Bigger Skoda is Superb
THE Welsh borders are a marvellous place to enjoy your driving, with plenty of sparsely populated, traffic-free roads that are test enough for the best.
I most recently headed over that way in Skoda’s excellent Superb Estate and what a companion it turned out to be.
In size, this is a massive load lugger that compares well with the Mercedes E-Class and the Audi A6 Avant. In fact, in neither of them can you cross your legs in the back seats as you can in the Skoda.
This isn’t a car, it’s a stretch limo, and the boot is still large enough to carry a big chest of drawers back from the auctions.
Yet you won’t have to pay Audi or Mercedes money to get hold of one, because pricewise, they come in the same as a Ford Mondeo or VW Passat.
I drove the Sport Line 2.0-litre diesel with the excellent VW group DSG automatic gearbox as standard, together with automatic four-wheel drive.
Now with a normal estate car’s ground clearance, it’s no off-roader. Think of it more as an excellent car to keep you going in snow and ice, or to pull a caravan out of a muddy field.
The 2.0-litre diesel engine in this guise produces an excellent 190bhp, so it’s more than enough for the size, giving smooth and swift acceleration from any speed above about 1,700 revs.
Despite fairly soft suspension, the road holding and handling are brilliant for such a large car. There’s loads of grip, helped by an excellent lack of roll, and the handling balance is marvellous, even when pushed very hard.
Equipment in Sport Line spec includes alloys, xenon headlights that swing left and right with the steering, sat nav, wifi, electric heated seats, keyless entry and starting and an easy open electric tailgate.
The Skoda Superb Estate Sport Line 2.0-litre diesel I drove costs £34,710.