[KnightRider77]

This is going to be a long read, so I suggest you make yourself a strong Cappuccino and seat yourself comfortably before proceeding. All set? Good! Let's roll:

To begin with, I have a black Bajaj Pulsar 180 Classic (christened Shadowfax) that's been my loyal steed for a good 10 years now, and still counting. However, my wife of three years felt that it's time we pimped our ride a bit and moved up the social scale, so to speak. Besides, we needed a new ride so that we could travel to places beyond Bangalore at our pace and comforts. And so, it was decided that we would buy a car as a Christmas gift for ourselves (charity begins at home after all). But which one?

Our first choice based on our budget and current requirements was a modern hatchback with a premium outlook. To this end, we undertook a series of test rides of some of the better hatchbacks in the market.

The point of these test drives were to help me identify a car that I could buy with my hard earned money (or rather my wife's). Since this was going to be our first car, we wanted something that would be comfortable to putter around in the city (Bangalore). Have some nifty features to spoil us with, which meant A.C, power windows, music system, rear washers/defoggers, fog lamps et al. It also had to provide a decent fuel economy (but obviously!). And, it had to be a VFM premium hatchback that didn't require us to have a Swiss bank account. Paradoxical perhaps, but there you go.

So after much research (mostly on these very forums), we zeroed in on the Polo, Fabia and the i20. We briefly considered the Honda Jazz as well, but after the indifferent attitude of the sales staff at the local showroom we decided to drop it.

Since these were the 2012 models, all the three cars had received a facelift from the parent companies and some even had much needed new equipment to round of the package. Wey-hey!

Here's what I felt about these cars in order of the test drives:

VW Polo 1.2 Highline

This test drive didn't begin too well because the dealer had sent us a 2011 highline model! But at least I could evaluate the drive quality, eh?

First things first, my wife and me were impressed by the solidity of the car as soon as we got in, starting with the firm door handles that didn't threaten to come apart in your hands as soon as you touched it. The doors closed with a firm thunk (or thud if you prefer). The steering was a joy to hold and the slick gearshift was spot on. But you know that already.

Much has been said about the 1.2 HTP engine already so suffice it to say that while it does lack a punch in the lower gears, it's not a slouch by any sense of the word. It wasn't exactly a silent motor though, but the excellent noise insulation within the cabin helps.

And yes, it does fairly glide over uneven roads but you can hear the suspension working when you take it over the deeper potholes. A good reason to avoid them then. All in all the ride quality was top notch. A pity about the rearview mirror though because with the head rests on the back seats, you can barely see objects behind your car. It's good to hear that the 2012 model has rear-parking sensors. If any car needed them, it's this one! One thing I noticed was that my left knee rested on the center console. This was annoying at first but then when I began to use it to rest my left leg against, it wasn't so bad!

We then headed to the showroom to see the proper 2012 Refresh model. What can I say? Gleaming red paint, smoked headlamps, leather wrapped steering, fog lamps, rear parking sensors (with graphic on the HU), new music system with..wait for it... USB! The interiors are tastefully done in beige and black. Nothing fancy, but very elegant all the same. There is the small matter of lack of headroom at the back. Make sure you don't seat any 6 footers on the back seat. They are liable to go through the roof on a bad road!

We were very impressed by the overall package and the way it's been all put together by VW.

Hyundai i20 (Fluidic)

I was very intrigued to hear that the i20 was jam packed with all kinds of features, some of which were available only on high end cars, so I was quite looking forward to driving this.

I know some people don't like the new i20 Fluidic design but I quite like it TBH. It lacks a certain personality maybe but it's not boring either. The interiors, OTOH, are superbly done. The dashboard is all curves and gleaming sufaces. The HU is arguably the flashiest amongst the three cars I drove. The steering was comfortable to hold and the clutch had a delightfully short travel. A dead pedal was a welcome addition too. Unlike the Polo, my left leg didn't constantly bang against the center console. Kudos to Hyundai for the superbly integrated rear parking camera on the RVM! Makes it a doddle to reverse park the car.

