Simply Superb

SUPERB… it sounds like something a pretentious advertising type would suggest to an emerging manufacturer in, say, China, as a way of getting noticed quickly.

In fact, while Škoda has only been back in Australia for about a year, the Superb name has been pinned to the company’s luxury models since 1934. That means it is older than most car companies – and has outlasted many others.

But the Superb name will still carry a burden of proof when it is launched here early in 2009. A luxury car? From Škoda?

Those who know anything about Škoda think about small, roughly made cars of surprising robustness exported from the former Czechoslovakia during the Cold War. Their principal virtue was low price.

Just like the Czech Republic, Škoda has come a long way since, and is now a thriving member of the greater Volkswagen group. Last year it made a record 630,000 cars – up 15% - and is planning to reach 700,000 in 2008.

The Superb name was revived in 2001 as part of Škoda’s plan to add to its core of sensible small cars and to move the brand upmarket. All its products – Fabia, Octavia, Roomster and, now, Superb – are based on various VW models or at least borrow heavily from the German giant’s parts bin.

The Czech company has access to all of VW’s crown jewels: the latest petrol and diesel engines, advanced dual shaft auto/manual transmissions, and some of the best-engineered vehicle platforms to be found anywhere.

And that’s what Australia will be getting with the Superb from early next year – the newest, most efficient petrol and diesel engines the entire VW group can muster. There will also be the latest version of VW’s direct shift gearbox (DSG), a seven- speed unit not yet seen in any other VW group car. Other manufacturers, including Porsche, are still working on their first production twin-shaft boxes.

The Superb will present luxury car buyers worried about fuel prices with an intriguing option.

They wouldn’t normally associate turbo 1.8-litre petrol and turbo 2.0-litre diesel engines with a luxury car that has the same cabin space as a Commodore but, with the market in a state of flux as buyers reconsider their preferences, the Superb's advanced drivetrains are expected to appeal to many who want to cut their fuel consumption without sacrificing space or ride quality. Or performance.

And, with prices set to start around $40,000 for the entry-level model and finishing comfortably short of the $57,000 luxury car tax threshold, the Superb will address a larger slice of the market than its more expensive brethren from Audi and VW (A4 and Passat, respectively). And it is beautifully built, just like the other Škoda models, which have made Škoda the highest ranking VW brand in European quality surveys.

As with Audi and Seat, it’s down to Škoda to wrap the VW mechanicals in a body of its own creation and, if there is one design aspect which Škoda has made its own, it is roominess.

With the Superb, Škoda has spliced an extra 50 millimetres into the VW Passat platform, all the extra length going into the wheelbase and, therefore, into the cabin.

The extra length is immediately apparent, the rear seat legroom verging on vast. The front seats are so far away that Škoda has had to provide foot rests so rear passengers have something to brace themselves against. There is no claustrophobia back there.

Moving the rear seat back was made possible by adopting an unusually long roof, which goes against the current trend for sloping fastbacks, even on four-door sedans such as VW’s forthcoming Passat CC. The long roof and solid C-pillar give the Superb a more conservative, staid appearance, with some stately overtones from the 1936 original model.

The roofline also gives rise to another feature that Škoda is making its own: a liftback tailgate on what it considers to be a sedan. The Octavia sedan also has a liftback, but the Superb design goes further by including a patented twin-door effect which allows the lower half of the liftback to be opened separately so small items can be easily stowed.

If the item is larger, the whole liftback can be raised, revealing a 656-litre storage area behind the rear seats. With the rear seats folded flat, the storage almost trebles to more than 1700 litres. If you can wait further 12 months, a wagon will be available.

The Superb looks like a medium car on the outside, but that is deceptive. The Škoda has more legroom than a Commodore but it does concede a couple of centimeters in front seat width. On headroom, it’s a draw – the Superb a fraction ahead in the front seat and the commodore a fraction ahead in the back.

Needless to say it also shades rivals from within the VW group.

The new Škoda also has one of the perks of more exalted machines – the Superb has an umbrella hidden in one of the back doors, a feature found in million-dollar Rolls-Royce Phantoms.

