Spaceback 1.6TDI OEM+ Daily Project

[slipknotted]

Hi all, I'm Zac, I Bought my 2014 Rapid Spaceback Elegance 1.6 TDI two months ago and have done just under 7,000 miles since. It's my first modern car and my first non-jap car and oh my god it's cheap to run, comfortable to drive (compared to the slammed Honda Prelude I used to daily) and I've wanted another tractor-like diesel for a while, even if it is an underpowered 1.6 TDI. I'm going for an OEM+ look with some discreet exterior mods, a bit more power and a nicer sound.

 

Now onto the mods, I'm going to daily this car for the foreseeable future so I can't completely ruin it but on the flipside anything will be worlds above a slammed Honda Prelude. I've already sprayed the chrome front grill black and purchased a set of Octavia VRS mk1 spyder alloys but they need to be refurbed and fitted with better tyres before I put them on the car. (attached picture is the test fit)

 

I want to lower the Rapid so it sits properly on those spyder alloys and so the rear isn't so unnecessarily high. Unless I find some cheap coilovers from an Ibiza or Polo I'll probably put it on some decent lowering springs.

 

Power-wise I think a DPF and EGR delete, turbo or catback exhaust and a remap would do nicely, ~150hp, a smoother torque curve and some good noise! If anyone knows of a decent catback for sale that'd be great, otherwise I'll find someone local to fabricate something.

 

Moving to the interior the RCD330 head unit looks ideal and a rapid sport flat bottom steering wheel would be cool but I haven't seen any of those for sale. Rapid sport seats crossed my mind but the current ones aren't a problem so I doubt it'll happen.

 

The exterior is pretty clean already, especially as I've already fixed the chrome front grill but there are a few things that stand out to me like the darker monte carlo (style pack??) rear lights, a maxton front splitter and maybe a slightly bigger rear spoiler (no seriously nothing crazy lmao). The headlights seem a bit lacklustre so when one bulb blew I replaced both with the best Ringpro ones Halfords had (I had work that evening so Halfords was the only choice *sigh*)  and they're much better but still not great. I've seen the phase 2 or 3 Rpaid headlights for sale at £300/side so that's not happening anytime soon, more research is required here. 

 

 

[WolfyWesty]

Good looking motor! Always prefer the front chrome in black. Fully reccomend getting the Maxton splitter too (have a look at Maxton's ebay shop, often cheaper than the actual website). 

 

From my knowledge, there's little on the market for Cat-backs for the Rapid. I had one custom made/fitted by a local exhaust specialits (Pipewerx). 

[slipknotted]

Thanks! I couldn't find any cat-backs for the rapid either so I've booked it in with SC Performance who are my local Powerflow dealer, gonna get a custom stainless catback with no resonator or DPF, can't wait to be a yob! Whilst the car's there it's also getting the EGR blanked, an induction kit and a remap. I am a bit wary of the remap SC Performance plans to give it as they don't have a dyno and it seems they're using third party software so I'm gonna ring Celtic Tuning and another local tuning company who I've heard good things about and I know have a dyno to see if they'll remap and dyno it instead. I'm hoping for 160hp ideally!

 

I've just looked on Ebay and it seems Maxton are a bit all over the place with their prices lol. I do want to hold off on exterior mods until the wheels have been refurbed and it's been lowered, seems there's two decent sets of springs for sale; H&R and Eibach, not sure which to go for as I need to test fit the wheels again and measure how much room I have to play with. Also thinking of getting some carpets as my car didn't come with any apparently??

 

Whilst we're here I'll mention the car's had a full service at an independent Skoda garage as well as various bushings replaced, new timing belt, water pump and an OBD diagnostic to see if it would throw any faults but all is good and the Rapid is at 100% health. 

[AnnoyingPentium]

Lovely looking Rapid. Following this thread now... 

[slipknotted]

Thanks Ryan!

