Skoda Rapid Spaceback 2013 Review - International

OVERVIEW

Its job within the Volkswagen Group isn’t to go full premium (that’s Audi) or semi-premium/mass market (that’s VW), or whatever on earth the Spanish badge Seat is supposed to bring to the table.

And this is Skoda’s “young compact car” -- the Rapid Spaceback -- which is sort of based on the Polo, but sort of not, and will be here in Australia late in the first half of 2014.

Like the rest of the Skoda range, its job is to deliver no-nonsense individual or family motoring with an unpretentious style, a lot of equipment and a big dose of common sense.

Australians will get only two of the available Rapid Spaceback variants, with the five-door hatches scoring a 77kW version of the 1.2-litre, four-cylinder engine and a 90kW version of the larger 1.4-litre, four-cylinder engine.

If you’re at all aware of the Skoda line-up, the cars will sit between the light-sized Fabia and the new medium-sized Octavia, and Skoda Australia promises they’ll be well equipped and aggressively priced.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT

What it is promising, though, is high-level equipment for the price and that’s pretty much in line with the usual Skoda ethos.

First, all Rapid Spacebacks will have the ability to hold a 1.5-litre PET bottle in each front door, plus another in the back of the centre console and a 0.5-litre bottle in each rear door. That’s 5.5 litres of hyperactive joy you can carry with you all the time before you even get to the two standard sized cupholders in front of the gear lever. Because they are obviously for the hot drinks.

Sugared up after draining all the PET bottle hidey-holes, you can explore all of the Rapid Spaceback’s nooks and crannies in double-quick time.

In the back, there’s a generous boot with a double-sided floor (one carpet, one a plastic for dirty stuff) that can sit at either of two levels. There is also a pair of curry hooks, more storage in the side panels behind the rear wheel arches and it’s all lit back there, too.

Sure, the ice scraper that sits in the fuel-filler flap won’t be a big seller in Australia (though it could be useful for pigeon poo), but it shows how Skoda thinks, as does giving it a little rubbish bin next to the driver’s seat.

The driver’s seat is manually adjustable and the steering wheel, plucked from the more expensive Octavia, is a three-spoke unit that adjusts for both height and reach.

There’s a high-mounted screen for the multi-media system, including the (optional in Europe) satellite navigation, plus air conditioning, a generous glovebox and just about everything you’d expect for a family car.

The rear seats aren’t forgotten, with (again) easy access to all manner of drink holders and generous knee and head room.

You can either choose a steel roof or a full-length glass roof that adds only 12kg to a lightweight package that weighs only 1170kg in 1.2-litre form.

COMPETITORS

The Polo is narrower and smaller, the Golf is off newer architecture and is more expensive (and shorter) and the most realistic rival for its interior package is actually the Tiguan.

That doesn’t mean it’s home free because plenty of Asian brands take a slice of this apple with them, though few of them do it with engines this small.

MECHANICAL

The front part borrows a lot from the Polo, though it’s stretched far wider than the Volkswagen, and the rear end is an amalgam of many things. So, while it will be a solid handler, it won’t have had the full weight of the Group’s chassis engineering team behind it.

All versions of this car will be front-drive, with Australia scoring just two petrol engines (the 77kW 1.2-litre four-cylinder and the 90kW 1.4-litre four) and zero diesels.

The trick part is that the smaller of the turbocharged engines is only available with a six-speed manual gearbox and the bigger motor only comes with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

Neither engine is dripping in torque, with the 1.2- delivering 175Nm at 1550rpm and the 1.4- punching out 200Nm at 1500. Both of them hold their torque peaks until at least 4000rpm and both have the same 5000rpm power peak.

The Rapid Spaceback isn’t heavy, either, with the 1170kg kerb weight of the 1.2-litre version coming in 155kg lighter than the 1.4-litre motor. That’s a significant difference, with a lot of it coming in specification, but at least 35kg of it lost to the transmission.

Skoda has both of “our” petrol Spacebacks riding on 185/60 R15 rubber, though Skoda’s local outpost is almost certain to add an inch to that in translation.

