Smart Skoda is big on value

Skoda’s largest model, the Superb, has always been particularly popular in cavernous estate guise.

There’s no reason to think that things will be any different when it comes to this third generation range.

If you want a really big estate car that doesn’t come with the kind of premium pricing you’d get with station wagons from Volvo or the top German brands, then there’s not much to touch Skoda’s Superb. This third generation version is even larger than its predecessor, yet more efficient and better equipped. If you’re looking in this segment, you’d probably like one.

Skoda’s Superb has always traded on being big. The standard hatch model’s key showroom attribute has always been the astonishing levels of rear seat legroom it offers – plus its big boot. The car’s always been the perfect starting point then, for the creation of a really huge estate model, something the Czech brand introduced with the second generation version and continues with here in this much improved Mk3 model.

This design uses the Volkswagen Group’s hi-tech MQB platform, which allows it to be bigger, yet still lighter than its predecessor. Sure enough, there’s a 660-litre boot with the seats up and nearly 2,000 litres of space with the rear bench folded down. We’re almost into large MPV territory here. All this from a smart executive-style estate with no frumpy people-carrying connotations. As before, it’s priced at the level of a Ford Mondeo or Vauxhall Insignia-style D-segment estate, yet offers even more room than you could expect from a much pricier large executive class station wagon – say a BMW 5 Series Touring or an Audi A6 Avant. In other words, there’s plenty to like here.

If you were to pick one word to summarise driving the Superb, you’d probably pick “relaxed”. Weight may have been pared back by around 75kg for this Mk3 model but it’s still very big – and heavier than other cars that sell at a similar price point. If you push it, the Superb does handle tidily with plenty of grip, but you can feel that’s not its preferred gait. This isn’t helped by optional adaptive dampers which are too firm in Sports mode but allow too much body movement in Comfort. Try and hustle it along though and you’re kind of missing the point of this car.

As before, four-wheeldrive is an option on the larger engines – and standard fit on the flagship model, the potent turbocharged 276bhp 2.0-litre DSG petrol variant. This pricey derivative’s hard to recommend though, given this car’s lack of sporting remit, intriguing though it is with what is effectively the powertrain from the Golf R hot hatch beneath the bonnet. Other petrol options include a 221bhp 2.0-litre TSI engine and a pair of 1.4-litre TSI turbos, offered with either 123 or 147bhp; we’d recommend the latter as it’s actually cleaner and less thirsty thanks to cylinder deactivation technology. If you don’t