It had been a peaceful 4 years with my Dzire VDI and I was what you would call a "happy" customer. It did what it was supposed to. Excellent diesel engine, superb economy figures and a decent service back up. Once I crossed my third year of ownership, trading the dzire for a new one was on my mind, provided I got a decent re-sale value. Last year around September I test drove the Linea. I wasn't exactly floored by the car, but the car just looks so beautiful and feels quite special. Somehow things did not go as planned in terms of the re-sale value of my Dzire and I wasnt completely convinced by the Linea either due its sluggish engine. It just wasnt quick like the dzire. Then I test drove the Fiesta classic TDCI. Many of you may detest me for this comment, but after my TD, I felt that the fiesta classic was a bit over rated.
Anyways, I let go of this thought of selling my car for some time.Then, the new Dzire was launched. And when I heard that the current dzire would be sold to only fleets / Taxis, I decided to look again for a good re-sale value for my car before the new dzire starts selling like crazy. I had a look at the new dzire and I just thought it looked too weird in the side profile. Also, there was one major grouse that I had after owning the car for 4 years and that was the braking. With no ABS, the dzire was quite bad in high speed braking conditions and I have had 2 incidents of the wheels locking up. So ABS was a must. And the ZDI offered every single feature that you wanted, but it was priced too high. At 8.5 OTR bangalore, I felt it was a bit too much, especially when you look at the fundamentals.
Most of all, I wasnt convinced if I needed a new car. But then I hadnt test driven the Rapid yet. One fine day, my wife and myself test dove the Rapid TDI and oh boy I was floored! It was a split second decision in my mind. If I had to trade my dzire, then it had to be the Rapid TDI! The smooth power delivery had bowled me over! And my decision was further augumented by Team bhp's excellent review as well.
In the mean while an used car dealer had contacted me and somehow managed to meet my expectation. So in the first week of february I let go off my dzire, which had faithfully served me for nearly 4 years. There were a lot of emotions associated with this car and every time I see a sovereign blue dzire, it is sure to pull a few strings in my heart, My wife and me had bought this car just before our marriage and it had been a part of our life thru all twists and turns. I hope it finds a good home!
As soon as I sold my car, I made a booking with Vinayak skoda, Marthahalli, Bangalore. It was a new show room and the one closest to my home. Vinayak has a decent reputation in Bangalore and they were quite eager in their approach.
And then I thought to myself that even though I made the booking with skoda, I wanted to try out all the other options that I had, just to be sure.
First in line was once again the Fiat Linea, this time the 2012 version. But things such as long turning radius, lack of power and the very fact that fiat was just selling 1500cars every month and could just walk away one fine morning kept me at bay. Fiat fans{I'm a fan myself}, no offence, but when you buy a car, you need to look 5-6 years ahead. Skoda with VW's backing is here to stay and has already established itself as a premium player. On the other hand, the linea inspite of being brilliant, suffers from fiat's slow progress in India and the Tie up with Tata is going no where. i'm not sure where Fiat's plans of opening independent showrooms / work shops stand. But the dynamic version at 10.40lakhs was fantastic VFM. It had everything, 2 airbags, ABS, Alloys, Blue and me etc. But mind you, even the 2012 linea had discounts and that was a turn off as well, an indication that it did not garner a positive response.
Second in line was the Nissan Sunny diesel. The nearest showroom was 25kms away and they had just one demo car and I just couldnt find the time to go to the showroom. Also I lacked that urge probably because I had read T-bhp's review thoroughly and it was clear that it wasnt as premium a car like the rapid. And neither did it have a strong service network.
Last one on my list was the huge chevrolet optra magnum, purely for its powerful 2.0 TCDI engine. But sadly that is the only thing that impressed me in this car. The interiors were quite outdated{ a 6 cd changer in 2012, really?} Also it has been in the market for too long now and I couldnt see myself holding on to it for the next 6 years.
Other cars that I did not consider at all:-
1) SX 4 diesel--Too similar to the dzire in terms of interiors.
2) Verna-Was not interested in a Hyundai and it was quite expensive as well.