Fancy features aside, the car was quite easy to drive around in. The steering is super-light, the gear throws are short (but just not nearly as wonderful as the Polo's) and the rear visibility is excellent. I did find the lower gears, especially the 2nd quite lacking in oomph. But higher gears were just fine and the engine is much more refined than the Polo's or Fabia's.

My wife found the seats a bit too hard for her liking (and mine!), and she didn't like the neck support on the back seats. The ride quality was also nothing to write home about. Better than the Brio perhaps (which my dad owns) but just not as good as the other 2 cars I drove!

All in all, a truly VFM premium hatchback. To top it, the Hyundai finance does 95% financing, which is the icing on the cake. However, the ride quality, the problem with the lower gears and the uncomfortable seats were detracting factors in our consideration.

Skoda Fabia Elegance

We actually test drove the Ambition Plus model because that's what the dealer had. In the end it didn't matter much, because the Elegance model is just a bit of a step up, really.

Like the Polo, the feeling of immense solidity was evident from the moment of opening the doors. In fact, the salesperson put all his weight on the door handles to demonstrate the "unbreakable" build of the car. Very impressive indeed!

Okay, so the car won't set the road on fire with its understated looks, but it does look...elegant, I suppose. Similarly, the interiors are very nicely put together. The trim and finish is top notch. But after the i20 and the Polo, it looks a bit wanting.

The drive, however, was pretty much like the Polo's. Supremely comfortable and relaxed. There's good visibility all around and the cabin is quite spacious. 6 footers can easily lounge in the back methinks. The engine revs freely and, like the Polo, is quite happy to move up the speedometer.

Sadly, for a car at its price range, it's lacking in features that its competitors offer. No rear parking sensors, no music system with USB (it's 2012 FFS!), no fog lamps et al. A VFM premium car it's not! There have been tons of argument on these forums as to what constitutes a "VFM" car but let's not split hairs on that again!

In the end, we decided that the VW Polo is what we were looking for and we duly booked it. I'm aware that the 1.2 TSI has been spotted on the roads but with no clue as to when and if it will be launched, the decision to go with the 1.2 HTP was an easy one.

The Polo was duly booked and a date of mid-December was quoted to us. Excited as we were, we couldn't wait for it to arrive!

Unfortunately, a few weeks later we were informed that the car would be delayed further (to mid-Jan, early Feb) as there were a backlog of orders for the Refresh edition of the cars, and the Highline petrol version of the cars weren't in supply. Which brings us to:

Kahani Mein Twist

Now, after all that excitement and hype, this cold water treatment dampened our spirits considerably. No car for X-mas. No going out for a long drive to our ancestral home in Kerala. No moving up the social ladder. Misery!

But after a few days of wondering what to do, we changed gears and re-evaluated our options. The Fabia was now our next choice because it was the closest to the Polo in terms of ride quality and handling, but we were told that the petrol version was again going to take 4 weeks for delivery, which ruled it out as well. That left the i20, and I would have gone and booked it if it hadn't been for the strange turn of events that followed over a couple of days:

Firstly, my wife who had set the budget for us, suddenly floated the idea of going in for a sedan for a couple of reasons: *she* had always wanted a sedan; the sedan was perfect for long trips and extended-family vacations; it would meet our future requirements when we added a kid or two to our family equation.

Secondly, my cousin's husband who is a car enthusiast himself, suggested that I go in for a sedan too, for more or less the same reasons I gave above - double whammy! And so it was that we found ourselves, a few days later, at the Volkswagen showroom inquiring the prices of the Vento with the surprised salesperson. We liked the car but the dealer was offering very few discounts for the high end version which included the passenger airbags - something I wanted because my wife would almost always be alongside me in the front seat 99% of the time. This put the price of the car well above 10L, which was the final budget target we had decided on.

