[neo_narender]

Hello all,

I have a small doubt in regards to the following picture.



Is there a screw or a cap missing in this position, in the engine bay?
Just worried if it’s a screw or not as I can see the inner thread inside the hole.

P.S. This is 1.0L TSI Ambition.

Thanks,
Neo

[pavi]

Originally Posted by neo_narender

Is there a screw or a cap missing in this position, in the engine bay?
Just worried if it’s a screw or not as I can see the inner thread inside the hole.

P.S. This is 1.0L TSI Ambition.

You don't have to worry on this. I have Rapid Monte Carlo, and the above position in my car is also same like your car. Check the right side of your engine bay, you may see something like below. Looks like these are provisions for attaching wires or tubes, may be for other markets.

[pavi]

Anyone here tried replacing the OEM antenna with Skoda Superb's shark fin antenna? If yes, please share the steps.

[Big Smoke]

Received this pic today from my Skoda SA in Kolkata-





Seems like the 2021 Skoda Rapid Monte Carlo comes with all black alloy wheels.

Other members, kindly cross-check with your SA as well.

[pavi]

Originally Posted by pavi

There are some recent additions to Skoda Rapid Monte Carlo. Black side beadings along the running board, and front spoilers are added. The alloys are changed to Stratos alloys seen in the new Skoda superb. Pic below.

Originally Posted by Big Smoke

Received this pic today from my Skoda SA in Kolkata-

Seems like the 2021 Skoda Rapid Monte Carlo comes with all black alloy wheels.

Other members, kindly cross-check with your SA as well.

This is not a 2021 change, please find the quoted post shared by me some time back.This change happened during November 2020, I have it on my 2020 Rapid. Alloys are updated to glossy black Stratos alloys (seen in Superb). Monte carlo now comes also with front spoilers, and side skirts. Rear boot lip spoiler and diffuser are still retained.

A walk around video having the new additions.

https://youtu.be/U2WrEKK6vxs

[Big Smoke]

Originally Posted by pavi

This is not a 2021 change, please find the quoted post shared by me some time back.This change happened during November 2020, I have it on my 2020 Rapid. Alloys are updated to glossy black Stratos alloys (seen in Superb). Monte carlo now comes also with front spoilers, and side skirts. Rear boot lip spoiler and diffuser are still retained.

Thanks for pointing it out.
Just checked your previous post as well as video.

In my opinion, the previous design of the wheels looked better. I found them very sporty and sufficiently elegant at the same time.
I find this new blacked-out alloy to give a bland look to the car (just my opinion). But at the same time, the spoiler & running boards give it a more sporty look than before.

[pavi]

Originally Posted by Big Smoke

In my opinion, the previous design of the wheels looked better. I found them very sporty and sufficiently elegant at the same time.
I find this new blacked-out alloy to give a bland look to the car (just my opinion). But at the same time, the spoiler & running boards give it a more sporty look than before.

As we say to each his own. For me, the previous alloys were loud. I hate chrome and its varieties, I even de-badged my new car. I enquired on the availability of onyx variant black alloys while booking a Monte Carlo last November, then my SA told me about these changes. Also the current ones are the same seen in Superb.

[KPR]

Owners of 1.0 TSI: I've a query. What is the paid service costs for Rapid?

[pavi]

I have Monte Carlo TSI MT, opted for RCD head unit as I heard bad reviews on the android system. RCD system supports FLAC file formats, and I have a good collection of FLAC songs playing flawlessly in the head unit. One more reason to ditch the Android system if you are going for Style or Monte Carlo variants.

Originally Posted by KPR

Owners of 1.0 TSI: I've a query. What is the paid service costs for Rapid?

If you are worried about the service charges, Skoda now provide a service package at Rs.29,999 which would cover all the expenses of annual paid service for 4 years. So it would come around 7,500 per service, this includes labour charges and consumables.

[neo_narender]

Hello guys,

I have been observing something strange while driving my car from a few days. In 2nd or 3rd gear with speeds of 30-35kph & rpm needle hovering at 2,000rpm, there is a strange booming sound from the engine, irrespective of acceleration or deceleration. This can only be heard if the music is off & a quiet surrounding.

The best way I can describe this sound is when in airplane, even with all the sound deadening material, a kind of sound filters through, which if heard for enough time, our ears go sort of numb?
Or is it a belt noise? That comes when there is too much wear in some fan belt or something?
Or is it the turbo spooling?

First I have observed this sound on a long drive, when the music was completely off & the roads were very quiet. I have not observed the speed/gear/rpm then but it maybe around 60kph.
Since then my paranoia is growing rapidly. Does anyone have any idea about what this could be?

