[sameer.nikam]

Hi Sachin,

This is a fantastic thread for Rapid Owners/ Enthusiasts. Appreciate your time and effort in writing and updating your experiences. Infact, I have bookmarked this thread for references.

I also own Skoda Rapid 1.5 TDi, purchased in March 2020 ( same colour as yours!). Odometer reading is 25k.

Following 2 issues are bothering me these days :

1. Steering Sound: I hear a distinct sound "Krrrr" when I turn right . The is definitely not from coming from tyres. The sound is only when I turn right. Has anyone experienced anything of this sort?

2. Sub- Standard quality of AC vents: All my front AC vents (Total 4 nos.) are damaged within a year. It is quite strange to see all these AC vents getting damaged one after the another in a year. I have raised the issue with ASC, however, couldn't visit due to Covid restrictions. I am planning to get is replaced under warranty, however it totally depends on the way ASC reacts after seeing the AC vents.


Has anyone faced similar issues, or raised warranty claims? Looking forward to hear from experienced fellow Team- BHPians.


PS: I am newbie here and this is my first post as a member . :-)

[sachin_cs]

Originally Posted by noufal.ps

I'm at 90k on my Rapid DSG with 45k ran on Michelin P3ST 195. It's a minor tyre upgrade, but technically shouldn't mess with mechatronics.

Thanks mate for the input, I’m almost nearing the end of the tyres life so it’s time for me to look for a good set of tyres.

Originally Posted by sameer.nikam

Hi Sachin,

This is a fantastic thread for Rapid Owners/ Enthusiasts. Appreciate your time and effort in writing and updating your experiences. Infact, I have bookmarked this thread for references.


Following 2 issues are bothering me these days :

1. Steering Sound: I hear a distinct sound "Krrrr" when I turn right . The is definitely not from coming from tyres. The sound is only when I turn right. Has anyone experienced anything of this sort?

2. Sub- Standard quality of AC vents: All my front AC vents (Total 4 nos.) are damaged within a year. It is quite strange to see all these AC vents getting damaged one after the another in a year. I have raised the issue with ASC, however, couldn't visit due to Covid restrictions. I am planning to get is replaced under warranty, however it totally depends on the way ASC reacts after seeing the AC vents.


Has anyone faced similar issues, or raised warranty claims? Looking forward to hear from experienced fellow Team- BHPians.


PS: I am newbie here and this is my first post as a member . :-)

Thanks Sameer for the sweet compliment, well congratulations for your car too.
And regarding your issues, following are my views-

1. Get your tie rods checked, they might have gotten loose or maybe they need a replacement, nothing serious as such I believe.
2. The AC vents indeed are very fragile and VAG knows it, so do ask them for warranty replacement and if the ASC denies it, ask them to still put a request on their server directly to the company and they might as well consider it for replacement under warranty (case in point my glove box cover was rattling and it took a while but eventually it was replaced under warranty)

Cheers mate, enjoy your ride and do start an ownership review.

[gulerianeeraj]

Kudos to such a detailed review Sachin . You might not be aware buddy but I’d finalised buying my pre worshipped RAPID after going through your review in 2020 during pandemic. The way you take care of your Heisenberg is incredible. I call mine the White Rabbit. I bought it at 49k ODO and presently it is running 64k. It took me three looong drives (2000km+) and almost a year to understand why people are so passionate about their Rapid and why does it drive like the way everybody says so.
Have certain queries if you can answer
1. I face Morning jerk issues with my DSG when vehicle shifts from D2 to D3. This is a proper jerk which can be felt by driver predominately. This is only felt during cold start and never once vehicle has warmed up. Do you face any such issue? If yes then what’s the way out? Should I be worried?
2. What’s the tyre pressure that you keep. I keep mine at 32 during city driving and 33 during highway driving with two of us seated and normal luggage in trunk.
3. Should Nitrogen be used in the tyres? Your views
4. Have you thought of going for ceramic coating? Though my vehicle is in pristine condition and has been maintained well with good shine and gloss so far. Im still inclined to go for Ceramic coating. It’s the cost factor that is holding me back (quotes in range of 35k-50k) and I don’t want to invest such huge amount on something which I’ll regret later. Though I have searched through Team BHP threads nothing conclusive on this subject so far. What do you think about it.

