Road Test: Skoda Rapid 1.6 TDI Elegance

Price as tested: €24,265

+ Simplicity, quality, reliability, space, practicality, price, styling, comfort
– A few rough edges showing through to go with that price tag, indifferent handling
= As practical and sensible as they come but we'd save up the extra for the new Octavia

If I were to say that the new Skoda Rapid is both and at once a return to classic form for Skoda and something of an unfortunate step backwards, would that be too confusing? Possibly, so let me explain.

Pre-1998, Skoda was to most people a joke and not an especially funny one. Decades of decrepitude under communist rule meant that Skoda had been starved of development funding and any reason to produce competitive, interesting cars. That changed, dramatically, with the launch of the original Octavia, funded and developed by Skoda's new owner, Volkswagen. At once, the yoke of communism was thrown off, and Skoda marched happily forwards into a new capitalist reality. Successive models, from the Fabia to the second generation Octavia to the Superb to the utterly brilliant Yeti underpinned that reality with success, both critical and financial. And with sophistication. In fact, sit into a Yeti or a Superb today and you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between affordable Skoda and aspirational Audi. They are that good.

But there is now an increasing trend in the motor industry towards making cheaper cars, something that the car buying public is lapping up, as the success of Dacia shows. Make something simple and affordable, and you will capture the wallets, if not the hearts, of many. So it is with the Rapid. Skoda has taken a step back from its shiny, sophisticated recent past and looked further back, to the eighties and beyond, when it made simple, affordable, useful cars. (Never mind the inept comedians of the eighties who castigated Skoda – its cars even then were better by far than their reputation would have you believe.)

The Rapid is a family-sized hatchback that occupies an unusual middle ground between the likes of the Polo and Fiesta on one side and the Golf and Focus on the other. It's narrower by far than a Focus, but also much longer, the upside of which is a cabin that, while not very broad, has lots of leg and head-room for tall passengers in both front and rear, and a massive 550-litre boot that makes the trunks of even cars like a Mondeo or Passat look underfed.

So, it pushes all the practical buttons and it's not short of sophistication either. The engine in our test car was the cutting-edge VW Group 1.6 TDI diesel, and with 105bhp and 250Nm of torque, it's both swift and economical. Skoda claims 4.4-litres per 100km fuel consumption (64mpg) and if we didn't quite manage that, we easily broke the 50mpg barrier. 114g/km Co2 emissions is a touch high though, especially when you consider that a VW Golf with essentially the same engine gets closer to 100g/km, and that means your annual tax bill will be €200. It's here that you'll find the first chink in the Rapid's armour though. The engine (or possibly its installation) is fine, but nothing more. Acceleration feels noticeably slow-witted unless you push the oddly-weighted throttle pedal all the way to its stop, and refinement isn't terrific until you settle down at a chosen cruising speed.

Inside, Skoda has made great efforts to make the cabin look and feel as sophisticated as its bigger brothers, while still costing less. It's a neat trick, and Skoda almost pulls it off. The dials are clear and look like expensive watch faces. The steering wheel feels pleasant to hold and the driving position is both comfortable and well sited. But you'll notice that there's no switches in the front to control the rear windows, the grab handles in the roof clang back into position without a nice, soft motion and the plastics on the doors and dash-top, while still of good quality, don't have that nice touchy-softy-squishy feeling.

Because of all that, the Rapid feels a distinct degree less sophisticated than its Skoda cousins. Now, that's fine in the sense that it's also much cheaper. Prices start at just €16,515 (for the 1.2 MPI petrol; an engine best avoided if you want to (a) accelerate or (b) save fuel) and the pick of the range, the 1.2 TSI turbo petrol in Ambition spec, is just €19,550, with almost identical Co2 emissions to the diesel. All well and good, and those prices include standard electronic stability control – a significant benefit.

But it just doesn't feel as good to drive as it either should or could have. The rear suspension has been done on the cheap, relatively speaking, and uses simple torsion bars instead of the more modern multi-link setup as found on most Octavias. That means the boot is massive, but the Rapid does tend to clatter over bumps, and it never feels very well sorted at the front, either. Cornering is a somewhat lazy, imprecise process with vague steering and a sense of detachment. It's a good motorway cruiser, mind, with well suppressed engine noise and only a small amount of road and tyre noise.

