My New Rapid

[Delberthot]

on 25th August last year I said farewell to my 2014 Rapid SE Greenline 1.2 105ps. It's actually the first time I've been sorry to get rid of a car. It's replacement was a Scirocco R. 280bhp of noise.

 

Initially I loved it. Loads of power, handled amazingly and sounded great. After a while the shine wore off it when I realised that it was an unpractical, noisy and uneconomical. Not to mention that the hard ride and hard, unforgiving seats meant a sore backside after a relatively short drive. To top it all off, after 25 years of having a clean licence I got my first points and a fine. I was starting to drive like a complete idiot. My wife was terrified to get into the car with me. It wasn't that I was driving dangerously, it was the fact that I just couldn't find the limit, not even close. It did everything I wanted it to and could have done a lot more.

 

The time had come to get rid of it. 

 

I spent a lot of time searching for a replacement. Something that I would be happy with again long term. I came to the conclusion that it had to be something VW so that meant deciding between Seat, Skoda, VW & Audi.

 

I first considered a Skoda but decided to look at the other alternatives. First was the Audi A3 saloon but the more I looked at them, the more I didn't like them. I didn't want a big car so that ruled out the A4 and above. After a good look I realised that there was nothing that Seat did that I liked.

 

I went back to the VW garage that I bought the Scirocco and looked for a new VW Polo SEL with the 1 litre engine & either the 6 speed box or DSG. I liked it so went about seeing if I could get one, in reef blue. I discovered later that there's a shortage of these being made in South Africa due to various reasons, including the new gpf and so on but they had one in Germany in white silver metallic. I had a look at a similar one they had at the back and decided to go for it.

 

There were only 2 things that I told the salesman that I wanted and they were sat nav and cruise control. The SEL they had in the showroom had cruise control and since I had told the salesman I wanted cruise control I assumed that the one I was going to be ordering had it. I thought that I had better call the garage to confirm only to be told that it didn't but the salesman was still trying to get me to pay the deposit. That was game over and back to the drawing board.

 

Back to the Skoda garage I went. I narrowed it down to the Fabia Estate Monte Carlo or the Rapid Spaceback SE Sport. The Rapid had more of the goodies that I wanted as standard so it won, plus it was a car that was already familiar to me. Again, I wanted the 1 litre with the 6 speed gearbox and in Race Blue. Turns out that there was 1 in Germany but the salesman at my local garage couldn't get me a deal anywhere close to what I was looking for so I had to go to the dreaded Arnold Clark to see what they could do.

 

Turns out the Scirocco almost broke even on what I owed on it due to it being relatively rare - there are less than 1000 manual Scirocco Rs on the road, plus they don't make them anymore. I know I got a good deal as they offered me nearly £2000 more than the other Skoda garage for the Scirocco then went to work moving stuff around to get me the deal that I wanted on the Rapid.

 

Eventually managed to do it, plus as a bonus, the Rapid in Germany was still there and it also had a spare wheel.

 

So almost 11 months to the day I picked up my new Rapid on 26th July.

 

Now onto comparisons with my old one for anyone who hasn't fallen asleep by this point 

 

The 1 litre is very different to the 1.2 I had in many ways. The biggest being that I am used to changing into 4th at 30mph, 5th at 40mph etc but this engine sounds like it prefers 3rd at 30 and 4th at 40. In fact it is so quiet that I sometimes forget to change gear as I can't hear the revs properly. I also agree with others that I have to work the gears more than I did on the 1.2

 

The other huge thing I have noticed is that I am sure that there was no turbo in 1st in the 1.2 which I am guessing had something to do with the emissions and made pulling out at busy roundabouts interesting and a race to get it into 2nd but now we're all paying the same road tax there would appear to be turbo in 1st. Much better.

 

Despite the profile of the tyre being about the same measurement as on the Scirocco, it's a very smooth ride which will no doubt be helped by the much softer suspension. I'm not getting any of the uncomfortable ride quality or tyre noise that I have heard others complain about on the 17" wheels and Bridgestone Potenza tyres. They seem decent enough so far. But - I have come from a pretty extreme car. Maybe if my last car had been the Civic or the Astra then I may have noticed it more.

 

One annoying thing is that there seems to be what I can only describe as a twittering noise coming from the AC. It stops when I switch it off. I can't remember what it is or how to describe it in Google to find the answer to stopping it.