 

I've got an update as well; It turns out SC Performance use Topgear Tuning for their remaps, a company I haven't heard of and will only map the car to 130hp but in fairness the reviews seem positive. Due to this I inquired with Darkside to see how much a dyno tune with them would cost: £450 plus driving from Southampton to Yorkshire and back so although they're the best in the business I'll give them a miss this time 😞. Instead I've opted for a remap and dyno at DC Automotive and Tuning, near Chichester, as they use Celtic Tuning software (which my family and I have had on cars before as it's 10/10) and I can get a dyno print out for the fridge haha. Just waiting on a call back from DC and everything should be confirmed, £295 iirc.

 

This does leave one little niggle - the car's having all the physical work (catback & EGR) done one day and being mapped the next at a different garage ~50 miles away, now I know 50 calm miles with no DPF or EGR without a map shouldn't damage anything but a friend did offer to trailer the car which I might take them up on as it just removes any risk of breaking something somehow. On the flip side I don't want to waste half a day of their time haha, might have to pay for their diesel and a takeaway.

[slipknotted]

Another Update!

 

It's all confirmed, the car is booked in for the catback + EGR @ SC Performance (Totton) and remap + dyno @ DC Tuning & Automotive (Funtington) on consecutive days which is nice, should sound good and not be far off 160hp.

 

I've also just assigned the private reg I got for my birthday which means clean, new number plates, gonna be mounting them with tonight with a mate.

 

Aaand on the wheels side of things I think I'm gonna be little sketchy and rattle can the MK1 vRS rims where they're scuffed and put them on the car because I'm impatient and can't afford to have them refurbed right now - they will definitely be refurbed in the near future though, I'm not a scrote.

[slipknotted]

Hi all, another quick one!

 

The new plates are on and looking smart, it's closest I could get to my old prelude's plate (god I miss that car)

 

[AnnoyingPentium]

Nice plates on the Rapid, and that's a nice looking Prelude!

[slipknotted]

Whilst I'm here I may as well document the Scottish road trip I went on with two mates, all possible thanks to the Rapid.

• Southampton to Ullapool
• Ullapool to Fort William
• Fort William to Edinburgh
• Edinburgh to Brixton
• Brixton to Southampton

About 1500 miles, wild camping in Ullapool and Fort William, Explored the bone caves near Ullapool, peaked Ben Nevis, saw Loch Ness and overall had a great time. Bar the ****ing midges.

 

We set off at about 3am after a delicious korma from the local Indian. as I'm the only grown-up person with a license in our trio I would be doing ALL the driving. sigh.

 

The journey up.

 

Dan and Otto with the Rapid filled to the brim.

 

 

The motorways were pretty clear the entire way up, we made it past Manchester before the rush-hour traffic, which was the plan hence It was plain sailing the entire way. The Rapid loved it as well; CC at 62mph, tires pumped way up and despite all the weight we managed just under 70mpg. I know the Rapid is a value oriented car but we managed 11hrs driving with only a 10 minute fuel stop in Kendall, the seats were sufficiently comfortable and no complaints from my passengers either, the limiting factor was my tiredness as I pulled over just outside of Inverness for coffee and a powernap before the final hour or so to Ullapool. Before I talk about Ullapool can I mention the roads! holy ****, Scotland (and the highlands specifically) have some amazing roads that were even enjoyable in a fully loaded Rapid. I really need to do the NC500! 

 

 

We made it to Ullapool as the sky filled with orange and were greeted with the most fulfilling scenery a human can witness, not to get all mushy on a Skoda forum but I'll never forget driving around a right-hander and seeing Ullapool docks (marina?) lit up by the low sun. Once we'd gotten over ourselves we had to find a place to camp for the night, this took about an hour but we found a nice ridge with a good view to pitch the tent. Bring on the midges, drinking and pyromania!

