Skoda Fabia 130 – New Hot Hatchback

Last Updated on 09/08/2026 by Raj

Skoda Fabia 130

For a long time Skoda Fabia 130 remain a very practical, comfy, smartly priced car, some rivals might be better in terms of performance or tech, but it is still an all-rounder in every area. And after the Fabia vRS,  they made a comeback, with the new Fabia 130, so let’s find out more about this car.

Some hatchbacks and small cars feel cheap and some have high price tag without any extra punch. But the Skoda Fabia is a different story and it always offer some more than the price, so no wonder why it has remains one of the most selling small car in the world since its original launch. The success behind the Fabia, is it’s efficient engines and Simply Clever features for everyday life.

It’s been a long time since we got a high-performance version of it, but now we have a fresh version it’s called the Skoda Fabia 130. The name gave us 3 references, its history and the model itself. 130 years since Skoda making cars, then the 50th anniversary of the iconic 130 RS rally car of Skoda, and the last one is the new Fabia makes 130kw of power. Though it is not a hardcore hot hatch like Fiesta ST, Polo GTI, or I20N but it gives some good performance with great comfort or everyday life.

Design and Exterior : Skoda Fabia 130

Skoda takes a well-proven design inspiration from sporty cars, most of the Skoda Fabia 130’s external are in high-gloss black trim. Like the roof, pillars, the big tailgate spoiler that sits at the top. At front the radiator grille, LED headlight housings, rear ‘diffuser’ area in the bumper are also got black trim. The 18-inch custom made diamond-cut alloy wheel design it stand added performance and they are also lightweight.

It comes with red calipers and behind there’s a small gloss-black splitter for air pass, and wheels are specifically calibrated with a 15mm drop in ride height and new stiffer suspension setup. The 18-inch wheels comes with Continental tires and sit on the new lower ‘sport’ suspension, which use passive dampers. The steering is calibrated in terms of weighting and is changed with the throttle response, through the Eco, Normal, Sport driving modes.

The front wheels angled little inward form the arches just a degree. And the addition of new spoiler, splitter and diffuser, helps reduce the lift and improved overall balance. The twin-exit exhaust pipes are given on the left-hand side and they give a good sound at high speed. And then it also has special red-and-blue ‘130’ decals located on the front wings and on the back opposite to the ‘Fabia’ badge. All of these small details are inspired by the 130 RS Rally car of 1975.

To make the cabin more premium and sporty. Skoda Fabia 130 fits new sports seats with side bolsters and sport head restraints and a nice hugging shape at the front and they actually look cool. They are made with a race grade fabric with five stripes pattern – two white and two gray, with central red band and also feature carbon-effect trim. It receives new three-spoke power steering which is leather wrapped and it has multi function control on it, stainless-steel shifter pedal, black aluminum ‘130’ badge on door prints, with fake carbon-trim leather bits and silver elements visible on the cabin.

The front seats are manually adjustable, not electric, but they are easy to adjust for up and down while more sensible approach is taken to design the ergonomics and visibility of the car and once anyone founds there preferred driving position. It feel very natural and comfortable to drive. Lowered and stiffened suspension gives a sporty steering feel and remain comfortable and enjoyable. It doesn’t feel bad at speed bumps and bad urban roads while the extra fun comes at higher speeds.

It comes with a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and 9.2-inch central info touchscreen, so it’s quite smaller than some rivals while it also get wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. You also get DAB radio, Bluetooth and six-speaker updated system.There are USB-C ports in the front. While the interface is feels bit dated and not cutting edge to today’s tech. It still works fine and there are good amount of physical buttons to operate various systems.

Skodas are known for their clever practicality, big door pockets, big glovebox, space in the central tunnel area, the storage area ahead of the gear lever and three cupholders at front. A 380-litre boot at the back is almost as big as midsize car. The Skoda Fabia 130 is based on outgoing Fabia which gets a 5 star Euro NCAP safety rating, and the new flagship model comes with all modern driver assistance systems as standard.

The System includes the automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control with autonomous driving assest, and more sophisticated safety package gives an additional knee airbag for the driver and side airbags at the rear. Also you got rear and front parking sensors with a rear-view camera they make parking bit easy.

Skoda Fabia 130 Fabia comes with a 177hp 1.5-litre TSI Evo2 engine and pared with a seven-speed DSG transmission that sends power to the front wheels. Machanicle changes are intended to improve performance, given the 130’s more enthusiastic feel, that include a remap ECU new roller-rocker arm pins, bigger air pipes and an intake manifold made with more heat-resistant meterial, and new fat vibration damper.

The new parts are borrowed from more powerful versions of the EA211 so that they could deal with the upgraded power. This extra power comes from a engine remap with the variable-geometry turbocharger. There’s no manual option only a seven-speed DSG, tweaked with sporty mapping work. There’s also a more calibrated middle setting for the ESC Sport mode.

So the new flagship model do a 0-62mph  in 7.4 second from a standstill, making it the fastest Fabia ever, because even the Mk1 and Mk2 Fabia RS didn’t go as quick as that. Torque, remains the same 250Nm as the 150hp TSI. With this little bump in power make it a ‘warm’ hatchback rather than hot one, despite it is still the fastest production Fabia ever.

