Test drive Skoda Superb Combi
The Skoda company unexpectedly decided to sell in Russia the Superb not only in the body of a liftback, but also a station wagon. And it is unlikely that the Czech brand did not calculate all the risks ...
Automakers complain: journalists advise bringing diesel station wagons to Russia, they bring such cars, but sales are vanishingly small. The number of station wagons and monocabs on the Russian market is decreasing, the demand for them is decreasing. Nevertheless, Skoda decided to sell in Russia the Superb not only in the body of a liftback, but also a station wagon. And it is unlikely that the Czechs did not calculate the risks.
The previous Superb Combi, despite the presence of powerful engines (200 and 260 hp), was more in line with age tastes: soft body lines, solid appearance. The new Combi has lost the weight of its predecessor and visually does not seem so big. The Superb III got wider, which harmonized its proportions, and the reduced roof height gave the car a swiftness. In profile, the station wagon looks even sleeker than the Superb liftback, which has a long stern.
The appearance of the Superba combines two stylistic lines of the Volkswagen concern. In the contours of the body, especially in the bulging front arches, a smooth classic Audi is read. At the same time, you can cut paper on the stampings on the sidewalls - the edges are sharp, the lines are sharp, as on the new Seat models. Skoda Superb Combi, despite this, has its own memorable face, which, firstly, is quite solid (after all, this is the flagship of the brand), and secondly, it can please those who, due to their youth and impracticality, have not yet thought about such a roomy wagon. No wonder the slogan of the new station wagon sounds like Space and Style (“Space and Style”). And there is progress on both fronts.
The distance between the axles of the new wagon increased by 80 mm, and the entire increase went to the trunk, the length of which increased to 1140 mm (+82 mm), and the volume - up to 660 liters (+27 liters). This is almost a record - even the new Passat Variant, built on the same MQB platform as Skoda, has a trunk of only 606 liters.
Only the Mercedes-Benz E-Class station wagon boasts more roominess, but the gain is small - 35 liters. And with the rear seats folded down, the Mercedes and Skoda produce the same 1950 liters.
Representatives of the Czech brand assure that with the backs folded down, something three meters long will fit in the trunk. For example, a ladder if laid obliquely. But the backrests do not fall flush with the boot floor, and without a raised floor, which is offered as an option, there is also a difference in height. Such a raised floor is a smuggler's dream: you will never guess that underneath it is a shallow cache. The reserve with the tool is one more level below. The next secret is akin to a floorboard in a medieval castle, clicking on which opens a secret passage into the dungeon. We pull for an inconspicuous segment of the chrome lining - a towbar appears from under the bumper.
The "Superba" trunk takes not only volume. There are many hooks here, including folding hooks. The suitcase can be fixed with a special corner, which is attached to the floor with Velcro. And the backlight can be removed and turned into a flashlight, which is equipped with a magnet and, if necessary, can be attached to the body from the outside. For example, if you need to change a punctured wheel at night. All those small but useful gizmos like door umbrellas, a glass scraper in the boot lid, a tablet holder that can be attached to both the front seat backrest and the rear sofa armrest are part of Skoda's Simply Clever concept.
Rear passengers have become more spacious, although there is as much legroom as in the previous generation car. The salon turned out to be wider: in the shoulders - by 26 mm, in the elbows - by 70 millimeters. And the headroom of the rear passengers has increased by 15 mm, despite the reduced height of the car compared to the previous Superb. But even without a cheat sheet with numbers, you understand that there is plenty of room in the rear seats - you can sit three together, despite the high central tunnel. The only pity is that the profile of the rear sofa is not sufficiently pronounced, and the inclination of the backs is not adjustable.
A full-fledged climate control unit with airflow temperature control and heated seats in the second row is not so common in this class, and a household outlet in addition to a car cigarette lighter socket and USB is generally a rarity.
The front panel is almost the same as that of the "Rapid" or "Octavia", but the materials and finishes are expected to be more expensive. The location of the buttons is also familiar, with the exception of the mirror adjustment unit. At Superb, it is lurking at the base of the doorknob. The buttons and knobs are the same as on many Volkswagen models. Volkswagen's universe is predictable, devoid of intrigue, but comfortable.
The new Superb no longer has a V6, all engines are turbo four. The most modest of them is 1,4 TSI. The motor is quiet, devoid of noticeable pickup, but its 150 hp. and 250 Nm is enough to provide a one-and-a-half-ton car with acceleration to 100 km / h in 9,1 s, and on the autobahn, pull the speedometer needle up to 200 kilometers per hour. At the same time, the test car was also all-wheel drive, which means it weighs more. Interestingly, in combination with all-wheel drive, the 1,4 engine does not tend to disconnect two cylinders in the absence of load, which makes the character of the station wagon more even. The clutch pedal is soft, but at the same time you feel the gripping moment. The gear lever also moves smoothly, without resistance and clicks - out of habit, at first I could not even understand if the selected stage had turned on.
Like all classmates, Superb is equipped with a variety of electronic safety systems. But if the active cruise control works well even with the manual gearbox, prompting which gear to choose, then the lane keeping system can only steer in gentle turns.
The Superba's ride settings are toggled with the push of a button. With modes even bust: in addition to comfortable and sporty, there is also Normal, Eco and Individual. The latter allows you to independently collect the character of the car from the available cubes: hold down the steering wheel, relax the shock absorbers, add sharpness accelerator pedals.
Between themselves, the normal and comfort modes differ in semitones: in the second case, a comfortable setting is selected for the shock absorber settings, and an environmentally friendly one for the accelerator. The difference between the “comfortable”, “normal” and “sporty” suspension modes on good asphalt is minimal: in all variants it is dense and does not allow buildup.
The difference between a car with a 1,4 and 2,0 engine is greater: the top-end Suberb is more prone to swinging regardless of the chassis modes. But this version should go differently: it is one of the most powerful (220 hp) and dynamic (7,1 seconds to 100 kilometers per hour).
The car with a turbodiesel turned out to be not only noisy, which does not fit well with the rich set of Laurin & klement, but also sluggish. Most likely, there will be no environmentally friendly diesel engines meeting Euro-6 standards in Russia: it was decided to rely on gasoline "Superb". This is despite the fact that the share of diesel cars in the station wagon of the previous generation was greater. However, sales were still small: 589 Combi last year, while more than three thousand liftbacks were sold.
If the two variants of the new Superba do not have differences in the range of motors, then the buyer will have to choose between the types of roof racks. Large station wagons on the Russian market remained only in the premium class. Ford refused to bring a similar version of the Mondeo to Russia, Volkswagen did not decide whether it needed a Passat station wagon here. In fact, only the Hyundai i40 remained of the classic city station wagons. And by the time Skoda plans to roll out the Superb Combi (Q2016 XNUMX), the model may not have an alternative.
A Superb wagon could use a slightly raised version with an off-road body kit. Of course, such a car will cost as a mid-size crossover, but there is a demand for off-road wagons in Russia. For example, sales of the Volvo XC70 grew last year and is still popular this year. Skoda confirmed that they are working on a similar machine, but at the same time, the decision on its serial launch has not yet been made.
