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(Wed 05 Mar 08) The most significant car on Skoda's stand at the Geneva Show is the new-generation Superb. Although it's the same length as the previous car, it has even more interior room (already one of the strong points of the old Superb), and luggage space has jumped up from 462 litres to 565 litres with the rear seat in place or 1670 litres with the seat folded.
Thanks to the patented Twindoor system, there are two ways of reaching the luggage compartment. One is to open the entire tailgate, in normal hatchback style, but you can also use the smaller, saloonlike boot door if you're loading smaller objects or are parked in a restricted area. Depending on the particular model, up to nine airbags are fitted, and optional extras include a touch-screen navigation system, bi-xenon headlamps with five modes for different driving conditions, and an automatic parking system. The range of engines is exceptionally broad, starting with the Volkswagen Group's 1.4-litre petrol unit, which produces 125bhp. The 160bhp 1.8 TSI is expected to be the most popular petrol engine in the range, and there are also three turbo diesels - the old (but still useful) 1.9 TDI, producing 105bhp, and 140bhp and 170bhp versions of the more modern 2.0 TDI. If you choose any of these engines you also get front-wheel drive, but the flagship 260bhp 3.6-litre V6 petrol - the most powerful unit ever fitted to a production Skoda - comes with permanent four-wheel drive. It's also fitted as standard with the six-speed DSG transmission which is also available as an option in the 1.8 TSI model. The V6 is by a long way the fastest car in the range, with a top speed of 155mph and a 0-62mph time of 6.5 seconds. At the other end of the scale from the V6 is the Superb GreenLine. This uses the 1.9 TDI engine, but thanks to revised aerodynamics, a 15mm lower ride height, low-resistance tyres, higher gearing and a tyre repair set in place of the spare wheel, it has much better fuel economy and CO2 emissions than the standard car - 55mpg combined and 136g/km respectively. Still on the subject of high economy and low CO2, Skoda is also using Geneva to present the Fabia GreenLine mentioned in a previous news story and a MultiFuel version of the Octavia. The company will also show the new 167bhp Octavia RS 2.0 TDI. Skoda Gallery Previous: Hyundai MPV Concept Next: Renault Megane Coupé Concept |