At this point my cousin's husband came to the rescue again and suggested we go for the Skoda Rapid, which has almost the same specifications as the Vento minus a few high-end goodies. But more importantly, he could get me a 50K discount from a Skoda dealer he knew as he was a "valued" customer there (he bought his Skoda Laura and then the Laura VRS from there, in addition to various add-ons, car parts, accessories etc). This made the high end version of the Rapid come below the 10L mark, much to our delight!

A test drive was swiftly arranged and the wife and me both found it a delightful car to travel in. I loved the slick gearshift, the precise steering and the delightful pedal operation! From there the helpful and very polite salesperson took us through the booking process and assured us delivery of the car in 10 days flat - just 2 day before X-mas!

Come 23rd, the wife and me went to the pick up the car from the showroom (the dealer offered to deliver it home, but we opted to pick it up). After a quick pre-delivery check, we were talked and walked through the features of the car, papers were signed and the car keys were handed to us. We were chuffed to bits!

I was a bit nervous driving a sedan, since I'd only ever driven hatchbacks before, but my wife had a smile plastered on her face from the showroom till home. In between, we found time to go to a temple for a puja and buy some sweets for the salespersons at the dealership. The drive back went without a hitch and thus did the Skoda Rapid 1.6 MPI, a.k.a "Gollum" come home.

In my next post, I will elaborate on my driving and ownership experience with it so far (2000 KM's completed!).

[KnightRider77]

The Specs
Skoda Rapid 1.6 MPI, Elegance Plus.
Colour: Cappuccino Beige
Comes with: 15-inch Apollo Accelere Alloy Wheels, E-ORVM's, Power windows, HU with AUX-IN and SD card support, Fog lights (front & rear), Height adjustable driver seat, Steering wheel adjust, Multi Information Display, Airbags for driver and passenger, ABS (no EBD though) and A.C. with climate controls.


The ride so far
I have to say that the car is supremely refined in terms of handling and drivability. By that I mean the car is rock steady and composed at all speeds, at all times. I have touched a max of 150 km/hr (on the Hosur highway to Chennai from Bangalore) and it was still raring to go with nary a hint of losing poise.

The steering too is extremely well behaved at all speeds - no vibrations, no twitches and no messing about. It does exactly what you tell it to do. It's an electronic assisted power steering but I didn't feel there was anything dead about it, unlike the steering in some cars like the i20.

The Apollo tires seem to be very good indeed, although I'm no tyre expert. At any rate, there doesn't seem to be much tyre noise even at high speeds. Whether one should congratulate Apollo for the tyre engineering or Skoda for it's cabin insulation is open to debate.

Speaking of the cabin, it's really well insulated from the external world. The MPI engine is a bit noisy but you can't tell that from within the cabin. Only the sound of the A.C. blower at full blast makes the interiors a bit noisy. That and the music system set to 11.

In fact, my wife was blissfully asleep for much of the journey even when I was flooring the pedal, which speaks volumes about the interior comforts of the car. Speaking of comfort, the seats are a brilliant place to be with just the right softness and support. I've been told that the rear passenger seats (since I haven't sat in the rear yet!) are equally comfortable with the spacious and excellent rear leg space providing a very comfortable ride.

A word here for the suspension. I've heard some people say it's soft and some people say it's hard. Dunno about that but I reckon Skoda has got it nearly right for both city and highway ride. No, it doesn't deal with potholes or high speed bumps all that gracefully (particularly deep potholes can create quite a racket from the suspension) but slight bumps, unevenness and dips are all dealt with panache.

When driving a heavily laden boot it's important to treat every pothole and bump with respect lest the bumper hit the road. To top it, my dealer has helpfully fitted a somewhat long & heavy mud flap that loves to scare the bejesus out of us every time it makes contact with something. I should really get it changed for something lighter and smaller...

The interiors
My wife loves the interiors. You see, she's a bit obsessed with organisation and cleanliness. So, the Rapid with it's plenty of cubbyholes, cup & bottle holders, and other storage space knick-knacks - all very neatly integrated & logically laid out - is the stuff of her dreams. Plus, we have had the seats done in Ovion artifical leathers and the obligatory 3D Kagu mats installed so that the car can be kept as clean as possible.

