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So I went to the motorshow this evening and spent a bit of time at the Skoda stand. They had two Yetis (a black/white roofed 103TDI and a white/black roofed 77TSI), two Superbs (an Ambition 118TSI with the new wheels which make it look so much better and a black V6 4x4 wagon), a white Octavia RS wagon (with the black wheels), a white/black roofed Roomster, three Fabias (a white RS hatch, a black RS wagon and a black 77TSI hatch) but more importantly two Rapids (both LHD, a white Elegance and a blue Ambition).
The Rapid
Boy have they gone cheap on it! Skoda, no-one is going to buy a car that feels worse than a bin on the inside! The plastics are horrible, there is no soft-touch stuff anywhere in the cabin, it's really scratchy everywhere and the Fabia has a much higher quality interior. Then there's the switches. I hopped in, looked at the two window controls on the driver's door thinking that Skoda Aus had just pulled in a low-spec pre-production model to show it off but then I checked the rear and it did have power windows, so it's only got controls on the drivers door for TWO windows, and they're not even auto. WTF? The engines? A 1.2 turbo with 77kW and a 1.4 turbo with 90kW, let alone the 66kW or even 77kW 1.6 diesel are NOT powerful enough for the small car market. A $21,990 Mazda3 (the price point rumoured the Rapid will start at) has 115kW, not 77, and anyone comparing the two wouldn't even bother test driving the Rapid. Practicality aside, why would anyone buy the Skoda?
Being put up against the Mazda3, Focus, new Corolla even is wrong to me; I think it should be basically a Fabia saloon in pricing. To be a small car competitor it needs a MUCH higher quality interior - current Octavia or even Fabia plastics would be great; it needs the new 103kW 1.4TSI as standard and bigger diesel like 103kW 2.0TDI - I'm so tired of Skoda using small engines in base models and larger ones in more upmarket models, just make the range have one damn engine! It needs more upmarket features like dual-zone climate control (even as an option), the Swing radio is horrible and just in general (particularly with the interior) it really needs more flair.
What did I like about the Rapid? It's very practical being roomier than the current Octavia and with a huge boot (530 litres with a full-size spare wheel). Skoda have finally gotten rid of the MDI - it has a proper USB port under the climate controls. The styling is fresh and crisp, finally some rear cupholders and the glovebox is large.
The Skoda stand though is great, the people attentive and the folding brochure they give out gives a good spread of information about the range. The rest of the show was good too. Of particular note was the VW Up! (I was quite impressed with it, it's a cool little car and I cannot wait for the Citigo to arrive), the Infiniti range (they are right up my alleyway!), the new Mazda6 (it was very nice in person but no manual grinds my gears), the new Mitsubishi Outlander (finally a diesel!), the Opel range (the Astra interior is fabulous and they all look so great in person) and the new Ford Mondeo is stunning. Seeing a brand new Gallardo Spyder, a McLaren MP4-12C, a new Bentley Continental GTC and a highly modified Nissan GTR in the Market City car park afterwards was almost like a motorshow in itself though!
[Rant over, sorry everyone, it really annoyed me! I'll post up pictures on Tuesday evening as I'm going again but just a few observations.]
The Rapid
Boy have they gone cheap on it! Skoda, no-one is going to buy a car that feels worse than a bin on the inside! The plastics are horrible, there is no soft-touch stuff anywhere in the cabin, it's really scratchy everywhere and the Fabia has a much higher quality interior. Then there's the switches. I hopped in, looked at the two window controls on the driver's door thinking that Skoda Aus had just pulled in a low-spec pre-production model to show it off but then I checked the rear and it did have power windows, so it's only got controls on the drivers door for TWO windows, and they're not even auto. WTF? The engines? A 1.2 turbo with 77kW and a 1.4 turbo with 90kW, let alone the 66kW or even 77kW 1.6 diesel are NOT powerful enough for the small car market. A $21,990 Mazda3 (the price point rumoured the Rapid will start at) has 115kW, not 77, and anyone comparing the two wouldn't even bother test driving the Rapid. Practicality aside, why would anyone buy the Skoda?
Being put up against the Mazda3, Focus, new Corolla even is wrong to me; I think it should be basically a Fabia saloon in pricing. To be a small car competitor it needs a MUCH higher quality interior - current Octavia or even Fabia plastics would be great; it needs the new 103kW 1.4TSI as standard and bigger diesel like 103kW 2.0TDI - I'm so tired of Skoda using small engines in base models and larger ones in more upmarket models, just make the range have one damn engine! It needs more upmarket features like dual-zone climate control (even as an option), the Swing radio is horrible and just in general (particularly with the interior) it really needs more flair.
What did I like about the Rapid? It's very practical being roomier than the current Octavia and with a huge boot (530 litres with a full-size spare wheel). Skoda have finally gotten rid of the MDI - it has a proper USB port under the climate controls. The styling is fresh and crisp, finally some rear cupholders and the glovebox is large.
The Skoda stand though is great, the people attentive and the folding brochure they give out gives a good spread of information about the range. The rest of the show was good too. Of particular note was the VW Up! (I was quite impressed with it, it's a cool little car and I cannot wait for the Citigo to arrive), the Infiniti range (they are right up my alleyway!), the new Mazda6 (it was very nice in person but no manual grinds my gears), the new Mitsubishi Outlander (finally a diesel!), the Opel range (the Astra interior is fabulous and they all look so great in person) and the new Ford Mondeo is stunning. Seeing a brand new Gallardo Spyder, a McLaren MP4-12C, a new Bentley Continental GTC and a highly modified Nissan GTR in the Market City car park afterwards was almost like a motorshow in itself though!
[Rant over, sorry everyone, it really annoyed me! I'll post up pictures on Tuesday evening as I'm going again but just a few observations.]
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