THERE are a number of good all round cars on the market, but few that deliver some of the key factors of daily motoring like the Skoda Rapid 1.6 TDI Greenline.

The Rapid, although it bears the same name as one of the old Soviet bloc cars that were sold here decades ago, is a Volkswagen Audi Group product and provides much of the technical advances of Audis and VWs at a value price.

This approach has paid dividends for Skoda as it was listed by Glass's Guide as one of three brands that sold in the UK that has that elusive "it" factor - the others being Jaguar Land Rover and Honda.

And it is this value premium approach which is at the core of the Rapid Greenline.

This1.6 diesel verson firstly proved itself as a true economy champion because its 90ps engine came up with some startling economy figures.

The official combined figure is an eye-brow raising 74.3mpg with a low CO2 emissions figure of 99g/km.

In everyday driving this gives a figure in the top 60s in terms of mpg.

And is it a slouch? Most definitely not, with a top speed of 116mph and a 0-60mph sprint factor of 12 seconds.

Exceptional for a car of its size, which falls between the company's Golf-sized Fabia and Passat-sized Octavia and is priced at £17,815.

This Rapid forms part of the Greenline Series which has been optimised to stretch economy as far as possible in real-world driving conditions and it certainly works.

And underpinning the all-rounder honours is the fact that there is 550 litres of storage space which is increased to 1,490 litres with the rear seats down.

And although the interior is a little plain you do get air-conditioning, electric front windows, multiple front airbags, a CD player and central locking.

But it doesn't lack too much in sophistication either with the Rapid Greenline getting air conditioning, electric front windows, multiple front airbags, CD-player in dash and central locking.

The Rapid was the first Skoda to embody the company's latest design language and has a strong road presence. The unusual sweeps and curves of its looks were insipired by Bohemian crystal ware of its Czech homeland and endows it with a very individual appearance which has been a hit in the UK.