Team-BHP - Skoda Rapid : Test Drive & Review

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Originally Posted by rajni (Post 2775577)

About the vibration on the clutch, I think we have to live with that. If you have the habit of keeping foot on the clutch while driving in cities it is for sure going to be horrible. About the tire upgrade, mine is Elegance and comes with 185/60 R15 tires and alloys. My best bet for tire upsize would be 205/55 R15. Was planning for this but ran out of budget as the Excise duty hike costed me about 40K extra :(. I would go for an upgrade before the stock tires do 15K kms.

That is sad . I have the foot on the clutch most of the time while driving in city as i like to drive at 2000+ RPM , Thus Frequent Gear Shifts .

PS : Thats why i let my dad take the Rapid And I Stick with My Figo .

That was what the Tyre Dealer suggested when i fitted Alloys .

A bit Of a pain it is . The reason I sticked with Ambition And later adding Whatever i want !

A question to all Rapid Ambition owners. Do you have rear fog lights enabled? If yes, how does it look? I read somewhere that the Ambition comes with Rear Fog lights. But when I turn the headlight switch all the way right, pull it out twice (1st for the front fogs and 2nd for the rear), the rear fog indicator lights up on the dashboard. But there is no noticeable additional lamp in the rear.please:

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Originally Posted by hrman (Post 2776363)

It is the same with Elegance also. The reason is that Rapid doesn't have a dedicated rear fog light unit like the one it has in the front. The brake/stop light unit on the right hand side will glow a little brighter when you switch on rear fog light. I think it is just an additional bulb or something similar.

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Originally Posted by rajni (Post 2776707)

Thanks. I guess it makes sense now. I was wondering if my rear fog lights are not working.

I have one more issue which I would like to highlight and maybe get the advise of Tbhpians. The rear glass has some white round spots all over. Its difficult to explain it. Its in the design of the glass. Its like some Old cars, where you can see something like a pattern of circles in rows and columns all across the glass. Is this ok for a new car? I noticed this within 2-3 days of taking delivery, but since I put the sunfilm, forgot all about it. Now that the sunfilm is removed, I can see those whitish circles.

Here is similar snap from the web to explain it better. Is this normal? It makes it look like some cheap glass. Although the glass is the same Asahi which is allover the car and is manufactured in 2012 as well.

Was just going through this very useful link for Vento - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...es-quirks.html

Couple of questions came into my mind.

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Remote Locking – Can be done either silently or with the horn honking. Visit to the workshop is required to change it from one to the other.

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Motion Sensor – Prevents someone from locking his/her kid(s) inside the car . It also would sound out an alarm if anyone tries to cut the car window to steal stuff , pretty effective !

Can Rapid also be configured for Horn signal for lock/unlock? Does Rapid come with a motion sensor built in? Has anyone experimented with these?

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Originally Posted by rajni (Post 2778259)

Does Rapid come with a motion sensor built in? Has anyone experimented with these?

If I am not mistaken the newer vento does not have motion sensor. This was quietly discarded when vento got feature upgrades like audio controls on steering, new head unit with usb etc. So, if vento does not have this, there is little chance of rapid having this.

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Originally Posted by jods (Post 2773590)

Feel sorry for you. My Rapid also met a similar fate and unfortunately the damage to the fender was much more pronounced.

Did you get this repaired? If yes, how much did it cost you and what was the estimate from the workshop?

This worked out to about 7,000 Rs. to replace at the Skoda Workshop.

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Originally Posted by rajni (Post 2774926)

I have not installed mudflaps yet and I do not think it is the tow hook as the sound wasn't metallic. I should have mentioned that every time when I experienced this issue there were passengers in the back seats. The last time when it happened the trunk was also full. No scratch or dent could be seen in the visible area. Hence I believe it is at the bottom of the trunk, that is the plastic part under the place where spare wheel is kept.

I have this exact same problem, if I have 2 or more passengers in the rear, even the smallest bump scrapes something on the bottom. However slow you drive. I really need to know what is happening, if anyone can help out.

I also feel sometimes as if the shock's compress when there is a heavy load in the rear seat and does not release to normal (if that makes sense).

Any advice / views appreciated. Most of the remaining above views are spot on, including my steering being a wee bit towards the right, from factory itself.

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Originally Posted by adimodi (Post 2779767)

Rapid's suspension is surely not that soft. May be it has two levels and one of them is too soft so that the vehicle tends to go low on a heavy load on the rear seats or trunk. That's my assumption. Will appreciate if one of you ME guys put what you feel. Another thing I observed is that on rough roads and over smaller speed breakers the shock's perform better when you maintain some speed than slowing down. Team-BHP has reported it correctly in the first few posts of this thread.

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Most of the remaining above views are spot on, including my steering being a wee bit towards the right, from factory itself.

I didn't face this problem. May be you should go to your local wheel alignment shop and get the alignment checked. Well, I see weight stickers on my alloys which indicates that the company/dealer has corrected the wheel balance before delivery of the vehicle and may also have done the alignment checks.

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Originally Posted by icyspikey (Post 2789933)

Hey Guys !

The White paint is coming off just under the tail lights . [ Build Quality? ]

Shocking ! I'm sure the Skoda service center will be more than happy to rectify this, but does not speak volumes about the build quality.

Pretty hard to believe its happening with a Skoda. Skodas are very reliable when it comes to build quality, fit & finish. The service centre folks would be happy to fix it for you but quite disheartening for a month old car.

Just a thought, is there a possibility that it happened because some one scratched with a key ?

Friend of mine has booked a Rapid from Europa Pune. Had gone along with him for the booking. The car would be shod with 185/../R15. Is this the right size or a size too small? (I felt that way as just that morning had test driven the Fiesta & it was running on 195)
Is it a good idea to upgrade it to 195/../R15 right out the showroom? & by the way the brand of tire is Apollo Accelere.

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Originally Posted by icyspikey (Post 2789933)

The White paint is coming off just under the tail lights . [ Build Quality? ]

Definitely a quality issue. I noticed the paint chip in the exact same spot on my car the 2nd day after taking delivery. To me, it looks as if the bumper lost its paint on it's edges as it was pushed in against the tail lights at assembly. In your case though, the peel seems serious. I would suggest you bring it to the attention of the Sales Manager at your dealership and take it forward from there.

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Originally Posted by SrikantDora (Post 2790570)

Yes it is . I'm a little busy now , So I think I will take it next week or so . Will Post their reply !

The Car is mostly in Covered Car Parks . Well I dont think so .

Maybe a thin blade [ possibility]

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Originally Posted by raamki (Post 2791671)

Yes Exactly ! I will Post a report on the action taken soon !