The dashboard is dual toned with beige and chocolate colours. While I like the colours I would have preferred beige and black for the simple reason that the chocolate top tends to reflect like mad off the windscreen in harsh daylight. I suppose I could the windows slightly tinted to reduce that drastically but it's annoying at the moment. At this point, I should point out that the dashboard, quite good as it is, isn't in the same class as the soft plastic ones in the Laura or even the Fabia for that matter. I wonder if covering it with carbon fibre would be a nice touch? Probably not.

I know various people complain about the indicator stalk being on the left side in the European cars but I don't really think it's a big deal. It just takes a couple of hours of driving to get used to it all. Anyway, the stalks are nice and chunky with clearly labelled functions. I like the fact that the headlight and fog adjustment is positioned separately on the dash instead of cluttering up the stalks. I still haven't figured out how the rear fog lights come on but I'm sure it's explained somewhere in the excellent manual.

Can I just say that I love the comfortable steering wheel (leather covered on the Elegance plus) and the gear shift lever (also leather covered) that so delectably glides into the gear slots? Not to mention the driver's armrest which is indispensable on long drives. After having driven my dad's erstwhile Maruti 800 (he recently upgraded to a Honda Brio) for so long, these are like gifts from heaven! The pedals too are well positioned and yielding. Yes, there's a bit of travel in the clutch but it's not tiresomely so. Besides, with the right seat adjustment, it's not an issue at all IMHO.

I did face some issues with the gearbox though with the gear sometimes not falling into place fully. This is probably due to me being lulled into a false sense of security/complacency by the otherwise smoothly slotting gearshift, and not pushing it properly in the right slot.

Which brings me to the method of putting the car into reverse gear, namely, pushing the gear knob down and then into the slot for gear 1. Considering the couple of times I have accidentally not fully engaged the reverse gear and instead gone into gear 1, it's a method that can be a bit tricky at times. Especially when you are a bit cramped for time and have the car mafia backed up behind you in slow traffic. I'm still cool with it though. Beats accidentally reverse shifting to fourth gear I suppose. :P

The A.C with climatic controls is... satisfactory. The A.C. cools fast but the blower can get quite noisy when it's working hard. But the good news is that it doesn't stay noisy for too long.

Finally, the music system. Now I know that in this day and age, not having USB support is plain stupid but I can live without it because the SD card and iPod support is good enough as that's where I keep much of my music. Initially I thought the music system was a bit crap as it just didn't sound right to me but a bit of fiddling about with the equalizers has done wonders to the output and while I'm no audiophile, I've come to believe that the system and the accompanying speakers are actually quite good. For anyone who is interested, I have the equalizers set so: Treble 8 or 9, Bass 6 or 7, Middle 4 or 5, Fader 2 or 3 towards the rear.

In Summary
To sum up my pros and cons with the car so far (2000 KM's done with two long trips to Chennai and Kerala from Bangalore):

PROS
* Exemplary ride quality and handling.
* Excellent steering and gearbox that are a joy to use.
* Large and comfortable cabin with good NVH.
* The MID with information like distance to empty, mileage, etc readings are very helpful.
* Very clean and well laid out controls and instrument cluster.
* Suspension is at ease on both city and highway.
* Spacious glovebox and generous cubbyholes for both front and rear passengers.
* Solidly built car with clean friendly lines that aren't too aggressive or too plain.
* Brilliant braking.
* The 1.6 MPI does a decent job of pulling the car. Free revving and glides to 120 effortlessly.

CONS
Some of these are not really cons, just some things that annoyed me for some reason.

* Suspension doesn't like potholes or high bumps, and the ground clearance can be a bit problematic especially on a full boot.
* The smoothly shifting gearbox, can jar at times if you are a bit lax when shifting gears. Don't be lulled into lazily pushing the gear lever when changing gears.
* The chocolate coloured dashboard can reflect wickedly off the windscreen on bright days.
* The joystick to control the E-ORVM's can be a bit painful to get hang of.
* The high boot means that reverse parking sensors will almost certainly be a useful addition.
* The driver's armrest can prove to be a bit inconvenient when trying to operate the handbrake as it's placed right above it.
* The MPI engine sounds like a diesel engine especially when cranked up. Not a big deal when you're inside the cabin with the windows rolled up but I've cringed a couple of times when I've heard it outside the cabin. Lol

[KnightRider77]

And now, it's time for some pix. Apologies for the dodgy photoshopping skillz on the license plate.

