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Fresh take on the family car

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Skoda’s ordinary Rapid may be a five-door hatch but it’s not a very conventional one.

If ever emphasis was needed of the importance of the Focus-sized family hatchback segment in the current market, this model provides it for it’s Skoda’s second offering in this sector.

Skoda offers two diesel and three petrol engines. Diesel-wise, there’s a choice of either an 88bhp 1.4 or a 113bhp 1.6. For petrol people, the entry-level powerplant is a 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol unit that packs 88bhp but is also offered in 108bhp form if you want a little more pulling power.

And there’s a 123bhp 1.4-litre TSI petrol option only offered with a DSG auto gearbox. That auto transmission can also be ordered as an option on the pokier 1.2-litre petrol variant, plus the 1.4-litre diesel model.

The Spaceback’s bodywork is new from the B-pillars back and it’s a crisp piece of design work.

The rear end features neat triangular insets either side of the number plate holder and if you choose the optional panoramic glass roof, it then combines neatly with a ‘prolong’ tinted rear screen for a contrasting look that works best on pale coloured cars.

Rapid Spaceback pricing is now much keener than it was at launch, sitting in the £13,500 to £18,500 bracket, so it now easily undercuts the standard Rapid model.

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There’s a choice of three trim levels – S, SE Tech and SE Sport. Standard specifications see air conditioning as standard across the line-up, along with curtain airbags, front electric windows and a height and reach adjustable steering column.

Mind you, nice as these little details are, they aren’t things that’ll set the neighbours’ curtains twitching or give you that special feeling when you see the car parked in the driveway.

Which is why most customers are ideally going to want a Rapid Spaceback variant with a bit more about it – probably one fitted with the extra-cost ‘Style Pack’ that includes a fixed panoramic sunroof, extended tailgate glass, a black rear spoiler, black door mirrors, black rear lights and black cornering front foglamps.

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To be able to specify that, you have to at least stretch to a mid-spec model, which in turn will also entitle you to alloy wheels, rear parking sensors, cruise control, a trip computer, Bluetooth connectivity and a standard set of those front foglamps.

As for safety kit, well you can’t specify any of the really high-tech features you get on some rivals. But then typical Skoda buyers probably wouldn’t want to stretch to these anyway.

What’s important is that basic safety provision is very good – well up to five star Euro NCAP standard. On all models, expect to find ISOFIX childseat fastenings, twin front, side and curtain airbags and a full set of safety acronyms.

If you really want an efficient drive from our Spaceback, you’ll need to plump for the 88bhp 1.4-litre TDI diesel, a variant able to deliver 78.5mpg on the combined cycle and 94g/km of CO2.

Stretch to the 113bhp 1.6-litre TDI diesel and those figures rise to 67.3mpg and 109g/km.

Petrol people can expect 60.1mpg and 109g/km from the 88bhp 1.2-litre TSI version, 57.6 and 111g/km from the 1.2 TSI 108bhp variant or 48.7mpg and 134g/km from the 1.4 TSI DSG auto model.

What else? Well, with low Benefit in Kind (BIK) ratings, the Rapid Spaceback is expected to provide a boost to the brand’s rapidly expanding fleet sales. And it’ll probably help here that maintenance costs will be affordable, with a choice between servicing regimes based or either fixed or variable mileages, depending on whether the annual distance you cover is short or long. There’s a three year/60,000 mile warranty that you can extend to four or five years if you wish.

The Rapid Spaceback might at first seem an answer to a problem entirely of Skoda’s own making.

People are comfortable with conventional hatchback shapes. Challenge them with something a bit different and it often becomes a niche seller or worse, ignored altogether.

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The Rapid hatchback is a good car but it’s different, refusing to fit neatly into the pre-defined categories many buyers expect.

In contrast, this Spaceback version will be a much easier sell. Although its angular shape doesn’t look immediately like a Focus or an Astra, customers can clearly see that those kinds of cars offer direct competition.

It’s a solid piece of design work too. The interior isn’t going to win any prizes for flair, but if you want to make a choice that’s supremely reliable and which is available at a good price, the Rapid Spaceback more than justifies its existence.
THE FACTS

Model: Skoda Rapid Spaceback

Price: £13,500-£18,500

Engine: 1.2-litre three-cylinder

Economy: From 78.5mpg

CO2 emissions: From 94g/km