 

Ullapool in the evening

 

Relaxing and being teenagers by the fire (ft. my face reveal lol)

 

The tent in the morning

 

Otto was rudely awoken by midges as they had infiltrated his part of the tent, so we all had an early morning and escaped to the car. Unfortunately we still had pack our stuff up with the little ****ers swarming us. Which was fun. After our trial by insect we ventured into Ullapool for breakfast, found a nice chippy (I ordered haggis with my Buckinghamshire accent which I found hilarious) and discussed the plans for the day. We had a few options for activities but we chose the bone caves - some caves where really old but intact animal bones were found, either way it was a lot of fun as not only is it a nice walk but we fully went caving and found many underground chambers, we didn't even explore all of it before Dan and Otto got scared. 10/10 good day. The midges in the car park where a ****** though. In the evening we drove to Fort William as we'd spontaneously decided to climb Ben Nevis, we had all the clothing and equipment we'd need, we're al fit young lads and it'd be a while before we got the opportunity again. on the way to Fort William we realised we'd be driving past Loch Ness so we had to stop for a picture and to ogle. Another night wild camping this time just outside of Fort William, a quick trip to Tesco meant we had some sausages to cook on the fire and of course more alcohol!

 

Shore of Loch Ness

 

The campfire at Fort William

 

Breakfast at Fort William

 

We ended up sleeping in the Rapid due to fear of midges, I fell asleep almost instantly being fairly drunk and tired although I know the other two suffered not being able to stretch out, but it was better than being eaten alive. The next morning we cleared our campsite, found some breakfast and prepared for the climb. Now, I didn't know what to expect when climbing the tallest mountain in the UK, I knew it was gonna be quite a few hours and we'd carrying backpacks but we're also fit young lads, it couldn't be that bad surely? Yeah we all underestimated it, we practically jogged the first third of the climb, overtaking everyone, then down to a fast walk and by the top third we were dragging ourselves up the mountain but somehow still passing most other climbers? I think it's a good thing we were fit, young, lads otherwise we'd have had a problem at that pace. Either way we made to the top and had a beer on the peak like some ****ing chads. Something that never crossed my mind until we were there is that the peak of Ben Nevis is possibly the happiest place in the UK - everyone's euphoric and/or delirious from such a climb which means we had some really nice chats with random strangers and made friends with some lovely Indian guys. Another thing that got me about the peak of Nevis the sheer drops, there's nothing between you and what I'd guess is a minimum 500m, probably nearer 1km, drop. Insane. I've never seen that kind of drop or geography on that scale. What an experience.

 

Otto, Dan and me at the peak with our beverages

 

Us and our new friends at the peak

 

The descent from Nevis was fairly easy, we ran most of the way (ow, my knees!) and made it back to the Rapid in good time, we now had to sprint across the country to Edinburgh where my sister would be putting us up for the night. Once again the roads were amazing, I can't remember the names of roads or the route we took (a quick maps lookup would probably do it) but it was extremely fun - plus there was always an amazing view of the road ahead to overtake the 40 everywhere club. We made it to Edinburgh quite late so we ditched the town centre for a drink as we'd planned, but instead found some 'scran' and hit the hay as tomorrow would be an early one. My alarm went off at 7am and it was time for the drive back down the south, as I remember the return journey took considerably longer as we hit traffic at cities and rush-hour. Again the Rapid was comfortable and took the 11hrs straight without a complaint. We made it back to Brixton to jettison Otto (ew, a London boy) and have dinner with his parents before Dan and I got back on the road and spanked it down the M3 to Southampton, ready for a much earned 14hr sleep!

 

Overall it was an amazing weekend with two great friends that I can't wait to do again in some other corner of Europe and it only cost us about £80 each, £160 in diesel plus food although we had a fair bit of camping equipment already. Through all of this I really can't fault the Rapid either, it took the tens of hours fully loaded motorway driving like a champ and somehow still made the Scottish B-roads worth driving. More impressive than that is three fully grown teenagers managed to live out of a Skoda family hatchback for three days, 600 miles from home. We easily fitted everything we need in it with only one rear seat folded down and even managed to sleep in it once (we won't be doing that again though, it's a Rapid, not a California). I'm so happy with how the Rapid performed and it was a real bonding experience, I can't wait to take those mates and that car to countless more destinations.

