If you weren’t already confused that the Skoda Rapid is a hatchback that looks like
a saloon, then try this Rapid Spaceback for size. It’s the result of splicing some Rapid
hatchback and Octavia Estate DNA together. What does that mean practicality wise? Well
it’s shorter than the standard Rapid, meaning there’s less boot space, but there’s more
headroom in the back. But there’s a style factor here too, as
the Spaceback is aimed at young families, and the style pack we have fitted gives a
bit of extra pizzazz with tinted fog lights, black door mirrors and extended dark glass
on the boot – which in our model blends into the black paint job perfectly.
So, Skoda don’t have the plushest interiors, but they have pretty much nailed the ergonomics
and comfort side of things – and this flagship SE Sport Spaceback is no different. You’ve
got an easy to digest layout of buttons and a good mix of hard-wearing and high-quality
materials. The SE Sport model gets some cool features
too with these sports seats – which are comfy rather than figure-hugging - a panoramic
glass roof, amazing 17-inch alloys and some piano black inserts. Of course, being the
top of the range model, we’ve got some luxuries like sat-nav, cruise control,
Bluetooth and climate control. The cabin gets Skoda’s practicality treatment
too with a foldable arm rest, handy door bins and lots of headroom. And something I think
may get overlooked is the parking assist feature that shows your predicted angle when reversing.
Right, so Skoda have stretched the dimensions
in here a bit, giving around two inches’ more headroom than the standard Rapid. Now,
I’m not sure if I can really tell, but overall the space back here is really good, there's
loads of legroom. There's enough headroom, there's even enough elbow room if you have a third passenger.
But there's also some convenient features thrown in as well, like storage in the back of these seats
there's a cup holder in the centre here and a rather conveniently placed armrest on the side of the door.
You can see that estate inspiration I was
talking about earlier by looking at the shape of the rear. Now, figures. The standard Rapid
has 550 litres, but the Spaceback loses out by 135 litres with a 415 litre boot – although
that’s still pretty big. The Spaceback retains the Rapid's square loading surface
which is always nice and practical, you can shove things right into either corner.
It also has fold down seats which allow for up to 1,318 litres of storage space.
All the engines available for the Rapid Spaceback are pretty sensible, with the most power on
offer being a 113bhp 1.6-litre diesel – and in fact, in my opinion, the most fun you can
have in this car is with the turbocharged 1.2-litre TSI petrol which has 108bhp. But we
haven’t got either of those engines, today, we have the 89bhp 1.4-litre three-cylinder
diesel mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. Now, don’t freak out that this is a three-cylinder
diesel, it’s actually a good little engine, although the combination of its three-cylinder
growl and diesel grunt does make a rather interesting noise. But you only really notice
that when pottering about town cause when you get past the 2,000rpm mark, its 230Nm
of torque kicks in and – boom, it feels like a proper diesel.
And once you are up to speed this engine does everything you’d want it to. Yes 11.6 seconds
to reach 62mph isn’t very fast, but do you really care? I mean this is a Skoda hatchback
that emits 94g/km and should comfortably return 60mpg plus.
And on the ‘this is a Skoda front’, the Rapid feels just like you might expect in
terms of ride and handling, it’s got a comfortable ride, the steering is precise and easy to
manoeuvre and the seating position is spot on… just don’t expect anything particularly exciting
You can have a Rapid Spaceback for under £14,000,
which undercuts the likes of the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf by a couple of grand,
and for many, one of these entry-level models will make the most sense. Go for this SE Sport
though and you’ll be paying around £16-17,000. Much like the rest of Skoda’s range, the
Rapid Spaceback doesn’t pretend to be anything it’s not. It claims to offer added style,
which it does, it claims to have good practicality, which it has, and it claims to be affordable,
and if you buy sensibly it really is. It doesn’t quite offer the fun-factor of
something like the Ford Focus, but not everyone is after that, especially those who
purely want a practical family car.
But what do you think of the Rapid Spaceback? Let us know in
the comments section below and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel.