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Car Review

Skoda Superb Estate (2015-2024) review

£23,960 - £46,060
910
Published: 26 Aug 2021
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Practical, comfortable and premium. A fantastic large estate from Skoda

Good stuff

Mega practicality and a desirable – but functional – interior

Bad stuff

Not one for a B-road blast, but that won’t matter to most

Overview

What is it?

It’s the facelifted third-generation of the Skoda Superb, seen here in glorious Estate form. It’s perhaps the most sensible car ever to grace our planet and is the Czech company’s MQB-based range-topper. 

Although it’s known as the third-gen, technically this is the fourth iteration of Superb – the first was introduced way back in 1934 and remained in production until 1949. You’re wrong about the name too – it was inspired by the Latin word ‘superbus’ meaning proud or stately.

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What’s different about this facelifted version?

Stately would be a rather apt way of describing the Superb’s looks. Executive-looking changes include a remodelled grille, new front and rear bumpers, LED headlights as standard and some extra chrome trim. Oh, and SKODA is spelt out in big letters across the boot. The wheelbase is the same length as before, though, and it’s no wider or taller on the outside than the pre-facelift Superb. This is good news. 

It’s a really rather attractive thing these days. Especially the Estate and particularly in SportLine Plus trim with its blacked-out exterior bits and new Race Blue body colour. Don’t for a second think that practicality has been compromised for the sake of style, though…

That sounds like excellent news…

Precisely. You’re probably here because you’ve heard that Skoda makes practical cars, and they don’t come much better in that regard than the Superb Estate. It’ll seat five adults in endless comfort, the boot could swallow a small country and no matter what trim level you go for, all get handy ‘Simply Clever’ features like wireless phone charging, an ice scraper in the fuel filler cap and an umbrella in the driver’s door. Very clever indeed.

What engines can I have?

Good question – there are a fair few to choose from depending on which spec of Superb you go for, although all deploy four-cylinders and turbocharging. At the bottom of the range is a 1.5-litre petrol with 148bhp that can be had with a 6spd manual or 7spd DSG gearbox. There are two more petrol options – a 2.0-litre with 187bhp and a DSG only, or the full-fat 276bhp 2.0-litre with 258lb ft of torque and the same dual-clutch gearbox (incidentally, the latter is also the only powertrain that comes with four-wheel drive, the rest are front-driven only). 

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Skoda still offers two diesel-engined Superbs for those that do major miles too. Both are 2.0-litre units again, with the lesser-powered one making 148bhp, offering up either a manual or DSG ‘box and claiming around 56mpg. One up from that is DSG only, 197bhp and a claim of almost 50mpg. 

Can I have an electric one?

Not quite, although you can now have the Superb iV plug-in hybrid. That pairs a 1.4-litre turbo engine with an electric motor for 215bhp and 34 claimed miles of zero-emissions running. Read our full words on that powertrain by clicking these fancy blue words.

Our choice from the range

What's the verdict?

Practical, comfortable and premium. A fantastic large estate from Skoda

Is there a better estate car on sale right now at this price point? We’re not sure there is. The Superb combines huge space inside with Skoda’s typical practical little touches, a premium but usable interior and gloriously soft suspension for proper refinement. 

The engines are efficient, the gearboxes are well-suited to their duties and there’s a wide range of trim levels across different price points. Forget any SUV or EV for now, this is still Skoda’s halo product.

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