Gotta love the badge!


The cappuccino beige colour really comes out in the morning sun.


The three quarter profile showing off the fog lights and the front grill. The fog lamp is much larger than the one in the Vento and complements the headlights.


The distinctive cuts on rear bonnet that identifies a Rapid.


Everything is laid out cleanly under the bonnet, with much of the space being taken up by the 1.6 MPI engine. Orange oil dipstick is hard to miss.


View of the interiors. Things to note: driver height adjustment knob, 3D Kagu mats, driver armrest , leather wrapped steering wheel and the keyfob with what appears to be a bike key on it (which it is! The actual car key is folded away in the fob of course).


Interiors 2. Things to note: Boring but functional HU. Leather wrapped gearshift with a bit of chrome, green MID and the famous 4-spoke steering.


Mario and Luigi (soft pillows picked up in an Archie's shop in Kerala - of all places!) enjoying the view out from top of the parcel tray.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[tacho9000]

Let me be the first one to congratulate you on acquiring the new Rapid aka Gollum. It is indeed a brilliant car to say the least whilst having superb handling. On another note the suspension making noise can be a result of higher tyre pressure. Please check it atleast once and do update on the ownership and importantly mention the fuel efficiency. You've missed that part and some more pictures of the interior and exterior too please.

[nkrishnap]

Congrats on the Rapid. Yes, the beige color is nice on the car.

Enjoy many more happy miles with the car.

[narayan]

Congrats to you for your new Skoda. Given the running you have done already and assuming this is the type of mileage you would cover didn't you consider a diesel ? All important question - FE pls ?

[Utopian]

Congrats for acquiring the Rapid. Very clean elegant lines, both outside and inside. Mario and Luigi pillows look especially cute.
Wish you loads of happy "Rapide" miles.

[KnightRider77]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! Owning your first car is always special isn't it?

Originally Posted by tacho9000

On another note the suspension making noise can be a result of higher tyre pressure. Please check it atleast once and do update on the ownership and importantly mention the fuel efficiency. You've missed that part and some more pictures of the interior and exterior too please.

Good point! I've been advised by the car dealer to maintain a tyre pressure of 30 PSI for both city and highway driving. I've been doing this now since I got the car and have the tyre pressure checked and corrected every time I re-fuel.

Incidentally, am I right in thinking that the pressure reading machines don't always return the same PSI reading across different fuel pumps? I ask because I had filled the tyre to 30 PSI before starting my trip from Bangalore, and when I reached Kerala after nearly a 400Km drive, I had the tyre pressure checked and was shocked to find it saying 31 PSI! ***? And then after my return journey I again got the pressure checked and it still showed 30 PSI after travelling 400KM and then some. Bizzare!

I'm getting an average city mileage of 13 to 14 km/lt, but this is purely because I get a nice relatively uncluttered flyover to drive on from home to work and back. Otherwise 11 to 12 km/lt would be a more realistic mileage I suppose.

Based on the two road trips I did, I get around 17km/lt on average on the highway. Not too bad!

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Congrats on the Rapid. Yes, the beige color is nice on the car.

The cappuccino beige is an interesting colour isn't it? Sometimes it looks a bit beige-ish (but not gold, thank god!), at times silver-ish and at other times grey! Quite the chameleon if you ask me.

Originally Posted by narayan

Given the running you have done already and assuming this is the type of mileage you would cover didn't you consider a diesel ? All important question - FE pls ?

