Skip to content

1.2TSI DSG Elegance Estate Review

Fatbloke
in Skoda Fabia Mk2 (2007-2014)

Featured Replies

Selection:

I was looking for a car to replace my old Octavia 2.0 Ambiente with similar performance and capacity (people & luggage) and better economy and ride/handling. I wanted an auto for a change and had decided that the 1.6 CR diesel FL Fabia estate fitted the bill. Until I found you couldn't get the diesel DSG combo. I opted for the 1.2 TSI as a leap of faith. I read all I could on the TSI engine and the DSG box. I test drove a Fabia II 1.4TDi sport and a 1.2 HTP. This convinced me I needed the sport suspension as it offered superior handling without any obvious loss of ride quality. I also wanted goodies so looked at speccing up a SE but the 0% finance and better value for money meant it would be the Elegance. I also wanted to pick my colour and chose white, not on account of current fads but because I had a white car previously and it was great for invisible stone chip repair and it was a no cost option. My other choices would have been red but sometimes the corrida red looks a little darker than what I had in mind or yellow but that was a cost option. Definitely not metallics or dark blue/black.

Options:

Sport supension - worth every penny also improves appearance

Parking sensors - excellent especially linked into the stereo

MFSW on 4 spoke - again, excellent

Front seat storage boxes - functional, smaller than expected, expensive for what they are

Door sill protectors - functional, not that attractive, expensive

Wind deflectors - Funtional, flimsy, better can be bought aftermarket

Spare wheel - preference

Extras:

Richbrook 510mm bumper strips on front - do not compromise appearance

Chrome look xenon bulbs in DRLs & LEDs in side lights - pimp my ride

Philips x-treme H7s - excellent improvement on already good lights

UV/Privacy blinds - B-pillar back, excellent from Palm automotive

Disappontments:

Tyre noise - made more so by the fact that the engine and wind noise are so low

Seats - Base too squashy, no lateral support. Back ok would benfit from extra lumbar support too

Gearbox - Lag when pottering or in town traffic. Precise manoevering on a hill can be troublesome.

Likes:

Gearbox - absolutely marvellous in all but above

Engine - A real gem, torquey, quiet, powerful and so economical. Not used a drop of oil.

Brakes - dsg cars are equipped with large discs (same as vRS??). So powerful yet good feel.

Ride - upset by only the worst surfaces

Handling - a small amount of body roll but not excessive, grip is amazing

Stereo - excellent, let down only by some door card vibration on bass heavy tracks

Boot - good shape and size

Comments:

Build quality is OK to good, not as good as my 52 reg Octy.

Indifferent about climate control - happy to control it myself

Despite my seat comments they were still comfortable after 6 hours + drive to Scotland

Gearknob looks cheap

Arm rest ok but not ideal - struggle to use hand brake with it down so other than long runs it stays vertical

Roll out boot cover - good idea but not the best engineered, would have preferred a shelf

thanks for the feedback

Gearknob looks cheap

they are only £22 (even cheaper for the manufactuerer) retail price from the dealers for gear knob, gaiter and surround. I have the same retrofitted to my pre fl.

Edited by fabia55

  • Author

thanks for the feedback

they are only £22 (even cheaper for the manufactuerer) retail price from the dealers for gear knob, gaiter and surround. I have the same retrofitted to my pre fl.

Its the DSG knob that has been discussed on here previously. They couldn't have made it look any cheaper or less stylish.

Its the DSG knob that has been discussed on here previously. They couldn't have made it look any cheaper or less stylish.

I've seen one at the dealers and it does look cheap and plasticky, even cheaper looking than the manual one.

Nice update. You must have had one of the first 1.2TSI DSG in the country if you've had it for 10 weeks. I agree about the DSG "knob" - I had an Octy II DSG and that was square with a nice silver insert. Never mind, being auto at least you are not touching it much ;-)

Hi Fatbloke,

thanks for the interesting review, not seen the Fabia DSG selector in reality but bizarrely I prefer the look of it's design to the cumbersome thing in my dads Superb II. Odd thing personal likes and dislikes as I'm probably on my own on this one :giggle:

Regards,

TP

Very good review Fatbloke, good information. If possible, please keep the posts coming in over a period of time. It's very helpful for newbie's and interesting for the rest of us too. Glad you are pleased with your motor.emoticon-0144-nod.gif

Thanks for a great review, just got to wait for mine to be built now, been given week 1 !

That's a great review FB and the pictures of your car convinced me that white is the colour for the Fabia Estate. I'm going to order mine imminently.

  • 3 weeks later...

Selection:

I was looking for a car to replace my old Octavia 2.0 Ambiente with similar performance and capacity (people & luggage) and better economy and ride/handling. I wanted an auto for a change and had decided that the 1.6 CR diesel FL Fabia estate fitted the bill. Until I found you couldn't get the diesel DSG combo. I opted for the 1.2 TSI as a leap of faith. I read all I could on the TSI engine and the DSG box. I test drove a Fabia II 1.4TDi sport and a 1.2 HTP. This convinced me I needed the sport suspension as it offered superior handling without any obvious loss of ride quality. I also wanted goodies so looked at speccing up a SE but the 0% finance and better value for money meant it would be the Elegance. I also wanted to pick my colour and chose white, not on account of current fads but because I had a white car previously and it was great for invisible stone chip repair and it was a no cost option. My other choices would have been red but sometimes the corrida red looks a little darker than what I had in mind or yellow but that was a cost option. Definitely not metallics or dark blue/black.

