187bhp Rally2 Edition Revives The Hot Skoda Fabia, But There’s A Big Catch

We seem to have spent a lot of time lately bemoaning the death of the small hot hatch. The last year alone has seen the demise of the Ford Fiesta ST, Hyundai i20 N and Abarth 595, and in the last few years, the likes of the Renault Clio RS, Peugeot 208 GTi and Vauxhall Corsa VXR have all disappeared. There’s a glimmer of hope, though, in this, the Skoda Fabia Rally2 limited edition.

It really is just a glimmer, though. Why? Because just 100 of these hotted-up, 188bhp Fabias are being made, and they’re all going to the Spanish market. That’s because they’re a tie-in with Spanish rally driver Jose Antonio “Cohete” Suárez, who took the Rally2 competition version of the Fabia to victory in Spain’s national rally championship in 2021 and ’23.

Based on the most powerful version of the current Fabia, VW Group tuner Abt has fettled the 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine to take power from 148 to 187bhp, and torque from 184 to 214lb ft. Both of these numbers are improvements on the last true ‘hot’ Fabia, the second-generation vRS.

Everything still goes through the standard seven-speed DSG ’box. There’s no word on the improvement the extra grunt brings over the base car’s 8.0-second 0-62mph time and 137mph top speed.

The suspension is lowered, and the wheels are 17-inch OZ Racing Superturismos, wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 5 rubber. All 100 cars will be finished in lurid Mamba Green, a colour pilfered from Skoda’s vRS performance range, and get matt black accents, Rally2 badging and Suárez’s personal logo, which it turns out is a rocket blasting off. Cool.

Those in Spain can pick one of these up for €30,900, or around £25,700. That’s actually slightly less than a top-spec, 148bhp Fabia Monte Carlo Edition costs in the UK. Sigh.