I did consider the diesel, but the road trips will actually be a rarity for me. It just so happens that I ended up having two long road trips back-to-back due to the long vacations in late December, but on average I would be doing about 1000KM every month with most of it involving travelling back and forth to office (30KM up and down). I've mentioned the FE above, so I don't think I'm losing out by taking up the petrol option.

[tacho9000]

That's pretty good mileage bro. Why don't you buy your own portable compressor and tyre pressure checking gauge like accugauge etc. You'll get far better dividends on having your own set of equipments thereby helping you in maintaining a better overall tyre pressure. And one advice is to get the ORVM cover's wrapped in 3M protective film as nkrishnap has done. Do give it a thought. And yes with the kind of mileage you are getting and the no. of kms you're raking up every month you'll be more than happy with the petrol as of now. That is if the prices don't shoot up like a rocket in the coming 6months.

Drive safe,
Subhra

[KnightRider77]

Originally Posted by tacho9000

Why don't you buy your own portable compressor and tyre pressure checking gauge like accugauge etc. You'll get far better dividends on having your own set of equipments thereby helping you in maintaining a better overall tyre pressure. And one advice is to get the ORVM cover's wrapped in 3M protective film as nkrishnap has done. Do give it a thought.

I did find a pressure gauge in Total Mall (of all the places!) supermarket, but I wasn't sure if these were any more accurate than the ones in the various fuel pumps. But it was only 1.5k, so might pick it up on the next trip. As for the carbon wraps on ORVM - this too is on the anvil. Now saving up for some sun film on the windscreen and windows! The harsh sun is going to get worse as the summer approaches.

[RavenAvi]

Excellent write-up. The excitement of owning your own first car is something which will be cherished for life. And your hunt culminated in an excellent choice as well. I must commend you and your better half for stretching your budget and going for the car of your choice, and more importantly, the top variant. The Vento looks classy and clean from all angles but the Rapid is no slouch, either. The rear is it's unique identity and the flowing, clean lines on all sides give it quite a bit of character, which gels well with that trademark Skoda front. Superb car, and a great handler too!

The Cappuccino Beige color compliments the Rapid quite nicely. And the mileage figures have justified your decision to go for the petrol. Gollum should serve you well in the years to come. Take good care of it.

Wishing you many happy miles ahead. Drive safe, and keep us updated!

[sandeepmohan]

I opened this thread and the first thing I did was go through the pictures. I noticed a lot of trees in one of the pictures (That looks like your ancestral home) and even a coconut tree and said to myself, a Skoda Rapid MPI in keralafonication? Simply impossible as the state is obsessed with diesels. And then I looked at your handle and noticed you are located in Bangalore.

As for a good car to drive, there is next to nothing in the segment other than the Rapid and Vento. This also has to be the most well appointed car you can buy in the segment. I prefer the interiors of the Rapid (Except for the 80s green lighting on the clocks)/Vento over a Hyundai Verna

Your fuel efficiency is superb. Never expected this from the 1.6 MPI. When it used to be available in the Polo, it was nowhere as efficient.

The possible increase in PSI reading could be due to tire temperature. I have noticed this too. Check after they have cooled down and it should be back to normal.

[Omtoatom]

KR77, Congratulations on a great choice for a car and a superb report to boot. Interesting name though, I take you're a fan of the LOTR franchise or an even better thing: Professor Tolkien. Nice!

I'm quite adore the clean lines of the Rapid and what's more; Cappuccino Beige is such a multi-hued color. Quite a chameleon, like you aptly put. True to her character name, if you know what I mean!

Here's wishing you many many miles of joys with your Gollum. And don't forget to drive safe with those horses at your command!

[vb-saan]

Congratulations KnightRider77! I recently did a round of showroom visits, did test-drive a few cars. Started with the Fiesta, followed by the Vento, and then the Laura. Since we were pressing for time, I chose to TD the Laura DSG (assuming that the Rapid will be quite same as the Vento). That said, wife and dad were pretty impressed by the looks of the Silver Rapid Elegance on display (more than the Vento). This was the first time I got to check the interiors of the Rapid, and I found the interior color scheme quite pleasing.

Keep updating the thread, and drive safe!