[sachin_cs]

Originally Posted by gulerianeeraj

Kudos to such a detailed review Sachin . You might not be aware buddy but I’d finalised buying my pre worshipped RAPID after going through your review in 2020 during pandemic. The way you take care of your Heisenberg is incredible. I call mine the White Rabbit. I bought it at 49k ODO and presently it is running 64k. It took me three looong drives (2000km+) and almost a year to understand why people are so passionate about their Rapid and why does it drive like the way everybody says so.

Thank you so much Neeraj, your words brought an immediate smile to my face and huge congratulations for your pre-worshipped white Rabbit, it's one hell of a car specially in DSG guise. Truth to be told, I in my free time scan through websites looking for used Rapid and Ventos.

1. I face Morning jerk issues with my DSG when vehicle shifts from D2 to D3. This is a proper jerk which can be felt by driver predominately.

DSG has inherent issue of jerking at city speeds, dual clutch transmissions definitely don't love stop go situations. I do face intermittent D3-D2 jerk but not D2-D3 jerk, I would advice you to kindly contact your dealer, it's something a software update may solve.

2. What’s the tyre pressure that you keep. I keep mine at 32 during city driving and 33 during highway driving with two of us seated and normal luggage in trunk.
3. Should Nitrogen be used in the tyres? Your views

I tried various permutations and combinations, initially I used to keep 33-34 psi but lately I have moved to 36 front and 35 in rear- the result is my front feels bit more supple than before and I don't feel all imperfections of road through steering and gives me confidence to glide over rough surface. I know it sounds counterintuitive because higher the pressure, harsher the ride but in my case it is working the other way, my understanding is that since Rapid TDi DSG has heavy front end, so the higher pressure provides that wee bit higher sidewall and hence does a better job. Do give it a try and share your experience. I also shifted to nitrogen since day one and I have mostly good things to say about it.

4. Have you thought of going for ceramic coating?

Initially I was intrigued by all those instagram posts about ceramic coating and felt like its a must have for me, I researched a lot and came to an understanding that having ceramic coating requires extra attention and care, like you cannot let any cleaning guy wash it and the biggest deterrent was the cost factor, I'm not in a position right now to spend 35k on fancy coating. However, I practice following steps to maintain my paint in top shape-

• I wash it only when necessary, too much washing and chemicals are not good for paint. If the dust is light then I use Jopasu after a drive
• I'm using Formula 1 wash and wax solution to wash the car and if time permits I use Formula 1 carnauba wax, usually once a month
• Keep the car parked in shade, clean bird dropping asap, when car is clean, I cover her
• Whenever I take my car for servicing, I take my own microfiber cloth along with me and request those washing guys to use it
• I'm soon planning to get my car detailed by a professional once rains stop here
• The only damage I see to my paint are some stone chips on bonnet because of all the debris, stones flying in our highways, I'm sure ceramic coating would have not saved it either, the only protection would have been getting a ppf but then it costs more than a lakh

And sorry for the late reply, hope it cleared your doubts. Please do share pictures of your white beauty, for time being here's my Heisenberg after a wash~



If you feel like spending on your ride, my suggestion- please go for 6 year extended warranty as there's always a fear of DSG conking off.

[gulerianeeraj]

Originally Posted by sachin_cs

Truth to be told, I in my free time scan through websites looking for used Rapid and Ventos.

Same here. though I'm planning to keep this one for another 3-4 yrs but the itch of buying newer Skoda is addictive. Will upgrade to either Octy or Superb

DSG has inherent issue of jerking at city speeds, dual clutch transmissions definitely don't love stop go situations. I do face intermittent D3-D2 jerk but not D2-D3 jerk, I would advice you to kindly contact your dealer, it's something a software update may solve.

