Nor'West News: April 27, 2023

8
Thursday April 27 2023
Incorporating
best motorbuys
www.drivesouth.co.nz
Touch of French Riviera in Skoda Fabia
MONTE CARLO is one of the
most fascinating places I’ve had
the good fortune to visit.
In terms of major motorsport
events, it is also home to the
iconic formula one grand prix
and has long been host to a
round of the World Rally Championship.
Skoda has had regular contenders
with the latter. It entered
the competition in 1999 and has
had a lot of success in both it and
WRC-2, mostly with its Fabia.
Capitalising on that success,
the company has launched a
couple of Monte Carlo models
– Kamiq and five-door Fabiahatchback.
The Monte Carlo is
the only Fabia variant available
now and it has had a major
lifecycle change, arriving here at
tempting price of $39,990, and
squeezes into the low emission
zone rewarding a buyer with a
$2181 NZ Government Clean
Car Programme rebate. Bear in
mind, though, if you want the
bright red paintwork, as in the
evaluation car’s case, it will set
you back an extra $1000.
Under the bonnet is an interesting
four-cylinder engine
of 1.5-litre. It’s a strong engine
thanks to some fairly healthy
outputs – 110kW and 250Nm,
both generated by turbocharged
forced induction. The result is
a smooth, progressive flow of
energy, and that is the essence
of the modern engine; power arrives
smoothly and is linear.
Drive is sent to the front
wheels through a seven-speed
direct shift (dual clutch) gearbox.
It is the Volkswagen group’s
preferred design for automatic
transmission and it works effectively
with quick, clean shifts
and ratios that complement the
power outputs. There are also
four drive modes that can be
implemented, depending on the
type of journey ahead.
The Fabia carries all of the
virtues that make Skoda such
an interesting manufacturer in
terms of functionality, right from
the clever door-located umbrella
holder to the rubbish bin-type
container inside the driver’s door
pocket. There’s also a parking
ticket holder on the windscreen,
pen holder in the centre console
and cellphone holders on the
back of the front seats - plus
wireless cellphone charging.
It also gets a bit of sporty
treatment, seat stripes, carboncoloured
trim details, red accent
flashes and aluminium pedals.
I particularly liked the red door
grab handle.
The Fabia in this form is a very
interesting car; sure, it misses
out on a few items that I thought
would be mandatory, it doesn’t
get heated seats, but in an unusual
move it gets a heated steering
wheel. There’s also manual handbrake
lever; however, I relate to
that as I like things simple and I
like the idea of additional control
everywhere I can find it.
There’s no doubt Skoda is going
places in New Zealand, the
company has had some massive
corporate orders – police and
Corporate Cabs – and that success
has raised the profile of the
brand markedly. What’s more,
the quality of product is high
grade and interesting. Clever features
are part of the company’s
ideology; I can’t see the Fabia
Monte Carlo being anything
other than a resounding success.
• Price – Skoda Fabia
Monte Carlo, $39,990
• Dimensions – Length,
4125mm; width, 1954mm;
height, 1461mm
• Configuration – Fourcylinder,
front-wheeldrive,
1498cc, 110kW,
250Nm, seven-speed
direct shift automatic
• Performance –
0-100km/h, 8sec
• Fuel usage – 5.3l/100km
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