I guess it depends what you want from a car. The Rapid is keenly priced, practical, spacious, ruggedly built, should prove reliable and hits its marks in terms of economy and emissions. It even looks quite nice. But I reckon Skoda buyers, by and large, have moved on recently and are enjoying the sheen of quiet luxury on recent models. So, perhaps it would be best to hold off buying, save up a little more, and get your hands on the impressive new Octavia that arrives in March. The Rapid's backward glance to a simpler, more practical time is appealing in many ways, but we all want to feel a little more sophisticated these days, don't we?


Facts & Figures
Skoda Octavia 1.6 TDI 105bhp Elegance
Price as tested: €24,265
Range price: €16,515 to €24,265
Capacity: 1,598cc


Power: 105bhp


Torque: 250Nm 


Top speed: 190kmh 


0-100kmh: 10.4sec


Economy: 4.4l-100km (64mpg) 


CO2 emissions: 114g/km
 VRT Band: A4. €200 road tax


Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 94% adult, 80% child, 69% pedestrian, 71% safety assist

Road Test: Dacia Duuster 1.5 dCi 4x2 Alternative

Price as tested: €14,990

+ Almost stupidly affordable, surprisingly refined, spacious, comfy
– Feels a generation back, dynamically, lack of standard safety kit
= Refreshing and refreshingly affordable


Yup. €14,990. For a brand new car, that’s not a supermini (as most if not all cars priced around the €14k mark are) but a big(ish) compact SUV with space in the back for the kids (for the adults, come to that) and a big boot. It looks nice (I think so at any rate), drives tolerably well (see below) and, thanks to Dacia Ireland’s headline-grabbing introductory finance offer, will cost you buttons on the monthly repayments. At a stroke, it will bring many hundreds of cash-strapped car buyers back into the new car market, buyers who need the space and the size but, because of tightened finances, would otherwise be shopping in the second hand car market.

It’s called Duster, and it’s not the first car to wear that badge. Back in the eighties and early nineties, when Dacia was still just emerging from Communist overlordship, there was another Duster, a car so bad that the legendary Car magazine pithily summed it up with the phrase “Duster to dust, ashes to ashes, please someone, pass us the matches.” Presumably, things could not be so bad this time around...

Needless to say, as with all deals that look too good to be true, it is, in some ways. But the essential fact of the price, and of Dacia Ireland’s introductory offer that will allow you to finance one for €149 a month (including a €4k deposit and a €6k final ‘bubble’ payment), is undoubtedly true.

So, how is Dacia able to do it for the money? A little history first off. Dacia was for many years the Romanian national car company, producing vehicles under the rule of the much-reviled Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu. In that period, Dacia struck up a relationship with Renault, building a version of the old 12 saloon under licence – many of which can still be seen circulating the streets of Bucharest – a relationship that would eventually lead to Renault buying a majority stake in Dacia. The idea was, and is, that Dacia uses older Renault components whose investment has already been paid for, builds cars out of them in a low-cost environment behind the former Iron Curtain and flogs them to you and I at bargain prices, giving Renault a bulwark against the ever-encroaching Korean brands and the constant danger of the massed ranks of Chinese cheap car makers.

It’s a recipe that has worked rather wonderfully. Dacia and its various models have been well received in Europe and it’s currently the fourth best-selling brand in France. Its launch here has been somewhat delayed (the Duster itself has been on sale in Europe for two years already) but with that price tag, it could prove to be a canny move for Renault Ireland, catching buyers whose car purchasing power has been eroded by recession and cutbacks. Next year, once the Duster is properly on sale (you can test drive and order one right now but Irish-build right-hand-drive cars don’t arrive until January), there will be other Dacias, including the already-beloved Sandero hatchback (thank Top Gear’s James May for that one) and the Lodgy mini MPV. Presumably all at genre-defying prices too but that’s getting ahead of ourselves somewhat. We have the just the Duster to deal with for now.

For your supermini money, you do genuinely get a large family car. Not so tall and wide as to be intimidating in tight car parks and urban manouvres, but large enough to allow one six-footer to sit comfortably behind another and with a spacious 475-litre boot (as long as you stick to the front wheel drive models).

Those expecting a poverty spec cabin will be surprised. The left-hand-drive version we tried had a perfectly pleasant interior, and the good news is that by the time Irish right-hand-drive production reaches these shores in January, the cabin will have been given an upgrade to make its touchy-feely quality even more appealing. You still get electric front windows, fingertip stereo controls (familiar for anyone who’s ever driven a mid-nineties Clio) and Bluetooth connection for your phone, with an aux-in socket for your iPod. All surprisingly sybaritic.

