The Skoda Rapid is a marketing dream: a selection of petrol and diesel engines, averaging 75 to 122 bhp, tax between E190 and E280, a capacious saloon with sensitive feedback from the steering, and all of this for, wait for it, a mere E17,000.
Look again.
E17,000 for a family saloon that is 4,483 mm in length and 1,706 mm in width, which makes it longer than the Golf. How can a new saloon buck current trends and be so cheap? Skoda has kept the weight of the car to a minimum, and there is a spartan sensibility to the interior, not that you will notice once you are on the road.
There is the option, depending of whether you prefer Active, Ambition or Elegance, of a more bespoke version: the most expensive alternative, the 1.4 Tsi Elegance, is coming under E26,000, a competitive figure when you consider the cost of rivals.
Back in the days of the Berlin Wall, Skoda suffered from a not up to scratch reputation, though the image was worse than the reality, but all that changed with the intervention of Volkswagen.
The Octavia, for example, has always been a pleasure to drive, but I first saw Skoda at its best when I test drove the four wheel drive Yeti some years ago, in weather not dissimilar to what we experienced last week.
I don’t think, from the moment I sat in the Rapid, that I had one dry road in three days, and from traversing streams on the M50 on Thursday and gulags of Slaney overspill on Friday, the Rapid excelled.
Standard safety equipment includes front and back airbags and Anti-Lock Braking System and Electronic Stability Control.
There is no denying the Rapid’s capabilities or the enjoyment factor which arise from same: my version had black fabric seat upholstery complimented by a dashboard and door panelling in satin black, unadorned and simple arrangement of the instrument cluster with a central rev counter and speedometer, with room aplenty in the front and the back, the benefits of a long wheelbase.
The big surprise was the enormous boot, with a wide tailgate, which revealed chasms of space (even bigger than the Mondeo’s) If you are moving from one house to another, you will easily fit half of your belongings in the 550 litres of space, and that’s with the backrests up.
The lightweight architecture underpinning the Rapid might explain why it is definitely a balanced drive, dare I say on occasion indistinguishable from the Octavia, and the five speed manual transmission won’t give you any hardship. Neat and nimble, with a suspension on the firm side.
I was initially surprised by the guttural voice of the engine, almost metallic, staying in tune with the gear changes, and in the rain I loved how the torque pulled the car through the lower revs.
There is too nothing flash about the styling, inside or out, but there is a compromise between being robust and being dynamic, and I must admit I was surprised by how well the Elegance looks in white, accentuating the muscular wheel arches, while the sharp edges of the headlamps cannot disguise the Germanic veneer of the front.
Worth nothing that in Britain white cars have been achieving five or six per cent above alternative standard colours at resale time, although black was most popular among new cars in 2012. With ample storage compartments complimenting the level of comfort throughout the light-filled interior, I think you will discover that the Rapid’s level of equipment and accommodation, for the asking price, will shame some of its rivals.