Skoda Fabia RS returns – with a catch
The name of the Volkswagen Polo GTI’s Czech twin has returned after an eight-year hiatus, and you can drive it on a ‘normal’ road… sort of.
The Skoda Fabia RS badge has been revived, eight years after it was last applied to a road car – but don’t expect to drive it off any normal showroom floor.
Whereas the last Fabia RS of 2014 was a road car based on the second-generation Fabia – and twinned with the Volkswagen Polo GTI of the day – the new one is strictly a rally car, based on the fourth generation of Skoda’s popular city car.
Marking the first time the RS badge has been applied to a Fabia rally car, the new Fabia RS competes in the tarmac and gravel Rally2 category, which sits one step below the main ‘Rally1’ class of the World Rally Championship.
While the new rally car might wear the same RS badge as Skoda’s sporty road cars, don’t expect a street-legal Fabia RS, with Skoda CEO Thomas Schäfer effectively ruling out a Polo GTI twin earlier this year.
Powering the Fabia RS Rally2 is a new 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine derived from the 2.0-litre ‘EA888’ turbo mill in Skoda RS road cars, developing “around” 214kW and 430Nm, through a 32mm air restrictor.
Drive is sent to all four wheels through a five-speed sequential transmission – with short gear ratios that limit the top speed to just 200km/h – aided by locking front and rear differentials, and a clutch connecting the axles that opens when the handbrake is pulled in tight turns.
MacPherson strut suspension features front and rear, and customers can pick from two wheel and brake packages: 18-inch wheels and 355mm front/300mm rear brakes for tarmac rallies, or 15-inch wheels, dirt-oriented tyres, and 300mm front and rear brakes for gravel rallies.
Based on the latest, five-door-only Fabia, the RS Rally2 carries all the usual modern rally car hallmarks – wider wheel arches, a roof scoop, large rear spoiler, new side skirts, and splitters – which combined develop twice as much downforce as the previous-generation Fabia Rally2 car.
The rally car’s LED headlights and front grille have been plucked straight from the road car, while its Hyper Green launch colour comes from the road-going Octavia RS and Enyaq Coupe iV RS – though most customers are likely to option a racing livery-friendly white.
The body is stiffer than before, with a longer wheelbase and wider tracks. The roll cage is comprised of 35.8 metres of steel tubing, and joins foam in the doors, carbon-fibre and Kevlar side-impact bars, and an 82.5-litre fuel tank for the WRC’s synthetic petrol.
Highlights inside include racing seats with six-point harnesses, polycarbonate side windows, an automatic fire extinguishing system, a larger central touchscreen for the co-driver, and a new steering wheel with control buttons and an engine start button.
Pricing and availability details for the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 have not been confirmed, however the outgoing Fabia Rally2 cost upwards of €200,000 ($AU300,000) – nearly 15 times the price of a standard Skoda Fabia road car.
The outgoing Fabia Rally2 (and its Rally2 Evo successor) is one of the most successful modern rally cars ever built, accumulating 12 driver and team world titles from 2015 to 2022 and 1700 rally wins, across 450 vehicles built.
The post Skoda Fabia RS returns – with a catch appeared first on Drive.