I have stopped going to the dealer since the vehicle is out of warranty and reviews of ASS in Pune is not very encouraging. last two years I've been going to Mechanix Automotive located closely and their services have been pretty good. Had asked about the issues they've told that it is inherent and will stay until clutch plates are changed. Though he recommended not to change the clutch plates since they have around 15k KM left in them. Will update once I've changed them after next service

I tried various permutations and combinations, initially I used to keep 33-34 psi but lately I have moved to 36 front and 35 in rear- the result is my front feels bit more supple than before and I don't feel all imperfections of road through steering and gives me confidence to glide over rough surface. I know it sounds counterintuitive because higher the pressure, harsher the ride but in my case it is working the other way, my understanding is that since Rapid TDi DSG has heavy front end, so the higher pressure provides that wee bit higher sidewall and hence does a better job. Do give it a try and share your experience. I also shifted to nitrogen since day one and I have mostly good things to say about it.

Ive tried pressure quoted by you. To be very honest I've not felt any change since chunk of my driving had been in city and neck to neck traffic. I'm waiting for a road trip and will update my final thoughts afterwards.

Initially I was intrigued by all those instagram posts about ceramic coating and felt like its a must have for me, I researched a lot and came to an understanding that having ceramic coating requires extra attention and care, like you cannot let any cleaning guy wash it and the biggest deterrent was the cost factor, I'm not in a position right now to spend 35k on fancy coating.

Will definitely consider your points while finalising ceramic coating. But really appreciate your suggestions and tips.

Please do share pictures of your white beauty

Here's the White rabbit

If you feel like spending on your ride, my suggestion- please go for 6 year extended warranty as there's always a fear of DSG conking off.

My Vehicle is already 6 years plus and I doubt Skoda will give me warranty afterwards. Am I right?

[sachin_cs]

Pandemic indeed has turned our lives upside down and it has been almost one & a half years since we went on a road trip. Considering improvements in the Covid situation and the fact that we all 4 in the family are fully vaccinated now, we decided to hit the roads on Dussera weekend and explore south Chhattisgarh.

Note: We ensured social distancing, avoided crowded places at all costs, and maintained basic hygiene practices throughout the trip. All the pictures when the car is in motion was clicked by my brother sitting shotgun.

Preparing our ride:

Experience with our rapid has been exemplary so far, dare I say that it is a fill it-forget it machine for us, it's been 2 and half years into the ownership with 44k on the odo and it still drives the way it did on day 1. So nothing much was needed apart from getting nitrogen pressure checked and getting a full tank from my favourite COCO.

DAY 1:
Since we live on the outskirts of Raipur & the NH is right next to our sector, we started leisurely at 10:00 AM and our destination of the day was Narayanpur, which is some odd 250kms from our home. The route we took- Raipur-Abhanpur-Dhamtari-Charama-Makri(took a right from here)-Bhanupratapur-Antagadh-Narayanpur. Except for the stretch between Dhamtari and Charama, the rest of the roads are in really bad shape- full of potholes, bumps, dips, moon craters and morons. Driving a stiffly sprung car on such roads is not really an enjoyable process. We reached Narayanpur at 3:00 PM (took 5 hours to cover only 260kms) journey was super tiring & we dozed off after having a late lunch.

Super excited me



Butter smooth roads of New Raipur (Please ignore the date & time of dashcam, it always gets reset for some reason- the actual date was 14th Oct'21 10 AM)



The moment you join NH30, it's such a pain to crawl on this piece of crap which is supposed to be a national highway and very important at that- as this is the only means of transport between northern Chhattisgarh to South (we don't have railway line in this stretch yet)



We had an underbelly hit as well, but nothing to worry about as I have installed an underbody cover. So we are paying Rs.100 for a litre of diesel for driving on Martian surface?



Roads get better for 30kms once you cross Dhamtari



Clicked near Narayanpur, a newly constructed bridge aimed at addressing the flooding issue of the previous colonial-era bridge



Clicked after reaching Narayanpur



Parking for the day



Looks menacing right?