 

I've only filled the tank once so haven't had the chance to do a pump to pump mpg but the Admunson says I'm averaging over 50mpg. I've been running the engine in as per what I have read on this forum and others - changing up and down through the gears, not staying at the same speed and in the same gear for too long, giving the engine different loads etc. I'll need to see how it actually looks when I fill the tank next but this may be some time. My Scirocco would get 300 miles to a tank but the Rapid is telling me that I will be nearer 600. I know that this figure is likely to drop as the fuel level goes down but we'll see.

 

The amount of goodies in this car compared to my last Rapid is far greater. I'm loving the glass roof. It has the auto dimming rear view mirror, automatic climate control and cruise control that my Scirocco had. I can now change a lot of the settings via the Admunson that I could only previously have changed using Carista.

 

I've got the rubber mats and have fitted the bits to turn the part between the rear wheel arch and the back of the luggage compartment into cubby holes (thanks to getting the part numbers from the forum). I've also bought but still to fit the luggage area hooks. I've ordered mud flaps, rubber boot mat and the black Rapid sill protectors. That will be it for now. Once fitted I'm just going to enjoy the car and have even started driving normally again.

 

My wife and I went out for a drive tonight. I don't remember the last time we did that just for the sake of going for a drive. I did want to take some pics tonight but it was raining so that's for another day 

Edited 30 July, 2018 by Delberthot

[camelspyyder]

That's the exact spec car I test drove the 1.0 in when doing a deal on the new Toledo.  I really liked the roof and I think the only thing I would have added to it would be the under bonnet soundproofing which the SEAT still has from the factory.  Having run mine in I can tell you my mpg picked up notably from 2000 miles, and I now get about 550 miles from a tank.

 

[Delberthot]

The soundproofing was the first thing I checked and my one has it fitted. It's odd that some have it and some don't 

[camelspyyder]

MY19 spec change? It is a year+ since I tested the Rapid 1.0

 

[Delberthot]

Maybe - but the one you tried might have been a Friday afternoon special  

 

 

Just in from work and fitted the hooks in the luggage compartment. I'm really at a loss as to why they aren't fitted as standard. There's surely not even pennies between making the blanking plate and the hook. That bit on the right hand side wheel arch looks like it needs to have the bits fitted there as well so I feel another email to the local Skoda parts department coming on.

 

For anyone interested, I was £19.92 for the 6 cubby hole parts and the two hooks picked up from the garage.

 

The rest of the bits are on their way from Superskoda 

 

I've also emailed my local tinting place to see if they can tint over the factory tints as I like the windows to be completely blacked out from the outside. Shouldn't be a problem but I'll see what they say. They did my last Rapid and made a really good job of it. It's the same guy who does the tints for all of the local VW, Audi etc garages in the area

Edited 30 July, 2018 by Delberthot

[Youngian]

17 hours ago, Delberthot said:

I've got the rubber mats and have fitted the bits to turn the part between the rear wheel arch and the back of the luggage compartment into cubby holes (thanks to getting the part numbers from the forum).

Looked to find this but no joy.Any chance of a picture of these and the part numbers please.

[Beachy]

15 minutes ago, Youngian said:

Looked to find this but no joy.Any chance of a picture of these and the part numbers please.

Yes please

[Delberthot]

Hard to find any pics online and it's raining outside but if you check this video out from around 2:13 you can see them fitted as well as the bag hooks on either side.

 

 

The part numbers for the cubby holes are:

 

5JJ 867 145 9B9

5JJ 861 343A 9B9

5JJ 861 343B 9B9

 

5JJ 867 146 9B9

5JJ 861 344A 9B9

5JJ 861 344B 9B9

 

They comprise 4 parts that fit into the slots and the two main plastic sections to close off the area 

 

And for the bag hooks they are:

 

5JJ 867 615 A 9B9

 

 

I've taken these part numbers from other members on the forum who were good enough to share them here in various other threads.

 

All in all it maybe took 10 minutes to fit all of it

[AndyPants]

On 30/07/2018 at 16:52, camelspyyder said:

MY19 spec change? It is a year+ since I tested the Rapid 1.0

 

 

Mines a MY18 and has the bonnet insulation Also a 1.0 TSI

[camelspyyder]

18 hours ago, AndyPants said:

 

Mines a MY18 and has the bonnet insulation Also a 1.0 TSI

 

Strange the brand new demonstrator was missing it at Westgate Grimsby. It certainly made for more cabin noise.

[Delberthot]

Unless someone has come along to buy one, noticed that it didn't have the bonnet insulation fitted and the garage have 'borrowed' it from the demonstrator to get the sale. Maybe forgot to order another one to replace it.

 

I have a spare set of mats and VW bottle opener that were 'borrowed' from another Scirocco on the forecourt