The Czech automaker, Skoda, has taken the liberty of officially revealing the production version of the Fabia R5. For those of you who may not know just yet, this is a rally car that has received FIA homologation. This car was previewed last year in November during the 2014 Essen Motor Show event. Back then, the car was previewed by a concept version. However, today, the company, which belongs to the German automaker Volkswagen, has released official images of the vehicle in its production guise. The car will be based on the 3rd generation variant of the model and it is set to take the place of the Fabia Super 2000.
This rally version of the Skoda Fabia R5 comes with a different drivetrain configuration from the street-legal variant. While the road version of the model counts on a front-wheel-drive (FWD) drivetrain, the rally version benefits from a 4-wheel-drive (4WD) setup.
To make sure that its Fabia R5 rally car is indeed worthy of taking part in rally championships, Skoda has gifted the vehicle with a turbocharged 1.6L 4-cylinder engine. Running on petrol, this engine gives this rally car from Skoda no less than 265 bhp of power output. In addition, the car is also going to benefit from a 5-speed manual transmission. Also, since the car has to comply with the regulations determined by FIA, it sits on the McPherson strut suspensions and weighs no more than 1,230 kg.
One interesting fact to note down regarding the VW-owned Skoda’s Fabia R5 rally car is that the Czech automotive brand had actually conducted quite a comprehensive test prior to the car receiving the FIA homologation. The test in question covered a total distance of 10,000 km, consisting of a diverse set of roads and under various weather conditions. So, all in all, it should be no problem for the car to race on just about any terrains now.