What you don’t get are electric side mirrors (you need to upgrade to the €16,990 Signature model for those, which will set you back roughly an extra €20 a month on the finance plan), alloy wheels, seatbelt pretensioners, air conditioning, a trip computer, rear electric windows or map lights (ditto). More worryingly, Electronic stability control doesn’t even appear as an option, and is only fitted to the range-topping €18,990 Signature 4WD model. Irish buyers tend to be pretty immune to a lack of safety options. Back when ABS brakes were still considered an option, we tended to spend the same cash on sunroofs or nicer alloys. Presumably so, few will notice or miss the inclusion of ESP, at least until they get into difficulties on a wet road, but such has always been the spec-blindness of the Irish car buyer. Quite what we should make of Dacia being happy to chuck in Bluetooth, electric windows and fingertip stereo controls, while leaving such vital safety kit on the pricey shelf is not clear yet. Buyers of course have the choice and the option to upgrade is there, but what price safety?

That range-topping 4WD model comes with, obviously all-wheel-drive, switchable from a simple rotary controller on the dash, and which gives the Duster a decent bit of rough ground, dirt track and ploughed field ability, and it this form it starts to feel a touch like a Land Rover Defender. Not in terms of ultimate off-road capability, of course, but the plain, unadorned cabin, upright driving position and sense of ruggedness are similar. The Duster’s a damn sight more refined on the road though...

Behind the bluff nose of the Duster sits Renault’s tried and tested 1.5 dCi diesel engine in 110bhp form. Fitted to a 2WD Duster, it returns a claimed 5.0-litres per 100km on the combined fuel economy cycle (better than 55mpg, which we got nowhere near on our brief test drive, but then it was in a car with barely-run-in mileage) and emits 130g/km, so will cost you just €225 to tax for the moment. Impressively, the 4WD model’s figures are only slightly poorer, and it’s still in Band B. It comes as standard with a three-year warranty, but you can upgrade to five-year cover.

Surprisingly, it won’t rattle your ears off. The first casualty of cheap car design is usually refinement, but the Duster idles quietly, is only mildly noisy on the motorway and shouts excessively only if you give it the beans in the rather short-geared first or second ratios. On other than main roads, the Duster does its best work shunting between third and fourth in the six-speed gearbox, although its rubbery shift mechanism will discourage you from getting too enthusiastic.

Dynamically, the Duster is hardly what you’d call sharp, but neither does it display the dreadful manners that its bargain bucket price would have you suspect. The steering is light, over-assisted and entirely fake feeling, but the nose does follow its instructions with reasonable faithfulness. There’s lots of body roll, but the trade off for that is a pleasingly pliant ride, and the Duster is quite happy being hustled along country roads, as long as you don’t get too optimistic with the cornering speeds. Mind you, overcook things and the reassuringly firm brakes mean you pull up smart and straight in an emergency stop. Basically, the Duster is happiest when loping along, and it feels entirely pleasant in that role.

So, the ultimate question beckons. Should you buy one? Well, given the fact that it’s around €10,000 less than its direct competitors, you’d be a bit mad not to at least consider it, and it certainly doesn’t feel like it’s packing €10k less when it comes to quality, dynamics or practicality. Yes, the likes of the Skoda Yeti and Nissan Qashqai have a much deeper varnish of sophistication, and come with things like air conditioning and electronic stability control as standard. If you’re happy doing without such things (or you’re equally happy to upgrade to a more expensive Duster that has them, which is still significantly cheaper than its rivals) then it’s a car well worthy of your consideration. It feels not cheap and cheerless but rather rugged and utilitarian, a significant distinction. It’s a simple, practical device, a car ideally suited to the rigours of family use and abuse (that lack of standard ESP notwithstanding) and you certainly won’t care if the kids spill, the dog sheds or the ice cream leaks.

Introducing the Duster at such a startling price is a remarkable calling card for Dacia’s debut. If the Duster proves popular, then Dacia’s more established rivals will have to do some serious pruning of their price lists.