Options:

Sport supension - worth every penny also improves appearance

Parking sensors - excellent especially linked into the stereo

MFSW on 4 spoke - again, excellent

Front seat storage boxes - functional, smaller than expected, expensive for what they are

Door sill protectors - functional, not that attractive, expensive

Wind deflectors - Funtional, flimsy, better can be bought aftermarket

Spare wheel - preference

Extras:

Richbrook 510mm bumper strips on front - do not compromise appearance

Chrome look xenon bulbs in DRLs & LEDs in side lights - pimp my ride

Philips x-treme H7s - excellent improvement on already good lights

UV/Privacy blinds - B-pillar back, excellent from Palm automotive

Disappontments:

Tyre noise - made more so by the fact that the engine and wind noise are so low

Seats - Base too squashy, no lateral support. Back ok would benfit from extra lumbar support too

Gearbox - Lag when pottering or in town traffic. Precise manoevering on a hill can be troublesome.

Likes:

Gearbox - absolutely marvellous in all but above

Engine - A real gem, torquey, quiet, powerful and so economical. Not used a drop of oil.

Brakes - dsg cars are equipped with large discs (same as vRS??). So powerful yet good feel.

Ride - upset by only the worst surfaces

Handling - a small amount of body roll but not excessive, grip is amazing

Stereo - excellent, let down only by some door card vibration on bass heavy tracks

Boot - good shape and size

Comments:

Build quality is OK to good, not as good as my 52 reg Octy.

Indifferent about climate control - happy to control it myself

Despite my seat comments they were still comfortable after 6 hours + drive to Scotland

Gearknob looks cheap

Arm rest ok but not ideal - struggle to use hand brake with it down so other than long runs it stays vertical

Roll out boot cover - good idea but not the best engineered, would have preferred a shelf

Hi. Ive been looking at the palmautomotive website at these sunblinds. Ive had a look at the pictures and watched the video but its not clear to me how they attach. Are they secure in the way they do. I don't want to buy them if the attachment fall to bits or come unstuck after not to long. Are they brackets/clips self adhesive?

Are the rear boot blinds any good?

Could you post some pictures perhaps?

Cheers in advance.

  • Author

Hi. Ive been looking at the palmautomotive website at these sunblinds. Ive had a look at the pictures and watched the video but its not clear to me how they attach. Are they secure in the way they do. I don't want to buy them if the attachment fall to bits or come unstuck after not to long. Are they brackets/clips self adhesive?

Are the rear boot blinds any good?

Could you post some pictures perhaps?

Cheers in advance.

They attach with little clips that fit around the windows secured by a combination of the blinds being a perfect fit for the gap they are covering and easing into the gap between door and window rubber. I have done a couple of thousand miles with plenty of door and boot slamming and they haven't moved. Thet fit without damage and no adhesive etc is used. They are easy to remove and are supplied with a nylon bag to keep them clean in the boot. Only 1 gripe, the back window blind is 2 pieces so you have a black line down the middle. Not a problem in practice but a single full width blind would have been more attractive. Will post some pics later.

They attach with little clips that fit around the windows secured by a combination of the blinds being a perfect fit for the gap they are covering and easing into the gap between door and window rubber. I have done a couple of thousand miles with plenty of door and boot slamming and they haven't moved. Thet fit without damage and no adhesive etc is used. They are easy to remove and are supplied with a nylon bag to keep them clean in the boot. Only 1 gripe, the back window blind is 2 pieces so you have a black line down the middle. Not a problem in practice but a single full width blind would have been more attractive. Will post some pics later.

Did you manage to get any pictures?

  • Author

Did you manage to get any pictures?

Oops, sorry I forgot, I'll sort it today

Have you got a photo of your car to show the sports suspension please?

  • Author

Photos as promised:

The rear window view is upside down on account of opening the boot to photograph the view through it. As you can see one type of clip sits under the rubber on the car and the other attaches to the blind and fits in the gap between the glass and metal.

Cheers for pictures - have to seem my other posts about the problem with the ones I was sent?

could you tell us where you got the Richbrook 510mm bumper strips from please? and how much were they?

  • Author

could you tell us where you got the Richbrook 510mm bumper strips from please? and how much were they?

Just searched fleabay under Richbrook and found some at £15. I think they are normally ~£18

Just searched fleabay under Richbrook and found some at £15. I think they are normally ~£18

it comes up with 3,390 items!!

  • Author

it comes up with 3,390 items!!

Search Richbrook bumper :giggle:

thanks for the link. can you show us what they look like fitted?

here's a bumper strip protector for the estate if you're interested or if you haven't seen this item http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SKODA-FABIA-COMBI-ESTATE-MK2-5J-REAR-BUMPER-PROTECTOR-/320599987519?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4aa53f953f

Edited by fabia55

Create an account or sign in to comment
Go to topic listing

Recently Browsing 0

  • No registered users viewing this page.

Important Information

Welcome to BRISKODA. Please note the following important links Terms of Use. We have a comprehensive Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Account

Navigation

Configure browser push notifications
Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.