Skoda Superb 1.8TSI Review

What is it?

The Superb – completely, thoroughly and totally revamped. This is the third generation of Skoda’s big luxury car and the second (after the Octavia) to get Volkswagen Group’s innovative modular MQB platform that will underpin a whole bunch of upcoming cars from the next generation VW Polo and Passat to the Audi A3, A4 and A6. It also incorporates the best elements of Skoda’s new design language under Jozef Kaban and looks, well, Superb.

Looks expensive

There’s no denying the earlier Superb looked awkward with its long wheelbase. The new Superb, despite having its wheelbase stretched out by a further 80mm looks proportional. Viewed in profile it does look all of its 4.8 meters but with the coupe-like roofline allied to the traditional notchback design (the unnecessarily complex dual-door boot has been junked) everything ties together perfectly. The Superb benefits from all of the VW Group’s competence in metal forming and stamping and the sharply pinched lines and creases make it look expensive and upmarket. The lighting too uses crystals and a new LED DRL graphic and with the bi-xenon lights, it cuts a particularly handsome face. Particularly noteworthy is the bonnet that wraps all the way to the top of the front fender. The so-called ‘Tornado line’ that runs from the bonnet shut line on the fender to the sides and wrapping round the boot makes it the most attractive looking car in the segment, in a non-blingy, tightly-engineered kind of way.

On the inside

Again the Group’s competence, actually superiority, in interior quality and materials shows through. The design is conservative yet handsome with flowing lines and great quality materials.

The version tested her is the most-affordable Style variant of the 1.8 TSI turbo-petrol with the manual gearbox. It costs a not-inconsiderable Rs 22.68 lakh ex-showroom Mumbai and, at this price, to be greeted by a row of blanked-out switches on either side of the gear lever is a bit of a let down. What is an even bigger let down is the reverse parking camera has been omitted while rear passengers don’t get temperature or fan-speed control for the rear air-con vent. The Superb does have a big cabin and the air-con just doesn’t feel powerful enough, forcing the front air-con blower speed to be cranked up real high to keep the boss at the back cool.

It’s all about space

Let’s start at the back where the boot opens up to reveal 625 litres. This is up by 30 litres and it that expands to 1760 litres with the seats folded down. It’s so huge it can take stuff up to 3.1 meters in length.

The increase in wheelbase is claimed to improve rear seat space and the seat is also claimed to have better thigh support. There’s no dearth of rear knee room, that’s for sure, and one can sit comfortably with legs crossed, even tuck their feet under the front seats and stretch out (the front chairs do need to be raised though). Elbow room is up by 69mm but the transmission tunnel is rather big making three abreast not very comfortable. The big transmission tunnel is there because Europe has an all-wheel drive model and though we did get AWD with the V6 petrol on the previous Superb don’t hold your breath for it this time round.

At a class-best 157mm for rear leg room and 980mm for rear head room space really isn’t an issue. However the rear seat has a higher hip point and at the back I felt like I was sitting way too high. While the improvement in rear knee room isn’t really obvious (which doesn’t really matter honestly because there was always more than enough), I felt the seat back was a bit too upright to take a nap. It’s the European (German, actually) engineering showing through where driving dynamics are always prioritised over comfort.

What’s it like to drive then?

It’s superb, and that’s no exaggeration. The arrow-straight roads of Rajasthan would have been the logical choice for the press drives of a luxury car that will be bought to be chauffer driven in. Skoda India however choose the wonderfully twisty SH 88 from Mangalore to Coorg, 160 kilometers of smoothly surfaced, lightly trafficked but single-lane highway that ended in 10 kilometers of an atrociously broken road leading up to the spectacular Taj hotel at Madikeri. An Accord or Camry would have tied itself knots on these roads, but the Superb put a big fat smile on our face.

This MQB platform marks a big step up from the old Superb and you have to hand it to these German engineers – they are undisputed masters of chassis engineering and suspension tuning. The ride quality is truly fantastic – those small speed breakers you find at the entry and exit of villages, three or sometimes five bunched close together, you barely feel it at whatever speed you attack it. Poor surfaces are brushed away with shocking comfort. It never bottomed out and didn’t touch over even big speed breakers. And what blows you away is that it does all this without any nose-pitch; without any float or wallow over undulating roads. Drive the new Superb gently and she’s a proper luxury car, it’s only at really slow speeds that you feel that typically German firmness that never feels uncomfortable. Drive the new Superb hard and she stays flat and planted. This is a long-wheelbase Octavia but it doesn’t feel like the (excellent) Octavia has been ruined by stretching it out. Around corners it is wonderfully engaging and involving and I have to say all my impressions are with a complement of four in the car with overnight bags and two sets of camera equipment. With just two it would have been even better, and that is saying something. It even has good steering allowing you to place the car with precision and accuracy. Only on some tight harpins you feel the length and wheelbase, that there’s a boot sticking out way behind you, but overall it drives really well. There’s also the XDS+ electronic differential on the front axle that simulates (to an extent) a limited slip differential, braking the inside front wheel to stop it spinning away the power in a corner and sending more power to the outside wheel. You can feel it working, the car gamely holding off understeer, power gently cutting in the middle of the corner when on the gas, the Superb carrying much more corner speed that you’d expect of such a big car (that is not a BMW, Merc or Audi.

