(ENG) Skoda Fabia 2015 - Test Drive and Review 

ורד ינובסקי I'll pay attention the next time I drive a Fabia, but I don't expect much difference. Most Skodas I tested tended to have poor sound insulation, which was independent of suspension and/or panoramic roof. I remember the Rapid (lower spec) had the same problem. It's mostly wind noise around the A pillars.

Hi Again, Wind noise from A pillars, is caused usually due to 2 typical reasons: the first one is low aerodynamic design which produce more aerodynamic air turbulences near this area of the car's body, and there for more noise. and secondly, better noise suppression elsewhere, such as engine noise etc... which lowers the vehicle general noise floor level, and by doing so exposes other noises (such as wind) to be more pronounced then they are. a good example for noise dampening differences from ford to see: The ford focus is considered one of the quietest cars in C segment, very good wind suppression, and very good suspension isolation (soft suspension) which makes it one of the quietest rides if not the best in its class. but the outcome of this exceptionally good noise and suspension isolation, causes the engine noise to become much clearer, something you typically less notice in its rivals you call noisy - for example the octavia whom its petrol engines are dead silent in comparison to the focus. the truth is that both cars have more or less equal sound dampening levels, but the characteristics of design are utilizing different approaches. the whole issue of noise insulation and floor noise level is a complicated thing, and to deal with it professionally there is allot to learn regarding that specific area. what i can suggest to everyone, is to use a good quality sound pressure level meter, on a specific road, always at same exact speed and same microphone placement - for consistent measures. measure every car the same, and write down the results. that is how professional labs do their work. although even this way measuring noise is not enough, as the sound characteristics are different regardless of the DB readings. for example, the German Autobild have a very comprehensive lab test for every car, and in their test, the noisy octavia (as you think it is noisy) is only 1 DB noisier than a BMW 3 series. i am not surprised as an engineer myself, from the results. so although the octavia does seems to your ears to have a bit more of wind noise, one must understand it is more pronounced psychologically only because the sound insulation of the octavia engine and so the build quality of the interior exemplary quite, causing the general noise floor level to be very low, such that every other noises become much clearer. that is the importance of noise floor level and the ratio between every noise source level in relation to other noise sources. this acoustic characteristics is called "noise masking". strong noises conceal other noises making the impression they do not exist or they are weak. the best way to make a car seems as quite as possible, is there for to isolate noises in an even way as possible, so no sound source will be quieter related to other noise sources, as much as it makes them become "more visible". conclusion: some noise is always good in order to cover for other noise sources. Ford focus silenced their wind and suspension noises very well, so it made the engine noise more pronounced. Skoda octavia made their engine noise and interior parts rattling suppressed very well, so it made other noise sources more easily to detect: wind and their typically stiff suspension. the "true judge" of noise level will always be a sound pressure level meter and smart sound measuring technic. I hope i have explained the issue clear enough.

ורד ינובסקי When I'm in an electric car, like the Nissan LEAF, then it's quiet and I hear to many noises from the outside. On the other hand, a Rolls-Royce has good sound insulation, and it is very quiet outside, regardless of the traffic. The noise I could hear inside the Fabia was as if there were no door seals on the A pillars. Furthermore, at motorway speed the passenger and I had to raise out voices to have a conversation. That's not something I usually have to do.

Marek Drives interesting indeed. maybe there was something defect on the demo car if it was that much loud. regardless of defect or not, I think the specific car (fabia) requires another test with a second sample of non sport suspension and a closed metal rooftop as I have suggested above, just to make sure. If you can acquire a good SPL (sound pressure level) meter and begin evaluating cars from now on while submitting the microphone results as well, I will be very appreciative. apart then that, you make excellent work from your side (2 thumbs up) and I am quite sure as time advance, your channel should get more and more audience, as there is no substitute for witness :-)

Geraldine Geraldine whut, of course you can change all of those things.

Thanks!Actually Skoda is the top selling car brand in Poland (ahead of Toyota and VW!), and I'm one of the few weirdos, who can't see the greatness it represents :)

Marek Drives Interesting, haven' t known that before. In Germany Volkswagen is number one ( as you probably know as a car expert) I am a German weirdo who dares to drive a Peugeot 208 and even likes it ;-)

As long as you don't live anywhere near Wolfsburg... ;) BTW, how did you come across my channel? Looking for information on a specific car, suggested video, etc.?

Marek Drives At the moment I am watching many car reviews on youtube. Mainly about minis or super minis. That car class fits my financial situation best, because I don't want to drive used cars anymore. Somewhere on the way surfing youtube I found Marek Drives in English:-) By the way I am going to buy a new car in spring of 2018. So I want to make a solid decision.

Thanks for the info. Within the next 2-3 weeks I'll post the new C3 review, and then a month later Opel Corsa.

Thanks for your answer Marek. Perhaps i'll consider Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T too. Does not have the same boot but I assume it is a little quieter and is always a C-segment car. Agree?

Jorge Santana It's been a while, since I drove the Qashqai. Give it a try.

Marek Drives Ok! :)

+Jonathan Vieira Thanks. I think I'd lean towards high-spec Fabia or low/mid-spec 208.