Drive and Performance:

The 15mm-lower sports-tuned suspension with calibrated 18-inch wheels and tires gives it a bigger contact points, resulting in more grip and comfort at higher speeds. While the steering is also calibrated to match the normal and sport driving modes, also received the new two-stage dynamic control system. The anti-slip function known as (ASR) can be switch off to cut the traction control, while there’s a setting called ‘ASR Sport + ESC Sport’ which gives greater levels of wheel-slip in a controlled manner.

The seven-speed DSG has higher shift setting for faster acceleration, and it also offers double-clutch downshifts in Sport mode. The remap software holds revs longer, gives better rev-matches for fast upshifts with prisison. It even has modified braking system for faster ‘re-acceleration’. The engine surprises with its punch and response. The max torque arriving at just 1500 rpm and working with a 1196kg car and this light weight ensures that you can squeeze all the power and torque.

The 1.5’s gives still-modest output, slightly quicker to rev, and the full 175bhp available between 5750 and 6000rpm. Because the Fabia revs much more quick in redline. It feels responsive and strong and even the DSG works well with it. The engine plays a big part in keeping the Fabia overall kerb weight down so it always feels agile and you definitely feel this added power boost out on the road – also you can’t ignore the pleasing exhaust note.

The engine that really opens and alive on higher revs, and the power also holds up ahead of the 6500rpm red line. Nonetheless, its engine is really warm, hatch-worthy, which offers a little more boost from a planted throttle. And this warmness is matched by the chassis, which is on sporty side. So any oversteer can only be occures when that manual handbrake engaged. Otherwise, its good in the corners, with an eagerness and swiftness to get turned in curvs.

The two-stage suspension system would have given more adjustment and bit more rebound control in corners, but the standard dampers work quit well. The 130’s have a good balance between safety and understeer, so with a little throttle or a bit of trail-braking can activate the tail cut faster, sweeping bends. But it lakes the XDS electronic diff-lock available in the other group cars that’s a clear miss.

Sometimes out of tighter corners when you give the throttle, there is frustrating wheelspin but the the ASR+ESC Sport setting can reduce it but it also reduce exit speed. Brake feel is responsive and calibrated to handel more performance, 276mm (front) and 230mm (rear) discs are used. But the 130 can still remain and function as a Skoda. There’s a firmness in its behaviour, and its more of a family friendly car than you think. Firmer suspension and low-profile tires on the 18-inch rims make it comfortable. Its quiet and civilised on the road and also a small car with a short wheelbase that making it good urban player.

Although it has lots of performance, unfortunately any thrill is pretty quickly becames dull by the four-cylinder engine. It gives consistent power delivery means it gives performs extremely well from low rpm, but there’s little hold on to the revs in each gear for too long. The engine’s refinement is very good, but not exactly too much exciting. The dual-clutch ’box make some delay some time giving surprisingly slow gear shifts, even with the paddle shifters.

The brakes of Skoda Fabia 130 are typically difficult to adjust, but they’re powerful and sharp. However chassis feels lovely to the way it handles rough roads, and while the body roll is very low and it remain comfortable. Now mix with its torque-rich engine, it makes this car almost feel like its bigger brothers, with plenty of performance matched with a very capable chassis. It’s not exciting as a full on hot hatch, and it doesn’t pretend to be.

Skoda Fabia has a very good reputation for its reliability, and there’s nothing in the 130 that changed that thing. Generally Skoda Fabia 130 uses tried-and-trusted platforms and components that should ensure dependability, despite its fancy tech. It comes with 60,000-mile standard warranty or five years. The 130 is use the existing 1.5-litre engine only with a bit boost in power and only comes with a seven-speed DSG automatic.

It means the little Skoda is not a gas gusler so it can give around 50 mpg it a steady motorway cruise. It also has the same CO2 output as other Fabias with the less powerful engine, so there are no high running-costs, and company also offers some servicing plans that can work out cheaper.

Pricing:

The Skoda Fabia 130 is now the top of a range Fabia and it will be limited to an extent, with an asking price of £29,995. Skoda Fabia 130 also comes with loads of kit as standard and the 130 is the limited-build model, and the sporty DNA which justifies the elevated price.

Pros and Cons:

Pros:

Skoda Fabia 130 Exterior and interior styling is sporty.

The turbo petrol engine is smooth, refined, and punchy with good fuel economy.

More lower and farmer suspension, gives minimum body roll.

The engine is very responsive combined with well build lively chassis make it super fun.

Comfortable driving position, with great all-round visibility.

Simple control layout and have a good amount of physical buttons.

Plenty of head and leg room up front with good amount of storage.

More rear space than some other small car.

Good amount of standard equipment.

Cons:

Interior feels bit dated and lack on some features.

Limited build numbers, with big tag.

Not as raw and powerful as vRS.

No manual gearbox.

Not much fun to drive sometime.

No mild-hybrid tech.

Rear seats are bit small and not wide.

Verdict:

The Skoda Fabia 130 is not a vRS in disguise, and it’s not as raw and powerful as some of the true hot hatchbacks. But it has that potential, a very puncy and fun to drive car with a hot hatch character. It’s  more sharp, swift and more powerful than any other Fabia currently, while the interior and exterior styling  give the 130 a nice sense of sportiness and apple that makes it more desirable car.