Road Test:
Skoda Superb 3.6 V6 4x4
Elegance Estate review
by David Finlay (27 October 2010)
If you're thinking of buying a Skoda Superb, this one is probably not foremost in your mind. Viewed dispassionately, it is the most expensive, the least economical and generally the most pointless in the range. But if expense, economy and . . . er, pointfulness are all relative, and I think there is a case to be made for this car. So here I am, making it.
There are a few details to be sorted out first, though. To begin with, the car reviewed here is an estate, though there is a saloon equivalent. It has a 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine which produced a maximum of 260bhp, and that power is transferred to the road through a six-speed semi-automatic DSG gearbox and four-wheel drive, both of them optional on some other Superbs but standard with this one. (Stray though: isn't it remarkable that Skoda also offers a version of the Superb with a 1.4-litre engine? That's quite a range of sizes for a single model.)
Okay. There are two reasons why you should give serious thought to buying the estate rather than the saloon - which, since we're mentioning it, is actually a hatchback too, thanks to its clever TwinDoor tailgate. First, the estate is very much better looking at the rear (though I curse Skoda's decision to limit the glass area so that it's very difficult to see where you're going in reverse), and second, it has an absolutely colossal amount of room.
Passenger space is more than generous in any Superb, but with the estate you get superior luggage capacity too, ranging from 633 litres with the rear seats in place to 1865 litres with them folded down. If you own an estate version of the Ford Mondeo, Renault Laguna or Vauxhall Insignia, your accommodation is cramped by comparison.
The engine is very sweet no matter how many revs it's doing, and it has enough grunt to give this large car a top speed of 153mph and a 0-62mph time of 6.6 seconds. Okay, so there's no point in chasing after a hard-driven BMW M5, but really, this is as much performance as you need. There are no nasty surprises in the way it handles, partly because the four-wheel drive system means that each wheel has relatively little torque going through it, and partly because Skoda has done a very fine job of the suspension. For such a large car, the Superb feels very nimble, and despite its low-profile tyres it rides exceptionally well too.
The V6 Superb is available only in Elegance trim, which means you get 18" alloy wheels, a multifunction steering wheel, rear parking sensors (just as well), bi-xenon headlights with a cornering function, satellite navigation, full leather upholstery, heated front seats, Bluetooth connectivity and even an umbrella in one of the rear doors. The test car also had several options, the one completely indispensable one being a spare wheel at £65. The others were an auto-dimming interior mirror, floor mats, heated front <and> rear seats, hill control, park assist and an upgraded sound system, all of which added less than £1100 to the price.
With all these features, and including the forthcoming increase in VAT to 20%, you can expect to pay over £30,000 for the Superb, but not much over. Other manufacturers build less appealing cars and charge more for them, and the only reason I can think of why anyone who could afford to buy this one might choose not to is the fact that they prefer not to be associated with the Skoda brand. But that's just silly. Regardless of the badge, this is a very fine car.
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