Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI Elegance (2008) CAR review

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! Comfort is great, loads of leg room for front and rear passengers and a whopping huge boot. The diesel engine goes surprisingly quiet after a few minutes esp in 4th & 5th gears in urban/village areas & quieter still in 6th gear on m/ways. Facilities are very good too, maybe a bit too spoiling even. You get an umbrella secretly stowed away and a skis-wrap bag free (wow!), ride is – er - ‘superb’ over m/way and village roads, though thicker tyres might be more comfortable at speed over those occasional m/way surface ripples that you meet! (You get a great body shakes on thinner tyres – not the car’s fault, it’s the fault of the ‘Boys from the Black Stuff’). The car’s suspension laughs at village potholes (you think “did I just run over a dead cat and nearly kill it?”)
Disappointments? - The acclaimed auto-parking facility is not standard on my Elegance model as claimed in the car’s catalogue – pay €1500 extra for that to link it up in Sth Irl, or £350 in Nth Irl, maybe mainland UK too (work out the exchange rate - sheesh!) Unless you between-cars kerb parallel-park a lot, which I rarely have to do, it’s no great benefit, though handy as the Superb IS a long car. No free iPod intimated as a free gift in the car’s catalogue. With any window even slightly open on a rainy day, water blows or drips onto the inside of doors. (Can’t speak for serious snow in Ireland - we last had that in 1982. So much for the huge free skis-bag in the boot). The annoying loud bells off the Bluetooth connection on entering or leaving the car.
Delights? – The ways that: it’s a Green car – my fuel, insurance and car tax costs have dropped so dramatically vs R75; it drives just like you want it to; it lights up inside and out, on pressing the key, like a Christmas tree, when & exactly where you need light; the auto lights system works; the boot auto opens from a distance on pressing the key to load in whatever your shopping or holiday stuff is; you don’t need a roof rack; the headlights turn to light up your driveway or sharp country corners as you approach them at night time; the Bluetooth connection works - you don’t have to fiddle w/ wired cell-phone connections or dash-mounted holders when Bluetooth kicks in, your phone’s still in yr pocket, belt or bag; the boot lid doubles as standard and hatchback; the great ‘Bolero’ sound system fills the whole car; the air controls for both front and rear passengers left & right are independent; all the clever in-car & several in-booth storage compartments give all you need; the rear parking sensor system warns; you can easily reach the clever sunglasses compartment; you can pull car drivers in trouble out of trouble with its engine strength; you don’t need 4W drive; you can smirk at workplace Executive colleagues’ envious looks and admiration of the car in the staff car park, esp the sad Saab & Merc money throw-away owners. I’m tired typing... there’s more... like it’s a car you’d be privileged to bring a bride to church in... And the two of them away from.
Go find out for yourself... the Insignia was a very close call on my tick boxes but the Superb won out, rightfully so, ‘cos it didn’t have ‘that box’ between driver & passenger . How clever was that of its designer(s), when all around were following, er.. fashion? .. Instead of the luxury of brilliant practicality?
PS- Did yaz see NDTV on Sky TV’s news channels is running a competition at the moment, ‘Forecast India’s next Prime Minister’? - The Prize? - A “Skoda Superb – a 7-star driving experience”. Enough said. Or have I not said enough? Your choice!
PPs – Can’t wait for the Chinese Roewe 75 t

This is an outstandingly good car if you buy the 2.0 litre 170 bhp common-rail diesel version. It is actually in no ways a bad looker. If you get it in this burgundy colour or in black with cream coloured seats it looks fine. To put it in perspective, the truly beautiful 5 seies BMW is longer and wider. My favourite car the new E Class Mercedes Benz is larger still.  The Ford Mondeo saloon is both longer and wider than the Skoda Superb.

For looks I really love the new Citroen C5 saloon. It is very comfortable and well made. I know somone who has had for well over a year and pulls a caravan throughour Spain and France and of course the UK. He is delighted with it and has had 100% reliability.

Back to the Skoda Superb. I need it's carrying capacity and it's quality roadholding and reliability. So I am very interested in it as possibly my next car. I have had a wonderfully reliable and still good looking Seat Toledo TdiSE for ten years. It has done 168,000 miles and could well do double that. It still does over 60 mpg on long runs and doesn't use oil or water. A magnificent car!