Baggage handlers strike
These executive estate cars have very distinct appeals, and both offer a huge saving if you buy used. But is premium or practical the hot ticket?
YOU NEED ONLY take one look at the gargantuan Skoda Superb Estate to know it’ll be a great load lugger; buy one and you’ll never dread a trip to Ikea and the embarrassing scenario of misjudging what’ll fit in the back. So impressive is it that it’s won our Estate Car of the Year award as a new car five years on the trot, and it stacks up extremely well as a used buy.
This means you can opt for this range-topping Laurin & Klement trim level, which is too pricey for us to recommend when new, without your costs spiralling. We’re testing a three-year old example against an Audi A4 Avant of the same age. It doesn’t have the outright space of the Superb, but it does have those desirable four rings on its grille. Both cars cost similar money when new, but which one makes more sense when bought at this age?
DRIVING
Performance, ride, handling, refinement
Both of our contenders use basically the same 2.0-litre diesel engine, which produces 187bhp and drives through an automatic gearbox. The Superb we’re testing here, though, sends its power to all four wheels, while the A4’s goes only to those at the front.
There are some drawbacks to this, which we’ll explain later, but the added traction of four-wheel drive certainly helps the Superb to get away from the mark without fuss or drama – especially in slippery conditions. Even so, its more substantial size and hefty weight mean it starts to lose ground to the A4 above 30mph. However, in everyday use, both cars have plenty of performance for making swift, stress-free progress, both when overtaking on country roads and accelerating up to motorway speeds.
The seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearboxes – dubbed S tronic in the A4 and DSG in the Superb – rattle off gearchanges quickly once the cars are rolling, but they can be a little jerky in lowspeed manoeuvres. Despite their similar engines, the Superb can sound gruff when accelerating; the A4 is much better insulated from engine noise and is noticeably quieter inside as a result.
Thanks to its smaller size, the A4 feels more agile than the Superb and handles better generally. In S line trim, the A4 comes with a passive sport suspension set-up that’s a little lower and firmer than that of the Sport and Technik trim levels, and this comes at the cost of low-speed ride quality; it doesn’t deal with bumps and potholes as well as it should. That’s not to say that the Superb rides like a hovercraft; although it’s softer, it still struggles over broken surfaces and there’s more suspension noise than in the A4. At motorway speeds, the Superb can feel a bit floaty, whereas the A4 feels more tied down.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Driving position, visibility, infotainment, build quality
You sit slightly higher up in the Superb; this might annoy those who like to be hunkered down, but it does mean you get excellent forward visibility.
Both cars have adjustable lumbar support, which helps
to keep back ache at bay on long journeys, but the A4’s sports seats provide more lateral support when cornering. The Superb has fully electric adjustment for both front seats, with a memory feature for the driver; in the A4, those features were reserved for top-spec Vorsprung trim. The Superb has leather upholstery in place of the A4’s Alcantara suede, leather being offered as an option with S line trim.
One of the advantages of going for an A4 of this age is that you’ll get a car with Audi’s older infotainment set-up. It really is one of the best systems out there and much nicer to use than the touchscreen-only affair that comes on post-facelift A4s built from 2019 onwards. The 7.0in screen is mounted nice and high and the menus are easy to navigate, with a rotary controller between the front seats that makes selecting what you want a doddle, even on the move. The optional-from-new Technology Pack includes Navigation Plus, which adds a larger, 8.3in screen (pictured) with sharper graphics, more advanced sat-nav and a touchpad for making inputs with your fingertip. It’s worth seeking out on a used A4.
Our Superb gets Skoda’s 9.2in Columbus touchscreen system with navigation as standard, and, as with the A4, Android and Apple smartphone mirroring are included. However, while its menus are logically laid out and responses are prompt, we miss the physical shortcut buttons and rotary volume dial of the 8.0in system that’s found on lesser Superbs; the touch-sensitive controls of this system are fiddly and only take you to the main menu or home page, and further touches are required to access specific features. Also, the shortcuts are on the far side of the display, so you have to stretch to use them.
Build quality is excellent in both cars, but it’s the A4 that stands out as being really posh when you step inside. The materials and build quality are all top notch, plus every switch and button is beautifully damped. The interior of the Superb looks fine in isolation but a little downmarket in comparison with the A4. You’re still treated to supple leather, dense interior plastics and chrome and metal-effect trim to lift the ambience, though.
SPACE AND PRACTICALITY
Front space, rear space, seating flexibility, boot
There’s lots of head and shoulder room in both cars, as well as plenty of adjustment for the seat and steering wheel. A 6ft tall passenger can sit behind a driver of the same height in either car, too, but the Superb betters the A4 for rear leg room; it’s like a limousine.
The Superb wins hands down when it comes to luggage space, too. Its boot is absolutely enormous, swallowing 11 carry-on suitcases below its parcel shelf; the A4 can manage only seven.
That said, you’ll want to try to track down a Superb that’s had the optional variable-height boot floor added, otherwise you’re left with a step up to the folded rear seats, making it tricky to load long, heavy items. We’d also look for one with the useful remote rear seatback releases; these, too, were optional from new.
Both cars have low loading lips and an electric tailgate, while the A4 comes with those remote rear seatback releases as standard. Indeed, although the A4’s boot is significantly smaller, it’s certainly well thought out. It gets 40/20/40 split rear seats (the Superb has a 60/40 split and a ski hatch), while both cars provide netted areas to prevent smaller items from flying around.
BUYING AND OWNING
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
New, the A4 Avant was the more expensive car by around £500, but bought at three years old, it’s the pricier by £3000. Indeed, at just £21,000, the Superb looks great value, especially in this lavishly equipped Laurin & Klement trim and with four-wheel drive.
Neither car has a great reliability score in diesel form, but the A4 trailed the Superb in our latest survey, finishing 17th out of 19 cars in the executive car class, compared with 15th place for the diesel Superb.
Both cars are liable for road tax at the current flat rate of £155 a year, but the Superb’s four-wheel drive system takes its toll on official fuel economy, at 54.3mpg, against the A4’s 65.7mpg.
Both cars have a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating, with the A4 scoring slightly higher on adult, child and pedestrian protection and the Superb edging ahead for driver assistance technology.
LED headlights and front and rear parking sensors are standard on both, but the Superb goes one step further with Matrix LED headlights and adaptive cruise control. To get these features in an A4, you’ll need to find a pricier (and rarer) Vorsprung edition.
‘The Superb can swallow 11 carryon suitcases, versus the A4’s seven’