[Turbo Head]

Hello everyone,

It Was Tuesday (22nd, Nov,11) when I got a call from Ravikant – Sales Manager from Giriraj Motors Skoda.

“Sir is it Mr Ankur ?” reply was affirmative, “Sir, did you book a Skoda Rapid ?” again confirmed,

“Sir, when do you want to take the delivery of your car?” Now the heart started beating faster than thump of RE CI engine.

“Can I get it today itself?”

“Ofcourse Yes”, came an enthusiastic reply. Next 5 hrs were busiest of any day, loan applied, approvals taken, deposited margin money and got the DD/Pay order, PDI done and delivery taken, all happened very quickly indeed, or should I aptly say Rapid-ly

Two weeks back :

Me and my friend were going out for a meeting when meteor struck him as he exclaimed, your Swift is turning bit old, though ageing very gracefully without showing any tantrums (its 2006, Vxi, running on natural gas and done approx 1.45 lac kms), but now ageing signs are showing up. I was silently nodding to his point of view but somehow was trying to avoid the upcoming conversation, which would lead to another expanse.

To be honest even I wanted an upgrade and was very keenly following threads/reviews about XUV 500, being far more advanced and light years ahead of my previous prized possession Scorpio. Now the basic problem with any enthusiast is that you know about your cars, and more you know, more confuse you will be. Unlike normal folks (no offense to anyone) who buy the cars because either it’s a status symbol/recommended by a friend or relative/because Mr.X has one or simply want have something bigger/costlier than their neighbor.

After repeated pushing from him, I started looking for options. Fortunately it didn’t take much time as the priorities were set. I needed a Diesel (Sedan/SUV) as my daily commute is 100kms add another 50-100kms as local driving from my office to various sites (working in Real Estate firm), So that sums to 150-200 kms daily or 1000kms weekly and 4000kms monthly. So it has be frugal (will always miss my CNG converted Swift here), easy to drive, comfortable and very importantly easy to park (XUV/SUV took all beating here).

Hence I shortlisted the following options:
1. Vento Highline
2. Chevy Cruze LTZ
3. XUV 500 W8
4. Skoda Rapid Elegance (Was not launched then)

I was never a big fan for Hyundai & Ford Sedans. Hence no Verna or Fiesta in this list, also did not found Linea/SX4/Manza in this league.

There were very strong and positive views about XUV W8 (4X2), which was costing approx 14 lacs on road, though budget was not the primary constraint but every penny saved reduces from monthly burden aka EMIs. Moreover parking and mileage were losing points, else I would have been different title for this review.

Chevy Cruze was another very strong contender, which only lost due slightly higher price and cramped rear seats (again that’s my personal opinion). With 16 lacs for manual transmission it was costing almost 50% higher than rest of the sedans here. So it gave the way to Vento, which no doubt is an excellent car for its price. Also I always felt fetish for Germans, hence loved the car and power-plant instantaneously.

During my visit to VW showroom, friend was so much convinced that we almost wrote a cheque for the booking. Somehow I kept my nerves cool and requested him to visit Skoda before taking the final call.

There was almost nil information available at the showroom, infact one could find much more details online.
Though steering mounted controls/parking sensors/slightly better looking music system appealed a bit in Vento, but overall winged arrow won my heart for overall looks and appeal.

Googled images/read reviews by various auto journalists/downloaded you tube videos and best part was getting a detailed review at T-Bhp by Samurai and Vid6639. Like everyone, I found the front of Rapid much better looking and Skoda enjoys better brand recall value as compared to VW atleast in India (I fully comprehend that Skoda is fully owned subsidiary of VW Calls and globally VW is considered more premium brand than Skoda). Booking confirmations were made, cash deposited and Rapid Elegance (Cappuccino Beige) booking was sealed on 11.11.11.

Heartbreaker was the fact that I had to wait for atleast 3-4 weeks for delivery, before we could find some good friend who made few calls to the showroom owner Mr Vivek, who was very instrumental and arranged one almost instantaneously and rest you all know.

Coming back to the car, its as European as it may get, simple/elegant yet very functional interiors, though the plastic quality could have been better (its slightly hard to touch). Features list if not very comprehensive doesn’t leave anything much to be desired. Ride is one of the best in class, it eats small and medium potholes for breakfast and lunch and rumble strips for dinner. My mother who was on the rear seats exclaimed it doesn’t drives, it glides. Power-plant with 104 thoroughbreds and 250 Nm torque is adequate for my kind of drive. Rear seat legroom is again adequate, though large floor tunnel makes it uncomfortable for the third passenger.

