Category: Superminis 
Price Range: £8,950 to £13,730
Roomy, cosseting ride, punchy diesel, economy, quality.
Dull steering, not very engaging to drive.
A fine car, just not a sporting one.
It's unfair perhaps, but those eagerly awaiting a spiritual successor to the Skoda Fabia vRS will have high expectations of the new Fabia Sport.
First up, the previous-generation vRS owner will have to shell out more for the Fabia Sport. At £12,795 the biggest, most powerful diesel-powered Sport costs £800 more than the old much-loved hot hatch.
Aesthetically-speaking, the extra outlay's worth it. Photos simply don't do the new Fabia justice and our test car ticked all the boxes in the looks department. The Sport shares the same wheel size as the vRS, mimics the former car's cheeky rear boot spoiler, nabs its aggressive chin spoiler and pinches its trademark wide chrome-tipped exhaust, although its half-hearted faux rear diffuser seems like Skoda has over-egged the omlette.
Inside, the sporting theme continues with a three-spoke leather steering wheel and heavily bolstered front sport seats.
All's well then... until you lift the bonnet. Instead of finding the old car's 128bhp 1.9-litre diesel engine or even a new, more powerful petrol engine, you'll be confronted by a 1.9-litre downgraded diesel that delivers just 104bhp. Three other even less sporting engines are available: the puny petrol-powered 69bhp 1.2, a 104bhp 1.6 and a smaller 79bhp 1.4 TDI. These are all pretty gutless and hardly warrant the 'Sport' tag.
Skoda admits the Sport model is more warm hatch than the white-hot hatches from rivals. The Sport is pitched as a rival for the Ford Fiesta Zetec S and Vauxhall's Corsa SXi, but will it be a fun, capable and competent stop-gap until the fire-breathing vRS finally arrives?
