Driven: Skoda Rapid

It’s an indication of how high Skoda has pushed the bar, but I must confess to being a tad disappointed with the Rapid. Don’t misunderstand me, it’s a fine car and has plenty of the qualities seen on every other VW Group product – it feels well-built and offers a very refined drive. It’s comfortable, has a big boot and comfortable seats for long journeys. But there were a few too many irritations for my liking, the sort that wouldn’t stop you buying the car but would drive you mad once you had. Take the cup holders, which are ahead of the gearstick and half-hidden under the centre console. When the car is in fifth gear it makes it very tricky to get a taller cup – the sort I use – out. Also, there’s a ‘windscreen max’ button, which is very useful at this time of year for clearing misting. Yet the blast of air isn’t actually at maximum power, it’s at about 75 per cent. You then have to turn it manually to get it to full. Every time I plugged in my iPod, the car’s screen kept saying ‘initialising MDI’  for about 10 seconds – I’ve never known any other Skoda do that. Finally, the clutch pedal was a few milimetres too close to the footrest on the left side. All this is attention to detail stuff, and I’ve come to expect Skoda to get that right.