of diesel injection, meaning no common rail system. PD engines use one fuel pump per cylinder and as a result the responsiveness of the motor is very strong. What you get is very high injection pressure and this means an instant increase in engine speed and power delivery as soon as you hit the accelerator. But this sudden increase in pressure also leads to a high amount of diesel clatter as the individual pressure spikes are very sharp.

Like the motor of the Laura diesel, clatter from cold is quite high and most of it remains even when the motor is warm. Responses to the throttle are also not lightning-quick below 2000rpm, some degree of lag present. Still, in city traffic, the Fabia’s large cylinders have enough pulling power, even through the lag, and the Fabia acquits itself reasonably well.

Once past 2000rpm, the Fabia is no slouch. The engine now responds strongly, power delivery after that first spike is linear and the Fabia pulls and pulls. Power doesn’t tail off like other diesels and the strong midrange and top end help it to cover the 0-100 sprint in a decent 14.9 seconds, a second shy of the Swift. Then despite being a three-cylinder motor, the inherent thrum of a three-cylinder is reasonably well suppressed. However, overall, the motor remains the least impressive part of the Fabia package.

The slick, light gearbox is another matter entirely. Totally brilliant and even at times addictive to use, this gearbox and linkage is the one you want to put in a box and carry with you from car to car. Very positive and light, it slots in without fuss or much effort. And we even liked the lip on the gear lever
that helps when you shift to gears in the lower half of the shift H. As expected from any Skoda,
the Fabia proved to be very efficient. Travelling 14.1 kilometres a litre in city conditions and an amazing 18.5 kilometres a litre on the highway. To put it in perspective, the Fabia is among the most efficient cars in India.