One very important thing worth mentioning here is excellent NVH charterstics shown by this oil burner is exceptional. I can confidently say, it is one of the most silent Diesels I have ever driven (keeping propeller/concentric circles and 3 point stars out of the league). Barring some very irritating vibrations omnipresent on clutch pedal, same were also prominently noticed on Vento as well.

Fuel gauge has not nudged even after 200+kms, so expecting very frugal drives ahead. With 55ltr of tank expect very good range for highways. (avg. reading in MID says its 21+kmpl so far)

Audio is very good for OEM and speakers deliver good mid range very rich and deep bass. Though USB option is missing but it is very much compensated by SD card reader, which works effortlessly. Infact it read my 2GB card (almost full with mp3) almost instantaneously and started playing the playlist immediately, unlike my Vaio which takes several seconds to recognize and read it.

MID is yet again very comprehensive and feeds you with all the information you may (or may not) need. More details on this later in the detailed review.

Sorry for running too fast in my review, but I had to wind up some work at office as I planning a short drive to Gwalior tomorrow early morning. I will definitely pour some more details here along with some snapshots of the newcomer once back.

Thanks for reading.

[scopriobharath]

Congrats on the First Rapid Purchase on TBHP. please post some Pics ASAP. PLease post your dealership experience, PDI and delivery process too.

How did the car feel to drive ?

[krish82]

First Rapid in Team-bhp. My Hearty congratulations. Also please provide the photos and reviee ASAP. its a very good choice indeed. I also liked it more than the Vento, i somehow felt polo looked better than the vento.

[volkman10]

Congrats again on the Rapid.
Awaiting the pics as yours is the first ownership report here!

Cheers!

[evilshantanu]

Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Please do NOT post one-liners that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the overall quality of this forum.

Please read our rules before proceeding any further.

[S_U_N]

Very rapid buying procedure indeed. Now please upload photos rapidly.
Was it Giriraj which had a lot of bad reviews for servicing?

[mayankjha1806]

This was a Rapid review of a Rapidly delivered Rapid

Please post some pictures of the same, delivery in 2 weeks is good as i like car to be at my doorstep as soon as i pay my portion of the amount (Maggi kids you see). Rapid sure looks better then its sibling (surprisingly same is the case with Laura/Jetta). Sometime it makes you wonder which one is premium.

[infotech58]

congratulation for your new purchase!

please post some pictures as soon as possible. please also share your impressions about comparision between Rapid and Vento in detail. what was the OTR cost of vehicle?

[rangakishen]

Congrats on your new Skoda Rapid!! Enjoy!! No review is complete without pictures so waiting!!

And sorry for nitpicking!!
But BMW-Its wrongly assumed to be a rotating propeller!! Its actually the colours of the Bavarian (Bavarian Motor Works) flag!!
Audi-Is not concentric circles, its 4 intersecting circles!!
I know i deserve two of these!! Hehe!!

Anyway!! Wishing you many happy miles!!! Its a beautiful car!! Cant wait for pics!!

[Vik0728]

Congrats on your "Rapid Resolve" Turbo Head and what more, the First one at it!!

Looking forward for a detailed and 'Less Rapid' Review of ur Stead with loads of snaps.

[samarjitdhar]

Many congratulations on being the first Skoda Rapid owner on TBHP . Wish you many happy miles with it. Do post pics when you can.

A quick question. Being a Vento TDI owner myself, I would love to hear from you your perception on noise levels both inside and outside the Rapid when compared to the Vento since you have experienced both during your buying process. How much is the noise level reduced in the Rapid when compared to the Vento? Can you quantify it in terms of percentage?

[Swanand Inamdar]

Congratualtions on the Rapid. Sure seems to be a "Rapid" delivery! I'm yet to take a TD of the car. Not that I am in the market for one, but you know how we autoholics are .

Drive safe, enjoy the car to the fullest and do update us with lots of details. Afterall, this is probably the first Rapid on the forum.

Oh yes, where are the pictures? Not fair. At least a teaser would have done!

[RGK]

Congrats on the new Skoda Rapid and rapid report. Waiting for pictures.

Happy and Safe Motoring.

[W.A.G.7]

Congrats! That's a super rapid thread on the Rapid! Wish you many happy kilometres with it. But, post the pics asap. People are getting impatient with no pics!

[Sugeeta]

Congratulations to you for owning the first Rapid on the Forum.

Looking forward to more information from the users PoV. Happy Motoring.

Hope to spot a TBHP stickered Rapid on the Delhi roads soon.