Skoda Suberb 2.0 TSI 280 4x4 DSG: review

Skoda turns its sensible family saloon into a street sleeper
We all love a street sleeper – and this new version of Skoda’s elegant saloon pretty much defines the term
John Calne28 March 2016

If you drive a Superb, chances are you don’t even notice when hot hatches kick sand in your face. But we all love a street sleeper – and this new version of Skoda’s elegant saloon pretty much defines the term.

Basically, the Superb is a very fine family car with stacks of room for everyone and everything in a well equipped package whose finish and build quality are of a premium-car standard. It this way, it actually ticks the same boxes as the Mercedes S-Class.

That probably sounds ridiculous, but it costs less than half the price and is it only half as good? No way. It’s close enough for that analogy to ring absolutely true.

The Superb is a very fine family car with stacks of room for everyone and everything

Whereas the S-Class would most likely be called ‘understated,’ though, it would never be accused of being anonymous – which could happen to the Superb.

That’s more of an issue if the car you’re driving performs anonymously too, though. Which this Superb certainly doesn’t.

There’s nothing anonymous about what happens when you plant the throttle, at any rate. The 2.0 TSI 280 engine pulls like a train from just above idle, but it’ll rev like a good ‘un too.

It's a well equipped package whose finish and build quality are of a premium-car standard

Thus armed, you just need to bury it and the DSG box will find the shift points for you. You’ll be doing 62mph just 5.8 seconds later, and if you keep it nailed it won’t stop until the limiter kicks in at 155.

More relevantly, with the 4x4 transmission doing its thing you’ll set some seriously strong times from A to B. The guy next door who’s just spent big money on something flash with a posh badge might impress the neighbours more than you, but you’ll wipe the smug grin off his face first time he tries to leave you behind and you stay glued to his tail.

If, for example, his flash chariot is a 330 M Sport, he’ll enjoy crisper, flatter handling. But you’ll still be able to stay with him – the Superb just grips and grips and grips, without drama but with absolute assurance.

You’ll be doing 62mph just 5.8 seconds later

Which of these two should you buy? Well, it’s your call, but aside from irritating the life out your neighbour this version of the Superb is a very different proposition to his BMW.

Look at its this way. The 330 M Sport is for people who can’s stretch to an M3: the Superb is for people who can’t stretch to that S-Class. Drive one of these, and people won’t seek you out for a race – but by the time they realise they’re in one, they’ve already lost.

About the only thing standing in its way is the rate at which it’s likely to depreciate. Excellent though it is, Superbs don’t hold their money well – and with its higher emissions and fuel consumption than the rest of the range, this one will lose a lot of its value in the hands of its first owner.

Sounds like a plan, right? Keep it on the backburner, and the TSI 280 is going to be a bargain used sperformance hero in two or three years’ time. Not just that, it’s going to do everything a Superb should – while kicking sand back at those hot hatches as well.

Skoda Superb 2.0 TSI 280 4x4 DSG

On sale: now

Price: £31,020

Engine: 4 cyls, 1984cc, turbo, petrol

Power: 276bhp at 5600-6500rpm

Torque: 258lb ft at 1700-5600rpm

Gearbox: 6-spd dual-clutch automatic

Kerb weight: 1540kg; 0-62mph 5.8sec

Top speed: 155mph

Economy: 39.8mpg (combined)

CO2/tax band: 160g/km, 27%

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