Going fast is old, but going Rapid is all new, and here’s what he hope the Skoda had envision before getting the 2014 Rapid to market.
This new entry level saloon of Skoda is almost similar to the outgoing version, but Skoda performed some remarkable changes to make it a better competitor against the new Honda City, all new Ford Fiesta, Sunny facelift and more.
Exteriors/Styling & Design:
Firstly, the major change starts from the front itself, and that’s none other than the projector headlamps. It is projected to give a better visual appeal to the car. And apart from that, this Skoda also has the all new logo of the company earmarked everywhere from front to rear.
Sides and rear remains the same, except for the new logos. Changes apart, the car also gets fifteen-inch wheels on the Elegance trim, where the lower trims are shoed with the fourteen-inches.
Interiors:
Time for interiors, the steering is all new with three spokes, and the controls mounted on it pose to be late entrants in the market. USB, aux, MP3, Bluetooth connectivity and SD card compatibility enhances the package further. All variants except the base one gets airbags and ABS. The Elegance trim followed by Ambition Plus gets airbag for the passenger too.
Thoughtfully, Skoda also makes available the leather package with the 2014 Rapid, which gets the leather on steering, gear knob and seats. The automatic climate control on the top-end is the last addition to pinnacle.
Engine and Technicalities:
On the technical front, the new updated Skoda Rapid derives the same engine of 1.6-liter petrol and 1.6-liter diesel powering the output of 105bhp. The difference in the engine bay of both the fuel trims occurs with the number of torque, as only 153 Newton Meter is delivered from the petrol motor, whereas the diesel churns out a hefty 250 Newton Meter. Paired to it are the 5-speed manual gearboxes, where the 6-speed automatic is only made available for the petrol buyers.
The engine is ultimately refined amongst its category, which brilliantly revs upto 5,500 rpm and the 0-100 kmph is jolted in a jiff of something near to 10 and 11 seconds.
Drive and Handling:
Likewise, the other Skodas available in India, this car on the drivability is a total frolic. The ticker swiftly moves to the north, and toward redline too is not a hectic at all. Every time the pedal is hit in each of the gears raw power of the car can be felt desirably. Sharp turns and dive into corners tendered smiles to our faces every time. Complementing to it is the astonishing fuel-efficiency. Our car clocked notches-near-to 14 and 15 kilometer per liter overall, which was also bound to go up to till 18-19 kmpl if run solely on highways. The braking to pull out the fun in time before its gets too late is sufficient which locks the wheels in over almost no time.
Conclusion:
The 2014 Skoda Rapid poses as a great buy for the money value, and also never turns down the enthusiasts with its dashing performance. Competition in the market is already risen a notch above. The new features added on 2014 Rapid are going to help this entry-level Skoda sedan for some more time. But, we guess, the all new Rapid must be there in the works that shall definitely make the Skoda to mark a return to this segment with “Vengeance”!
