We liked the 3 door version of the Skoda Citigo and the 5 door version is no different.

As expected, nothing much has change apart from the two new doors. The Citigo five-door sits on the same 2,420mm wheelbase as the three-door. No changes have been made to the interior space or the rear storage space which stands at 251 litres. The POWER! comes from a the new 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine with 60 or 75 hp.

Following their public debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March, both the three-door and five-door versions will land in European showrooms in May.

Back home, Skoda has constantly denied the launch of the Citigo in India. However, if parent VW bring the Up! to India, Skoda India will follow suit as that will provide both companies with economies of scale and Skoda a valuable chance to lock horns with Hyundai and Maruti in their high-volumes segment.

[Source: Worldcarfans.com]

The tiny tots are fired by an 18-kWh battery pack wired to a 80 hp electric motor. This lends a range of 81 miles with a top speed of 81mph. Volkswagen will introduce its version by 2013 followed by the Skoda model a year later.

The petrol engined Up! is on sale across Europe while the Citigo is available in its home market of Czech Republic. The petrol Citigo’s availability will extend to other European markets in 2013. It is powered by a 1L petrol engine producing 60 or 75hp.

[Source - WOT.MotorTrend.com]

Volkswagen will not fold its hands and watch the Fabia Scout roll off the production line for long. It could prompt a Polo counterpart if the concept is well received. The bigger development is the 1.6-liter engine coming down to B-Segment models. Have the prayers of a VW Polo 1.6 TDI finally been answered?

Don’t be misled by its rugged bumpers and extra cladding on the door. The Fabia is yet to develop off-roading abilities. The layout and features are retained. The point of the Scout is to add aggression and muscle to the Fabia without spending a bomb. If the “adventure” side of the Scout is not communicated properly Skoda service centers have to stock up under-body parts and learn some lessons on anger management!

The Scout features the larger 1.6-liter TDI engine borrowed from the Vento generating peak outputs of 105hp/250Nm. There’s no shortage of equipment as features corner function headlights and 16-inch alloy wheels are available on the Scout.

Image shot by HK-Harry, an IAB reader.

The Fabia RS 2000’s exterior is inspired by Fabia Super 2000 which dominated both the S-WRC world championship as well as the IRC Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The roadster dons 18-inch alloy rims, front and rear spoilers as well as a traditional green-and-white rally livery.

The interior features tight-fitting sports seats, a three-spoke sports steering wheel and the shift lever sleeve. The front door sills sport running boards, and stainless steel pedals echo the styling of the Fabia RS model.

Skoda Fabia RS2000 Image Slideshow

Can’t see the image slideshow above? Head to the Skoda RS2000 Flickr Image Page.

The Mission L concept is supposed to be a glimpse of the forth coming Octavia successor for the international markets. Derived from the Vision D concept, the MissionL concept was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September2011.

Skoda may also showcase the Citigo which is essentially a Volkswagen Up with a Skoda badge. The compact hatchback packs a 1-litre engine delivering 60 PS and 75 PS in  manual and automatic transmissions.

[Source - Auto.Sohu.com]

• After a failed partnership with Suzuki, Skoda takes charge of VW’s budget car plans worldwide.
• The economic crisis has had a very small impact on Skoda.
• Skoda will set up a new centre in India which will be in charge of future low-cost vehicle architecture and a new low-cost engine.
• Skoda will get very aggressive in Russia, India and China.

Skoda’s five-year product plan:

1. 2012: Rapid saloon, Octavia saloon replacement, Yeti facelift, five-door Citigo
2. 2013: Rapid Spaceback, Octavia Combi replacement, Superb saloon/Combi facelift
3. 2014: Fabia hatchback/Combi replacement, Roomster replacement, Citigo MPV
4. 2015: Superb saloon/Combi replacement, Yeti replacement
5. 2016: new crossover larger than Yeti, new MPV larger than Roomster, Rapid/Citigo facelift

• Future Skodas will be derived from the group’s modular and super-flexible MQB platform that underpins almost 40 VW Group vehicles in the next 6-8 years.
• All Skoda MQB drivetrains will come from the VW parts bin which includes advanced components such as micro-hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electromobility, as well as CNG and LPG engines.
• Skoda will offer two SUVs and two MPVs, all MQB-based. First will be the Yeti replacement, which will sit on a MQB-A platform. The second is an MQB-B spinoff, which will be bigger and roomier than the Tiguan.

