Skoda Fabia Combi 1.2 TDI Greenline (2011)

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Gebruikersreview

Uitvoering	Fabia Combi 1.2 TDI Greenline
Versnellingen	5, Handgeschakeld
Bouwjaar	2011
Jaar van aanschaf	2013
KM-stand bij aanschaf	40.450 km
KM-stand laatst	52.000 km

First ride

40.500 km
14 mei 2013

I picked up my new (used) Fabia from the delaer today. The ride home was quite pleasant, but the gearing and drop in power when changing gears will take some time to get used to.

I miss my old Fabia, which started pulling even as low as 1100-1200rpm, which meant hat I could drive lower my speed from 80 to 60 and even 50 and accelerate again in 5th gear quite effortless. And changing gears when driving uphill didn't pose any problems at all.

The Greenline is very different. It works best at cruising speed, that is above 70 or 80. It likes open roads and flat landscapes, and it hates winding roads in a hilly landscape. There the gears really need to be worked hard, as many testers have complained about.

That said, I'm happy with my fuel figures. While nowhere near the promised 3.4L/100km on mixed driving, I should be able to keep it just around 4 or even below at, once i get used to the car.

3.1 L/100km!

42.000 km
14 mei 2013

Saving fuel costs with this car is really possible...amazing! Today I did a trip of 100km and my fuel meter said 3.1L/100km. I never thought I would see that, but then again, I was stuck behind a car towing a trailer most of the time, doing only 60 or 70 when the speed limit is 80, so that is the biggest reason for the low figures.

That said, I have seen figures around 3.5 and 3.4 on severeal occasions on longer trips (200km +), so this car is much better than my old Fabia in fuel consumption.

I'm still not used to the long gears, and I have started to disregard the gearing indicator, especially going from 4th to 5th. I rather look at the road ahead and do not change into 5th gear unless there is a flat stretch.

Fuel consumption going down

42.940 km
14 mei 2013

Finally I seem to be getting used to how this car is supposed to be driven: my fuel consumption is dropping for every filling.

This filling saw an average of 3.8L/100km; that is excellent. If I can keep it at that, i will be 1L lower than my old Fabia, which used 4.7L/100km on average over the 3 years I had it.

Lights not working?

43.300 km
14 mei 2013

There seems to be an electrical fault somewhere. The indicator light for lights broken or not working goes on when driving in very wet conditions. However, all lights seem to work perfectly. Guess I should check with the garage soon or wait for my next service at 53000kms.

Fully loaded

46.600 km
6 augustus 2013

I'm impressed. After a holiday drive of 1000km, half of which the boot was fully (and heavily) loaded, the consumption was not more than 4,0 L/100km. This shows that diesel engines in general, and the GreenLine especially, are at their best for long journeys.

Breaking new ground

49.400 km
6 augustus 2013

Yes, it is possible to reach the manufacturer's figures. Almost. Country roads, early morning, not much traffic, cruise control on most of the time and an average speed of 71km/h over a distance of 280 km. Result: 3.2 L/100km!

Half the distance was driven one day, the other half the next day, back ond forth on the same road, 3.1 L one way, 3.3 L the other way, thus averaging 3.2. I'm quite satisfied with myself.

I've found that the key to low consumption figures is to take it slow in the beginning, because it is very difficult to bring down a high initial consumption. Say, if you start with more than 4.5 L/100km after the first 10km km, it takes a lot of careful driving to bring it down to less than 4 L. However, if you start with less than 4 L/100km after 10km, it is quite easy to bring it down to 3.5 L over the next 20 or so km.

Am I killing the engine?

52.000 km
6 augustus 2013

The 1.2 TDI CR in this Fabia is very different from my old Fabia with a 1.4 TDI PD engine. It has take me quite a while before I now dare to cruise along at 50km/h in 4th gear or 60kmh in 5th gear. Note: 50km/h is 57km/h on the speedometer and 60km/h is 69km/h on the speedometer, because I have measured the speedometer with my GPS to be more than 10% off.

With 60km/h in 5th I'm always afraid that the engine will stall at any moment, but surprisingly it doesn't, as long as there is enough momentum to keep it going forward. I'm not sure the engine really likes being driven at such low revs, but it's great for fuel economy.

9,0