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03/11/2020
With a cavernous boot and unexpectedly advanced cabin, this Skoda is a family car, a business car, a comfortable cruiser and everything else in between. Let's take a closer look at what makes it so special.
2020 Skoda Superb Estate
Engine: 2.0 litre diesel
Model Line: Sportline Plus
Transmission: Automatic
Performance: 190PS
Colour: Dragon Green
Upholstery: Alcantara/leather - Black with silver diamond stitching sports seats
Optional Extras: Supernova anthracite 19” Alloys, Park Assist, Temporary Spare Wheel, Virtual Cockpit, Virtual pedal for boot opening
Price of model driven: £39,305
*Prices and model lines correct at the time of publication
The Superb Estate is one of the biggest estates on the market and has a real presence both on and off-road. The optional metallic paint like this Dragon Green also makes a pretty big statement. Sleek headlights, imposing grille, streamlined body and stylish wheels make for a really impressive looking vehicle that offers strong competition to its German rivals.
As standard, you get 19-inch alloys on the Sportline Plus. However, for not much more you can upgrade to these 19-inch supernova anthracite alloys, which add a really eye-catching blade-like detail to the wheels. While the paintwork on this car is anything but conservative, inside it's a bit less loud. This car has an Alcantara and leather upholstery with sports seats and silver contrast stitching. And in all honesty, it looks fantastic.
SE models get basics such as 17” alloy wheels, adaptive cruise control, front and rear parking sensors and dual-zone climate control. Next up in the model line-up is the SE Technology, which as you guessed it, gets you that little bit more tech and kit.
Things such as leather upholstery with heated front seats, blind-spot detection and an 8-inch touchscreen with satellite navigation. Go up again and the SE L benefits from 18-inch alloy wheels, full matrix led headlights with LED daytime running lights and dynamic indicators and lighting animations.
The Sportline Plus that we're driving gets those 19-inch wheels, black gloss finishes, carbon optic interior elements and a 9.2-inch touchscreen with upgraded navigation and 3D maps. Last up in the L&K, with a rearview camera, virtual cockpit and dynamic chassis control as standard.
This particular car had a 2.0L diesel engine with just under 190 horsepower and a 0-62 time of 8.4 seconds. The performance was a welcome surprise, as was the car's handling and fuel economy.
Another bonus, even standard models came with adaptive cruise control for hassle-free motorway cruising, as well as front and rear parking sensors for problem-free parking - a big bonus for those who might be a little nervous about the size of this car. Which we'll look in to in a bit more detail below.
Comparing the Skoda Superb Estate to its nearest competitors to contextualise its size alone, it's bigger than the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, BMW 3 Series and Audi A4. But it's smaller than the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, BMW 5 series and Audi A6.
It sits somewhere in between. So, if you’re a driver looking for something in the middle, you’re in luck. If you’re looking for something other than an Audi, BMW or Mercedes but still with the tech and the build quality, you’re also in luck with the Superb.
If you’re wondering ‘Which estate car has the biggest boot?’, the answer is simple. This one. The Superb lords over super-estates such as the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, VW Passat, BMW 5 Series Touring and the Ford Mondeo Estate to boast the biggest boot of them all. And at 660 litres, it really is cavernous.
Put the seats down and that boot space bumps up to 1950 litres, on top of the added practicality of a ski hatch and plenty of storage dotted around the car.
The vast amount of head and legroom compliment the hugely comfortable cabin, which will fit five adults well and offers easy access to Isofix points and nice wide doors in which to load a child seat in and out.
The Sportline Plus has wireless SmartLink for Apple CarPlay (wired for Android Auto and mirrorlink) and good quality, quick connecting Bluetooth that’s easy to use. Everything is displayed on either an 8-inch or 9.2-inch touchscreen display, which in our case is the latter with upgraded satellite navigation that is really, really impressive.
In all honesty, this car is packed to the brim with kit. Some standard, some optional. Here are some of our highlights.
It also gets a plethora of important safety features including:
The Sportline Plus also gets a selection of driving modes. And for a big car, it’s also pretty efficient. With a claimed combined MPG of 62.8 and reasonable running costs.
One of those lovely things happened during the Superb test drive...we were surprised.
Surprised by how brilliantly this car drove. Surprised by how good it looked. And surprised by how advanced the technology and safety features were.
The Virtual Cockpit was one of the best I've used, with graphics that were, in my opinion, easily as good as those in a comparable BMW. The seats are oh so comfy, and I know we all bang on about it, but the spaciousness of this estate simply cannot be beaten.
What are the bad points? It costs almost as much as a comparable BMW, and a lot of our favourite tech is an optional extra. That, and we can't make up our mind on the yellow/green paintwork.
But to end it all, I have one (albeit slightly cringy) sentence to summarise...
Superb by name, superb by nature.
