[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by ankitsharma

I checked the skoda website, just curious to know more details and this is what I found. Rider does not have any airbags as well as no security system . This was shocking for me.

Usual website error. Please check the brochure uploaded few pages back and the photos and videos show car has keyless entry as well as dual airbags.

[SidR]

Originally Posted by Nifty.Nishy

Nope, I checked for Corporate discount, but nothing on the Rider variant. Clearly Skoda has very thoughtfully laid out this variant, Simply Clever!

Congrats! this is like the perfect VFM car. So no discounts but did they waive handling charges? Did you opt for Skoda shield?

[JojyKerala]

As a Rapid owner, I'm getting a lot of queries from my friend circle on the TSI Rapid's Rider variant. Should they go for it? How's the boot and rear space? How is the servicing? I don't have anything negative to say to their questions because I'm satisfied with my ownership.

I can see Rapid climbing to #2 in its segment based on Rider's success and the other variants.

[shankha007]

We had an appointment for a test drive today. The sales executive shared his live location the moment he moved out of the showroom, and that was well in advance considering the amount of time it takes to drive down to my house from the showroom. Even though he reached ten minutes late, I do not blame him knowing the state of the city after the destructive cyclone.

As soon as they reached, the driver immediately started sanitising all the touch points - steering, indicator and wiper stalks, all the seats, outer and inner door handles, and even the release button on the boot lid.

Coming to the car, it was of course the Style variant. The button placements, build and ergonomics felt very familiar since I have driven my colleague's 1.6 Vento TDI extensively, and they have maintained the quality even after all these years, unlike some other brands.

Let's start with refinement. I opened the driver's door before firing up the engine. It starts with absolutely no drama, and sounds surprisingly smooth at idle! Shut the door, and you hear almost nothing. The vibrations on the steering wheel were almost non existent. To be very honest, i felt some pulses on the steering wheel even on the City. The Rapid was not worse by any means. The vibrations on the seat, which are not existent on the City, are present here, but almost in negligible amount. This is by far the most refined 3 cylinder engine I have experienced till date. This definitely beats Ford's 1.5 Dragon. The 1.0 MPI on the Polo does not come close to this in terms of refinement.

Start driving, and you immediately fall in love. There is no learning curve as it feels at home no matter how you drive it. It's pretty drivable at low revs, but come a speed breaker, you are better off in first gear in case you are not in a mood to slip the clutch. The torque below boost actually felt a wee bit less compared to the 1.0 MPI, but then again, the revs rise pretty fast and you will be back in business in no time. Give it the beans and it will surely make you smile. It is stealthily fast and can be a good sleeper car. With the windows rolled up, you dont hear the engine that much, and it is in no way bothersome. You need to experience it to believe it, as the microphones used by the auto journalists pick up a lot more than what our ears can hear, and that is the reason I was surprised.

The steering is nice and light for slow speed maneuvering, and is kind of point and shoot. The suspension setup felt stiffer than the Vento and i absolutely loved it. It is stiff, but not bone jarring like the Ecosport. Went over bumps and rumble strips at high speeds and the car never felt nervous. It is indeed very stable.

The MID was showing 7 kmpl, which was surprising, but then again, it was being driven hard. I could not somehow reset the trip FE, amd surprisingly, even the sales advisor did not know how to! With sedate driving, it should return upwards of 11 kmpl. Others BHPians who took a test drive can comment on what they experienced.

There was one downer though, the AC was not great, and to be honest, even my colleague's Vento TDI did not have a great AC. However, it was a very hot day today, and is certainly not a deal breaker. The unit on the petrol Ecosport is stronger than this.

Overall, I was very impressed by the performance, ride and handling package. The engine has what it takes to satisfy the boy racer in you, as well as can do daily duties without any problem. The sales executive and the driver were very patient, cooperative, and professional.

The pricing of the Rider makes all other cars look overpriced. The dealership has confirmed the following:

1. The steering wheel of the Ambition with the steering mounted controls and the leather wrapping is a direct fit, and would cost a whooping Rs 20k.
2. Fog lamps would cost Rs 15k.
3. Alloy wheels of 15" size would cost Rs 45k.

I forgot to carry my OBDII scanner and could not test it for those who are worried about the MID. Will try to test it if i happen to visit the showroom again! Driving the Polo next week, so would be able to compare and finalise.

Regards!

[ankitsharma]

Thanks Shankha007. I would be test driving this tomorrow at Noida , most probably. My place, Ghaziabad does not have any Skoda center otherwise would have TD it today itself. Funny part is that Brite Skoda , Noida dealer , has their showroom in a mall which is closed here in UP .
They have asked me to come to their workshop where they do TD as well.

[warrioraks]

Originally Posted by shankha007

The steering wheel of the Ambition with the steering mounted controls and the leather wrapping is a direct fit, and would cost a whooping Rs 20k.

Would the car need some other retrofitting as well for the steering mounted controls to work like stock? Or swapping the steering is the only thing needed?

Thanks for listing down the most important mods on Rider variant along with the ballpark cost. Very helpful.

[shankha007]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

Would the car need some other retrofitting as well for the steering mounted controls to work like stock? Or swapping the steering is the only thing needed?

Thanks for listing down the most important mods on Rider variant along with the ballpark cost. Very helpful.

Hi warrioraks, i am yet to get the details from the workshop. As per them, the steering wheel comes with the required wiring and fits directly to the HU. This seems very much possible as this very same HU was previously used on their higher trims.

