THERE has been a trend through the years for car firms to get the naming all wrong

In the 1980s Chevrolet had its Sprint, the noughties saw the arrival of the Suzuki Swift and now Skoda has introduced the Rapid.

Like its predecessors the car - with its near 11 second sprint time - is nothing like it sounds, but don't let that put you off.

In fairness to Skoda the choice of name harks back to the Czech firm's early days when they named a 1930s saloon and then a rear-engined 1980s coupe as Rapid.

This latest incarnation is straightforward and spacious but fairly sedate in both its driving and styling. 

And a more appropriate name for this car that fills the gap between the Fabia supermini and the Octavia saloon is Sensible, Practical or Dependable. 

The styling grew on me and I particularly liked the fins on the front surrounded by a chrome trim and topped off with the small, simple and stylish new Skoda badge above it.

From the back it looks a bit like a Golf with a boot, but from the side it's more reminiscent of a BMW in its shape.

The 1.6-litre engine is straight out of the impressive VW range and is plenty powerful for such a small, light family car, but there is a slight lull before some of that power arrives.

It's an average performer on local roads but it really comes into its own on motorways and faster roads where it proves itself as a comfortable but slightly loud cruiser with road noise intrusion.

The steering is well weighted and the ride is smooth. And the frugal engine was promising more than 400 miles per tank - with official figures hovering around 60mpg. Add to this low CO2 emissions of 114g/km and it becomes cheap to tax and is a good option as a company car.

One of the biggest reasons to buy this car jumps out at you as soon as you open the boot or any of the four doors.

The boot is well shaped and deep enough to provide a whopping 550 litres of space, which is nearly trebled when the rear seats are laid down.

The space theme continues for passengers, who have more than enough leg and headroom.

There may be plenty of plastic inside but it all feels solid, but not so with the seats, which could be more supportive and are pretty poor on the adjustment score.

The simplicity of the interior is refreshing and there is a lack of clutter about the layout.

At first glance the key standard features seem good and on the middle range SE trim level include alloy wheels, air conditioning, fog lights, tinted windows and telephone connection with Bluetooth and cruise control. 

The extra fits bumped it up to nearly £20,000 and included packages like a £600 driving pack, £550 sat-nav pack and £500 summer pack.

Those extras brought in the likes of parking sensors along with a touchscreen DAB music system and sat nav system.

The central dash, clever and easy-to-use instrument panel is straight out of the VW cousins, but there are some omissions for a car that's just a shade under £20,000.

This one had a Bluetooth telephone system, but not the steering-wheel controls that it was so desperately crying out for to use the phone system safely.

But the biggest missing feature for me was the electric windows in the rear, which were still fitted with wind down handles.

However were very clever little touches, but I don't think they broke Skoda's bank.

They include an ice scraper tucked away in the fuel filler cap and a boot cover that can be flipped between hard wearing rubber to carpet.

The standard safety features are very good and includel driver, passenger and curtain airbags, and stability programme and assisted braking.

There is also fog lights on the higher SE model, which corner on the range-topping Elegance model.

The best way to describe the Rapid is that it's a thoroughly decent and sensible car that will be cheap to run.

It's not a stunner and it will not excite all that much but I can still see the attraction - just don't expect the Rapid to live up to its name on the performance front.