By Ian Strachan.
From time to time a car comes along that I honestly can’t fault. Not a thing wrong with it. The Skoda Superb Estate is just such a car. And now it’s got better with a plug-in hybrid version that can give you up to 79 miles of electric-only motoring.
Skoda’s executive estate has long been one of my favourite cars – both to look at and to drive. It has a sleek, modern design, bags of technology and safety features and peerless space for occupants and their baggage. The Superb lives up to its name in every respect.
This car looks good, with its flowing side view enhanced by smart 18-inch silver polished alloys, and an octagonal front grille with feline LED matrix headlights.
The latest Superb estate has retained one its most attractive features – masses of room in its tardis-like interior. There’s room to hold a small drinks party in the rear (biggest rear seat legroom in its class) but it still manages to provide acres of load space behind its powered tailgate.
On top of that it drives magnificently, has a gutsy but economical engine supported by an 85kW electric motor, is supremely comfortable, and has just about every extra you could wish for as standard.
I test drove the Skoda Superb Estate iV in SE L trim level. It is powered by a quiet and smooth 1.5 litre 204 bhp petrol engine married to a pleasing six-speed automatic gearbox. This gives you a top speed – where allowed – of 136 mph, reaching 0-60 mph in around eight nine seconds.
The ride is soft but positive and feels stable even when cornering at speed. The engine is quiet, but provides more than enough power across the range.
The SE L trim level gives you a lot of equipment as standard. This includes those stand-out 18 inch alloy wheels, three-zone climate control, cruise control with speed assist, a good satellite navigation system with a large 13- inch touch-screen which also controls a digital DAB radio with voice control, Bluetooth and Apple CarPlay, plus LED matrix adaptive headlamps with cornering function. You also get superbly comfortable heated or ventilated front seats with 14-way electronic adjustment and memory, plus a front seat massage function, dark chrome roof rails, keyless entry and ignition, front and rear parking sensors with rear-view camera and a two-spoke leather multi-function steering wheel with gear change paddles.
Temperature control, audio volume, air conditioning fan speed, air direction, driving modes and navigation map are all controlled with large user-friendly central dials – no messing around with tiny buttons. Plus you get Skoda’s trademark umbrella hidden away in the door panel.
The host of safety features includes blind spot detection, driver fatigue alert, front cross traffic alert, front brake assist, junction assist with automatic emergency braking, lane assist and all-round airbags.
The Skoda Superb iV SE L Estate hybrid comes in at £44,930 on the road. Metallic paint adds £680.
Not much else you could wish for, really. And thrown in you get the satisfaction of knowing that your fellow drivers in Mercedes, BMWs, Lexus and the like have paid a lot more for less.
