eurotraveller

No doubt down to the value of sterling, or the lack of it. Just look how it’s plunged against the euro in recent months. And there’s plenty more downside if the opinion polls are close.

Also having pretty much answered the question himself already, I'm cannot imagine what the OP expected in terms of replies here. However, I’ll be utterly predictable by saying it’s no context: Superb wins hands down. My reasons would be numerous, but ultimately I would find the new vs. old the most compelling one. Definition please. Yes, the A5 is small inside, but it’s still a big, heavy car. Quite possibly even heavier (as it’s older). That alone makes any ‘sporting’ pretensions ridiculous.

Also, I don’t know which way you’re travelling south, but beware also that much of the A7 Flensburg (Kiel)-Hamburg is under widening construction. Traffic consequently gets pretty bad there much of the time, too. I don’t know about your option through Denmark and therefore the A1 Lübeck-Hamburg route, although I think that was done some years ago. On the upside, the widening of the A1 Hamburg-Bremen is finally, finally completed and the outcome is absolutely fantastic: the best autobahn I’ve ever driven – I covered most of it at over 200 km/h so it doesn’t take long …

Yes, Stena. That’s my favourite way to go (when I don’t fly) - I used that route again just a week or so ago. I like the overnight sailings; the ships are nice and modern and have some pleasant cabin options. The food is rubbish (nothing like as good as you would expect on Scandinavian routes), but you're not on there long enough for that to really matter. It's a bit of an indulgence in terms of time and cost, of course. Beware the traffic in southern Holland, though – it’s the most densely populated part of Europe and you really feel it on the roads. Be prepared for heavy traffic any time but early Sunday mornings.

Well, whatever the commonality of parts, they were of course products of that unhappy Daimler-Chrysler marriage, which did spawn such real clones as the Dodge van (nee Sprinter) of the time. As for the handling, I don’t know what the W210 weighed (with a diesel engine), but suspect it must have been quite heavy. That, at least, is how it felt to me, with weight being the worst enemy for good handling. Even the C350CDI feels that way; nothing the least bit ‘nimble’ about it, even though it’s a fairly small and of course powerful car. Be that as it may, I wouldn’t go near a Mercedes dealership now if I had the choice: I have to grit my teeth every time I do. That's not, in the first instance at least, because of the price I am about to pay for the honour and privilege, but rather that new, oh so pretentious ‘reception system’ they have: where a receptionist beckons you to a waiting area while a service agent or salesperson considers in the background whether they are ready to see you. I'm not going to a doctors' surgery to get myself fixed, just to a bl**dy dealership to fix the car (again)! I bet “enhanced customer experience” or something like that is the related BS marketing speak. It feels like a sorry attempt to pull the wool.

Well, we’ve had 4 consecutive generations of E-class (apart from the most recent) and currently still have a C350CDI. Apart from general quality aspects, I don’t really get comparisons of Superb vs. C-class (or 3 Series for that matter) as the C-class is in my view a ‘2+2’ at best. It cannot – with any degree of humane comfort – accommodate 4, never mind 5 adults. The Octavia beats it hands down in that respect. We use ours strictly as a 2-seater. On general build quality, the W124 was – as said above – in a ‘class’ of its own; nothing ever squeaked, nothing ever failed. I’d be amazed if any carmaker ever matched that again – it cannot be in their interest, after all. Subsequent E-class generations were hit and miss; the W210 was downright poor (and a real dog to drive – it nevertheless continues to live ‘happily’ in the guise of the Chrysler 300). But, they were / are otherwise very solid with high-grade, more durable materials; generally a notch above the S2 I've had / the S3 I have. There must be a reason, however, why a recent statistic published in Germany revealed the Superb Estate to be the car that’s driven for the most kilometres by private buyers. I think that has to be because it’s so close on comfort to Mercedes et al while costing so much less, especially to run. (My experience is of spending 2-3 times the amounts at Mercedes dealerships that I’ve spent at Skoda dealerships). So the Superb wins easily in my book; and that’s before we get to the sure-fire deal-clincher: space!