Road conditions improve once you hit Bastar



Driving on single-lane roads has its own charm

Total distance travelled- 263kms
Mileage- 21.9kmpl
average speed- 48kmph (thanks to road conditions)
Places to explore in Narayanpur- Binjli Dam, Pahadi Mandir & famous Narayanpur haat.

DAY 2:
We thought of exploring in and around Narayanpur but we have already seen pretty much everything here, so we decided to go further south of Chhattisgarh and explore the following places-

1. Narayanpal Temple-

The route we took- Narayanpur-Kondagaon-Bhanpuri(take a right)-Narayanpal. The road conditions are just amazing, it's surprising that the roads around the Capital city are in dilapidated condition while the roads of remote Bastar are just amazing, wherever you go, you will find smooth road surfaces with proper marking on the roads, signboards, cat eyes etc. This temple was constructed in the 12th century by the Nagvanshi king, dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It is a hidden gem in the middle of nowhere and has a very soothing vibe.

Beautiful road after leaving NH from Bhanpuri



That's my brother



Yours truly






Beautiful roads and an equally beautiful car



The Majestic Narayanpal temple



The Vishnu Temple is established near the confluence of rivers Indravati and Narangi. Contemporary to the Khajuraho Temple of India, Narayanpal temple is the only temple in the whole Bastar district where the idol of Lord Vishnu is ingrained.



Interesting roof construction

2. Mendri Ghumar-
Chitrakoot is the most famous and also the most crowded waterfall but people are not aware of this particular waterfall/valley. It's right next to Chitrakoot and it is so damn beautiful, I was feeling as if I'm in the Himalyas. How to reach? - Drive from Narayanpal towards Chitrakoot and take a left 3 km before Chitrakoot waterfall on Barsur road, drive about 8kms and you will reach the parking spot. We were carrying our lunch with us and had a nice picnic lunch in the scenic Mendri Ghumar valley (since it's not famous with tourists, the place is pristine- devoid of plastic littering, which made me really happy). By the time we finished our lunch, it started raining heavily and we collected all our belongings plus trash & rushed to our Heisenberg.

Newly constructed parking. Japanese-Czech-Indian sharing the space









1st Glimpse of the beautiful valley






Water was less during this period, nonetheless its breathtakingly beautiful

To be continued..

[sachin_cs]

Continuing DAY 2... [Photoshoot of Heisenberg]




Majestic Mendri ghumar valley



Time for some photoshoot:



Took Heisenberg on a small trail next to the parking, when my family members were busy clicking nature



Weather provided for a nice photo op



Those timeless lines just don't age. I love the simplicity of the design.



Tried another angle, included these grass on frame



One with the rain Gods about to arrive



My favourite click



At one side it was all white clouds and sunny, while the other side was exact opposite









The very reason why we love driving: Views to die for



Tried to click a picture through reverse camera display






This new black logo suits the colour of my car



If going by the news, this moniker will be coming to an end very soon



Rear lip spoiler- subtle as it could get


Soon the rain gods reached Mendri Ghumar and we rushed back to our car since it was not going to stop anytime soon. We decided to head towards Chitrakoot from here.







Had to do a bit of soft roading to reach the Dandami Resort, the road is in construction.




Chitrakoot waterfall:
After finishing our picnic lunch, we headed to Chitrakoot waterfall, which is 11 km from MendriGhumar, the roads are narrow-single-lane but with beautifully laid smooth tarmac and lush greenery all around(monsoons make them even more beautiful).

About the waterfall:
Chitrakoot Waterfall is a beautiful waterfall situated on the river Indravati in Bastar district. The height of this waterfall is 90 feet. The specialty of this waterfall is that during the rainy days, this water is reddish, it looks absolutely white during the summer moonlight night. It's also called Niagra of India.







