Skoda Vision RS Previews New Rapid Hatch: Paris Motor Show 2018

Sitting pretty besides Skoda’s bonkers Kodiaq RS, is the Vision RS. We’ve already seen glimpses of the concept in the form of sketches about a month ago. Dare we say the concept looks even better in the metal.

Skoda’s Vision RS is a sporty hatch meant to preview the design language for upcoming RS models as well as the next-gen Rapid. It’s quite a big hatchback, measuring 4356mm in length, 1810mm in width and 1431mm in height. The wheelbase spans 2650mm, pushing the wheels all the way out towards the extremes.

We also see the crystalline design philosophy slowly evolving. The lines are that much more sharper, and we see the focus shifting towards cleaner surfaces. For instance, the door handles on the Vision RS are recessed so that the side profile appears like one single unit. That said, Skoda’s signature elements are very much in place. This includes the crystalline headlamps, the trademark grille and taillamps that have the ‘C’ lighting patterns. There are bespoke touches too, such as the 20-inch alloy wheels, carbon-fibre wing mirrors and a roof spoiler that incorporates the third brake light.

Inside, we see the dashboard mimicking the grille in terms of design. There's a prominent dip, right under the central touchscreen. Skoda’s harking back to its motorsport heritage here, incorporating pull straps instead of door handles, and a centre console made entirely out of carbon fibre. The cabin does look like it’s focussed towards the driver with sporty ‘floating’ bucket seats, a flat-bottom steering wheel and a screen each for the instrument cluster and the infotainment. Speaking of which, the touchscreen has Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant built in. So you can ask Alexa how much fuel you have, when the service is due and whether the car’s doors/windows are closed or not. This tech will soon be rolled out to existing Skoda owners all over the world in three languages - English, German and French.

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The concept is powered by a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine paired with a 75kWh electric motor. This gives the car a total of 245PS of power, which enables the Vision RS to clock 100kmph in 7.1 seconds and go on to a top speed of 210kmph. It also gets three drive modes - normal, EV and Sport. Set it to EV, and you can drive up to 70km without burning a drop of fuel. The 13kWh li-ion battery can be charged within 2.5 hours, or be during while driving through regeneration.

It's already known that Skoda will use the Vision RS as a base for the Rapid Spaceback sold in Europe. And, for the next generation of the big hatch, the 'Spaceback' suffix will be dropped altogether. That said, we can’t wait to see what this concept eventually morphs into. How much of the concept is retained in the production-spec version, remains to be seen. We can forget about it making its way to India anytime soon, though. Skoda India is busy localising the MQB A0 platform for India, and readying a compact SUV for us to sample by 2020.