3) Vento--Well, if the Rapid is the same as the vento, then why should I pay extra?
But the biggest advantage the Rapid has was its mid-Variant-The Ambition. It had a driver air bag, ABS and all other basic features. Yes, it lacked an audio player, but there were affordable aftermarket units anyway. And this is the weakness of all other cars. The SX4 & Vento had just a low variant{ VDI & Trendline} and ABS wasnt even an option on these. The higher variants ZDI & Highline were well over 11-12 lakhs OTR bangalore!
4) New ford fiesta-No offence, but did not even think of having a TD. It looks like this is now going to be right at the bottom of C2 sedans, even lower than the linea in terms of sale. Not even close to being VFM.
So I stuck to the Rapid and completed all payment formalities with the dealer. As promised, my car was available within 2 weeks of my initial booking. Color-My wife's choice--Cappuccino beige.All skodas have this color and I really liked it too. Skoda should have more color options though.
Finally the car was ready to be delivered to me on the 3rd of March. Registration was done a day earlier and I had told the dealer to fix HSP number plates{IND} at an extra cost. I had also noticed from other reviews that skoda had a stringent warranty system and fixing accys outside may be risky. Hence I bought a 2 din JVC audio system with Bluetooth and USB along with 4 coaxial JBL speakers and got it fitted at the dealer. I wanted something simple and this was quite good. Also bought autocops reverse parking sensors, which I was used to in my earlier dzire.
The skoda dealer fitted all of these for an extra cost and I took the delivery on 3rd March at about 8:30pm. Have been driving it for 4-5 days now and my initial feed back is as below:-
1) Great ride, irons out most bumps.
2) Overall build quality is good, interior buttons like the power window buttons, headlight controls feel premium.
3) The steering is too light, feels lighter than the dzire as well.
4) AC in 1 takes a bit of time to cool. The blower isnt that powerful.
5) Braking is quite sharp.
6) Front seats feel sporty, well sprung.
7) Noise Insulation is very good. In spite of its noisy engine, while you are inside you can't hear much.
8) I dont know for sure, But there seems to be some tyre noise from the apollo acceleres. I could be wrong, but I usually pick up the most faint sounds. The car certainly deserves better than 175/14s, but I would rather use these for the next 20-30k and then change them.
9) There is a gear indicator, indicates what gear you are in and whether you need to upshift or down shift.
10) Looks fabulous!
I have been driving quite sedately and hence cannot comment on the sleeping power underneath
Once again I would want to thank T-bhp for its excellent unbiased review of the rapid and a lot of other t-bhpians who had replied to my queries on the car and audio systems etc.
One thing I'm adding on to the car are T-BHP stickers. The earlier ones on my dzire were my gift to the potential buyer
Have owned the Rapid for a week now, driven around 250kms. Did some city runs amidst slow moving traffic. Also did a late night run on the outer ring road, bangalore. Here are my initial thoughts on the car:-
Exteriors:-
Though very similar to the vento when you look at it in the side profile, the front is distinctly different from the vento and looks very similar to the fabia. The rear on the contrary is very similar to the vento save for the typical "C" skoda lights, which I think is classic to look at especially in the nights. I'm not sure what skoda has tried to achieve by modifying the number plate area, it sure looks good, but I dont think it was necessary. I could have easily lived with the one on the vento.
Interiors:-
--Step inside and the dashboard color combination is not the best that you see around. Eventually it grows on you. Appreciate the fact that Skoda has tried to minimize the use of beige. The carpets are black, which is a huge bonus in terms of maintenance.
--The front seats are a little stiff. Not well cushioned. But quite comfortable overall. Height adjust for the driver's seat is a very useful feature. Even though I'm about 5"9" I kept the seat at the highest position initially to have better judgement of the car. I have slowly reduced the height now since I now understand the car's dimensions better.The center arm rest is intrusive at times. Also the center arm rest is in beige and would easily be the first to get soiled. I'm not sure if there is an option to get this covered, when you get new seat covers. Will have to check with a couple of seat cover vendors.