P.S. The car’s odometer is at 12k mark. No first service yet.

Thanks,
Neo

[sachin_cs]

Originally Posted by neo_narender

Hello guys,

I have been observing something strange while driving my car from a few days. In 2nd or 3rd gear with speeds of 30-35kph & rpm needle hovering at 2,000rpm, there is a strange booming sound from the engine, irrespective of acceleration or deceleration. This can only be heard if the music is off & a quiet surrounding.

Hi there, I'm also experience the same booming sound but at 2,500rpm, however mine is a 2019 diesel DSG. I can totally relate to your experience, this sound/vibration is there in my car for 2,500 to 2,700rpm range only and when the rpm increases above 3,000rpm it gets smoother(surprising for a diesel). However, from my observation and limited knowledge, I believe it is a set of rpm range where there's a resonance phenomenon coming into play ( when one object vibrating at the same natural frequency of a second object forces that second object into vibrational motion) and I am right now in a state of hit & trial, trying to figure out as to what exactly is leading to such increase in frequency. I have thought of something- my primary suspect, for now, is the air intake rubber hose(that's the only loose bit in the engine bay), so I'm planning to use zip ties to keep the unwanted movements in control. I will update here, if I come up with something fruitful.

[neo_narender]

Originally Posted by sachin_cs

Hi there, I can totally relate to your experience

Thank you so much for the reply. I will be waiting for your findings. Meanwhile I’ll try to drive my friend’s 2017 Rapid TDI MT when he’s in town.

Neo

[ramgkulkarni]

My twin brother recently purchased a Skoda Rapid and being at his side gave me a unique experience while he looked at his choices or lack thereof. So, a bit about myself as this is truly my first attempt at large post/buying experience.

My brother and I have been petrolheads before we even knew what that meant. We grew up more like friends and ever since shared the love for all things mobile. Growing up, our father was a government official and never thought of buying a car since he had an official vehicle. The numerous Ambassadors/trekker were replaced eventually with an Indigo Marina (the last vehicle he had before he retired) in a light blue shade. We both loved all of those vehicles. We started out like all kids in the late 80s and 90s with a massive collection of hotwheels and random other such diecasts.

One of the fondest memories from our childhood was learning to drive the Ambassador with a bench seat. My dad’s driver (we fondly called him Seenu uncle short for Shrinivas) would sit next to us and control the pedals since we couldn’t reach them. We barely could see out of the window and the huge bonnet was not doing us any favors. This gave us our first taste of actually driving a car. Over the years Seenu uncle taught us how to ride our dad’s 2 stroke scooter and that eventually led us to our collected passion to own some iconic motorcycles in the span of 14 years. Eventually Seenu uncle got transferred to another department and we never grew fond of the new driver as were too busy motorcycling or doing whatever teenagers did.

Some of the bikes we owned in the purchase order:
1. Kinetic Honda
2. Bajaj CT-100
3. Yamaha RX-135
4. Avenger 220
5. RE Classic 350
6. Suzuki Access 125
7. Yamaha RayZ (Current)
8. Honda Dio(Current)

My favorite bike of the bunch was the RX and still regret selling it. But like all good things, it was time to buy something more practical and avenger was my daily for a couple of years. RE was a pure impulse buy and we also got rid of it within 3 years of purchase because of the accompanied headache of ownership. We purchased our first car(Alto Lxi) in 2009 at the very end of my dad’s working year. My dad never learned how to drive a car and it was our responsibility to learn how to drive and maintain it. We were in the final year of engineering when we got the car and we had a blast in that final year of our academics. The car served the family like a loyal servant and when I returned from my first onsite assignment, it was awkwardly small since I had gained too much weight.

This was around 2013 and I started looking for a replacement for our humble Alto. As embarrassing as it is, I never looked up any car reviews and I wasn’t even aware of Team-BHP at that point. Yeah, some enthusiast! The only cars we looked at was Dzire and Fiesta classic. Dzire was blindly booked because everyone told so and we had seamless ownership experience with our alto. Although Dzire still adores our garage and with 80k on the odo, there is no reason to sell this city car. While I was doing this, my brother was more pragmatic and he was an avid T-BHP forum reader too. He was the one who introduced me to this forum. The irony is though I become a member but he still hasn’t been able to crack the assessment questions. He bought his first car by looking in the used car market. It was a 2013 i20 Asta diesel. For a car from the same year as our Dzire, it was a major improvement. Better driving dynamics, comfort features and pretty much all bells and whistles.

