THE best things come in small packages they say - and that's certainly true of the Skoda Fabia vRS.

If ever there was a pocket rocket this is it.

It might only have a 1.4-litre engine but it's an engine which is both supercharged and turbocharged - and that makes it fast.

In fact it's so quick both in hatchback and estate form that it's very easy to spin the front wheels on take off even though it uses an automatic gearbox.

The turbocharger and supercharger work hand-in-hand to give you seamless power delivery right across the rev range with the early oomph being provided by the supercharger and the turbocharger cutting in at around 3,500rpm.

The combination of the two gives the car 180bhp, which is impressive for a little engine.

The whole thing is mated to a seven-speed DSG gearbox so you have plenty of flexibility with seamless gear changes.

If you want even more performance you can slip the gear shift into Sport, which means it hangs onto every gear until the very last moment and the car flies.

Anyone who wants to take matters into their own hands can also change gear manually using either the gear shift or the paddles tucked in behind the steering wheel.

The new vRS has a sports suspension that gives you both a dynamic and agile driving experience with a nice balance between sportiness and refinement.

The Fabia is the biggest of the superminis and offers plenty of space and creature comforts, particularly the estate version, which I drove.

In fact there is some 550 litres of luggage space with the seats up, which is better than a lot of much larger family cars.

A small but useful feature which shows how the company thinks about its customers is a removable plastic retaining hoop which attaches to the side of the luggage space and is big enough to hold a carrier bag upright and so can, as Skoda puts it, prevent your eggs from ending up as an omelette on the way home.

I also liked the sports seats in the vRS Estate which are comfortable but have enough side support to grip you on tight bends.

And talking of tight bends this car is fitted with a clever XDS electronic differential which increases cornering traction by braking the inside front wheel when accelerating through corners, transferring torque to the outside wheel. This stops the unloaded inside wheel from spinning and helps drive the vRS round bends.

With its front and rear spoilers, twin exhausts and black alloy wheels the vRS estate looks as sporty as it drives. And with this car you will never be late for the office again.