Evening like this



For those of you wondering, this is how it looks during peak monsoons



Clicked during our last visit




To our disappointment, the place was extremely crowded because of Dussera weekend and also Dussera of Bastar is world-famous as it is the longest celebrated festival at 75 days. I did not even feel like getting out of the car, so we went to the Chitrakoot resort, found a secluded place and clicked a few pictures. Now, the dilemma was to either drive back to Narayanpur via Bhanpuri or take a 50km longer route via Jagdalpur- We opted for the latter option as Heisenberg was showing half a tank of diesel and there was no way it would last all the way till Raipur & when it comes to fuel, I'm very, very particular about the petrol bunks. I have not heard good things about Narayanpur's fuel quality and also finding a COCO in this part is difficult, I knew that there's a Reliance outlet on the outskirts of Jagdalpur and it turned out to be a good call as we also got the chance to witness the famous Bastar Dussera processions from the comfort and safety of our car. After refuelling, we left Jagdalpur at around 5:30 PM and reached Narayanpur around 7:00 PM. Route taken was Jagdalpur-Kondagaon-Narayanpur.

Total distance travelled- 315km
Average speed 58kmph
Mileage-22.3kmpl
Fuel gulped- 32 litres of diesel



DAY 3:

We decided to leave for Raipur at around 11:00 AM but before that, we visited our ancestral diety Badh dev and Pahadi Mandir in the morning. Since the previous Bhanupratapur-Antagadh route was in bad shape, we decided to try the other route as Narayanpur-Kondagaon-Keshkal Ghati-Kanker-Dhamtari-Raipur. This route is longer by 30kms but it took the same 5 hours to cover the distance, again, the road surface was a mixed bag- absolutely smooth surface in the Bastar region till Keshkal Ghat and then after road deteriorates as you join the same Dhamtari Highway.

In front of Badh Dev, the tree must be over a century old






Stretch between Kondagaon and Keshkal, once you cross Keshkal Ghat, the roads become bad



New milestone reached with our DSG


Total distance:300kms (including local runs)
Average speed: 55 kmph
Mileage:21.6kmpl

My thoughts on Rapid:

The more I drive Heisenberg, the more I fall in love with the car. It's a gem of a car- it is fast, it is frugal, it is safe, it is comfortable, NVH levels are good, the boot can swallow everything you could possibly throw at it and the 1.5 TDI + DSG combination is worth the money and risk, there's no gearbox or engine which could come close to the driving pleasure offered by this car at this price point. The trip only reaffirmed our decision that we went with the car which strikes a chord with our hearts. The only thing which we felt was, maybe, the suspension could have been a little soft because of the road conditions we encountered, I feel the suspension setup of the new Superb is perfect for the kind of roads we have here- not too overtly stiff neither too soft. Rest, the car is flawless, I hope that I will be able to nurse this car to its extinction. One more reason to be happy is that this BS 4 diesel runs at all types of road conditions without a sweat, I mean maintaining rpm above 2-3k for 30 minutes to clear DPF and stuff in some of the BS 6 engines is just not possible on everyday usage and carmakers should understand that we don't have autobahn like infrastructures, we live in India and the average speed is going to be low- so either find a solution to it or don't sell those faulty diesel engines with DPF problems and make it a headache for us owners.

Thank you for reading, I will be updating the thread with the 3rd annual service experience very soon. Stay safe!

[Exhuberance]

Beautiful travelogue Sachin. I have a 6.5 yrs old Rapid TDI + DSG and still love every ride in it. The car does age slowly. Many more happy miles to you and your ride.

[KANNURAN]

Its always a delight reading of your love affair with your Heisenberg.

At 42K how are your tires holding up? Which ones are you planning to change to? My blueDyedBoy is at 46K and I was planning on changing to Continental ContiComfortContact. Chances are, the ride quality will improve.

I am grappling with a couple of issues: ABS sensor has gone kaput and the turn signal indicator stalk does not click back after turn. I don't consider them as issues at all, given the delight, comfort, confidence and economy that the car is giving me. Its truly in a class of its own.

[sachin_cs]

Originally Posted by Exhuberance

Beautiful travelogue Sachin. I have a 6.5 yrs old Rapid TDI + DSG and still love every ride in it. The car does age slowly. Many more happy miles to you and your ride.

