It's a nice thing about this business that you sometimes get surprised by a car, especially one in the more affordable segments, writes Brian Byrne.
It happened recently when I took home a Skoda Rapid Spaceback. At a number of levels.
I've seen the car at motor shows, but there's so much glitter and razzmatazz at them that you don't really get to look at a car where it is destined to be. On the road. There's too much distraction of stands, people, cameras ... and even competitor representatives lurking underneath the vehicles with digital cameras and measuring instruments.
The standard Rapid hatchback which arrived at the end of last year proved to be a tidy small family car with clean and almost coupe styling. It bridged a size gap between the Fabia and Octavia, the former getting long in the tooth and the larger car recently gotten even larger.
But there's a big market space in a lot of European countries for small wagons, well, wagons that aren't strictly wagons, more extended hatchbacks. Kia and Hyundai, with their extended versions of the Cee'd and i30 respectively, have done particularly well in this sub-segment. For Skoda, the Spaceback is targeted at the same buyer profile who might like a slightly smaller car in both engine options and dimensions. But here's the odd thing — the Spaceback is actually shorter than the standard Rapid, and the maker hopes that it will attract a younger cohort of customers. Who might also be urbanites and appreciate the slightly easier parking.
It's a smart looker. In an odd way, I like it better than the standard Rapid, maybe because the review car came with the tinted panoramic roof and dark-glassed rear tailgate which gives it a quite sporty look. The overall dimensions and shape also seem to hit an aesthetic mean at the upper end of automotive beauty perception. Being the top-end Elegance specification also provided sexy alloys and some details treatment that lifted the sense of special even more.
Inside, we're in familiar territory. Instruments, controls, information units, all from the Volkswagen Group parts bins which supply the three mass-market brands within the Group. Nothing wrong with that, either, from a functional viewpoint, though more of a distinction between them might be nice.
It's roomy, and certainly with the optional panoramic roof it felt of wide open spaces. But do remember that the actual luggage capacity with the rear seats in use for people is smaller than in the saloon-hatch. Though tipping those rear seats gives a wagon-type extension, even if no flat floor.
The Spaceback is comfortable, and I felt very at home with the driving position. I suspect passengers will be quite happy whether on short trips into town or on the longer hauls between cities — for both of which the car seems well suited.
I remember not being overawed by the Rapid itself, which may have had something to do with the engine in the car that I drove. But from the first moments of driving this one away I felt there might just be some fun here. And that's how it proved. Though stirred through just a 5-speed manual, there was a surprising verve in the 1.2 TSI petrol engine, the 86hp which is the smallest in the Spaceback range. Maybe it was once again the niceness and even temper of a good petrol unit, but I appreciated the linear response and manners in traffic. It was one of those rare enough cars which passed my test of being able to attract me out on the road just for the sake of giving it a run. Not that it was a rubber-burner, quite the opposite, actually. But it all just came together as a nice package.
I have some colleagues who will measure a car most by its performance, technology, sexy looks. None of those characteristics are relevant here. The Rapid Spaceback is a competent, decent-looking, well-finished and sturdily built car for the ordinary of us. And, as it turns out, the ordinary who might like just a little more.
From €17,495, the review car listed at €20,905, and you can go as high as €24,905, with 1.4 petrol automatic and 1.6 diesels in manual and automatic available. At the entry level, this would not be an unsatisfactory car at all.
