Skoda Superb Laurin & Klement - the results of the months spent together

The New Year has come, it's time to make new plans, as well as to sum up the results of 2017. It's also time for our editorial team to say goodbye to another car that we recently tested on a long distance. This time we will talk about Skoda Superb. This is the fourth long-distance car in our edition, but in many respects it was the “greatest”: the longest, the strongest, the fastest, it had the largest trunk and, probably, the most catchy color. But was he also the best? We have summed up all our impressions from using this top-of-the-range Skoda model. In many cases, this was exactly as we expected, because Skoda is a manufacturer that offers cars for specific and pragmatic people. But there were times when we were surprised. Only in a positive way?

Equipped with (almost) everything

The Superb we tested was configured in the Laurin & Klement version. Under the hood, a 2.0 TSI engine with a power of 280 hp worked. and a maximum torque of 350 Nm, available over a very wide rev range. The drive is transmitted to all wheels, and a six-speed DSG gearbox is responsible for gear shifting. Acceleration to hundreds, according to the manufacturer, takes Skoda in this configuration 5,8 seconds. We verified this fact ourselves in a series of tests, and you will find a link to a video with our measurements. here.

The Laurin & Klement version offers very extensive equipment as standard, but like few cars in the mid-range segment, offers a very long list of optional equipment, both in terms of comfort, safety, and in terms of personalizing the appearance of the car itself. Our Superb was very richly equipped, including a glass roof, ventilated seats, full comfort access through the tailgate, a rearview camera or black 19-inch wheels. As a result, the price of this copy exceeds PLN 207, but, interestingly, the list of additional equipment has not been exhausted. It's scary to think how much a fully equipped Superb can cost. However, if these amounts scare you, you should realize how powerful the engine is at this price and read the equipment list, which spans several pages.

Complete tasks at a very “lively” pace

Each of the editors had the opportunity to test the Superb individually, and at the same time, the car helped us with editorial tasks, both everyday and special. True, regular operation accounted for more than half of the entire distance traveled, but the car showed real possibilities outside the city. We had the opportunity to visit mountain serpentines in the vicinity of the Vistula and Szczyrk, as well as walk along dirt tracks in the mountains, where we checked the performance of the 4X4 drive. We drove this car onto the track to see if a car with such a long body (after all, its length is 4861 mm and a wheelbase of 2841 mm) can handle the sharp turns of the motopark in Krakow - after all, 280 horsepower is almost sports parameters. We also checked how the Superb behaves in a crowded city, took it to the wedding of the newlyweds, and remembering the impressive dimensions of the Skoda cabin, we “threw the glove” to the Mercedes S-class itself.

Superb Laurin & Klement with a top-end engine is a machine that is difficult to ride comfortably. It's not a wild racer, but the large amount of power and torque that's available right after stepping on the gas encourages you to use those settings as often as possible. And although none of us had previously associated Superb with precise and dynamic driving, it turned out that in this particular case this is not possible, but even natural.

Summary in numbers

In about six months, we drove 7000 kilometers on our trucker. When the car arrived at the editorial office in the summer, the total mileage counter showed almost 14 km, so we had the opportunity to test the car, which finally crossed the 000 km mark. A car with such mileage usually reveals manufacturing flaws and weaknesses, but we did not find anything like this in our car.

The vast majority of the distance traveled was the combined cycle: more than 4800 km. In urban mode, we drove more than 400 km, and on the highway Superb accompanied us for more than 1400 km.

The ride took place in two modes: ecological (more than 700 km covered with an average fuel consumption of 8,07 l / 100 km) and in moderate mode (almost 6000 km covered with an average result of 11,12 l / 100 km). In typical city driving we used 15,11 l/100 km, in the combined cycle the engine was content with 11,03 l/100 km, and on the highway the appetite dropped to 8,73 l/100 km. As for the very powerful, still turbocharged two-liter engine with 280 hp, the results seem really worthy, although the use of this car mainly in the city is associated with quite frequent visits to gas stations. But the frequency of refueling does not bother at all - the tank holds a satisfactory 66 liters of fuel.

The total cost of travel of 6 km was 663 3378,34 zlotys. The average cost of driving 100 km in our Superb was about PLN 50,70, and the monthly driving cost ended up being PLN. Important information is the fact that we drove the vast majority of the distance on a summer set of tires. Detailed cost log available here.

Practical family rocket

The summary would be incomplete if we did not indicate the pros and cons of the device under test. What everyone liked was the Superba's very extensive equipment. We especially liked the ventilation of the leather seats in the summer and the heating in the morning, autumn and early winter cold. We really like the intuitive and modern multimedia system with very efficient navigation (these two things don't always go hand in hand in modern cars). In a car of this size, the Parking Assistant came in handy many times, making it much easier to parallel park in crowded cities. Everyone knows Simply Clever: we enjoyed the umbrellas at the front door again!

True, in some places we were annoyed by the poor quality of some interior trim materials. The Superb is not known to be a premium car, but the hard plastics were all the more noticeable compared to more noticeably better features, such as seat upholstery.

Travel comfort can be described as "beyond expectations", especially when we refer to the amount of space for the driver or passengers. Everything is very pleasant until you start cruising at highway speeds. In this situation, you may have reservations about the sound insulation of the cabin, the level of which is especially worrying for rear passengers.

There's a lot to be said for the suspension, though you have to put up with the harsh performance. With a sufficiently large engine power, the suspension does not interfere with the use of the full potential of the car, although when overcoming bumps it is clearly visible that the surface has flaws. As a consolation, the optional DCC active suspension works great - there is a significant difference in the damping capacity of the shock absorbers between sport and comfort modes.

280 HP and 350 Nm are very pleasant parameters, but when driving in the city, the two-liter TSI engine shows a good appetite for fuel, well above the fuel consumption of 10 liters per 100 km. However, the average fuel consumption from our measurements shows that the fuel consumption is determined by the operation of the engine, and not by chance.

The last and, perhaps, the most practical advantage of the Superb, even in the tested version of the liftback, is, of course, a huge luggage compartment with a capacity of 625 liters. Packing five people for a two-week trip shouldn't be a problem, and the extra nets and dividers help organize that sizable cargo space on a daily basis. A fast, practical and roomy car is the Skoda Superb Laurin & Klement 2.0 TSI 280 KM 4x4.

Thanks, come again!

The Skoda Superb has just joined a group of long-distance cars that we love and would love to test again. Of course, most of us really liked this car, especially its character, which no one expected before the first step on gas. The Superb is a very versatile car, which has proven to us in many areas, both in everyday life and during long trips. We made sure that the liftback body is no less practical than the station wagon. We also learned how much driving pleasure a big car can deliver, provided the right powertrain is under the hood and the suspension is properly prepared to deliver that kind of performance. Our adventure together has come to an end, and we don't want to say goodbye to Superbu, but see you soon.