You can see how it is solved, as well as other details of the tested car, in the commented photo gallery.
“The Škoda Superb is a car built for long journeys. It offers the most space for the rear passengers’ legs out of the group’s siblings and competing models,” says Filip Kučera from ESA car.
If you come to a car dealership for a Superb, then you will most likely find an example that previously served as a company car. “New Superbs are mostly bought by companies. Private clients make up only 18 percent,” Kučera calculates.
The buyer of a used car usually gets a fairly solid equipment, because in the Czech Republic this car was most often sold as new in the Style grade.
Specifically, the car I chose to test was fitted with dual-zone automatic climate control, a parking camera, a blind spot monitoring system, fog lights, alloy wheels and even heated leather seats. It starts with a button and the locked front door opens without having to take the key out of your pocket.
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On the other hand, electric closing, adaptive shock absorbers, windshield heating or a third air conditioning zone for the rear seats were missing. In principle, however, these are certainly not things without which it would be impossible to live with this car.
At one time, it was completely automatic for companies to choose one of the offered turbodiesels as the drive unit for this car. In this case, under the hood was a 2.0 TDI engine with an output of 140 kW in conjunction with a DSG transmission and 4×4 drive. In its time, it was the top of the range among diesel engines. All-wheel drive will definitely come in handy for those who, for example, go to the mountains in winter.
Service should not be underestimated
“The owner should take into account that the more complex technology of the car will require additional servicing. However, a regularly serviced Superb pays off with reliability and longevity. We know of cases of operable third-generation Superbs that have driven more than half a million kilometers,” adds Kučera.
This piece in our test drove 213 thousand kilometers on the roads since its inception in 2017. It is currently offered at Auto ESA for CZK 450,000.
Upon close inspection of the exterior and interior, I found no significant signs of wear. Even the black leather on the seats was not worn anywhere, the upholstery of the doors and the trunk looked practically new. Neither the metal nor the plastic parts of the top parts had any dents or scratches, the same applies to the plastics inside.
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Passengers are very comfortable in the Superb. The front seats are massive and have thorough lateral guidance, while in the back you will be pleased not only with an extended seat that supports the thighs, but also with royal space. After adjusting the front seat to the position in which I drive, I sat in the second row with my 186 centimeters. There, I had seven centimeters of free space above my head and an unprecedented twenty centimeters in front of my knees.
At the same time, the volume of the trunk did not suffer in any way due to such a spacious cabin. In it, there are large pockets on the sides for storing mandatory equipment, on the sides I found plastic stoppers that can be attached to the floor anywhere thanks to Velcro. Thanks to them, moving boxes or bags around the large space of the luggage compartment is prevented. There is also room under the floor for a full-sized spare wheel.
There is enough space in the cabin to store small items. The pockets in the doors are large, the box under the armrest between the front seats is even an air-conditioned box.
The controls are completely natural
Personally, I was glad that in this Superb there was still the classic control of the air conditioning and the audio system using the classic “buttons”. The necessary action can be done quickly and without the need to look at the display and hit a surface with your finger.
This car already had a decent range of safety electronic assistance systems. However, it was generally the really useful ones, among which I include both the warning of a vehicle in the blind spot and the reading of traffic signs with a warning of exceeding the permitted maximum speed in a given section. For example, the lane keeping assistant could be turned off permanently.
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The Superb is a car belonging to the so-called middle class, and its comfortable driving characteristics also correspond to this. So it’s not a car that would enjoy a sporty drive on a winding road. Its dimensions are too big for that, and the heavy diesel in the bow also has an effect on that, of course. The chassis is tuned rather softly, which you will appreciate when you drive off the highway onto some minor road with a neglected surface. You just need to slow down so that some part of the chassis does not come into contact with the asphalt after crossing a significant bump.
The six-speed automatic transmission did not cause any problems with a calm driving style, I had no reservations about the steering or the start and effect of the braking system.
It’s surprising how low fuel consumption such a large and heavy car can drive with all-wheel drive and an automatic transmission. During test drives in the city, I recorded an average consumption of 5.8 liters on the on-board computer, on domestic highways with a limit of 130 kilometers per hour, the unit took 5.7 liters from the tank every hundred kilometers, and even only exactly five liter. In the long-term combined mode, the consumption of a normally loaded car should be around five and a half liters of diesel per hundred kilometers. Of course, the price of Ad Blue consumed must also be added to this.
Competitors considered:
Recommended by Filip Kučera from Auto ESA
A competitor of VW Passat
Volkswagen Passat
Pros:
timeless design
same concern technique
lower prices
Cons:
appearance of lower equipment
higher prices in services
Ford Mondeo competitor
Ford Mondeo
Pros:
drive ability
comfort
reliability
Cons:
hard plastics
outdated look
Competitor BMW 3
BMW 3
Pros:
premium quality
excellent driving characteristics
reliable technique
Cons:
less space
higher prices
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