Do you remember when car adverts on TV used to be good? Papa and Nicole were my favour-ite, promoting the Renault Clio; the Citroen robots were fun, too.

These days, memorable motoring ads are few and far between, but Skoda is perhaps the best of an average bunch with its Fabia commercials.

Remember the car made of cake? Well, the latest Fabia vRS promotion shows this car in a different, more aggressive light.

Fabia might be a nice car, but Fabia vRS is an altogether meatier beast. Full of energy and spark, it’s helping to recreate Skoda’s proud sporting heritage and showing that Fabias are designed to appeal to the heart as well as the head.

Fabias cost from a little over £9,000 but this sporting flagship is more expensive at £15,000. Yet it does manage exciting performance and look-at-me styling.

There’s a new confidence with the marque these days. We’ve got used to Skodas being smart and sensible, thanks to owner Volkswagen’s influence. Now you can add sporty and sassy.

Subtlety has been the Czech firm’s biggest strength, which is why the performance vRS models have been quietly entertaining switched-on drivers for a while.

The original Fabia vRS was a departure for the genre, as Skoda chose diesel over petrol. The result was a torquey, rapid yet economical ‘sleeper’ GTI, as visually it hid its potential extremely well. Skoda’s confidence has encouraged it to shout louder – bolder colour options and distinctive alloy wheels – it’s made the switch to petrol and added a fancy sequential gearbox.

Alongside its reputation for producing durable cars, Skoda has a long tradition of motor-sport competition. The Czech firm has been a consistent supporter of grass roots rallying, but more recently it has stepped up its game and also experienced considerable success at the fully-fledged ‘works’ level.

It’s therefore a happy coincidence that this second-generation Fabia vRS appears at a time when Skoda is receiving more exposure than ever. And it makes perfect sense to make the switch from diesel to petrol.

Employing the same 180 horsepower 1.4 TSi engine that you’ll find in Seat’s Ibiza Cupra and VW’s Polo GTi, it has allowed Skoda to pitch the Fabia as a genuinely affordable compact hot hatch with added practicality. As such, it will only be available in five-door and estate trim.

This engine has received plenty of praise, and rightly so. Combining both super and turbo-charging technology, the former ensures plenty of low down responsiveness, while the latter takes care of delivering heaps of power higher up the rev range. The result is an immensely flexible engine, with the ability to make light work of urban motoring yet deliver very good performance on challenging country roads.

And like the Polo and Ibiza, the Fabia eschews a manual gearbox for the Volkswagen Group’s impressive seven-speed DSG unit. This direct shift ’box allows fully auto operation plus a sport mode for a more aggressive shift pattern. Take control via the steering wheel paddles or gearlever and you can dictate the pace.

The result is a car that’s easy to live with, as the engine displays a pleasingly refined and flexible character. This is helped by the gearbox which, in auto mode, is predictable and never skips a shift. Even the ride is sophisticated enough to cope with poorly surfaced urban roads, despite it being lower and firmer than normal and being tasked with reducing roll when you’re pressing on at higher speeds.

And it’s away from the city limits when the car comes into its own. It’s worth noting that this Fabia offers similar performance to something like a GTI from only a few years ago.

As a result, the little vRS’s rapid acceleration and ability to cling on when cornering hard shouldn’t come as a surprise to seasoned GTi drivers. That the car’s electronic stability and traction systems don’t intrude when you’re having fun is another plus point.

With the Fabia’s eye-popping mid-range acceleration and the ability to simply click-click-click up the gears with the paddle shifters, making progress is both hugely enjoyable and made incredibly easy.

The car’s 1.4-litre motor is not only up to the task but also capable of delivering sensible fuel economy – even when worked hard – further enhancing the ownership experience.

The Fabia’s cabin offers plenty of space and demonstrates a level of solidity that would shame many in its class. Aside from the vRS-themed seats and subtle trim detailing, everything around you is pure Fabia; it will easily accommodate four or five in comfort and swallow plenty of luggage or shopping.

Skoda’s Fabia has always been a competent and easy to live with car. For this second-gen vRS model, Skoda has injected a huge dose of GTi goodness, alerting those who would have otherwise opted for something Spanish or German to think again. High praise for the impressive Czech hot hatch.

Skoda Fabia vRS 1.4 TSI DSG:- PRICE: from £15,700 on the road.

ENGINE: 1.4-litre turbo petrol unit developing 180bhp via a seven-speed DSG transmission as standard, driving the front wheels.

PERFORMANCE: Top speed 139mph, 0-62mph in 7.3 seconds.

COSTS: 45.6mpg.

EMISSIONS: 148g/km.

WARRANTY: Three years, 60,000 miles.

Steve’s ratings:- Performance: 4/5 Economy: 3/5 Ride/Handling: 3/5 Space/Practicality: 3/5 Equipment: 3/5 Security/Safety: 4/5 Value For Money: 3/5 OVERALL: 3/5