[anandkumargb]

My Skoda Rapid TDI Ambition got an upgrade of tires and wheels today at Torque, Bangalore.

I went to Torque in HAL 3 stage with the intention of buying 14 Evo Alloy wheels for my Rapid. Below were the 2 designs that I had shortlisted.



Pawan from Torque asked me why I am not upgrading to 15inch? There are much better designs. I told that I was offered ridiculously low price for my tires. I had Apollo Acellere 175/70/R14, run about 9500 kms. He quickly had a look and offered to buy back of Rs 2000 per piece. I had inquired in many places and they were quoting Rs 1000, rs 1500. This is the best buyback price that I got for my tires. In a split second decided to upgraded to 15 inch alloys, plus new wider and bigger tires. 175/70/R14 were definitely tiny for this torque bomb. Come on! My swift had 185/65/R15 tires.

I had to upgrade, but was in a dilemma whether to upgrade to 185/65 or 195/60 or 205/55. 185/65 is hardly an upgrade and I did not want to go below 60 profile. 205/55 may look beautiful, but the ride quality would be compromised. Finally after reading a lot on Team BHP decided to go for 195/60/R15 as this is the right upgrade because it scores both in the ride and handling departments. On the paper there is 2.4% deviation, but I went by the feedback given by various team bhpians who have upgraded to 195/60R15 for their vento's/rapids. Thank you all & especially Kryptonite

Now coming to which brand do I go for? My options were Yokohoma A drives, ES100, there is one Yoko VB or DB 550... MRF ZLO, Michelin Energy XM2. Decided on Yoko A drive since it is all round performer; scores in all departments i.e economical (should run for 40k kms) and sidewalls are strong enough for Indian roads and provide decent grip levels.

The Pawan (torque) did not have stock of A drives, he called up Millivision (wholesaler) in front of me and then quoted Rs 5100/piece. I quickly googled for Millivision contact number on Just dial app and called him and he quoted me Rs 4800/piece. Pawan had no option but to give it to me for Rs 4800/piece

Below is the price split




I am in love with these Alloy wheels design. Torque guy says these design is replica of Nissan GTR. Now for some pics.

[Mi10]

Congrats !

Alloys look uber !

Incidentally, i too moved from a Verito (2012, 16k on Odo) to Rapid

[anandkumargb]

Originally Posted by girishglg

Congrats on the Rapid in its best colors. Actually this is the only shade that accentuates the clean lines and is much better than the over done chrome in the Vento.

That said the GC seems to be on par with its competition but do you still face a problem evertime you encounter those huge humps in Bangalore?

Also does the Dieseltronic Box mess with the warranty of the vehicle or is it just an bolt on piece added in?

Only the mudflaps touch the ground. Intially I thought it was the bumpers and the body. Need to get the mud flaps removed. Now that I have upgraded to 15 inch alloys and 195/60/R15 tires I feel the GC has increased a bit.

Dieseltronic Box is a plug and play...I will remove it myself before giving it to service and the SA guys will not know that I had installed Dieseltronic Box.
Plus, I have used this box for more than an year now on my Verito and I faced zero issues. Many users also have reported the same on Tbhp.

Originally Posted by sansvk

Congrats, the Red Rapid looks striking.
Isn't 11-12 too low? Haven't come across many Rapid or Vento owners quoting such low figures.

11-12 is really low. Other users have quoted 14-15 kmpl in city. I have installed the Dieseltronic Box, it will surely improve the FE.

[anandkumargb]

Originally Posted by Mi10

Congrats !

Alloys look uber !

Incidentally, i too moved from a Verito (2012, 16k on Odo) to Rapid

Thanks! Mi10.

From Verito to Rapid, I thought I was the only one
How do you rate the ride quality of Rapid over Verito? I feel Verito ride was plusher.

1 Question - Do you really feel a difference by installing K&N Filter? Would you recommend it? I am using the Dieseltronic Box without the filter. Kryptonite mentioned that he did not see much gains by the K & N? Want to know your thoughts before I decide?

[Mi10]

Originally Posted by anandkumargb

Thanks! Mi10.

From Verito to Rapid, I thought I was the only one
How do you rate the ride quality of Rapid over Verito? I feel Verito ride was plusher.

1 Question - Do you really feel a difference by installing K&N Filter? Would you recommend it? I am using the Dieseltronic Box without the filter. Kryptonite mentioned that he did not see much gains by the K & N? Want to know your thoughts before I decide?

In area of Ride, Handling and Dynamics, i feel the Verito trumps every aspect over Rapid except Steering Feedback !
The Rear Seat too is no match to the comfy Verito !

I installed the K&N With the Remap, so cant really say it makes a huge difference. Its only an airfilter without change to the plumbing, so its not ideal to expect a world of difference !
IMO, its worth to put a replacement airfilter only if you are running a Remap or a Box. Else its not worth it !

[anandkumargb]

Some more pics of the wheels



Skoda Tire valves - Rs 295 from Ebay



Skoda key cover silicon - Rs 299 from Ebay
Considering the desmodronic key costs around Rs 17k, its worth buying this cover for 300 bucks.

[santoshr]

Originally Posted by anandkumargb

Only the mudflaps touch the ground. Intially I thought it was the bumpers and the body. Need to get the mud flaps removed. Now that I have upgraded to 15 inch alloys and 195/60/R15 tires I feel the GC has increased a bit.

I would totally recommend removing the mud flaps, not only they spoil the look of the car the pretty much scrap on every little bump. I have driven in Bangalore a couple of times and the bumps there are not forgiving. ON my way from Pune to Bangalore the bumps near Chitradurga broke the flap, imagine that.

