fabulous Fabia

A single test drive cant judge a good car. I am writing this review after 3500km of fabulous drive.

Exterior

1. Well finished solid look. You can feel the strength when you open the car door and when you close it listen to the loud "thoud". It is 25kg heavier than honda city 2008 (source carwale).

2. The length of the car is 3990mm, the longest hatch in its class. Due to this length the boot space is good (300L).

3. Low ground clearance adds stability and more room inside. Do not worry about the low ground clearance, the under body is coming with extra metal plate (Rough road package). So even your car got hit in big bumpers nothing will happen to your car.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

1. Once a new guy enters the car the first thing he says is "WOW such a huge space?". Yes true due to low ground clearance and good length the car is spacious. The back seat knee room is as good as Ford Fiesta.

2. All the plastics and fabrics are of top quality. The switches/knobs are rigid.

3. The Seats are too comfort to sit (believe me I am 6 footer and I have done a lower back surgery). You like to drive all day.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox

1. The engine is only 70BHP, but it got a linear torque from 1600rpm to 4000rpm. This power is adequate to move this car. With the right gear at right RPM this car is awesome. The turbo charger will kick in at 1800RPM so if you change gear at around 2000RPM the car will zoom like any thing. In bumber to bumber city traffic It is not  required to press the accelerator for 1st and 2nd gears. 

2. The gear knob is a masterpiece and it slots in like a knife in a butter cake. The gear system is top of its class. So driving in traffic is pleasure for me.

3. The car can go in 100Kmph with the engine speed of just 2100rpm. So it means amazing mileage in highways. I am getting 15.7kmpl in Chennai City traffic (for 2 km i used to travel in 1,2 gears and rest of the journey with 3,4 )

Ride Quality & Handling

1. All the variants 185mm wide tires, top in its class. With the low ground clearance and wide tires the car hugs the road so handling is awesome. The car can do tight turnings at high speeds without the fear of roll over.

2. It got a very good minimum turning radius and I am able to park in my small car park very easily (even my neighbor struggle with his little hyundai).

3. The car is stable at 130Kmph. One of my neighbor who is owning this masterpiece for 2years and he used to travel from Chennai to Pondichery often and he used to drive at 160 to 170kmph (I bought this car after seeing/studying his car)

Safety:

1. All the variants are equipped with dual airbags. This should be must for Indian roads and Driving style (though you can follow rules properly but the guy coming in the opposite may not). One of my friend driving x car got hit and got a head injury and he lost all his front teeth on his honeymoon trip. This is the reason I am writing this review. 

This hyundais and suzukis exploiting Indians by not providing safety system in all the variants. And they are claiming they are providing best service to all. 

All readers donot hesitate to put extra 60k to 1L money to buy a better car that will save your life at one time.

2. The seat belts are having pre tensioner so in heavy breaking it will pull back the occupants (also please drive safe with seatbelts on).

3. On sudden breaking the internal cabin is intact so that even some one is sleeping they will not feel the jerk.

Reviews from Top Gear

http://www.topgear.com/uk/skoda/fabia 

http://www.topgear.com/uk/volkswagen/polo

http://www.topgear.com/uk/hyundai/i20

http://www.topgear.com/uk/fiat/grande-punto

http://www.topgear.com/uk/suzuki/swift

All the above reviews are real, tried and tested. 

Service

1. Service interval is 15,000km. So it is not required to visit service center often like others. The first 2 services will be around 4,500rs and subsequent services will be around 7,000Rs.

2. The engine sub frame and chassis are under 12year warranty (WOW). It will cover all natural cause and rusting. No other car in its class will provide this (My bro-in-law's hyundai's sub frame got rusted in 6years). The engine is under 2 year warranty and the paint got 3 year warranty.

Final Words

Such a safety car for Indian driving condition is a big service to humanity. Every day 46 people are dying of road accidents in TN. Lets drive safer and buy safe cars.

Areas of improvement  

Service network across the country and available of replacement parts