Thanks mate, reading experiences like yours only boosts confidence that I will be able to hold on to this car for a longer time. Did you had to spend anything on stuff related to your DSG, dmf, clutch pack? How many kilometres have you done. Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by KANNURAN

Its always a delight reading of your love affair with your Heisenberg.

At 42K how are your tires holding up? Which ones are you planning to change to? My blueDyedBoy is at 46K and I was planning on changing to Continental ContiComfortContact. Chances are, the ride quality will improve.

Thanks Kannuran for the lovely reply (I’m at 44k actually) & I still have your silk blue Rapid’s pictures on my phone, such a beautiful shade man. Regarding tyres, I just now came from a drive and I was having this exact thought that my Goodyears have become too stiff now and I need a replacement soon. I spoke to fellow BHPian PrasannaDhana(member with famous Safari Storme), his brother’s Rapid had continentals and he said that tyres are good per se but they become noisy after a point and I’m looking for something which is on the quieter side, so my options as of now are Michelin XM2+ (local dealer here quoted me 6.5k per tyre) or else I might settle for MRF ZLX as lately I’m seeing drives on not so good surfaces (price quoted for stock 185/60 R 15 are 5.3k). Anyways, if you go ahead with your tyre change, please do update me with your experience as I’m in the same boat as you are.

Originally Posted by KANNURAN

I am grappling with a couple of issues: ABS sensor has gone kaput and the turn signal indicator stalk does not click back after turn. I don't consider them as issues at all, given the delight, comfort, confidence and economy that the car is giving me. Its truly in a class of its own.

Really sad to hear that, touchwood, my car is still free from niggles so far. Assuming that you have a 4 year factory warranty, do consult with your service centre and ask them to cover it under warranty, I’m sure they will oblige. I also wanted to ask you regarding the power loss you were facing with your Rapid, is it resolved now? What was the issue?

[Exhuberance]

Originally Posted by sachin_cs

Thanks mate, reading experiences like yours only boosts confidence that I will be able to hold on to this car for a longer time. Did you had to spend anything on stuff related to your DSG, dmf, clutch pack? How many kilometres have you done. Thanks in advance.

Not spent anything on DSG, clutch, etc. but have only done 52K kms so far, fingers crossed for future. Changed disc rotors and brake pads first time last week apart from change of coolant pump, front suspension overhaul sometime back (due in part to some nasty road work).

[sachin_cs]

Originally Posted by Exhuberance

Changed disc rotors and brake pads first time last week apart from change of coolant pump, front suspension overhaul sometime back (due in part to some nasty road work).

That's a news to me, my rotors went bad in 23k kms and I had to change them. Also my steering has started shuddering upon braking again and I'm looking at a second set now, my brakes lasts only 20k kms

Even, I might have to get suspension work soon, roads have gone really bad here. Service advisor told me that full suspension haul will cost 50k, how much did it cost you to get front suspension work?

[KANNURAN]

Originally Posted by sachin_cs

Assuming that you have a 4 year factory warranty, do consult with your service centre and ask them to cover it under warranty, I’m sure they will oblige. I also wanted to ask you regarding the power loss you were facing with your Rapid, is it resolved now? What was the issue?

Thanks Sachin. Warranty cover saves me this time, and I will extend +2 years. My 45K service is due and as blind as love can get, I will be driving to Bangalore (approx 400Km from my place) to get my car serviced at TAFE Access. I was super impressed with them last time. Hope to get all niggles ironed.

Strangely, the power loss issue resolved itself without surgery. A couple of high speed road trips to Tamilnadu + Andhra Pradesh did the trick.

I will leave you with a few pics of my BlueDyedBoy

[catchjyoti]

Great travelogue Sachin

Have visited Chitrakoot a couple of times. But didn't know about Mendri waterfall - thanks for the info.

[Exhuberance]

Originally Posted by sachin_cs

Service advisor told me that full suspension haul will cost 50k, how much did it cost you to get front suspension work?

It was around 22-25K as far as I recall. The front springs and the connecting rod, etc. were changed. So 50K sounds about right. But do check if you'd like to go for both or only the front ones.