Neither machine is designed to be a rocketship, but it’s still surprising to see the 1.2-litre version manage a tardy 10.2 seconds for the 0-100km/h sprint. You don’t see much of that these days and even the bigger motor doesn’t even cut a full second from that time (9.4 seconds).

The little engine makes up for it in economy, posting 5.4L/100km and 125g/km of CO2. Surprisingly, given its extra weight, the bigger motor isn’t far behind, with a 5.8L/100km figure and 134g.

PACKAGING

Instead, from a body that’s 180mm shorter overall than the Rapid sedan, it offers an enormous rear passenger area for a car its size.

There’s a 4304mm overall length, with 2602mm of that inside the axles. At 1500mm, its rear track is 37mm wider than the front track and it’s 1459mm high. It’s 1706mm wide at the expensive bits, but 1940mm wide if you include the mirrors.

There is 415 litres of luggage capacity behind the rear seats, along with a boot floor that’s 842mm long, an opening that’s 1004mm wide and it has two different floor heights. The rear seats fold flat to create 1380 litres of space but there’s another trick, with the rear parcel shelf able to slot down out of the way in its own cubby hole behind the seats.

Skoda claims the best rear knee room and the best head room (even more than the sedan) in the class.

SAFETY

It starts with the active safety of anti-lock brakes, traction control and stability control, all of which adjust in the car’s sportier mode, plus there’s an optional tyre pressure monitoring system. Oh, and there’s a hill holder, just like Subaru had 20 years ago.

If that all goes wrong, there are two curtain airbags covering the side windows, two front airbags and two side bags to protect the hips and chest of the front occupants.

ON THE ROAD

It’s the kind of machine that works a lot better as a tool for the family (or for anybody thinking they need the interior space of a mid-sized SUV) than it does as a car.

That’s because its interior is useful in the extreme – all of it. The luggage area is fantastically thought through, everywhere from the two-surface floor to the location of the curry hooks. It just works, and it’s easy to drop the rear seats without fouling the belts.

It’s even better in the rear seat because the windows are large and airy, the headroom is generous and it’s just a comfortable place to sit, with enough leg support, good views, plenty of cubby holes of your own and good ventilation.

It’s more of the same up front with comfortable seats, plenty of storage space (all of which is easy to reach) and controls that just work, simply. The nav system is the same and doesn’t look or feel like a VW Group unit but looks great and works intuitively.

Even if it didn’t move, it’d be an easy thing to live with.

But move it does, even if it doesn’t do it with any briskness or engagement. The 1.2-litre four posts acceleration numbers that are almost embarrassing. Fortunately, it’s far better on in-gear acceleration than straight-line sprinting. It will happily roll with traffic and even overtake the unsuspecting.

On the upside, the engine is smooth and willing, even if it isn’t strong, and the gearbox is actually a beautiful thing to use.

It has a new column electric power steering system, controlled by a servo motor mounted on the steering column, which does an even better job of disengaging the driver from anything underneath than its predecessor did. It’s light, it gives almost no feedback of any kind and it refuses any attempts to let the driver engage with the machinery.

The chassis is a little better, but not much. There is grip here, but only just a touch more than the average driver might be able to use and very little more. It runs into its grip limits early, but consistently and in a very easily controllable way. The easiest way is to do absolutely nothing and let the computers sort it out, which they do; but even if you switch out of autopilot, it’s still a doddle to control at all times, in all weather conditions.

The issue is the ride. It’s just too literal and too hard, with vertical loads thumping up through the suspension into the cabin with higher amplitude and frequency than, say, a Golf or a Mazda3.

That doesn’t disappear with the 1.4, either, even if the grip levels rise appreciably. It feels over damped and too stiff underneath, which hampers your ability to fully enjoy all the interior design quality and surprisingly good materials.

The engine is far, far stronger in every situation and feels useful at every point of the rev range. It’s every bit as smooth as its little sibling but more happens for the noise it generates.

The transmission is smooth, too, slipping through gears quietly and easily, though it can jerk occasionally on light-throttle urban work.

The big brother is very much a slightly stronger version of the little brother, right down to the ride quality, the ultimate-understeer handling and the disengaged demeanour.

For those who just want a really useful car, take a look. If you want something that you can sink your teeth into as a car nerd, maybe you should look elsewhere.

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