Fun to drive

I was looking for a upper c segment or entry level d segment sedan. My Outlook was for a performance sedan and hence zeroed down on Skoda Rapid Monte Carlo TDI, VW Vento TDI, VW Vento TSI, Hyundai Verna CRDI 1.6, and Honda City Petrol. I have driven my friend's Honda City on a couple of road trips and I love the driving Dynamics.

However, after test driving the Rapid TDI AT, I was blown away. I test drove the vento TDi and TSI as well. The TSI is fun too but I was missing the torque punch. Vento TDI NVH was not as good as RAPID and I felt the rapid to be slightly more stable at high speed. Also, I had a predilection for the Rapid Monte Carlo look. I was a bit hesitant about AT because I would miss the manual fun, particularly rev matching in down shifts. But the rapid test drives ensured me that I would probably not need to down shift at all to overtake, the S mode is really punchy. Even in D mode the car was accelerating 100 to 120 with just a tap. I test drove the Octavia 148 bup manual petrol as well. The awesome 1.8 TSI was out of my budget.

I had test driven the Verna CRDi as well and wifey was all in for Verna. The Verna Diesel 1.6 is really punchy. I also liked the ventilated seat feature and sun roof. However, I decided to let go off these cool features for the driving pleasure of Rapid.

So, DSG and high speed stability won over sunroof and ventilated seats. After the delivery, I have driven the car for approximately 2k KM in the last 1 month with 1500 odd KM on highway trips. I was gentle on the car in the first 1000 km and did not cross 3000 rpm. In the last two road trips of 500 km I had decided to express myself a bit.

So far, I have been really happy with my decision, this car is a gem to drive, be it in city traffic on highways. The pick up is impressive mainly because of the mid range torque and DSG. I was having some fun with a couple of Honda Cities and Creta in the last road trip. Even in D mode the car accelerates so effortlessly from 100/110 to 120/130. And in S mode, it's a beast. I haven't pushed it to limit, however, I had touched 170/75 for a few minutes and was impressed by the stability. The car can munch miles at ease @120 and feels quite at home @ 140/50.

I am happy with the highway fuel economy as well, it gives me 15/17 on highways. I do not make the dsg undergo unnecessary strain(I bring it to N mode in red light and standstill jams) like I used to take care of my clutch plates(double clutching in general and avoiding clutch in red light or standstill) in my earlier manuals.

In my opinion, the Rapid TDI AT is a very good choice for ppl who love to drive.