Skoda Fabia Greenline: Test Drive

Date: 29 July 2008   |   Author:

Category: Supermini P11D price: £12,055 Key rival: Renault Clio Sport Tourer

Skoda has joined the party with its Greenline brand, following parent company VW's Bluemotion and sibling Seat's Ecomotive.

But the new Fabia Greenline is interesting in its own right because it's the greenest estate car on the market, thanks to CO2 emissions of 109g/km. That's level with the diesel Mini Clubman, but the British-built rival is significantly smaller than the Skoda, which has genuine four-adult carrying ability and 480 litres of boot space, rising to 1460 with the seats folded.

The Greenline uses the same 80PS 1.4-litre diesel engine as we sampled recently in the Seat Ibiza Ecomotive, but it's far from the most refined unit. The price you pay for the Greenline's 68.9mpg claimed average economy is a clattery, old-tech three-cylinder diesel engine. However, its fuel consumption is certainly impressive, and without even trying, we returned well over 50mpg in town.

Residual values are also decent at 43.8% retained and, given the low £12,055 P11D price, it adds up to 28.0 pence per mile. That's just 1.7 and 1.5 pence per mile more than the greenest three-door versions of the Vauxhall Corsa and the Ibiza, which is impressive given the higher P11D and large amount of extra space.

The other worthy Fabia qualities remain. It's not the most interesting of cars to look at or drive, and some of the cheaper cabin materials are a world away from even the volume players in the segment, but that makes sense for a brand that puts reliability and dependability over style and aesthetics. And the Greenline is the natural conclusion of that philosophy.

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