--The 4 spoke steering wheel is good to hold, has decent amount of grip. Indicator stalks feel chunky. I really liked the headlight knob! Very different from the japanese cars that I have been used to.
--The rear seats are a good place to be in, but strictly for 2 adults only. At best a 10-12 aged kid can sit at the middle, but I guess even the kid would feel uncomfortable over long journeys.
--Storage bins--The bottle holders in the front doors are a bit too wide actually. If you place a 1 ltr bottle, there is some more space meaning that the bottle would tilt on the move. Considering that 1ltr bottles are the ones most widely used, Skoda should have engineered that bottle holder around them. On the contrary the rear door's bottle holders are too small and I guess only a 500ml bottle would fit in. I mention this because my earlier dzire's bottle holders on all 4 doors were perfect for 1 ltr bottles!
Glove box is huge! Wish it had an internal cooling comparment. If you look at the etios, the system is rather simple and I wonder why companies like VW /Skoda dont incorporate such things.
On the Move:-
--Crank up the engine and there is a very noticeable jerk. It almost feels like one of those MUVs for a second. I'm very surprised by this and would request other Rapid / Vento owners to comment on this.
--The engine noise when idle is rather high and with windows rolled down it sounds rather noisy for a modern diesel, especially from VW. There is just no way that you will ever mistake this for a petrol! The DDIS in the suzukis are light years ahead in this regard.
--Slot in to the 1st and you will realize that it's rather short and you would have to immediately move to 2nd.
--As you drive the engine noise dies down a bit. The NVH levels are rather good and I feel that the sound deadening materials that Skoda has used are top notch. For such a noisy engine, you dont hear much when you have all windows rolled up.
--There is a gear shift indicator which tells which gear you are in and if you need to upshift or down shift. I'm not sure if this is present in the Polo as well. It is a bit frustrating if you try to concentrate on this as it does not take in to real time driving conditions and you will end up shifting too much.
--The A.C is not the best though. I'm not sure if this is because it is a new car, but the "1" position in the blower is not quite powerful and I feel that cooling takes a bit longer. Could be because its already quite hot in bangalore with temperatures hitting 35-36 degrees consistently. Anyway, after some time it feels ok.
--The car is a breeze to drive. Before you know it the kmph reads 80. There is no turbo lag as in the DDIS. Power delivery is linear and you always know that there is more than adequate power on offer.
I have not done higher speeds as yet. Would want to take it slow for the initial 2000kms. Or is it just 1000kms?
--After driving the dzire for 4 years, my biggest joy has been Rapid's precise braking. Very effective and confidence inspiring.
--Tyres--I just wish Skoda had at least given it 185/14 rather than 175/14. I felt a massive difference when I moved from 165/14 stock JKs to 185/14 Michelin XM1+ in my earlier dzire and I'm sure something like a Michelin would have made the rapid a much better handler than what it is. I have decided to wear the stock apollo acceleres out and then move on to something better. I think the rapid comes with only these tyres. There is no option really. Hate this sort of an approach. A 10 lakh car should never be under tyred. And skoda should have atleast provided bridgetones / Good years. I have a feeling that there is a faint tyre noise already! Am not sure, I could be wrong as well.
--Handling--One statement--Point and shoot! H/ever, I have a query here. The steering feels super light in slower speeds. At higher speeds it doesnt feel as light though. Fellow t-bhpian Shankar balan had suggested that this could be due to speed sensitive steering like his yeti. Is this correct? Does the vento and the polo feel the same as well?
--The lights are quite powerful and I dont sense a need for an immediate upgrade. Same with horn as well, even though I would have preferred the typical skoda horn.
Overall, I think it is a great product. My only grouse is it's inability to seat a 3rd passenger at the rear. H.ever it is just me and my wife for now and hence it should not be much of an inconvenience.
At just 10.05L OTR that I paid for, it is just sheer VFM! Even the SX4 VDI sans ABS /Airbags cost something close to 9.70lakhs OTR bangalore. I wouldnt want to compare the sunny to this as that is more of a etios / manza beater in terms of overall build quality.
That's it for now. Will keep updating my experiences with the car in the coming months.