 

[slipknotted]

I've had a fun few days! 

 

The Rapid had a Powerflow stainless steel catback fabricated and fitted plus a DPF delete at SC Performance - a little bit of sound and a smart looking exhaust, although I still need to get a photo of it! With the DPF delete it was gutted, not replaced with a delete pipe, which should satisfy any nosey MOT inspector as long as it can pass emissions...

 

The next day I drove over to DC Automotive & Tuning in Funtington for a remap and dyno run where it made 142.4HP and 272.9lb*ft, not quite the 150HP quoted but it made more torque than expected (235lb*ft) and I'm happy with 142HP from a 90k engine.

 

The power comes in so much earlier and the car doesn't feel asthmatic anymore, it's made a world of difference! plus it's worth revving it out to 4,000rpm when really hammering it, the wider peak power band is very useful. I'm tempted to look at turbo and injector upgrades to see what's the next step for more power but I doubt it will happen. Next mods should be springs and refurbed wheels, the car's coming along nicely

[slipknotted]

Hi all!

 

it's been a while since my last update and I've got a few little things done since then. The main improvement is the Octavia VRS MK1 spider alloys and Michelin CrossClimate tyres, I drove up to Edinburgh and back in mid December so I though all season tyres

were probably wise!

 

 

Excuse the mud and dirt, excess miles and rural areas do that, but the 17" wheels really fit the car and fill the arches properly, although the rear still looks very high. The rain performance is 10x better as well, the car feels planted unless you get really silly and refuses to aquaplain no matter how hard I try (in a controlled environment, of course). When I bought the alloys they were horrifically kerbed and scratched up, so much so that I didn't want them on the car in that state so I sanded, primed, painted and lacquered them. Unfortunately I only had two days to do this so the lacquer didn't dry properly and took some of the paint off, making the finish look **** poor but it'll do until I can afford to have them properly refurbed. The best bit about these tyres? they cost me £50 for the set with 5-6mm tread, courtesy of @Subseaeng, who is a lovely gent! Overall £200 for a set of wheels and tyres, not bad.

 

The next addition was a false floor for the boot, I go on frequent dog walks and there's a considerable drop between the folded rear seats and the boot floor which can't be comfortable for the puppers, the false floor should level this. Just finding the damn thing was a ******, I couldn't find it for sale anywhere online, official Skoda or aftermarket! In the end I trawled through a Skoda parts manual, found the part number, rang my local dealer and ordered it direct from Skoda UK. Do you want to guess how much a false boot floor for a Skoda hatchback costs? £92....profiteering czech *****.

 

 

I must admit though it adds a lot of practicality to the car, my coats and shopping bags go under the floor, the doggos are comfy and the van-like rear cargo area is very useful! Almost worth the ninety two f*cking quid. Not really.

[Subseaeng]

Glad the tyres helped. Now all we need is some proper snow for you to really try them out!!😂

[slipknotted]

Snow in Southampton? that'll be the day 😂

Another trip to north may be in order!

 

Apologies for the inactivity! Anyway, it seems I may not be long for this forum, I've been offered a stonking deal on a Honda CR-V by a family member and although I was planning to run the rapid to moon miles in the next few years the CR-V is a better fit for me and financially I can't let myself pass this up. I'm meant to be learning tax law for uni right now but that's boring so I found myself doing a little write up on the Rapid and CR-V to explain my decision, do enjoy.

