So here it is the third generation Skoda Fabia Hatch, its looking sharper skin was introduced in late 2014 and its now more visually desirable as a result. Gone are the garden gnome looks of the MkII Fabia and in it’s place is a more sophisticated, more appealing exterior design with areas of complex surface detailing. OK so Skoda now have a supermini hatch that will appeal to buyers who no longer have to hide round the corner from the neighbours or the work colleagues.But Skoda buyers really don’t care about such trivial matters. The concept of a supermini hatch is thus small car, big on driving entertainment, and cheap to own and run. The Fabia ticks all those boxes and more. Its’s slightly wider and lower than the MkII Fabia despite being ever so slightly shorter. In fact Skoda say its about the same size as the MkI. And stepping into and out of the Fabia feel’s as though your steeping into a low-slug sports hatch. And despite the small hatch looks it is relatively spacious upfront probably not so much at the rear, but you don’t get that cramped feeling of say a Mini 5 Door Hatch which feels like incarceration by comparison. Despite the sharper looks the interior is full of no-nonsense, straight forward operability and functionality. The interior cabin is dominated by non-soft touch surfaces, ‘plasticky’ springs to mind. Overall it is well screwed together, no squeaks or rattles. However the fit and finish around the instrument binnacle was pretty shoddy compared to Skoda’s past efforts. OK so the Fabia isn’t a premium game changer it is what it is an affordable supermini hatch, and because of that sophisticated design it looks more expensive than it is. Prices start at £10k for entry level models and you get a trim range consisting of 18 variants in addition to a range of three cylinder and four cylinder petrol and diesel engines ranging from 1.0-litre up to 1.4-litres. The Fabia SE-L on test costs £14k but most of the time press cars come loaded with optional extras. For example Acoustic front and rear parking sensors were fitted at a cost of £290. The Touchscreen Sat Nav was an additional £500 optional extra. With other optional extras including that two tone paint job and 16″ alloy wheels (a £400 option) bumped up the total price to £16k. The 1.4-litre TSi utilises Skoda’s tried and trusted 4-cylinder turbo and supercharged engine so you get a 90bhp whack in the back and a 160Nm punch in the face pretty much without any delays. It’s a nice little engine because power is available at low revs as much as it is available at the higher end. The 1.4-litre TSi engine delivers power smoothly and when required to, forcibly. The ride feels soft so that means the Fabia is fairly compliant over most surfaces and soaks up bumps and rough road surfaces without giving you any juddering discomfort. The downside of a softly sprung car is that the eager driver will have lost a bit of handling dynamics, yes the Fabia does have body roll, but a softly sprung car will always offer up grip, lots of grip. For example throw the Fabia into a corner and it will progressively understeer, but you can bring the front axle back into line by a applying more acceleration. For most cars you wouldn’t have the confidence to do that. Traditionally a front wheel drive car which suffers from understeer takes a bit of fun out of the joy of driving driving but that’s not so with the Fabia. OK so most normal owners won’t throw their Fabia into a corner, they may well crave for bit of practicality. A bit of shopping in the Fabia? no problem. A bit more shopping? no problem, a little bit more shopping? No problem. The Fabia being a hatch means you get a lot of practicality. And having foldy-splitty seats means you get additional practicality, the pictures will say more than numbers can. But what about the fuel consumption? the 1.4-litre TSi managed 38mpg driving around town and if you drive like a conservative voting, offshore tax avoiding grandpa you can manage to get about 51mpg on a motorway jaunt. Anyway spec wise the entry level S models come with a slap in the face, mean spirited sparsity. If you go up the trim level to SE naturally you get more standard equipment such as tinted rear windows, nicer alloy wheels, floor matts, air-con and USB, SAT-NAV you get it get right? Off course you have to pay more, around £2k more. We can’t tell you to buy a Skoda Fabia over any other mini hatch, that’s ultimately your choice. But what we can say is whenever there is stinky weather, fat shaky hands, dopey morning Doc, Grumpy gnomes. The Fabia is a Little wonder then, little wonder, you little wonder, little wonder you.