Have been working on some sums for the fuel used so far, I've knocked up a quick spreadsheet to compare against my old Fabia which gave a consistent average of 40mpg.

 

I worked out the additional fuel I would have had to use to travel the same distance in the Fabia, and based on getting those extra litres (tracking the cost at the pump) I've so far saved £220 in a little over 5,000 miles which works out at around £0.04/mile cheaper to run.

 

Over the course of 100,000 miles that's going to be a substantial saving and given that the cost of fuel is only likely to keep increasing the comparative savings at the pump are only going to increase.

 

Obviously the overall cost of ownership (ignoring the obvious one of purchase cost vs. residual value) will also have to include servicing (18k/2year interval rather than 10k/1year), cost of tyres etc, but I'm actually quite happy with the way things are looking right now.

I haven't done any spreadsheet calculations or anything like that, but the Rapid has the same fuel tank size as the Roomster and I seem to be getting maybe 30% more miles per tank than from the Roomster. I haven't yet seen a long journey with an average reaching the claimed combined MPG but I am very happy nonetheless. It seems to offer significantly better efficiency in all conditions than my old car.

According to maxi dot we've been getting between 58-60mpg on most journeys, that's just driving normally and I've got a fairly heavy right foot much better than my 2012 Passat that I usually get about 45mpg from even on a motorway run. Very pleased so far!

Compared to my mk2 vrs I am saving a chunk too

Getting between 5-15mpg better on same journeys driving in a similar manner.

Knowing how much depreciation is on new cars, I'd guess the figures swing wildly back towards the Fabia.

Still, bigger car using less fuel can't be bad.

Knowing how much depreciation is on new cars, I'd guess the figures swing wildly back towards the Fabia.

Very true, there's a lot to take in to account which makes it essentially impossible to really say for sure which would come out on top, until the point I actually get rid that is. I definitely wouldn't have got it had I not got pretty much 33% off the list price :-)

Still, bigger car using less fuel can't be bad.

It's quite surprising just how much better it is. Combination of more modern ECU/ignition system in the engine and lower drag coefficient I think.

A guy I work with gets similar consumption to me but from a tiny little 1.2 Ford Ka, he's quite put out that a car so much bigger doesn't seem to use any more fuel (and probably rightly so!)

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Compared to my mk2 vrs I am saving a chunk too

Getting between 5-15mpg better on same journeys driving in a similar manner.

Are you missing the power output of the vrs yet? Mine's so much more capable (particularly up hills) than the Fabia was, mate of mine almost shouted at me when I got the old 1.4 mpi saying I was silly for getting something with less than 100hp, I can see what he means now!

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My monthly payments on the Rapid are £145, so I reckon once I've taken into account the fuel saving, much lower road tax, and no servicing/repair costs for the next three years it's barely costing me anything at all compared to what the Roomster would have cost me to run over the same period.

 

True, I'll have the lump to pay at the end but in terms of how much I'll be out of pocket over the first three years it's really not very much considering I have a newer, nicer car out of it

Do I miss the power of the vRS?

Yes, but not as much as I thought. I used to drive faster because it woukd go faster! Was always over taking where I rarely do now.

My wallet feels better and I can always buy a faster car again.

Fancy a Mini Cooper s - the supercharged one, can be had for £4000 or so for a decent one.

Fancy a Mini Cooper s - the supercharged one, can be had for £4000 or so for a decent one.

 

Friend of mine had one of those until a few years ago when he sodded off to America .... Absolutely awesome car but if you think your Rapid has a firm ride wait until you do a long journey in the Mini

How are you guys finding the ride of the Rapid compared to the Fabia? I like the low-down response of the tsi on my Fabia (so much better than the non-turbo Cooper) though it does run out of puff if you press on - how are you finding it with the 6 speedo gearbox? (The economy seems very impressive now in the Rapid and maybe better than mine, though this could be the weight/aerodynamics of Fabia, improvements to the tsi or the effect of my dsg?)

I think it's the aerodynamics of the Rapid. A standard Rapid has about the same drag coeff. as a Fabia Greenline.

I've only had mine 2 weeks now, but I'm loving every minute of driving it. It did seem a bit hard initially but that was coming from a 10 year old Passat that was a bit of a blancmange. I've gotten used to it now and actually quite like it, it's fairly hard but well damped and it sits well in the corners. MPG is already better than my old Passat and I'm sure it will only get better as the engine loosens off.

How are you guys finding the ride of the Rapid compared to the Fabia?

 

My Mk1 Fabia was less firm than my Rapid but then again it rolled horribly when cornering enthusiastically. I don't see it as a bad thing personally, it's all going to come down to personal preference I suppose, I did a drive to my sisters' place in South Wales and back (A roads, not motorway) a few weeks after picking the Rapid up and the firm ride didn't bother me in the slightest, in fact I had less aches and pains after that trip than I ever did in my Fabia or the Mk4 Fiesta that went before it.

 

The economy I'm pretty convinced is down to the aerodynamics, they've done a really good job on that aspect of the car.

 I did a drive to my sisters' place in South Wales and back (A roads, not motorway) a few weeks after picking the Rapid up and the firm ride didn't bother me in the slightest

 

The roads in Wales are fantastic though, both in entertainment value and road surface quality. Ideal stomping ground for the Rapid I think with it's firm ride but sharp chassis

Thanks for the comments guys. I think the Rapid would be a perfect replacement for my Fabia - the handling, economy, performance and space...