Skoda SUPERB 2.0 CLASSIC
Genuine Executive Cars Dont Come Much More Affordable Than The
Skoda Superb 2.0 Classic. Andy Enright Bridges The Credibility Gap.
First things first. Anybody who doesnt know that Skoda make excellent cars should either be directed towards a copy of the latest JD Power survey or disdainfully ignored. The problem is, a Skoda badge is all well and good on a small car, but can it cut the mustard in the executive car park? Skoda hope that the Superb 2.0-litre Classic will do the business in this rarefied company.
As the entry-level model to the Skoda range, the 2.0-litre Classic has perhaps the best chance of convincing the hardened cynic. With the top spec Elegance models costing over £21,000 the lure of a
BMW 3 Series would be very hard to resist. Priced at just £13,900 the Superb 2.
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0-litre Classic manages to fend off the lure of a
Toyota Corolla or a
Rover 45 quite successfully. The engine is the same 115bhp four-cylinder engine that pops up everywhere throughout the
Volkswagen empire. Youve seen it in the mkIV Golf, the Beetle, the
SEAT Toledo and the
Skoda Octavia, so it must be doing something right. Its willing enough, especially when linked to a manual gearbox as in the Superb Classic.
Whilst lacking a little in terms of outright power, the engine is usefully torquey, generating 172Nm of twist action, and this obviates the requirement to wring it to the nth degree when you need to make
smart progress. The sprint to 60mph is dispatched in a respectable 11.6 seconds. As with the Passat, you shouldnt expect a particularly involving driving experience.
Still, most buyers will find the ride to be truly excellent thanks to Skodas careful tweaking of the four-link strut and torsion beam suspension.
"The Superbs passenger cell is of similar dimensions to that of a Mercedes E-Class."
Skoda have made huge strides of late in terms of refinement and even with this relatively small engine, the Superb is a pleasantly hushed motorway cruiser. You feel the weight of the car ironing out bumps that would niggle at the wheel of a smaller car and the aerodynamicists have also done an excellent job in quelling wind noise. Based on a stretched Passat platform, the Superb takes a shape thats familiar to most of us and adds just enough Skoda design cues to give it a modicum of identity. The chrome front grille, restyled bonnet and trapezoidal headlamps are all detail changes.
The wider cabin and unique small rear side windows represent more fundamental changes. With a wheelbase stretched by over 100mm, the Superbs passenger cell is of similar dimensions to that of a Mercedes E-Class. The key beneficiary of all that extra wheelbase are the rear seat passengers with rear seat accommodation matched for the money only by long-wheelbase versions of the Mercedes A-Class. Travel to the airport in the back of a Superb and return in the back of a Mondeo, a 406 or even a
BMW 5 Series and youll notice the difference.
Not that the driver goes without as the standard equipment list even at Classic level is representative of what buyers in this class have come to take for granted. As such, you can expect to find climate control with separate vents for rear seat passengers, remote central locking, front and rear electric windows, electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors, front and side airbags for both the driver and front passenger plus a decent CD-based stereo system. Skoda have seen the light. Executives and children dont do cassettes.
Classic buyers will have to do without the full length umbrella that slots into the left rear door on other Superb models, but whats an umbrella in the face of a big cash saving? The boot is bigger than some inner city studio flats, some clever hinges lifting the bootlid clear and liberating the full 462 litres of bootspace. A 12-volt outlet in the luggage compartment lets you hoover up anything that may have become lost in the darkest recesses of the boot such as coins, keys or bicycles. The great thing about buying a car like the Superb Classic is that while it may be cost effective for Skoda to de-specify trim items like the umbrella, leather seats and wood décor, disengaging the sophisticated electronic functions that are part and parcel of any modern executive car just isnt cost effective. Therefore for £14,255 you get neat functions like CatVision diffused nighttime interior lighting, Coming Home lighting that keeps the headlamps on dipped beam for 30 seconds after youve got out of the car plus a multifunction computer. This includes modes for time, outdoor temperature, instant and average fuel consumption, distance traveled, time driven, average speed and range until the fuel tank runs dry. Whichever way you look at it, the Skoda Octavia 2.
0 Classic is an outrageous bargain. Well built, decently specified, spacious and with enough gravitas to render excuses unnecessary, it will cause some severe ripples not just in the executive car market, but also in the medium range saloon sector and possibly the family hatch market too. Spanning as many categories as it does it cant possibly fail.
Honda Civic 1.
4 or Skoda Superb Classic? Good car the Honda is, Id be investing in a pretty handsome pile of Czech metal. After all, theres nothing that will blow your credibility quicker than missing out on a superb deal.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Skoda Superb 2.0 Classic
PRICES: £13,900 on the road
INSURANCE GROUPS: 8
CO2 EMISSIONS: 206g/km
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 11.6s / Max Speed 122mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [combined) 31mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front and side airbags, ABS
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/heightmm 4803/1765/1469mm
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