 

The Rapid:

I love it but I'll admit the squeaky suspension was getting on my nerves, I suppressed the issue by spraying everything rubber on the underside of the car with silicon lubricant but that was only a temporary fix; even replacing both front ARB bushes didn't stop the squeaking, although it helped massively. I assume the car has reached the age where it's flawed suspension needs every rubber component replacing, which I could get through in a day or two with a mate and crate of corona if I was keeping the car long term but as it's likely going I won't bother. Speaking of suspension the ride in my Rapid was noticeably unforgiving, which is no surprise seeing as it's based on the aged MK2 Fabia but I did expect better from a '14 reg car, could be shot dampers but I guess we'll never know. I am being picky as the suspension is the only physical fault on the Rapid. The financial aspect of running the Rapid to moon miles also irks me, as a student who works part-time I don't earn that much money and only have modest savings so running a depreciating £5k asset into the ground (even over 3, 4, 5 years) doesn't sit well with me. The Rapid being in near perfect condition worries me as well, if it's scratched or otherwise damaged I'm left with an expensive insurance claim or coughing up myself, either way I'm heavily out of pocket and although I'm financially stable I don't want to waste money. Overall it's a great car with one inexcusable fault that drags its down to just a 'good' car which is a real shame because it is otherwise right up my street - if it weren't for the dicky suspension I'd likely keep it over CR-V regardless. It was a decent 20k miles, maybe next time Skoda 😉.

 

The CR-V (2009 2.2 CDTI EX 4WD) :

I've driven the CR-V in question quite a bit and I say, the big leather captain's seats up front and comfy SUV ride are lovely, it really contrasts the Rapid's imperfect ride and is one of the main selling points for me. The 2.2 litre CTDI engine is mapped to 190hp and it's a delight to drive, first gear is very short but I adapted to that very quickly, all good there. This CR-V isn't cosmetically perfect which I like, it makes me worry much less about it being damaged, same goes with it being a slightly less valuable, older, car someone else has eaten up that depreciation. Practicality also takes a step up, the boot is huge, the rear passenger room somehow makes the Rapid SB look like a shoebox - taking the dogs out and camping should be much easier. Continuing with boisterous things, the CR-V weighs in at ~1,700kg so paired with that 2.2 diesel it's braked towing capacity is 2,000kg, meaning I can use all 3.5 tons of train weight I'm allowed to under my license. Huge score. I can now trailer non-runner '80s Jap ****boxes about 😊. The major downside will be running costs; the Rapid cost £30/yr VED whereas the CR-V is £250/yr; the Rapid will average over 60mpg whereas the CR-V will just nudge over 40mpg; insurance is £200/yr more expensive on the CR-V and of course tyres, brakes, etc are all more expensive on the CR-V. Overall the CR-V's running costs fit neatly in between those of the Honda Prelude I used to own and the Rapid's, so it's not going to financially strain me but I do enjoy having slightly more disposable income haha, I'm sure I can live with it to have a comfortable daily. MK3 CR-Vs are known to be solid when cared for with only the diff whining occasionally and some rust being the main issues but as a family member owned it I myself have done most of the maintenance on this care and know it's mechanically in good condition so reliability shouldn't be an issue, especially as it's only on 120k, only 24k more than my Rapid. Finally we've reached the main reason for the swap: a family member deadass offered me the car for free. I simply refused. They said they want the driveway space as they're buying a VW camper, which is true and they are financially doing well but I don't want to take advantage of their impulse offer. In the end we agree I'd give them a percentage of what I sell the Rapid for, which will still be about 50% of the market value of the CR-V, so they get decently compensated and I get a good deal. Call me a mug but I'm happy with the deal 😀.

 

TL;DR the CR-V is comfier, less valuable and more practical which suits my needs perfectly right now and the Rapid's squeaky/rough suspension is getting to me.

 

 

[Subseaeng]

Interesting. As long as you are happy driving the CR-V this seems to me to be an absolute no brainer especially for tripping around the country. So much comfier and more room for stuff. Not much street cred though, eh? 

 

Good luck, enjoy the tax law!!