Just had a quick check on some stock orders and have just seen a Rapid pop up on the screen.

Our first showroom car will be the following:

Rapid SE 105 TDI in Metallic Silver with the following options:

* Sports Seats,

* Climatronic Air Con,

* Sunset Glass,

* Leather Pack,

* Amundsen Sat Nav,

* Telephone Prep,

* Heated Seats,

* Heated Washer Nozzles,

* 17" Camelot Alloys,

* Rear Parking Sensors.

As soon as it arrives (ETA 3 weeks) I'll post some pics.

Nice spec, makes a change to see a dealer adding some options to a stock car!

nice spec , what would skoda be asking for this car ?

Very nice spec

Well it arrived last night and in the metal it looks very sleek. I especially like the new front end with a more curved bonnet and sharper lines on the headlights and grill.

The 'sports seats' are comfortable, half way between Fabia vRS and Octy vRS in design. The 4 spoke wheel reminds me slightly of the Civic (circa 09), a bit 'jutty out' but not in a bad way. Rear end wise keeps the clean cut lines throughout, could probably do with a Superb Greenline II spoiler just to finish it off though (my opinion only).

The 17" wheels fill the arches nicely and from a side view, coupled with the sunset glass again looks sharp.

Unfortunately I can't post any pics until the launch date - the powers that be

When is the official launch date Lee?

17" wheels? That's an upgrade option I assume? Wondering how much new rubber would cost for those :|

When is the official launch date Lee?

12th Nov. So not much longer.

The wheels are an option - 215/40/17 (if you want to Google prices)

The wheels are an option - 215/40/17 (if you want to Google prices)

£122 per tyre from blackcircles.com for Dunlops rated C for both efficiency and grip ... that's not actually too bad.

Preston Motors have thier Rapid in the showroom now.

I had a look this morning.

First impressions is it's a Fabia with a boot, but the dash and interior is better than the Fabia. It's actually quite nice.

Rear legroom seems exactly the same.

One thing I really don't like though...

When you look through the front grille (which has large gaps in, so easy to see through it) you can see a huge chunk of polystyrene which braces the front bumper. It looks really, really cheap. So thumbs down there.

I wish we were allowed a proper look at these in the factory, instead of a distance glance as they were packed on the trains.

If I get some time at the weekend, I may pop down to the local dealers if they have one out already and see what they're like.

Oh and some pics please

How much would it cost in this spec?

Just got back from Sparshatts of Botley. I thought it seemed pretty well nailed together. I missed the bit of polystyrene mentioned by BossFox. Seats seemed nice and firm, trim wasn't too shabby, full size spare (a must IMO), boot size was about the same as the Mk1 Octy, certainly bigger than a Golf. Nice amount of rear legroom too. Quite a shallow angle on the rear window though, so the parking sensors are an option I'd go for. I really wasnt keen on the way the drivers and fron passengers doors are styled though, a sharp bit on the door you could quite easily catch yourself on. Test drive booked in the 1.6 common rail 105 for the weekend, but I already feel that 105HP in this size car will feel quite underpowered.

What is the corrosion guarantee on these?

When they were giving us the factory tour, they were showing us increased use of a much higher strength steel on their new models, in places like the pillars, that although stronger, couldn't be galvanised.

Went and had a look at one yesterday.

First impression is that it looked nice, much sharper than most of the rest of the current Skoda range. It looks and feels like a quality product in the way in which the doors shut e.t.c.

I echo what BossFox says about the dash - looks much better than the Fabia/Roomster dash. Although it was mostly hard plastic, all the important bits which you touch and feel (steering wheel, handbrake, door pulls, e.t.c.) were nice, at least on the SE spec one in the showroom.

Neither myself nor my eagle-eyed fellow Skodaphile who accompanied me spotted the chunk of Polystyrene behind the front bumper which Bossfox mentioned though, are you sure it wasn't some kind of packing material?

List prices do seem a little high but I think a well specced Elegance TSI shouldn't come in at much more than £16k with discount which would then seem like decent value.

I would certainly consider one, but I want to wait and see what the other body variant will be exactly before deciding.

Neither myself nor my eagle-eyed fellow Skodaphile who accompanied me spotted the chunk of Polystyrene behind the front bumper which Bossfox mentioned though, are you sure it wasn't some kind of packing material?

Maybe, but it's dark grey coloured so it blends in a little.

The Citigo has the same, but it's better hidden so you don't see it from outside the car.

I'm guessing it's effective in a crash and very light.

Just to add a few bits to this:

Softscoop - I don't believe the corrosion warranty has changed on the Rapid.

OwnePaul - £20,000 OTR

Richard - We had this conversation earlier

LJP - The 105 is decent enough. Compare it to the i30 110 PS and the Cee'd 122 PS it trounces them. Neither have any oomph, whereas the CR engine from 1,500 RPM (ish) pulls well.

Don't think I've missed anyone. If I have, apologies. LOOOONG Day!

Richard - We had this conversation earlier

If I spend any longer in your place I'll be drawing a salary...

Overall I have to say I like it.

It's too expensive with all the options, but it is a better design inside and outside than the mkII Fabia it's based on.

After seeing this I'm looking forward to the Fabia mkIII.

After seeing this I'm looking forward to the Fabia mkIII.

another build thread in future :think: