Latest version of this practical estate is even bigger in the areas that matter most On sale Late spring Price from £36,165
Steve Huntingford
steve.huntingford@haymarket.com
IT’S SOMETIMES SAID that space is a luxury, and it’s certainly one of the things we’re used to paying big money for. A larger home? Expensive. Extra leg room on a plane? Expensive. However, there’s an exception to the rule that having more will cost you more: the Skoda Superb Estate.
Adjectives used to describe this car’s predecessor included ‘gigantic’, ‘ginormous’ and ‘gargantuan’, and the latest model is fractionally bigger again. However, the Superb has always been very competitively priced – another thing that remains the case.
Indeed, its £36,165 starting price undercuts that of the closely related Volkswagen Passat by more than £2000. And while you can have a Peugeot 508 SW for the same sort of money or a Toyota Corolla Touring Sports for less, neither of those cars is as practical.
The boot of the latest Superb Estate has a 690-litre capacity (up 30 litres on its predecessor). True, the Passat matches that figure, but the 508 SW makes do with 530 litres and the Corolla Touring Sports 596 litres. Even the much more expensive BMW 5 Series Touring and Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate give you only 570 and 615 litres respectively.
Just bear in mind that the Superb’s capacity falls to 510 litres if you go for the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) model. And while the boots of the equivalent Passat and E-Class also shrink, the 508 and 5 Series hybrids offer just as much luggage space as their petrol and diesel counterparts (the Corolla is offered exclusively as a conventional hybrid).
A downside that the 508 and Corolla share is that rear passenger space is quite cramped, but this isn’t a problem in the Superb; on the contrary, it provides those in the back with limo-like leg room and enough head room to keep a pair of six-footers happy.
All versions of the Superb also offer lots of adjustment up front to help you find a good driving position. Meanwhile, the 13.0in central touchscreen is positioned high on the dashboard so you don’t have to take your eyes far from the road to operate it.
As a bonus, while many brands (including VW) seem determined to consign traditional physical controls to history, the Superb has three multi-function dials beneath its touchscreen; these let you quickly adjust the climate control, heated seat temperature,
