GRANTED, Skoda's Roomster is not going to appeal to the majority of us, mostly because it is an odd-looking bird. You could see it as a van with windows, but unlike some van-cars, it has never been a van. I recall the perpetrators at Skoda suggesting
it has similarities to an aeroplane cockpit with a passenger/cargo area on the back.
Or did I imagine that? Car makers get ever more fanciful. Who would have thought that Citroën, the most French and idiosyncratic of any Gallic producer, would be advertising a car as having a Germanic soul?
It smacks of despair. If you want a German car you'll buy a Volkswagen, or maybe a Skoda. Skoda is the Czech part in Volkswagen and has been allowed to retain national pride.
An irony is that people already regard Skoda as a German car made in the Czech Republic, and costing less than a Volkswagen but using lots of German mechanical parts and construction methods.
Northern Britons are particularly devout Skoda people, the Scots knowing about a good bargain.
Long ago I decided I would have no objections to having a Skoda. Oddly, and it is odd, the Roomster could be that car. It is practical as a 4/5-seater utility. The rear seats, two of which are average size, the middle one rather slim, fold forward one at a time and hitch securely to the front seats or can be removed from the vehicle.
The load area is a decent volume, with a maximum width of 40 inches and height of 35 inches at the tailgate opening. The diagonal between corners is 47 inches, which is the maximum item width you can squeeze into the Roomster. The load length, with the seats folded forward, is 58 inches.
There is a choice, depending on trim specification, of 1.2, 1.4 and 1.6 petrol engines, 1.4 diesel in two tunes, and a 1.9 diesel. Prices begin at £10,055 for the 1.2 in standard trim (curtain airbags, electric front windows, skid resistant brakes, CD and MP3 connection).
My test car was the ultimate Roomster, the Scout, with a 1.6 petrol motor, also available with 1.4 petrol, and a 1.4 or 1.9 diesel. Prices start at £12,640. You get electronic stability control, 16-inch alloys, roof rails, different upholstery, bigger bumpers, larger side mouldings, tyre pressure diagnostics, extended wheel arch protectors and darker 'sunset' glass at the back.
Its cost was £13,020. Extras included a full-length, non-opening glass roof panel. The 105bhp VW Group engine was quiet and smooth. Fitted with a five-speed manual gearbox it easily achieved more than 40mpg, and that was driving it briskly. On its journey back down the M1 to Skoda's UK base in Milton Keynes it recorded 44mpg. I presume the 34mpg overall average for the previous 1,100 miles resulted from furious urban driving in the hands of other testers. Tiptronic automatic gears are an option.
The other week I tried the newer (and smaller and cheaper) Fabia estate. They share the same undergarments, and in theory the sleeker estate should feel better, but I did prefer the Roomster. It has a 'planted' feel that I did not experience in the estate. When it should have swayed, it didn't.
What it did have was a sneaky rattle in an offside door. Like the Fabia, it has a height adjuster lever on the outer surface of the seat: this tends to snag on your skirt/trousers. Like the Fabia, is also has dull graphic contrast on the instrumentation that is hard to read easily.
A gong sounds when the temperature drops to 4°C. This must be a reminder for southern Europeans to get a pullover ready.
What we really need to know is why Skoda calls it the Scout. I have no idea. It is not equipped with a tent, a whistle, a woggle rack or a portable stove. It doesn't even have a compass. Scout, then, in name only.
What ho. I liked it.
Vehicle Skoda Roomster Scout
Price £12,640
Engine 1.6-litre petrol
Top speed 114mph
0-62mph 10.9 seconds
Fuel 40.4mpg
The full article contains 730 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
