SCOOP! Skoda Fabia Scout spotted

Skoda is looking at getting its tough-looking Fabia Scout to India which is likely to be displayed at the Auto Expo in January 2012. Basically an off-road version of its Fabia hatch, the Scout is not a hardcore 4x4 but a car that’s been mildly altered for limited off-road driving.

Mechanical changes on the Fabia Scout are very few. The suspension has been raised to help deal with off-road tracks and poorly paved roads, and this has been done by utilising taller springs, matching dampers and anti-roll bars. Ground clearance as a result is good enough to allow the Scout to be driven with gusto over an unpaved road.

The Fabia Scout remains a front-wheel-drive car though. There’s no four-wheel-drive hardware and no limited slip differential or lockable diffs. So anything more challenging than a dirt road could prove tough for the Skoda.

The Scout looks quite different from the standard Fabia. Skoda has used scratch and gravel-resistant cladding for the underside of the doors, the wheel arches are clad in the same material and there is cladding used around the rear of the car as well. There’s a scruff plate at the rear, easily visible on the Indian car and a Scout badge identifies this special model too. However, while the Indian car has a nose and front bumper similar to the standard Fabia, the Scout in other markets gets a fully clad bumper and with sunk- in fog lamps. The Indian car also doesn’t get the roof-rails or alloy wheels seen on the European car, and this could be due to the fact that Skoda is economising by putting fewer custom bits on the car.

Powering the Fabia Scout will be Skoda’s current crop of engines. The 105bhp 1.6 petrol will be the most attractive option, and the 1.2 three-cylinder petrol and diesel engines may be made available as well.

What’s not clear however is if the Scout can still duck under the four-metre mark, and qualify for an excise cut. The standard Fabia is already 4000mm long.

While the Scout is unlikely to have mass appeal, it will be quite appealing to people who love to travel off the beaten track. The Scout will easily manage the highest Himalayan passes and will be an ideal companion on trips across poorly paved secondary roads in India.

You can expect this special edition Skoda to have a limited number of die-hard fans here too. Remember Fiat’s Palio Adventure whose similarly raised and clad estate proved to be quite a hit. Price this car at around Rs 9 lakh and Skoda is sure to sell more than a few cars.