Just to give some ideas of dimensions of the Spaceback, it is about 6cm longer than a Fabia combi, 5cm longer than a Golf hatch, and 5cm shorter than a Focus hatch.

 

Boot space is 35 litres better than a Golf, 100 litres better than a Focus (!), 65 litres less than a Fabia combi. 115 litres more than a Fabia hatch.

Why doesn't the Rapid have windows that you can open with the key fob?

I tried it with an elegance that had electric windows front and back and it didn't work. I use this feature a lot when especially when I'm returning to the car on a hot day after walking the dogs. That's a serious omission.

Just to give some ideas of dimensions of the Spaceback, it is about 6cm longer than a Fabia combi, 5cm longer than a Golf hatch, and 5cm shorter than a Focus hatch.

 

Boot space is 35 litres better than a Golf, 100 litres better than a Focus (!), 65 litres less than a Fabia combi. 115 litres more than a Fabia hatch.

 

Skoda claim that it will be the roomiest car in its class and yet, unless I am wrong, it has a shorter wheelbase than the Golf and presumably, given the narrower body as well,  less passenger space???

 

I am very interested in this car although it will have to be very well priced to make the new Seat Leon (base versions of which come with the 1.2 TSI (105) engine and the latest Mk7 Golf architecture) seem unattractive.

Skoda claim that it will be the roomiest car in its class and yet, unless I am wrong, it has a shorter wheelbase than the Golf and presumably, given the narrower body as well,  less passenger space???

 

I am very interested in this car although it will have to be very well priced to make the new Seat Leon (base versions of which come with the 1.2 TSI (105) engine and the latest Mk7 Golf architecture) seem unattractive.

 

Skoda were talking specifically about the rear head and leg room.

 

The Leon's a nice car but I think the Spaceback will be a price bracket lower than that.

Skoda were talking specifically about the rear head and leg room.

 

The Leon's a nice car but I think the Spaceback will be a price bracket lower than that.

 

Wheelbase of Rapid is 2602 mm, Leon 5-door 2636 mm.

 

The 5-door Leon 1.2TSI SE is £16,790, which is not that much above the price of a Rapid Elegance (or Toledo SE) with the same engine.

 

Not a problem for the Skoda model line-up, but could be a problem for SEAT.

 

Mind you, for me, the fact that the Rapid will fit in my garage and the Leon won't is the key factor.

Rear head room is not good in a standard Rapid -however the legroom is ample, the change in roof line will alter this dramatically. With regards to the Seat Leon -I think that Seat sell to a slightly different customer -generally speaking Seat tries to go for a more sporty image and there's lots of styling on their cars to reinforce that. However Skoda seems to go for a more staid image. There's apparently no plans for a Seat version of the Spaceback and the Leon ST (estate) has not yet arrived -I was surprised to hear that the Exeo is no more (but that doesn't have very much room in the back -even in the estate. 

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/spyshots-skoda-rapid-spaceback-62591.html

 

"A SEAT Toledo version of the car will also follow, mirroring the look and equipment on offer."

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/spyshots-skoda-rapid-spaceback-62591.html

 

"A SEAT Toledo version of the car will also follow, mirroring the look and equipment on offer."

 

 

The Seat dealers told me definitely not, when I asked them last week -but they could be wrong I suppose.

Dealers will never tell you anything that hasn't been officially announced.

I meant to add earlier that the interior space of the Focus must be awesome, because otherwise I don't know how they manage to get such a small boot out of such a long car!

Never seen the inside of the boot of the current Focus - I assume it must be very shallow. The Dacia Sandero has a bigger boot!

If you add a spare wheel to the Focus the Fabia hatch has a bigger boot!

Rear head room is not good in a standard Rapid 

 

How tall are your passengers? One of my colleagues is 6'1" and after sitting in the back he specifically said he was quite impressed with the headroom in the rear :| Then again he does drive a Merc C180 so he could've just meant that as a like-for-like comparison....

Sister in law 6'2", mum's boyfriend 6'3" -me 6" -my head brushes the roof -with the leg room, one could quite easily slouch but I don't sit like that -the Octavia is a good bit better.

That's odd.

I'm 6'3" and thought it was OK.

Sure, not a lot of empty space over your head, but still OK.

It depends how you sit I guess - I'm not criticising the Rapid hatchback. It's a great car for the money but it just doesn't appeal to me. 

I have not heard a Spaceback version of the Toldeo rumoured anywhere.

 

I wonder whether Skoda UK will use the introduction of the Spaceback and other new options (xenons, three spoke multi-function wheels, new interior trim e.t.c.) to re-jig the specs and pricing across the Rapid range?

 

Will be interesting to see how they position the Spaceback. Can't see it being cheaper than the liftback, on the other hand would be a bit cheeky to charge more for a smaller car unless it has different equipment levels to the liftback.

 

Win the first Spaceback! https://www.facebook.com/skoda/app_259393757525636

I am very interested in this car although it will have to be very well priced to make the new Seat Leon (base versions of which come with the 1.2 TSI (105) engine and the latest Mk7 Golf architecture) seem unattractive.

 

The reviews seem to say the interior quality of the Leon is good, but I couldn't get over how it looks. It's just awful :(

 

The reviews seem to say the interior quality of the Leon is good, but I couldn't get over how it looks. It's just awful :(

 

 

The Mk3 Leons I've sat in have felt higher quality than the Toledo/Rapid

Seat have had odd interior design over the last couple of years, it's not for me but at least it is different from the VW and Skoda variants. I had a play with a Leon recently and it's comfortable enough but the Octavia is much more spacious and has cleaner lines. Seats always seem a bit cluttered to my mind.

The reviews seem to say the interior quality of the Leon is good, but I couldn't get over how it looks. It's just awful :(

 

 

I'm sure the 'quality' of the materials and the feel of them is very good. But what the hell is going on with those angles? It looks like somebody decided to have some fun with sticking trapezoid's together for ****s and giggles and then accidentally submitted it as the final design.

The Mk3 Leons I've sat in have felt higher quality than the Toledo/Rapid

 

I haven't sat in one so can't dispute that, but aesthetically it looks appalling. Kind of the opposite of the Rapid maybe which has hard plastics but at least looks nice.

 

On the Leon everything seems to be wonky and looks really old fashioned.

I'm sure the 'quality' of the materials and the feel of them is very good. But what the hell is going on with those angles? It looks like somebody decided to have some fun with sticking trapezoid's together for ****s and giggles and then accidentally submitted it as the final design.

 

That still looks MILES better than this:

 

 

Or this where you also can't see the lower half of the dials!!!

 

 

As stated above the quality and finish of the Leon interior is leagues better than that of the Rapid.

 

As stated above the quality and finish of the Leon interior is leagues better than that of the Rapid.

 

What on EARTH is that ?! That's even worse than the previous generation Citroen C4 (which was/is, IMO, simply dreadful).

 

It's an interesting point about the quality and finish - for me, the quality and finish is completely irrelevant if the design is ****. You could wrap the above for example in pure gold and I still wouldn't want one.