India-spec 2014 Skoda Rapid gets new features, variant rejig

Skoda India has given the 2014 Rapid sedan, its best selling car model, new features. Along with the new features, the Volkswagen-group owned Czech car maker has also given the Rapid range a variant rejig. This is evident from the price list that Team-BHPians Palio9 and Barron have posted.

The revised Skoda Rapid line up will include only five variants, four in petrol ( two in manual and two in automatic) and one in diesel. This move from Skoda is a curious one, considering the fact that the Rapid is its best selling car and a large number of variants will only give prospective buyers more choices.

The Rapid's petrol variants are available in Ambition Plus and Elegance trims while the diesel engined version is available in a single trim called Elegance. Perhaps, Skoda has reduced the number of variants to accommodate a 1.2 liter TSI petrol engined Rapid automatic sedan.

The other possibility for the reduction in the number of variants could be in order to reduce cannibalizing the Volkswagen Vento's sales since the Rapid sedan is a badge engineered Vento, and one that's produced alongside the latter at Volkswagen's Chakan factory. Also, the Rapid undercuts the price of similar Vento variants.

For now, here are the additional features that the Ambition trim of the India-spec 2014 Skoda Rapid gets:

• Bluetooth Connectivity
• Steering Mounted Controls
• On-board Computer

The Elegance trim adds projector headlamps to the equation. 

The Skoda Rapid is available with 1.6 liter petrol and turbo diesel engines. The 1.6 liter MPI petrol motor outputs 105 PS-153 Nm while the 1.6 liter TDI turbo diesel motor outputs 105 PS-250 Nm. Both engines drive the front wheels of the Rapid by means of a 5 speed manual gearbox.

The petrol engine gets an additional transmission option in the form of a 6 speed automatic gearbox. Since Volkswagen India has outfitted the Vento with a turbo petrol engine and a DSG dual clutch automatic gearbox, such a variant could be made available on the Rapid (a badge-engineered Vento) in due course of time.