ŠKODA enters the space age
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Saturday, July 4 2009 - Motoring, The West Australian
The new Superb offers a roomy form of transport with unusual yet practical features. Stephen Williams reports.
If carting two exceptionally tall rear-seat passengers is your need, take a look at the ŠKODA Superb, a most unusual car from the Volkswagen group. Sitting in the back, there is so much leg room you feel like you’re lording it in an expensive limo rather than a car that starts at just $42,990.
What makes the Czech-built Superb even more unusual is that its super-stretchy length is combined with the width of a mid-sized car – a third adult in the back would only be comfortable if built along beanpole lines.
The Superb’s boot is also extraordinary – for two reasons. At 585 litres it offers more luggage space than either of Australia’s best-selling family cars, the Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon, plus it has a much smarter boot opening system, called the TwinDoor.
When the central boot release switch is pressed, the boot lid opens like that of a sedan. When two switches are pressed, the boot lid and rear window section open as one.
It makes the Superb both a sedan and liftback, with the latter function a boon when placing a tall object, such as pram, in the boot.
Further practicality is provided by 40:20:40 split rear seats, which can fold to provide a wagon-like 1670 litres of room. Its unusual aspects don’t stop there. The Superb is lonely in its price bracket in providing as standard heated seats, dual-zone air-conditioning and nine airbags.
Few cars also offer advanced technology such as hands-free parallel parking system (an $890 option) or a sunroof which doubles as a solar-powered air-conditioner ($2290).
The latter would be a particular asset in Australia, keeping the vehicle’s interior cool while it was parked in the sun.
When it’s wintry the car also comes to the party, providing in all models self-drying bakes, heated seats and even a brolly, which has its own hidden, self-draining compartment in a rear door.
Other standard features in entry Ambition variants include front fog-lights, a tyre-pressure monitoring system, a leather steering wheel, an eight-speaker stereo system, a trip computer, cruise control and 16-inch alloy wheels.
The Superb comes with a choice of three outstanding engines and DSG automatic gearboxes, which are the same as those found in many higher-priced Volkswagens and Audis.
The $42,990 entry motor is a 1.8-litre, four-cylinder turbo petrol unit that provides 118kW and 250 Newton metres of torque.
Its versatility is shown by a performance comparison with the entry 180kW 3.6-litre V6 Holden Commodore.
The Superb’s 0-100kmh time of 8.5sec. is just 0.4sec. slower while its fuel economy is far superior – 8.4L/100km versus 10.6L/100km.
While the Commodore uses a conventional four-speed auto transmission, the entry model Superb has a cutting-edge seven-speed twin-clutch auto system that provides slick, seamless shifts.
The next Superb variant, which sells for $45,990, is powered by a punchy, sophisticated 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel motor matched to a six speed DSG gearbox.
Impressive outputs include 125kW, 350Nm, a 0-100kmh time of 8.8sec. and fuel use of 6.9L/100km.
The 1.8-liltre petrol and 2.0-litre diesel variants are also available in Elegance trim for a $3000 premium.
This adds a 10-speaker stereo system, rear blinds, electrically adjustable front seats with a memory function, heated rear seats, 17-inch alloy wheels and clever bi-xenon headlights that change their focus and spread according to the speed and weather conditions.
The pinnacle variant, which sells for $56,990, has sports saloon-like underpinnings – a 191kW 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine, six-speed DSG and an all-wheel-drive system.
When needed, up to 100 per cent of the torque can be sent to the rear wheels, a big benefit in shifting or slippery road conditions. The car combines a very smart 0-100kmh time of 6.5sec. with fuel use of 10.2L/100km.
The V6 model gets all Elegance features plus 18-inch alloys and leather trim.
The Superb’s interior design is stylish and the workmanship first class. There is genuine luxury feel in there that is enhanced by extremely quiet operation, even in the diesel model. The car is also a treat to drive in all three guises, with none of the engines an entry-price slouch.
The ride is deserving of the adjective “superb” and other dynamics such as the steering, handling and body roll excellent.
Positive badge imagery – regardless of the quality of the car – is worth many thousands of dollars per car and, the fact is, Australian buyers perceive Audi as a luxury brand and Volkswagen as premium mainstream while ŠKODA is yet to be classified in the public’s mind.
The engines and gearboxes in the Superb are among the best in the world for performance and efficiency, with each featuring sophisticated direct-injection technology while two are also turbocharged.
An addition to the family
The Superb is ŠKODA’s third model – after the Octavia and the Roomster – to be introduced to Australia and is the car maker’s flagship product.
The brand’s fourth cab off the rank late in the year will be the Yeti compact SUV, whose line-up will include 1.2-litre turbo two-wheel-drive model that could start as low as $26,000.
As the Superb is not easily pigeon-holed, it is difficult to say which cars are its competitors.
ŠKODA applies the broad brush, mentioning mid-sized Japanese models, European prestige cars and even Australian-built big cars as rivals.
The car deserves to win the attention of buyers of flash Euro metal. Deservedness, though, does not guarantee sales, the biggest hurdle being for the ŠKODA brand to become well known and regarded in Australia.
The company, which has made cars for more than a century, was last in Australia about 40 years ago, when its wares were of the staid variety typical of the Soviet Bloc.
Since 1991 though, the deft hand of Volkswagen has lifted standards to the point where the brand is well regarded across Europe.
Indeed, ŠKODA has outperformed its more expensive siblings, Volkswagen and Audi, in many reliability surveys.
