Never mind the width, feel the quality
Best to forget about the clichés, for the Skoda Superb DOES live up to its name, says Damien O’carroll.
It has become something of a cliche to say how well the Skoda Superb suits its name, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Ever since the nameplate’s reappearance it has become better and better with each subsequent incarnation. And the latest one is no exception to that particular rule. The new Superb takes the staggering interior space and usability of the last-gen car, and adds improved quality, equipment and staggering good looks to a package that was already thoroughly excellent, but was, shall we say, “proportionally challenged” in some areas. While the last car had a slightly awkward appearance from some angles, the new one suffers no such faults, with a sleekly modern and angular exterior providing a slightly Volkswagen-esque profile, but actually exceeding its siblings in overall visual appeal. Inside it is not quite the same story, with VW still boasting better interior quality and design, but the Skoda is not very far off, with high quality materials and an attractive, restrained (that the unkind could call slightly dull) design that doesn’t quite live up to the promise of the extremely handsome exterior. On the equipment side of things, the Skoda is an absolute winner, however. Packing Apple Carplay and Android Auto phone projection as standard, the $58,900 2.0 TDI 4X4 wagon we drove also came standard with tri-zone climate control, a leather multi-function steering wheel with paddle shifters, driver and front passenger’s electric seats with a memory function on the driver’s side, an electric opening tailgate, Drive Mode Select, front and rear parking sensors with a backing camera, fog lights with a cornering function, 19-inch alloy wheels, lane assist and blind spot detection, keyless entry and start, and autonomous city braking. But the star of the equipment line-up has to be the powertrain, which in this particular car is a 2-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel engine that pumps out 140kw of power and 400Nm of torque channeled through an excellent six-speed DSG and all four wheels. This gives the Superb a wonderfully confident and composed on-road demeanour, with a huge wave of torque available between 1,750 and 3,250rpm. Acceleration is simply a relentless gathering of pace, while corners require only the merest of attention, as the 4X4 wagon also boasts massive amounts of grip, with turn-in being particularly sharp. The ride is noticeably firmer than the old car, leading to a less-plush experience, but sharper handling. We do question the need for this, as the last Superb was at its best when cruising at speed on the open road, serenely soaking up bumps and other road imperfections better than literally anything this side of Rolls-royce. This one, not so much. While it is still relentlessly comfortable, the firmer ride has reduced the impressively serene capabilities to merely acceptable. And while the handling has improved, our question would be; “Did it really need to? ” After all, the Superb has always been about comfort. Well, comfort and massive amounts of interior space. And that is something the new car still has plenty of. The latest Superb is still a massively impressive car for the money. It now looks incredible and packs some impressive technology, but isn’t quite as serene as it once was.