Coming back to the original story, it was time to replace this i20 as the diesel was not getting used in the pandemic and my brother just had the automotive itch. This is the story of how he bought his Rapid.
Late 2020, my brother exclaimed that he is buying a new car and he has TD booked for Skoda Rapid. I was a little dazed by this announcement, but I knew he had been looking at too many YT videos on Rapid. A monte carlo edition in Candy red colour arrived at our house for a TD. I was blown away at this combination and actually was inclined to pick this colour but unfortunately the monte carlo comes with a less than agreeable infotainment system.

My suggestion as the 3-minute older brother was to look at the following options to make an informed decision:
1. VW Vento – although a similar car to Rapid, wanted to see what was on offer
2. Honda City – some mouth-watering discounts were on avail for the December car.
3. Maruti Ciaz – almost the same price as Rapid ambition, comes with a 4-star safety rating and is H-U-G-E!

My brother was clear on his requirement, it must be a sedan. No Pseudo-SUV like cars including compact SUVs. So, all of the cars in that segment was not even considered.
Vento was immediately dropped because there were no discounts on offer and the “facelift” comes with hideous stickers. Somehow vento has started to look like Ameo and I am unable to unsee it. I need to see a doctor!
Honda City was a serious contender but Rapid just undercut City by a large margin and it just couldn’t be ignored.
Ciaz was dropped as soon as I suggested it because my brother isn’t a Maruti person. He just doesn’t like their products from aesthetics to build. I don’t blame him; we have had our share of Maruti vehicles and I wouldn’t classify them premium in any segment.

What was very weird for me and unique was how we actually struggled to find alternatives for Rapid. We went into this search with a heavy bias towards Rapid. Thanks to t-bhp and bhpians, we knew Rapid was a great car. A host of YT reviews were quite promising too. Some points that were a highlight of this search:
1. At ~12 big ones, there is really no good contenders to Rapid. Personally for me Vento is outdated although Rapid facelift is still refreshing. (Again, I have to say this since my brother owns it already *awkward*). Jokes apart, I feel it looks pretty well in the latest avatar.
2. The engine and driving setup on Rapid is phenomenal. Coming from cars like Dzire and I20, we were really impressed by how drivable the car is and did I mention SO MUCH FUN!
3. My brother was so biased towards Rapid, he ignored all my suggestions and didn’t test drive any other vehicle. *insert spoiled younger brother noises*
4. So far Skoda Tafe - Bangalore experience has been exceptional. We hope this continues and we have a pleasurable experience through the ownership.
5. Sedans are officially a dying breed. We know it is going to be hard to replace the Dzire and Rapid when the time comes. We are not SUV people but what else should we be in the coming years? May be Tesla people? *wink wink*

Booking experience – We were very pleasantly welcomed by the SA at Tafe motors at St Marks Road, Bangalore. We were given an initial discount of 30 k and an additional 30 K discount was negotiated which was used towards the extended warranty. The service was professional and we were informed through out the process. Our delivery was also advanced by a month, thanks to someone cancelling their booking at the last minute.

Cost of the vehicle(Ambition variant):
Ex showroom – 999,000
Discount – 60,000
Insurance – 32,500
Depot/Service charges – 7,500
Essential kit – 8,999
RTO – 155,245
Total – Rs 1,143,244 (plus 30 K in discount towards the extended warranty)

Although I have driven many vehicles abroad and here; and really enjoyed my ownership of all of my vehicles so far but I never really bothered to name any of them. Don’t get me wrong, cars are very personal but not to a point where I call them by names. Clearly my brother is the emotional one. Although we are identical twins, the similarities end at looks. He went ahead and named his new car “Obi-wan” from Star Wars.

Likes:
1. Spacious boot
2. Nice powerful engine
3. Solid build quality, NVH protection is great
4. Well balanced ride and chassis
5. Skoda apps are quite well designed and helpful

Dislikes:
1. The turbo lag! Its tough to gain momentum in stop go traffic
2. Not a 5 seater – but we rarely seat 5 passengers, so not a problem
3. Interiors are a bit dated
4. Clutch position is really awkward, fixed it with some new hefty mats
I hope you enjoyed this small experience of ours and Thank you for your patience. Here are some pictures of the new car.

First look at the dealership:


After the initial pooja at home:


Some random clicks in the last few weeks:

[pvivek2]

Hi everyone, after a long drive yesterday, noticed the below cable dangling below the car - any idea what this is and how big an issue it is?

My guess is something on the road scraped the bottom of the car during the drive and caused this, will take it to the service centre probably in the weekend to get it checked out.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by pvivek2

Hi everyone, after a long drive yesterday, noticed the below cable dangling below the car - any idea what this is and how big an issue it is?

Seems like the hand brake cable dangling, maybe one of the clips got cut, which holds it in place.