In addition, not only are front and rear parking sensors available as options, but the Superb will also offer an automatic parking system, like the biggest Lexus. Press a button, select reverse, and the car wheels its own way into the parking bay.

The driver is presented with a classy instrument panel, large white-on-black dials with a big data screen between the tacho and the speedo.

The centre stack is also clearly laid out and can be had with Škoda’s touch-screen audio and satellite navigation systems, which includes a 30 Gb hard drive, of which 10 Gb are available for storage of music or videos.

Safety is what you would expect for a luxury car, with a minimum of seven airbags – the highest count is nine – and a five-star crash rating.

While the interior also offers the sort of comfort expected, a large part of the Superb’s attraction lies under the bonnet. There will be three engines available, a 1.8-litre petrol engine and 2.0-litre common rail diesel – both turbocharged – which are only now being applied widely across the VW group, and a 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine, which will appear six months after launch.

The 1.8-litre TSI petrol turbo comes with a new seven-speed DSG transmission and proves that there is a substitute for cubic centimeters these days. This entry level combination may prove to be the best drivetrain of the lot.

Doubts about the 1.8’s ability to adequately propel the 1471 kilogram Superb soon disappear. The petrol TSI feels a bit like a turbo-diesel, developing maximum torque from 1750 rpm and producing peak power of 118kW at a relatively low 5500 rpm, although it will spin to 6500 rpm, giving it more flexibility than a diesel.

The TSI does not have quite the step-off of a V6, but above 15km/h it holds its own in acceleration and mid-range overtaking, producing a hard-edged note reminiscent of VW’s 1.4-litre twin-charger unit when pressed to the max.

This is the first application anywhere in the VW group of the seven-speed dual-shaft auto transmission and it provides the same rapid ratio changes for which the earlier DSG (direct shift gearbox) units are famous. The seven-speeder, at least in conjunction with the 1.8-TSI, provides a noticeably better acceleration from stationary than its six-speed sibling, which can sometimes leave you waiting anxiously for the power requested to arrive at the driving wheels.

The seven-speed unit absorbs 3kW less than the six-speed it replaces and this better efficiency is reflected in TSI’s economy figures of 7.6L/100km and emissions of 180g/km of carbon dioxide.

The only diesel available in the Superb will be VW’s newest 2.0-litre turbo which uses common-rail fuel delivery and makes 125 kW/350 Nm. It drinks just 6.0L/100km and emits 159g/km of carbon dioxide.

The V6, which will only come with four-wheel drive and a six-speed DSG, uses 10.0L/100km and emits 215g/km of carbon dioxide. With 191kW and 350 Nm of torque, it has been detuned a little compared with its installations in the Touareg and Porsche Cayenne wagons, but it may appeal to those who haven’t yet realised how far forced induction has come in recent years.

The chassis showed no vices on the smooth roads around Salzburg. The front-wheel-drive petrol and diesel-turbo models required a little more wheel turn than the all-wheel-drive V6, but they felt nimbler.

The ride quality is excellent, road shocks being well damped and body roll kept to a commendable minimum. Noise levels are very low.

The fuel consumption figures benefit greatly from the programming of the DSG gearboxes which, when left in drive, will always choose the highest possible gear. The diesel will potter along at 70 km/h in sixth gear, the engine turning over at just 1300rpm.

The AWD V6’s weight penalty of at least 140 kilograms compared to the other two did not stop it being the fastest in the fleet with a 0-100 km/h time of 6,5 seconds – right in Big Six country – and the diesel does it in nine seconds.

Where does the Superb fit in the market?

It is tempting to compare it with other Euro cars and C-segment Japanese cars, but the Superb’s arrival at a time of high petrol prices means it might torment the local manufacturers as much as other imports.

Its amazingly spacious interior gives little or nothing away to the Commodores and Falcons of this world and its smaller engines may just strike a chord with buyers fleeing the large car sector. It could prove to be a superb combination of virtues.

Ian Porter travelled to Austria as a guest of Škoda.