Are you confident there isn't anything in the small print that protects the broker against exchange rate fluctuation? An awful lot could happen in that respect in the next three months. What if the brokers stand to lose their shirts on the deal all of a sudden?

Sterling’s drop by nearly 10% vs. the euro in the past 3 months seems like an obvious reason to me. Watch this trend continue depending on the opinion polls and of course the outcome of the referendum itself.

On the mpg: in Holland, while mostly cruising at 130-140 km/h (speedo indicated) I got a similar figure – about 30. What’s the ‘higher’ octane on offer in France? Here it all seems to be 97. In Germany it’s 98-100. First fill I did in Holland was at a BP station where the “Ultimate” was likewise 98 octane. But the second time I pulled up at very large Shell station also displaying lots of “V-Power” pumps. However, closer inspection revealed every single one of those to be labelled “95” – I went so far as parking the car to walk along all the pumps and it was the same everywhere. I asked an attendant if they had any high-octane fuel and he said no. He then proceeded to google on his phone to see if he could find out what “V-Power” stands for in Holland! Truth be told, I didn’t look at the relative prices, which might have given some indication (other than rip-off). But that ‘95’ plastered all over the place was just too off-putting. It was the same story at a Total station. Amazingly, there is clearly no consistency in fuel even within such a small area called Western Europe.

Properly explore the 280's potential and then say it's not fast (if you really still believe it). I learned that lesson: http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/363781-the-280ps-thread/page-17

So, what are we likely to see? Some things seem pretty obvious, like - LED headlights - hybrid power option but can we figure out what they already know? - I suspect carmakers have 90% of the 31/2 -year refresh planned before the original model is even launched. So let's have predictions (not wish lists).

Stopped by a dealer in Germany to ask about winter tyres. Highest rating they sell is also V, which they said is legally fine (for winter tyres). Knowing what sticklers they are about stuff like this in Germany, that would do for me too then. Combo set with 18" Cassiopeia alloy wheels and either Conti or Dunlop winter tyres "offered" at €1930. Hmmm. Incidentally, there was a fully specced 280 L&K estate in the showroom (green / beige) with a "cash sale" sticker price of over €56,000.

Very well put and spot on - my impression exactly. I've been near those speeds in other cars, but it never felt so reassuring. It says a lot about the car generally; not just this particular engine. The other beauty was the ability to pull away after having slowed to say 90ish for traffic and passing people who think their Audis or BMWs are fast at such a rate that sends a very clear message: don't even bother to try. And no-one did, as they would otherwise.

OK, I take it back, the 280 is rather fast. After having had the car unleashed on the autobahn, I must admit it certainly does go like stink. It was my first time ever after tens of thousands of lifetime miles on autobahns that I wasn't overtaken at all; not once. The poor driver of the 911 I caught must have struggled to understand why he couldn't shake a ... what ... Skoda. WTF? Sure, the 911 would have a higher top speed, but he didn't get enough of a run to make that play. And the 911's acceleration from high speed to even higher speed may be even faster, but not enough to make a useful difference. But the biggest surprise: to feel an up-shift with the speedo showing near 140mph, followed by plenty more urge. I've just filled up with 100 octane Shell V-Power Racing at a whopping premium of €0.21 per litre over the 98 octane stuff otherwise available here. Will I feel a difference? Probably not. I had a MyTach GPS speedo sitting on the centre console to check actual speed, but decided that looking down was probably not a good idea.

I drove a 190 4x4 for a few months and now have a 280. Yes, the 190’s performance does not feel like the rated power; it’s rather dull. And of course, the 280 is much more sprightly, but doesn't feel spectacularly fast to me either ... now that I've done the miles to explore max revs. However, it’s perhaps worth bearing in mind that these big barges desensitise; they give you very little feel for what's going on. In a way, I suppose, that's the whole point: they cocoon. Furthermore, and to paraphrase what I think Niki Lauda said once upon a time, nothing is 'fast' until things start to go sideways; i.e. when an 'incident’ comes at you at awful hurry or when, say, you get the dreaded rear tyre blow-out at speed and have to cope with the consequent massive oversteer. Before that driving ability is mostly imagined; then you find out. There are plenty of straight-line heroes in powerful cars driving very aggressively on the autobahn in Germany. To some extent I believe they drive that way because they don't feel anything in their cocoons. I digress… My experience of the average fuel mileage of the above 2 cars is about the same as the figures old newbie2 gives. Perhaps the 4x4 system does account for rather a lot of extra fuel consumption. Would I give it up and go back to 2wd? No way, ever. All that wheel-spin gone and proper traction = bliss. And even though I do 20-25k miles per year, I'd rather have the 280 engine, too (until the fuel price doubles, obviously).

