Skoda Rapid - Review based on test drive. Review on Skoda Rapid

First thing I would like to clear initially itself that I dont own this car and just took a 30-45 minutes of test drive. So I dont want to talk about value for money, cost of ownership or blah blah blah. This review is shear experience of the car in 45 minutes city and highway test drive.

I own ford fiesta TDCi+ ABS for 6 years and now thinking about buying new sedan in the same segment. As a first step towards it, I am taking test drives of various cars which cost around 10 lacks.

First was Rapid, I am looking for Rapid diesel highest variant that is Elegance, but somehow that car was not available for test drive so I took drive in Ambition.

Exterior & Looks - Built is good, feels sturdy, no major issues with panel gaps, fit and finish is good. Platform is same with Vento so overall outline is same but major change in front grill and bonet design. Looks more attractive and matured in compared to Vento.

Power - Delivers enough power. I dont want ot write figures but its good enough for a car of this size. Engine seems refined much. But I found that the car is not free, something is holding it back when you rave the throttle. Its not quick and takes its own sweet time to reach your desired speed. But this is an issue with all the cars in this segment like Vento, Fiesta new diesel, Linea except Hyundai Verna Fluidic. I guess this is due to get the fuel economy they have supressed the power delivery towards more linear and gradual. Verna zooms in to speed no doubt.

Handling - as I own ford fiesta, I am driving the best "Handling" car so rapid's handling is 75% compared to Ford Fiesta. Steering is EPS and very creamy smooth. Gives enough response at high speeds and gives confidence of control to the driver. Car easily attacks corners. But still I found it unnecessary over smooth in low speed driving.

Engine & Transmission - both are well refined and silent. Gear shifting is smooth and no vibration to gear shifter. You wont make out that you are in a diesel car, cabin is so silent. Very low NVS levels. At some moment you need frequent gear change on highways such as overtakes. on 4th and 5th gear car struggles a bit to gain speed. Reason explained above in Power section. But at highways like Mumbai Pune Expressway, it will be a smooth sailor with decent speeds of 140.

Under the bonnet & Boot space - Once you open the bonnet, all parts are nicely arranged, no visual clutter. Clean and neat layout. Bonnet opener is given at the drivers foot and easily accessible. Same with boot space. Boot opener button is given to the driver. Space in the boot is large and useful for heave baggage. Spare wheel and tool kit is provided under the boot floor and has nice foam based compartments for the tools so they dont vibrate and make noise.

Suspension, Breaking & Road grip - Excellent on all these fronts. Car is just on the road at any damn speed. Cars weight and nicely aerodynamic design makes the car remain on the ground and that results good grip and better fuel economy too. Suspension is good, nicely tuned for indian conditions. So all good in this part. It has ABS so breaking is good, but as compared to my Fiesta, I found ABS very aggressive as it gives jerks on breaking. Fiesta ABS stops 100% but passenger doesnt feels the jerk of stopping at high speeds. The jerk you get in Rapid is a doubt on what ABS technology they are using. I thought it may be due to very new car but the car which I drove was run 5K Kms on test drives so by this KMs pads, discs and drums are very smooth. But still the breaking was very jerky.

Interior and space - Space inside is good, not excellent. Seats are comfortable. All the necessary features like anti-pinch power windows, single touch windows, are good but power windows when operating make big noise. AC is ok, not great but added rear AC vent is great step. Leg room and head room in both rows is good. Rear Seats are very spacious for 2 and somewhat ok for 3 passengers. But Space and utility wise its a good packages all together. Lot of spaces for bottles, electronic gadgets. Many bottle and cup holders and seat pockets are good enough for long family travel. Glove box is huge and deep. Lot of stuff will go in that. Handrest is provided for driver and it has three levels of adjustment. Handrest even has a storage under it, so your gadgets, phone can fit in to that.

Now lets write about interior - Design is very oldish and doesnt look fresh. Compared to my 6 years old fiesta, I found it tooo boring. And if compared with New Verna Fluidic and New Fiesta, its just nothing. Very bland. Quality of plastic is very unfinished and one can see the joint and blow points of plastic molding at many places. Dash is very raw in looks. Instrument cluster is tooooo bland and one can not read speed, RPM, fuel or engine temperature in just a flick of an eye. They should do something for this. AC vents, controls are ok. But if you drive it at your own, then its not pleasent for driver.

Comfort & controls - Comfort wise its good package at all 4-5 seats. But minor controls like steering mounted music / mobile controls are missing. Now a days it has become a standard. Steering is good to feel but I found horn operation much far from the steering outer line. You need to move your complete palm to honk. Steering has tilt and reache so you can adjust it as per your comfort. Driver seat can be adjusted for height and length so good feature. Seat belts for all and front seat belts has height adjustment too. In Elegance, 2 airbags are provided, thats good. In ambition only one to driver.

Full function remote locking system is provided. You can not just lock unlock the car but you can open / close the windows with it. Boot opener is also provided in the fold-able key.

So all in all this car can be a great package in the range of 10 Lacks. About fuel economy, my verdict is somewhere around 16 with AC in city and 19-20 on highways with AC. Due to linear transmission you need frequent gear change on highways so it has reduced the highway economy.

This car is not a jaw dropper or eye catcher on the road but creates its existence up to certain levels.

If Skoda improves on interior then this car can be a 5star rated car. Please note that all above written aspects are applicable to Vento without even modifying a single word. Only thing Vento is 5% more pricey than Rapid.

But its a good family car no doubt. Nice effort from Skoda to enter in this segment of cars and changing their image of only making expensive but great cars. This car is practical too on all fronts. So if you plan to buy a car in this segment, please have a look at Rapid, I am sure you wont be disappointed.

"Everything is there but something is missing". So earns 4 stars at all fronts.