Skoda Superb

Our verdict

The Skoda Superb is an old-school cheap barge. A previous Passat with a wheelbase stretch gives gigantic rear space, impressive durability and predictably stodgy dynamics. Avoid, unless your business is VIP airport cabbing.

Comfort

Here's the payback for the dull drive. The ride is level, the seats supportive and the space positively palatial. The Skoda proceeds generally fairly quietly down the road too.

Performance

There's a V6 in the price lists but it's utterly irrelevant. The basic four-cylinder models suffer from being old-gen powerplants. New ones come along when the new Superb launches in September. So performance is mediocre.

Cool

This car isn't even a sleeper. It's a deep, deep, hundred-year, slumberer. It is catatonic. That is not cool.

Quality

Has a reassuring, bomb-proof nature. Abuse it and it just won't care. Nor will you of course, because it doesn't have the Audi-esque quality that makes you treasure a car.

Handling

Not really. The Superb's soggy steering, unfortunate nose-heavy weight distribution and long wheelbase combine to give it the alacrity of a goods train. Or maybe a little less.

Practicality

Immense, obviously. What saloon gives more space and comfort and boot volume for the money? If only it came as a more versatile estate or hatch. But no, you have to wait for those in the next generation.

Running costs

Low in terms of fuel and service costs. Beware though, it's a big car and the engines aren't the newest, so the performance/consumption compromise leaves room for improvement. And the top-spec versions are going to depreciate like a stone.