My comparison with A6 took the ‘premium for premium’ to over 15k. Never mind that dealer’s asking price, though. Look at the dreadful presentation: posting a picture with the headlamp unit fogged up. Unbelievable!

Yes, I had the combi and certainly agree about the boot rails etc. It seems pretty clear they suffered the accountants' axe, together with the downgrade of the carpets. I saw in an Audi showroom the other day that the above system still resides in Audis. Again, however, it’s a minor loss overall.

OK, people, here’s one perhaps not many people have discovered. It might not exactly be an ‘extra’ as such, but a bit of added fun, however pointless: Many will know that the seat position memory is coded to the key, so, as in our case (his and her keys), the seat will automatically move to the correct position depending on which key (driver) approaches the car. But not only that, oh no. The LED strip light around the car will also automatically switch to the colour chosen in conjunction with a particular key. This was an important service announcement. I wonder what other settings might do this? – for instance, I have yet to check whether this is true for the preferred DCC setting.

Thanks guys. I should have looked into this and asked sooner. I’m out of time for a shipment from Germany – cannot be sure enough it’ll be just 2-3 days in my case. It’s a nuanced decision for this trip (starting Saturday) anyway as the forecast daytime temperatures are well over 7C. But I’ll definitely bear that supplier and especially those Syrons in mind for next winter. At that price it doesn’t seem so bad burning them up quickly on warmer days!

At least a couple of people on here have mentioned having winter tyres for their 280. So help, please: Which tyre did you get, and from where? My favoured local tyre dealer cannot source any W-rated tyres and neither can my Skoda dealer! V-rated is the best they can find. Incidentally, I have the 18” Pegasus rims so need 235/45r18s (don’t fancy trying to rush-purchase different rims).

Would those be speedometer readings or real speeds? There's a huge difference once you get up there. How ‘speedometers’ can still be so inaccurate in this high-tech age is beyond me. It’s a joke. Yes the 280 is limited to 250 km/h, but again, is that linked to the speedo or actual speed? Presumably the former, therefore in reality making it, what, 235 tops. Either way I would expect the stated figures to be pure theory … and in any case of course rather meaningless – even in Germany. I will be going to Germany in a few days, but will probably not push a still new engine to that extent even if conditions were to permit it, which normally isn’t very often. PS: I once had a speedmeter reading of about 136-7 mph on my old S2 170 TDI! Clearly way off anything realistic.

Standard procedure at car dealerships in Germany. It is indeed really tedious here to have to have a chaperone.

Oh really? Suffered "sea sickness", did they? Yet more journalist bovine excrement. Too much corporate hospitality at the launch event the evening before, more like.

You can forget the double boot (trunk) floor straight away: I played with it on a demo car and it’s a real pain. Besides, what’s the point? Apple Car play? It's OK, but I wouldn’t pay extra for it. Virtual pedal? Again, cute, but how often do you have both hands full? There: I’ve saved you DKK 770,000 That’s the good news. The bad news is I rather like all the other more expensive stuff. Except I was not even aware of a 'sport suspension' option. Presumably that's covered by the DCC? I know that huge Danish car tax goes back decades, but am surprised it has held up within the single European market.

Perceptions of performance are always relative, based on experience and expectation. Ultimately, I suppose the car will not feel that fast to me. It’s certainly sweet, though, and is bound to become sweeter, so it ticks a big box. And I was just so bored with diesel… Mileage update: have made it past 30 on combined slowish A road and some motorway.