Am running without mud flaps with 205/55/R15 and the car looks like a stunner.

I want to know what you did about the stephanie, since your alloys are 15" and the spare a 14" that is not a very recommended setup. I also am in the same boat and not sure what to do.

Ideally in case of a catastrophic puncture you could run the 14" in the rear, but its not very recommended. Did you check with Skoda on what the price of a 15" steel rim would be.

[anandkumargb]

Seriously I dont think having 14 inch spare wheel is much of an issue since the diameter of 15 inch wheel and 14 inch wheel would remain more or less same since 14 inch wheels run on 70 profile tires. Anyway, the distance/speed run on the spare wheel would be minimal.

Rapid TDI owners - I drive 3.5 hrs daily in bumper to bumper traffic and I find the clutch heavy enough to give me ankle pain. Has anyone done anything abt the clutch or you don't find it a problem big enough?

[sanchit223]

I also find the clutch on my rapid a bit somewhat heavy. I drove to mahabalshwar and lonavala some time back and got stuck in traffic jams in the hills a couple of times, the drive was very unpleasant due to the heavy clutch. Any suggestions ?

[anandkumargb]

The car has now run 30,000 kms in 1.5 years. Recently got the 30k kms service done at Vinayaka, Bangalore. Attached the bill for reference. At 20k kms, the bill was around Rs 8k. Got the wheels aligned and balanced using the 'road force' at Madhu, Langford road.

Let me revisit the likes and dislikes with the car at 30 k kms:

Likes

1. Not a single rattle, still feels brand new
2. FE is around 12 kmpl approx. in City
3. Torquey Engine
4. Superb Ride quality..eats up potholes..almost SUViish
5. No breakdowns, No part failure, just plain services and usual filters replaced
6. Tank like Build quality..ages gracefully!

Dislikes

1. Heavy Clutch kickback! I drive my Chevy Beat Diesel a lot these days..its got the lightest clutch that there is among Diesels.
2. Head room comes at a premium
3. FE ..around 11-12 kmpl

[anandkumargb]

After a long hiatus, here is an update on my Skoda Rapid 1.6 TDI.

Its covered 62000 kms now. Got her new battery, 3M paint sealant and interiors cleaning. Removed the art leather seat covers, Stock fabric seat covers are still brand new and I can feel the contours better.

At 62k kms, Yoko A drives are still going strong and seem to have at least 10k kms life left in them.

Likes
1. Car still packs a punch.
2. Suspension is still solid
3. No rattles
4. Drives like a new car
5. No part failures, just usual services

Dislikes.
1. Clutch is still heavy.

FE in city 11.5 kms with AC

[anandkumargb]

Update at 70,000 kms - Skoda Rapid TDI has run without any issues so far. Build quality is terrific; zero rattles.

1. Yoko A drives would be due for replacement in about 5k kms
2. Clutch continues to be hard; dad reports drop in pulling power. I am guessing its clutch
3. There was trouble in shifting from 2nd to 1st gear...Now the issue has disappeared. The issue was there when the driver was driving; now he quit and so has the issue. What could be the issue ??
4. Two lights are glowing up continuously

a) If the warning light  lights up, there is a fault in the exhaust inspection system.
The system allows the vehicle to run in emergency mode."

b) If the warning light  begins to flash while driving, a fault exists in the engine
control. The system allows the vehicle to run in emergency mode.


Experts - Need your advice. What could be the issue? I read about people disconnecting n reconnecting the battery and warning lights disappearing and Deleting the error codes using OBD scanner. Should I go to Skoda ASS or Cartisan or Adiga Automotives.

[anandkumargb]

Drove the car today, there is significant drop in the power and the Glow plug and Engine check warning lights are continuously on. Now I am scared. I see some leakage near the fuel injectors and I am guessing the injectors have gone bust.

Have taken an appointment in Vinayak skoda Okalipuram, bangalore.

[CarguyNish]

Originally Posted by anandkumargb

Drove the car today, there is significant drop in the power and the Glow plug and Engine check warning lights are continuously on. Now I am scared. I see some leakage near the fuel injectors and I am guessing the injectors have gone bust.

Have taken an appointment in Vinayak skoda Okalipuram, bangalore.

Get the car towed to Vinayak Skoda. You should not drive if you saw the Glow Plug Warning Lamp. If you are not using the car right now, immediately call them and report. The lesser the car used in these situations, lesser the damage. I hope everything is fine & there won't be a major hiccup

[anandkumargb]

Update on the Glow plug and engine check warning light issue : The SA from Vinayak skoda found a battery wire cut and he said it is a rat bite. Wires repaired; Engine scanned and error codes deleted. Rs 1500 billed and issue resolved.

However, things could have gone wrong if there was a short circuit in ECM because of this battery wire cut then ECM costing Rs 60k was to be replaced. I thanked god and revved out of the ASS. Apparently, when the wire was cut, the engine was running in emergency mode, hence no turbo spool. Now the turbo was opening up as before and the car was back to its punchy engine days.

SA also said that my clutch was at its end of life and better to get the clutch and pressure plates costing Rs 24k replaced in its 80k kms service. I couldn't agree more considering the how hard the clutch was.

SA advised me to buy 2 packets of Hans tobacco packets, punch holes and tie them inside the bonnet to ward off rats. :-)

When I got this glow plug and engine check warning lights issue, I read so much of issues online about Skoda's expensive parts,dealers apathy and customer sufferings that I am now very skeptical and may not consider VAG group products in future.

That's it for now.