Head over to Car Magazine to know in detail what Skoda has planned for its future. You can’t miss this one!

Source: CAR Magazine

What powers the Skoda Rapid?

The Rapid is powered by the same engine set on duty in the VW Vento :

• The 1.6L TDi (Diesel) produces 104 BHP (4,400 rpm) and 250 Nm of torque (1,500 – 2,500 rpm)
• The 1.6L MPI (Petrol) is also rated at 104 BHP (5,250 rpm) and 153 Nm of torque (3,800 rpm)

Considering the car we drove was a petrol the review restricted to petrol Rapid’s performance. Don’t worry we will do a diesel review soon!

1.6L MPI - 104 BHP (5,250 rpm) and 153 Nm of torque (3,800 rpm)

Fire up the engine using the key (sorry no start-stop button here), and you will notice a sudden shake with a fair amount of sound. Let the engine idle for a few seconds and all is well again. Yes, this shaky-start engine suddenly becomes one of the most refined engines in the segment.

To be honest, there is not much happening below 1,700 rpm. Once you surge past that the power is very smooth and linear. The engine is very free revving and is happy to redline once a while. 0-100 km/hr comes in 12 seconds and from there you can comfortable cruise at 130-140 km/hr on the highway without any complaints or hard revving from the engine.

In order to really strain the engine, you need to cross the 160 km/hr mark.  It has a nice sound to it which is fairly audible despite the good NVH level insulation.

The 5-speed manual gearbox does its duty very well. The gates are precise and the shifts are very slick and you don’t need to do too many downshifts for overtaking maneuvers. The golf club shaped gear knob makes the shifts a lot of fun.

An exceptional quality of the Skoda Rapid is that it is very difficult to stall the engine. The engine just refuses to let go. Whichever gear, whatever rpm, the engine just soldiers on. However, there are some vibrations when engaging the clutch which spoil the party.

How does a Rapid handle?

There are two aspects to Rapid’s handling:

• Within city limits, the Rapid handles just plain brilliantly. The electric steering wheel performs brilliantly when it comes to overtaking and parking within the city. The fatter tires on the top variant match the car’s capability. The relatively softer set up of the suspension absorbs the bumps and potholes  at the same time giving very less evidence of body roll.
• Hitting the highways, one notices that the Rapid’s electric steering isn’t able to replicate the adequate feedback at high speed. The sharp turns suddenly expose the inherent body roll of a soft suspension set up.

The brakes coupled with ABS and Dual Rate Brake Assist are just fabulous. They are very confidence inspiring and I have absolutely no complaints in that area. However, after fair bit of spirited driving, I noticed a lot of brake dust on the alloys.

What is the fuel economy?

Considering I had the petrol variant at hand, I managed to squeezed a maximum fuel efficiency of 12 kmpl. Average FE was around 10 kmpl. Skoda claims a figure of 15.4 km/l

What about safety?     

The Skoda Rapid is not ‘Loaded’ with safety features but it has an adequate list nonetheless. You get:

• Dual front airbags
• Anti-lock Braking System with Dual Rate Brake Assist
• Fuel supply cut off during a crash

Things that I did not like:

Note: For the first time I had to really think deeper for this section

• The clutch vibrations are annoying when engaging gears
• There is a fair bit of wind noise at three digit speeds
• The electric steering wheel does not weigh in at high speeds
• The seats are too upright for my liking. After a point of time, my knees started paining

Yes, the Skoda Rapid is an exceptional proposition in the C sedan market. It is also going to give stiff competition to the Vento because of its cheaper price and slightly better looks (personal opinion), a point that is quite evident in the first month of booking itself when the Rapid clocked 1,600 orders.

And parent company VW is definitely laughing all the way to the bank as they managed to nearly double the sales of the same car (more or less) by simply changing the costume!