Feb 10, 2006 07:37 AM
14822 Views
(Updated Feb 10, 2006 07:37 AM)
i've written a few reviews here and if any of u have been good enough to read them, you will understand that it is passion that goes for me... the car should be able to stir your soul... not just get u from A to B on the least amount of fuel... I do understand that we and our country men struggle to make our(and our family's) ends meet... so I wont be insensitive enuff to blame anyone for buyin a Splendor or a Maruti 800...
but once in a while the roads in India get blessed enough to get up close and personal with a quartet of tires on which some revered machine rides.. I must quite mournfully say that there are very few such machines in India... if you ask me, Honda City Vtec, Mahindra Classic, BMW 3 series are there on my list... I wud have written Porsche Carrera 4S(Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking, the President and CEO of Porsche AG, God bless his soul for bringing it here) and the Rolls-Royce Phantom, but i'm not Gautam Singhania...!!!
then one fine day this under dog of a Czech motor company, brought the Octavia to our shores. faced with skepticism, Skoda made a name for itself on sheer quality, reliability and value for money... then to add some spice to the dreams of boy racers who grew up, they brought thhe Skoda RS.. those two magic letters,RS , catapulted the car into my list... this is one head banger of a car...
in a market which worships fuel efficiency and comfort, the RS injected some Josh right in the loins... This my frenz, is the real josh machine...
146bhp on a solid suspension riding on India first mass production vehicle to ride on low profile tires, took my breath away.. numbers may not sound too much, but for indian standards, that IS good!!! this is one of those few cars that give true bang for the buck...
the engine is a free revvin gem.. given the fact that it has a turbocharger, there is a bit of lag I say, but keep it above 2000rpm and you and your sweetheart can dance a salsa on the streets...
the weight of the car and the suspension do deserve praise... rock stable would be a good word to describe the state of the car at 100kmph... F**KING excited would be a good word to describe your sensation at 100 kmph.. they say this baby has somethin called ASR.. techie gizmos to prevent slip... i'm neither experienced enough, nor did I spend time enough in th RS to feel them work. but I feel safe knowing its there when the laws of momentum and my own driving skills leave me dangling...
the gear box is a bit on the heavier side.. but it only reassures your feeling that you are in a car that wont break apart if you give it the stick... and they do their job pretty adequately. if you use them with a little of declutching on the down shifts they should keep your overtakings simple and effortless...
the suspension isn't really comfortable but then again they are not too bad either... at slow speeds the broken tarmac can be felt inside, but there is a simple solution for that.. speed up!!! coz this car is absolutely composed on the happier side of 80kmph.
the equipment isn't too bad either.. u get leather to cosset your behind, sunroof to gaze at the sky if u get time to peel your eyes off the speedometer... then there is the CD changer.. but here's one piece of advice.. switch the damn thing off, roll down the windows, step on the pedal... and hear the engine sing. Himesh Reshmaiya can never be that good!
this is one car that is for the enthusiast.. they say the Mondeo has a pretty pleasurable drive too... i'd ask them to drive a RS.. the drive is so involving it feels like your first kiss.. surprising,a bit shockin and an absolute pleasure... you will inevitably ask - once more??
