Review of the new Skoda Fabia vRS

Q-car is a term used to describe a vehicle that doesn't look like anything special but is secretly packing epic performance. It's usually applied to unassuming saloons and estates that have monsters lurking in their engine bays. Hot hatchbacks tend to be the polar opposite of the Q-car. These are vehicles for which looking fast is sometimes more important than actually being it. That makes Skoda's Fabia vRS unusual, a genuine performance hatch that foregoes the visual excesses of its rivals. The question is, whether target customers will see the value in keeping things this low key?

While other models shout about their capability with bulging wheelarches and oversize spoilers, the Q-car is happy to operate under the radar, right up until it vanishes down the road in a haze of tyre smoke. The Fabia vRS is part of a successful line of vRS badged Skodas that adhere to this formula but why has the Czech brand been so shy with its performance cars?

The answer lies in its positioning with in the Volkswagen Group hierarchy. Broadly speaking, Skoda's role is to be practical and affordable, leaving SEAT to do the sporty thing and Volkswagen to campaign on a higher quality ticket. The Fabia vRS is very similar under the skin to the SEAT Ibiza Cupra and the Volkswagen Polo GTI, but it can't be seen to steal sales from those cars, so it has to come at the market from a subtly different angle. Check out the Fabia Super 2000 rally car and you'll see how purposeful Skoda's supermin can be made to look but there's only the merest trace of that aggression on the vRS.

"If you want a conventional-looking supermini with hot-hatch bite, Skoda's Fabia vRS is an intriguing package"

As if to confirm its status as the sensible face of hot hatchback motoring, the previous generation Fabia vRS had an elderly diesel engine. It was far from the disaster that it sounds but the majority of buyers in this sector at the market will feel more affinity with the 1.4-litre TSI petrol unit in today's car. The engine is actually turbocharged and supercharged, helping it to a maximum power output of 177bhp and a 0-60mph sprint of 7.3s. The turbo works at the top of the rev range while the supercharger boosts low end torque to levels that might be familiar to owners of the old diesel vRS Fabias.

The 1.4 TSI twin-charge engine works on the principle that even modern turbochargers take a while to get into their stride and inserts a supercharger into the mix that can boost performance at low engine speeds while that happens. With turbo and supercharger working in tandem, maximum torque is produced over a much wider section of the rev range, giving the car greater flexibility.

In a compact front-wheel-drive car like the Fabia vRS, the engine has added benefits in the shape of its light weight. This reduces the forces acting on the front wheels while they're working at important jobs like deploying the power and steering. Also helping put the power onto the road is Skoda's XDS electronic differential which uses the car's stability control system to mimic the action of a mechanical limited slip differential for greater control under hard acceleration.

The Fabia has quite a distinctive shape for a modern supermini with its long bonnet and large glass area. The vRS version inherits these basics and adds a collection of design features that suggest it might be a little quicker than the norm. Redesigned bumpers extend further downwards, giving the car a lower, more athletic stance. At the back, a diffuser is built into the bumper along with twin exhausts and a subtle spoiler is added above the rear screen. Buyers also get 17" alloy wheels with red brake callipers peeping through the spokes.

The vRS exterior couldn't be ranked amongst the most eye-catching in the hot hatch class but it successfully gives the five-door Fabia a sharper sporting edge. The interior is even more reserved with dark plastics and trim materials similar to the standard Fabias. Reminding the driver of the potential under their right foot are alloy pedals, a three-spoke leather steering wheel and cloth sports seats with vRS badges on the backrests. As in all Fabias, build quality is impressive and there's plenty of space for four occupants with a particular surplus of headroom.

Unusually for a hot hatchback but in line with the equivalent models from the other Volkswagen Group brands, the Fabia vRS is fitted with a DSG twin-clutch automatic gearbox as standard. The system comes with wheel-mounted paddle shifters and is about as slick and fast-shifting as automatics get.

Just as unorthodox is the fact that the Fabia vRS can be ordered either as a five-door hatch or an estate. If you're after a fast small car that will go all but unnoticed, the vRS estate will be tough to beat. There certainly aren't many alternatives that can offer this kind of pace along with a 480-litre boot capacity for similar money. Fold the 60/40 split rear seats flat (a less than straightforward operation that involves removing the headrests) and there's an Albert Hall-esque 1,460 litres to play with.

A key advantage of the small capacity forced induction engine in the Fabia vRS is the efficiency you get with its performance. The official combined economy figure is 45.6mpg and low 148g/km emissions will also help reduce its impact on your finances. Keeping running costs in check can only help bring the vRS within easier reach of its younger target market.

If you want a conventional-looking supermini with hot-hatch bite, Skoda's Fabia vRS is an intriguing package. With its five-door hatch and estate bodystyles displaying subtler looks than the majority of rivals, this fast Fabia goes against the grain. Beneath the skin, however, the car has the potency to live with the top performance models available at its price point. Advanced technology such as the DSG paddle-shift gearbox and the XDS electronic differential could even give it an edge.

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