Only the petrol till April

It’s weird that deliveries of the diesel, which will obviously form bulk of the Superb’s volume, will only start by April. If you want a new Superb now you will have to make do with the petrol – and it’s a fantastic motor. It’s a motor we’ve experienced in a whole bunch of VW Group cars – Audi’s, VW’s and of course Skoda’s. The original Octy was the first to get a turbo-petrol motor in the country – remember? – and the Laura was the first to get this 1.8 direct-injection TSI. Turbo-petrols are a big part of Skoda’s Indian story then and this motor has been upgraded to make 12 per cent more power (177bhp from 158), 28 per cent more torque and is 7.8kg lighter. The new Superb is itself 75kg lighter and that means fuel efficiency has also gone up (14.67kmpl for the DSG, 14.12kmpl for the diesel). Interestingly the manual petrol peaks at 320Nm of torque while, to account for the torque limitations of the DQ-200 7-speed DSG gearbox, the automatic petrol has been detuned to 250Nm (though power remains the same).

Fun to drive?

As mentioned we tested the manual petrol and performance is … err … superb. Post 2000rpm things start to get interesting and north of 3000 the 1.8 TSI really starts to sing. It’s such a strong motor that you rarely have to use the last 1500rpm, yet when you’re in the mood for it, she’ll sing all the way to 6800rpm, plastering a big smile on your face. And what’s even more pleasing are the waves of low down torque – on the fast sweepers of SH 88 you could keep her in third and she’d fly from corner to corner in a manner a big luxury car (this side of the German luxury brands) simply should not.

As for the diesel

The 2.0-litre TDI engine is carried forward but now makes 26.2 per cent more power (goes up from 138 to 174bhp) while torque is up 9.4 per cent to now peak at 350Nm. And it does feel faster, the motor spinning with more urgency and the car displaying an even quicker turn of speed. You really wouldn’t want more power – not in this class of vehicle – until you drive the petrol Superb and get spoilt by the refinement, flexibility, eagerness to rev, bottom-end grunt and, ultimately, flat-out performance. With petrol prices having softened in recent times I’d really recommend you take a second look at the 1.8TSI (and save yourself over two and a half lakh rupees over the similarly equipped automatic diesel). By the way the diesel is only available with the DSG automatic gearbox. You’ll also be surprised to note the ground clearance of the diesel is 149mm while the petrol is 164mm. At least I was surprised…

Safe?

Yes, as a full five star Euro-NCAP figure will attest to it. Along with the stiffer shell (double the percentage of hot formed steels than before) it gets 8 airbags, electronic stability control, the electronic differential lock, pre-fill for the brakes, tyre pressure monitoring and multi-collision brake which applies the brake if it detects an accident thus preventing the car rolling forward and getting into even more trouble. There’s also adaptive lighting that alters the spread and throw of the bi-xenons depending on speed. And all, apart from drowsiness detection and  tyre pressure monitors are standard on all variants. 

Easy on the pocket?

The petrol manual starts at Rs 22.68 lakh rupees (ex-showroom Mumbai) for the Style variant with the manual gearbox – which is my pick of the range if you enjoy driving yourself (or even if you’re chauffer driven, unless you love your chauffer so much you don’t want him to row the gearbox in the scrum of traffic). The Style, of course, makes do without some things you’d expect as standard on a car that’ll cost nearly 25 lakh rupees after registration and insurance, chief among them being a reverse camera (it’s over 4.86 meters in length for crying out loud!) and navigation. That said she does get full smartphone connectivity (CarPlay, Mirror Link and Android Auto) so your phone’s Google Maps can play on the 6.5-inch touchscreen.

The automatic petrol is 1.3 lakh rupees dearer and the extra convenience is off-set by the de-tuned torque figures. All Style variants get the two umbrellas, auto lights and wipers, cooled gloveboxes and an anti-slip bottle holder that holds bottles in place so you can unscrew the cap without taking it out of the recess. Smart.

The third petrol variant is the Laurin & Klement that gets, well, everything including the sorely missed parking camera. Virtual Kick allows you to swing your leg under the boot lid to open it and there’s auto boot close which, considering the size and weight of the notchback, should actually come as standard. The leather seats are perforated all round and cooled at the front which, considering the heat in our country, should also be standard. Rear passengers get their own climate control settings and the boss at the back can use the appropriately named Boss buttons to slide the front seat forward. The dials are more attractive, there’s ambient lighting that you can change colours on and you also get the drive mode selector that sharpens the steering, gearbox and engine responses in Sport mode. All versions get 17-inch alloys with the L&K wheels obviously looking much nicer.

The diesel range starts at Rs 26.39 lakh for the automatic Style and tops off at 29.36 lakh rupees for the L&K. Prices have gone up by approximately 3 to 4 lakh over the earlier Superb, which does seem like quite a lot until you drive it and realise how much better it is than the outgoing model.

Competition check

The Toyota Camry is the only real competition but it doesn’t have a diesel variant. In the Toyota’s defence there is the petrol hybrid which betters the Superb for refinement while on comfort it is two steps ahead.

The bigger problem for Skoda will be the small luxury cars – Merc CLA, Audi A3 – and even the base variants of cars one step higher like the BMW 3 Series. These are admittedly heart over head purchases but buyers are being swayed by the snob value of the brand as also the lovely styling (the CLA in particular), and Skoda will be praying that people with 25 lakh rupees to spend on a car will go back to thinking with their heads.

evo India rating

4.5/5

I was going to start this test from the back seat because that’s where most buyers will spend most of their time but the sight of a manual gearbox had me jumping behind the wheel as soon as we got out of the airport at Mangalore. A superb move, it turns out, as the new Superb marks a huge step up in how cars in this segment go round corners and handle poor roads. Clearly you won’t find a car in this segment that drives half as well and if you’re looking for a car to be driven to work on weekdays and drive to the hills on weekends there’s no alternative. Actually at this price – if you’re thinking with your head, are not a badge snob, and have gotten over the Skoda dealer stories of the past – there is no alternative to the new Superb.