Is the Skoda Superb Estate the best all-round car you can buy?
I’ve just spent a week driving it all over Tayside and Fife and it makes a very good case for itself.
It’s enormously spacious. It’s very comfortable. Equipment levels are excellent. It’s economical. And it’s good value for money.
The fourth generation Skoda Superb went on sale this summer with prices for the estate model starting at around the £35,000 mark.
At that price almost nothing comes close to offering the same level of space. The BMW 3 Series Touring, Audi A4 Avant and Peugeot 508 SW all have much smaller boots and a lot less rear legroom.
Only the Superb’s sister car the VW Passat – which sits on the same platform and is mechanically identical – offers similar levels of space.
Skoda Superb engine choices
Unlike many cars on sale in 2024 you can have the Superb with a diesel engine. Skoda offers a 2.0 litre diesel with 150 or 190hp.
There’s also the 1.5 litre petrol engine my car came with, which has mild hybrid technology to improve efficiency. And there is a plug-in hybrid which has a battery twice as big as the previous generation Superb. Skoda says it will do up to 62 miles on electric power, and it can now be rapid charged using a DC outlet.
My car came in SE L trim and had all the toys you could want. Dual zone climate control, heated seats and steering wheel, electric front seats with massage function, keyless entry and startup, and leather upholstery were among the goodies included in the £39,530 asking price.
A nice optional extra on my test car was the £600 winter package, which adds a heated steering wheel, rear heated seats, and a heated windscreen for speedy defrosting.
Inside the Skoda Superb
Interior quality has stepped up a notch in this fourth-generation model. There are lots of soft touch materials and everything feels built to last.
The 12.3in central display is clear and easy to use. Meanwhile, dials control the heating system and heated seats.
These are simpler to operate while driving than a touchscreen, although Skoda does make you toggle through heat, heated seats, fan controls and fan direction from a single dial, which is fiddlier than giving each system its own button.
The Superb Estate is a wonderful mile-muncher. I drove it from Dundee to Edinburgh and back. At 70mph on the M90 it cruised along very quietly indeed.
Even a 20-minute delay caused by the Dundee-Perth roadworks didn’t wipe the smile off my face, thanks to the comfortable heated seats and my car’s upgraded stereo.
How spacious is the Superb?
It’s hard to understate how much space there is inside the Skoda Superb Estate. I’m 6’5” and it is one of the very few cars in which I can sit comfortably behind myself. Even with the front seats fully back there’s enough room in the rear to sprawl out.
If you have a basketball or volleyball team to transport, this is the car you want to do it in.
The Superb Estate has always had a gargantuan boot but Skoda’s boffins have managed to eke even more room out of the latest generation, increasing space from 660 to 690 litres.
By comparison, a BMW 3 Series Touring has 500 litres and an Audi A4 Avant has 495 litres. Indeed, the Superb Estate’s boot is bigger than that of the Range Rover Sport (647 litres) and BMW X5 (650 litres).
The only cars to offer significantly more boot space than the Superb are much bigger and costlier – the Audi Q7, full fat Range Rover, and the Land Rover Discovery are three such examples.
There are lots of clever touches that make the Skoda a lovable car. A slot in the door contains an umbrella, while an ice scraper is also stashed away. There are lots of little cubbies and boot dividers that make the Superb’s gargantuan levels of storage easier to use.
What’s it like to drive?
Despite its amazing practicality, the Superb never feels cumbersome. It handled town centre driving in St Andrews, Forfar and Pitlochry with the ease I’d expect of a modest family hatchback.
My car came with adaptive suspension, which lets you stiffen or soften the car’s ride. The softest setting is perfect for long drives, while the stiffest is good for tackling twisty country roads.
It’s not nearly as dynamic as a BMW 3 Series Touring but I suspect most buyers prefer comfort over sporty handling.
The 1.5 litre petrol engine is admirably quiet. Although it’s not the quickest car in the world, I never felt it lacked for power. If you regularly tow a caravan or trailer it’s probably worth going for one of the diesels.
Official fuel economy is around 50mpg and in a week of driving I averaged 46mpg, which is excellent for a big estate car.
Is the Skoda Superb Estate the best pound-for-pound car you can buy? It’s not the most thrilling car in the world. But its combination of practicality, price, comfort and class put it in a league of its own.
Facts
Price: £39,530
0-62mph: 9.3 seconds
Top speed: 137mph
Economy: 51mph
CO2 emissions: 126g/km
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