Category: Superminis 
Price Range: £8,625 to £13,570
Some of the lowest running costs in the business, good ride.
Longer gearing compromises drive, poor level of equipment, unrefined engine.
Greenline economy package spoils a fine supermini.
You pay £205 more for the Greenline than the equivalent Fabia 2 trim, which isn't much, but you pay the real price when you get behind the wheel and start to drive.
First off, the combination of the new, smaller 14" wheels and energy saving tyres rob the Fabia Greenline of grip. Enter a corner with a little too much vigour and the economy Skoda is far more prone to ploughing on in understeer than the larger-wheeled standard car.
As well as less grip, there's less shove, too. On paper, there's little evidence the Greenline is slower, taking the same 13.7 seconds it takes the regular car to reach 62mph, but on the road it's another story. Longer gearing for more efficient cruising means the Fabia needs plenty of gear shuffling to keep it up to speed and around town you'll find yourself simply keeping it in a gear lower than the standard car: that's not good news when you have to listen to a noisy, unrefined three-cylinder diesel thrum away.
It's a shame, the little 80bhp 1.4 TDI works well in the regular Fabia and the addition of a particulate filter has done little to dampen its spirit with those longer gears, but you have to work it harder than ever to keep up with traffic.
