ONE downside of a car that sips fuel like a maiden aunt at the sherry decanter is you don't get to see the fuel cap very often.

Actually, that's an upside, of course. But it did mean I had no reason to open the filler flap in 500 miles of driving, and so missed the ice scraper.

Yep, Skoda slips a little plastic square onto the back of the flap so you have something to clear the windscreen on a frosty winter morning.

The reason I can't comment on this piece of practical cleverness is the pleasing knowledge that the test car showed 62mpg at the end of my week.

That's much closer than most cars come to the theoretical average they have to quote from a standard Eurotest and which bear little relation to reality.

On one low speed journey to the supermarket the nicely readable trip computer showed 70mpg.

But outright economy is not everything, especially if you don't drive interstellar distances in your car. For £1,800 less than the diesel test car you could have a Rapid with the same kit on board but powered by a 1.2-litre petrol engine.

Performance figures between diesel and petrol are close enough not to matter much, but the diesel does about nine mpg more than the petrol in the (dodgy) official test. In reality, I'd expect a bigger difference in favour of diesel power, but you'd still need to drive a long way to recoup the extra purchase price.

Whichever fuel you choose to power your own Rapid Spaceback you would be buying a car that's long on sense and practicality, if a bit short in the glamour department. Which may not bother you one jot.

Slightly shorter than a non-Spaceback Rapid, which has a booted look but is a hatchback with a bigger boot than the estate-looking Spaceback (hope you got all that), you'll pay a bit more for the car with the longer name.

Differences in standard equipment between Rapid and Rapid Spaceback make precise cost comparisons impossible but you'll always end up paying a bit more for the latter, presumably because Skoda thinks it looks a bit more upmarket.

Plain and honest, I'd call it, and none the worse for that. The simplicity of line continues inside the car, where you find lots of room front and rear and a solid feel to everything, from armrests on the doors to switches and dashboard topping. It promises well for a long and useful life.

The car goes about its business like a well trained valet (I imagine); performing all the tasks asked of if with an ease that comes from years of honing and attention to detail.

You can sense the vast resources of the Volkswagen Group behind everything from a gearchange that works with silky precision to an optional (£550) satellite navigation system and DAB radio that don't require a handbook the size of an airport novel to fathom.

The Rapid Spaceback range stretches from £14,340 for a 1.2 petrol version to a feature-packed 1.6 diesel at £18,640. The SE trim test car comes with alloy wheels, rear parking sensors, cruise control, all round electric windows and air conditioning. And that ice scraper, of course.