Dacia Duster 1.5 dCI 4x2 Alternative
Price as tested: €14,990
Price range: €14,990 to €18,990
Capacity: 1,461cc
Power: 107bhp
Torque: 240Nm
Top speed: 171kmh
0-100kmh: 11.8sec
Economy: 5.0l-100km (56mpg)
CO2 emissions: 130g/km
Road Tax Band: B €225
Euro NCAP rating: 3-star; 74% adult, 78% child, 28% pedestrian, 29% safety assist

Road Test: BMW 316d SE

 

Prices as tested: €44,016

+ Decent performance and economy, delightful chassis, refinement
– 320d is gruntier, as economical and barely any more expensive
= If it’s all you can afford, 3 Series-wise, then it’s fine. Otherwise, go for the 320d.


It’s probbaly getting a bit late to be surprised any longer by BMW fuel economy and emissions figures, but for the record, here’s what the new 316d can manage. BMW claims 4.4-litres per 100km and 117g/km of Co2. Over a 1,200km road test, often with four-up and luggage, we managed an average of 5.2l/100km and a best of 4.5l/100km. Genius, witchcraft or a painting of an ageing diesel pump, stashed in an attic somewhere. However BMW is getting these figures, and however blasé we might be becoming about them, they are still remarkable.

But this is the BMW 316d – the lowliest of the new F30 3 Series range and therefore a car with a tough question to answer; is it enough BMW for you or, should you buy one, are you going to feel short-changed relative to its stablemates.

Well, that depends on a couple of things. If most of your driving is urban based, then the 316d feels entirely adequate, with 240Nm of torque easily propelling its 1,410kg mass into traffic gaps and along dual-carriageways. You’ll also find its overall engine refinement slightly better and quieter than its 320d big brother, which is odd considering that, outputs aside, both use the same 1,998cc engine. And the fuel economy, which stubbornly refuses to budge much below the 50mpg mark no matter what you do, will be as amazing as any of its more expensive brethren can manage.

The slight, and it is only slight, letdown comes when you venture out onto country roads or long motorway stretches. There, you will find that while the 316d’s 114bhp is adequate, you will have to rev it longer and harder to get the kind of performance commensurate with the blue and white flag of Bavaria on the bonnet. It’s not slow, as such (10.9secs 0-100kmh, 203kmh top whack), it’s just that a 320d is significantly quicker.

OK, so you can easily point out that, comparing identical SE specifications, a 316d is €4k cheaper than a 320d and yet still offers the same blend of decent (if, as noted, not as satisfying) performance with remarkable fuel economy. But to be fair, we would have expected better in terms of economy relative to the 320d, otherwise what’s the point (price aside) of downsizing? And if you’re going to get into pricing arguments, then why are you shopping for a BMW in the first place?

OK, let’s get away from that for a moment and look at the driving experience. Which, as with every F30 we’ve thus far tested, is little short of sublime. The steering is beautifully weighted, accurate, fast and gives lie to the theory that electrically assisted systems cannot be satisfying to use. The ride quality, on our test car’s unfashionably high-profile Continental tyres, was exceptionally good; always Germanically firm but never giving into the annoying bump-thump that so blighted the old E90 3 Series. The F30 really does effortlessly combine agile, athletic reflexes that please a keen driver with the kind of comfort and isolation that keeps passengers happy. Asleep, even.

Back to pricing though. Our test car came with a list price of €35,980, which sounds like a surprisingly reasonable figure for a 3 Series. But it didn’t seem to need a very long or deep dip into the options list to whack it up to a much more robust €44k as tested. I can’t help feeling that it’s a bit stingy in this day and age to ask €35k for a car and not throw in some small things like brushed aluminum trim. Mind you, it most be noted that €3,800 of the €5,400 worth of extras on our car was eaten up by the leather trim and the 8-spped ZF automatic gearbox. Sweet though the standard six-speed manual is, it’s hard not to recommend spending the extra on the auto; it’s seamlessly smooth and has no discernible impact on economy. And anyway, it’s all more affordable now that BMW is offering some seriously tempting personal lease agreements, with guaranteed second hand values and with backing from its own bank.

But there will always be the niggling doubt that you’ve bought the lesser 3 Series. In isolation, the 316d is everything you’d expect a BMW to be. But, with more grunt and yet identical fuel economy, a 320d is more.

Facts & Figures

BMW 316d SE
Price as tested: €44,016
Range price: €34,750 to €60,260
Capacity: 1,995cc
Power: 114bhp
Torque: 240Nm
Top speed: 203kmh
0-100kmh: 11.2secs
Economy: 4.4l/100km (62mpg)
CO2 emissions: 117g/km
Tax Band: A. €160 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested