What is it?
Okay, hands up…you’ve got me here.
As is human nature, I’ll cover the easy bit first – it is the new Skoda Rapid Spaceback.
Quite WHY it is the new Skoda Rapid Spaceback is an interesting question.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a Skoda, so pretty much by rote it’s a very good car. But it is a challenge to find a pigeon hole the Spaceback could ideally call home. More on that later.
As you may know, Skoda is one of the brands owned by the Volkswagen Group, so much of Skoda’s model line-up is shared with Volkswagen. However, the Rapid is a more distinct model that’s twinned only with SEAT’s Toledo.
In the Skoda model line up, the Rapid – saloon like in appearance but actually a hatch (in motoring techno terms it’s a ‘notchback’) – sits between the Fabia (VW Polo, SEAT Ibiza supermini sized) and the Golf-based Octavia (larger than a standard family hatchback). In doing so, a little niche was created.
The new Skoda Rapid Spaceback expands that niche ever so slightly.
It is not quite an estate, but is closer in appearance to a hatchback. The name is a mystery in as much as, despite the extended roofline, it has less load area than the Rapid on which it is based. The Rapid offers 550 litres of natural space while the Rapid Spaceback surrenders a significant 135 litres to 415 with row two in place.
expect the 1.6 TDI to cost around £50 a month in company car tax for a 20% tax payer
But in that negative comes the cars biggest positive. The Spaceback’s designers have done a far better job of making that 415 litres a more practical space due to the flatter load area and the lowest rear-loading sill in this class. There is a generous 1380 litres of load area with the rear bench seat folded flat.
Technically, the Rapid Spaceback is a bit of a mongrel.
The forward setup of the car has been taken from the current VW Polo. The rear underpinnings are a hangover from the first-generation Octavia. However, spring travel rates on all four corners of the Spaceback have been kept the same as the Rapid hatch, with the shocks retuned to deliver a softer, more comfortable ride.
The steering has been switched from a hydraulic setup to an electro-mechanical one in order to reduce road noise.
The Spaceback’s ride is comfortable and the steering is accurate enough, but the latter is far too light and there’s plenty of body roll if you start treating the Spaceback more like a sports car than family hatch.
The Spaceback is still roomier than a Kia cee’d or Hyundai i30, cars this Skoda will undoubtedly compete with. Rear legroom is very good and there are numerous storage spaces.