+Marek Drives Thanks a lot for the quick response!

Nicholas Zanella Yes. In case you haven't noticed, I'm filming this alone. Another car on the set requires 2-3 more people involved. I don't make enough money to afford that.

I especially appreciated the fact you pointed out cabin noise. That's so important...it's a pity almost no one mentions that.

kucelj450 I think it should launch very soon. I'll try to get my hands on one ASAP, but bear in mind there are some bigger media ahead in the queue ;)

I haven't driven an Ibiza in 10 years.

Rallye Metallic.

Thanks for fast answer :)

Not any time soon. I have reviews lined up until mid-September, and Corsa is not one of them. I will try to get my hands on one, but not before autumn.

Fair

TheSaint491 it is the same as the old one. i.e. good. better than a fabia with its shi-tsi motors

Nemanja Grujic I always prefer w better equipped car, even if it is smaller.

Marek Drives Yes, I am sharing your opinion and just have a one doubt and problem because VW Golf 7 has knee airbag and excellent IIHS small overlap crash-test results.

Nemanja Grujic Well, we won't know Skoda's IIHS results, because it's not available in the US. It has a 5-star Euro NCAP rating.

Nemanja Grujic nisi valjda tolko tup da kupuješ dsg

Goog Commenter Ne razumem? Sta imas protiv DSG-a?

sk junaid ahmed There's a link to a Yaris review at the end of the video and in the description below. Here's a Prius bit.ly/19gNCEZ Auris (Corolla) bit.ly/1FiNuRw And Auris station wagon bit.ly/18GZxL4

+John Mihelis I guess you wouldn't have a reason to buy a Polo then ;)

+Marek Drives Hah! Yeah, i think you got that right :D

+John Mihelis Amundsen navigation is available since then.

Sisanda Mbete I guess Skoda had to differentiate itself from VW, so it placed the starter button, where you'd normally have the ignition. Nobody expects to find it there, hence the key scratches. Once you get used to it, it seems like the most natural place to have that button. And since VW group uses the same bits across many brands, you'll find that in a VW car there is a black plastic cap in the place of the ignition.

+Brutos CZ That was the price in Germany at the time. Currently Fabia in Germany starts at almost 12k euro.

currently skoda fabia starts in czech at 8 800€

Brutos CZ Yes, I was amazed to see the price of 239k CZK. In Poland, where Skoda is the bestselling brand Fabia starts at about 255k CZK.

+Marek Drives that cant be just because move costs (from cz to pl) right? any idea why is that? for people from rest of the europe it is cheaper to travel to czech and buy it here and then travel back to his homeland

Brutos CZ It's about positioning the car on the market respective to the brand image, competition, taxes, etc. For a thousand euro I wouldn't bother, but in some cases Poles do travel abroad to buy luxury cars at a lower price. Audi/BMW/Merc are significantly cheaper in Germany. Interestingly enough many mass segment brands are cheaper in Poland, than in Western Europe. During the cash-for-clunkers period Polish showrooms close to the German border sold cars mainly to the Germans.

w00zi What engines do you get in Algeria?

Marek Drives The Fabia 3 is not available yet, but we had only two engines for the fabia 2, 1.2 htp 70 and 1.6 MPi 105. but mainly 1.2 htp ( I'm not sure about the second one).

w00zi well there is TSI in Algeria for the Seat Leon Cupra, so that if you meant there is no TSI in AlgeriaMarek Drives for the new Fabia, we just received it in the International Salon with only MPi engine so far.

Joe F. I was talking about the Fabia mate :)

+xgladar Yes, I can pronounce it, but then it sounds like SZkoda, which means "it's a shame" in Polish ;) That's why we use hard S in Poland for Skoda.

Depends what you compare it to. Mazda2 is much better.

+Marek Drives That may be as most Mazdas handle brilliantly, however it is implied that the car handles poorly and is unsafe above 100kmh. This is misleading nonsense. I found it to be reasonably quiet and it held the road as well as any car. I have no idea what the motovation is for the BS... I just call it as I see it.

yamahaevo No reason to buy skoda att all, buy vv for the same price with sound isolation.

+yamahaevo thats just your opinion. I personally like this a lot better than the polo and with similar trim its about 2k euros cheaper. I also dont know about the isolation, i drove in one and it seemed better than average. Definately not bad but the one i drove in had a normal suspension and smaller alloys

how are the engines in i20 better ? the 60 hp engine in the fabia is only in the cheapest version this cars mid range models range from 75-110hp. where I live the mid range model 110hp 1.2 TSI petrol fabia costs about the same as the mid range model i20 with a 84 hp 1.25 litre petrol.

Mishibar basic model of i 20 have 75 hp.. and its not ugly like skoda...lol...

+Mario Losberg and 75 hp is not for "grandmothers" ? you said the engines in the i20 are better. what i20 engine is better than the 110 HP TSI the fabia in this video has ? I like the external looks of the i20 better too, but I think the fabia looks much better on the inside.

Mishibar i'm talking about design.. still fabia is booring and so ugly car...

if you only talked about looks then why did you mention the engine ? the engine range is MUCH less "grandma" than it is in i20