[AMG Power]

Review of the Skoda Rapid 1.0 TSI. (Spoiler Alert: the guy doesn't know too much about cars.)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zRlKRlpdpgw

The same engine in the Polo reviewed by Autocar India:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mnj3jLSTz-4

1.0 TSI engine summed up:

1. Reasonable off Boost power from 1000 rpm.

2. Power comes in at around 2000 rpm

3. Past 2500 you experience another slug of power that carries on upto 6000 rpm.

[shankha007]

I tweeted Zac regarding my test drive impressions and shared the link to this page, hoping that he would take a good look at the entire thread and gather customer feedbacks regarding the lack of some very basic features on the Rider variant, and might include them in the accessory brochure or something.

The second tweet is from last week. The chances of any changes happening is bleak, but we, as consumers can definitely try. The Vento Highline is very well priced compared to the competition, but the Rider redefines VFM.

Regarding the instrument cluster and MID, i feel the part numbers for the unit on the Rider, and the units on the higher trims are the same. Unlike the steering mounted MID controls present on the current VW cars, the MID controls for the Rapid is done using buttons on the wiper stalk, and this is where the difference is. The wiper stalk on the Rider is a different unit and does not have the navigation buttons. So a wiper stalk change, and an instrument cluster flashing should do the trick, in case the wiring is same. If the Skoda workshops are willing to do the job, we might be able to save the warranty.

Regards

[AMG Power]

Performance Comparison between the 1.2 TSI and the 1.0 TSI

1.2 TSI

0-100 - 11.02
Max speed - 190
20-80 3rd gear - 6.48
40-100 4th gear - 8.10
0-160 kmph - 36.50

1.0 TSI

0-100 - 9.97
Max Speed - 192
20-80 3rd gear - 12.46
40-100 4th gear - 14.73
0-160 - 30.36!!

Where the 1.0 TSI wins:

1. 1.05 seconds faster in the 0-100 kmph times.
2. Top speed higher by 2 kmph
3. A whopping 6 seconds faster in the 0-160 kmph run!

Where the 1.0 TSI loses:

The single largest drawback is that the in gear acceleration of the 1.0 TSI is very very poor in comparison to the 1.2. This is partly due to the max torque coming in later in the rev band and partly the lack of a DSG.

It takes almost double the time the 1.2 takes for the 20-80 kmph in 3rd gear - 6.02 seconds slower. Even the Baleno RS 1.0 is a full 3 seconds faster in this 20-80 kmph run.

The 40-100 kmph is far far slower than the 1.2 - 6.63 seconds slower - that's almost a lifetime.

This would make the 1.0 TSI substantially slower in the real world. The outright performance figures aren't going to be easily accessible.

[84.monsoon]

The difference in apparent "in-gear" acceleration is almost entirely due to the lack of DSG or any type pf automatic transmission in the 1.0 TSI.

It is a bit of a myth to test 20-80 in 3rd gear or 40-100 in fourth gear in the 1.2 with the DSG. The DSG equipped car is probably not in 3rd gear when starting the 20-80 run (it is probably in 2nd gear) and equally it is probably not in 3rd gear when finishing the 20-80 run. Well below 80 kph, is would have shifted up to 4th or even 5th gear and this happens with lighting speed with the DSG and the driver may not be aware. This means it gets a boost from the low end shove at the start of the acceleration run and it gains speed more easily from being on higher gears towards the later part of the run. Same applies to the 40-100 time in "4th gear". Even if the test is using the sport mode, the DSG box will up-shift the limit so I see no way to test pure "in-gear" acceleration with an automatic. It isi better for auto journalists to quote such figures as 20-80 and 40-100 without mentioning the gear the car is on.

This is the reason why you will find these figures are almost always lower in an automatic even when two variants with exactly the same engines are being compared, one being manual and the other automatic.

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

The difference in "in-gear" acceleration is almost entirely due to the lack of DSG or any type pf automatic transmission in the 1.0 TSI.

If DSG's can make so much of a difference we would have a new performance solution. Even the Baleno RS which is manual is 3 seconds faster.

Justifications can be many, but the car will remain slow in the real world.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

T
It is a bit of a myth to test 20-80 in 3rd gear or 40-100 in fourth gear in the 1.2 with the DSG. The DSG equipped car is probably not in 3rd gear when starting the 20-80 run (it is probably in 2nd gear) and equally it is probably not in 3rd gear when finishing the 20-80 run. Well below 80 kph, is would have shifted up to 4th or even 5th gear and this happens with lighting speed with the DSG and the driver may not be aware.

I believe they do these tests in AT cars by putting the gear box in manual mode, shifting to the desired gear (3rd gear) , getting to the starting speed (20kph) and then flooring the A pedal and recording the time it takes to get to the desired upper limit (80 kph).

The reason why the DSG equipped 1.2 takes less time, is that the DSG is a 7 speed. So the third gear in that car is far shorter than the 3rd gear in the 6 speed manual of the 1.0 TSI. Same reason for the much faster 40 to 100 time in 4th.

[anb]

Originally Posted by AMG Power

I Even the Baleno RS which is manual is 3 seconds faster.

Justifications can be many, but the car will remain slow in the real world.

Abarth is one second slower than Baleno RS in 3rd gear and 4th gear roll on times. Has anyone felt Baleno faster than Abarth in the real world ?

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by AMG Power

If DSG's can make so much of a difference we would have a new performance solution. Even the Baleno RS which is manual is 3 seconds faster.

Justifications can be many, but the car will remain slow in the real world.

Just to clarify, the tests of the 1.2L TSI are with kickdown for 20-80 and 40-100. Which means the gearbox will downshift to 1st or 2nd and then back up. So any automatic transmission will show very low figures since the box was allowed to shift down when accelerating when going from 20-80kph.