Malthus

My experience with the superb is extremely similar to yours. Love the way it looks, hate the way it drives. The ride is just awful and its so badly damped and over sprung. NVH is no where what it should be. I find the dsg awful too but I have the six speed. Engine pulls like a train though as I have the 190 diesel. Its too noisy at speed though but I put that down to lack of a 7th gear. I really don't understand the positive reviews of this car. I swear skoda are paying reviewers off. The only slightly accurate one being what car who acknowledge it crashes around a bit and only rate it 3 stars for refinement and ride. I wouldn't even give it that though. Its quite baffling really as I drove another one that was even worse and that had dcc!

I agree with everything here. It is a lot of car for the money and is good for what you get for the money, especially as i saved nearly 10k over the list price of an sel with a 190 engine as it was a pre reg. I just wasn't expecting to have suspension issues within 2000 miles. As you said it the basic suspension architecture which would not be improved by dcc and prehaps the added complexity could lead to more issues down the road. I never bought it as a 5 series rival or an A6 rival in terms of handljng or refinement as these are the next level up but I don't drive it in the limit as I have my family with me 90 % of the time. Even then it is too easy to find it's limitations but it does the job and the steering is quite nice. I perhaps just regret not spending the extra to get into an Audi or beemer.

Lots to think about there and a balanced look at it. Some good points. I'll get it checked and go from there. If not sorted I will either try to get out of the finance or do a vt at two years. I personally like cars to feel fairly fresh all the way up to 50000 miles and beyond. I bought a 3 series once that felt like new at 70k so I've been spoiled I guess.

It is cool tech if indeed it does alternate automatically. I didn't realise that the superb had this with the DCC. I know the 5 series can have this on BMW's adaptive setup. I think it had 3 baked in settings and then an adaptive setting you can select so the car adapts to the road, but if the superb can do this automatically that IS cool. Makes me wish I got an l & k one of that's the case.

Very soon. That made me laugh. I did say sorry.

Ah thank god, I thought it was just my car that did this on speed bumps. I was very shocked the first time I went over a sleeping policemen. I also thought it was going to bottom out. It feels like a Citroen from the 1980s. The springs do need to be firmer, one to reduce body roll and lean and to give the dampers a chance to control the wheels better. I do agree that the car is calm and quiet over most surfaces but the other 1% of the time where it fidgets and becomes noisy that concerns me. I'm going to Skoda to discuss the clunks and noises. I will get them to check it. Thanks for the reply though as I now know there is not a problem with my car regarding the overly soft spring, although I do agree that they need a firmer setting. Maybe some good coil overs would sort it?

Further to the original topic I also noticed a burning smell around the back of my superb. I went to the front of the vehicle but couldn't smell anything at that end. What I did notice is that the main fan had come on after the engine had gone off and remained on for quite a few minutes. I didn't drive very far and the air con hadn't been on. The temp gauge hadn't gone up and coolant is fine. Could any of you guys suggest what is could have been? Many thanks

Thanks for the reply. You make very good points about looking at the the superb relative to more expensive models in the VAG hierarchy and also from the likes of BMW. I agree with all youve said and your description of the way the superb drives. The floating and bobbing on crests it something I've noticed. I also except is rides nicely compared to lesser models but what I don't expect with the car is the suspension to clonk and rattle over rough surfaces and crash into bumps like a car that had done 100000 miles irrespective of cost. I dont expect the car to compare to a 5 series because that would be unrealistic and agree it would not make sense. I was merely expressing regret at not stretching my budget and looking at this level of car. I would have liked it to compare more favourably to an A4 but as you've said they will get the better components from the VAG parts bin.

No, it wasn't that car that I bought. It was another test drive and I did previously. I thought I would give the superb another chance with a lesser spec with smaller wheels, and thought it was better and as I expected the superb to be. It was only once I got it on other roads near me that I realised it isn't actually that much better than the one with 19 inch wheels.

Thanks for this information. I will go to my skoda dealer and present them with this. I guess if they are not willing/unable to sort I will look at trying to reject the cat under the finance agreement. Will see what happens but that front suspension/ damper is not right. Thanks again.

No I've not had chance today but I will check as soon as I have a moment to do it. I'm not sure it will rectify the issues, more slightly elevate at best. Thanks for coming back to me though.

I understand Skoda's place in the Volkswagen group and that Audi get the first pick for the decent kit, but I don't think it being unreasonable for even the cheaper cars to have suspension and dampers up to the the task of controlling the car. As I said that I've drove Hyundais that nail this essential component and they are very much a budget brand. To be fair they are behjnd in other areas but at least they tackle bumps properly and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a 30k car to do this, especially one that is meant to be geared to comfort. I agree about setting your budget and working up from there but I felt the superb would hopefully punch above its weight a bit more and I now wish i stretched the budget a bit more, especially as Audi are quite good on PCP. Live and learn I guess.

I have the same issue with my wife on at me because I can't resist the urge to floor it in my 190. I find myself drivjng like a 20 year old hooligan in a golf gtd ( which shares the same engine ). Just a shame the ride and handling don't match the lovely torquey engine. Also the 6 speed dsg doesn't match as well as the 7 speed would, but this is denied by VAG politics. Also denied by these politics are the lovely V6 diesels. It's a shame they can't be had in the superb as this would elevate it. I agree it's a very luxurious car for the money but the lack of ride/handling balance stops it being properly luxurious.

I think getting the car checked is definitely a good idea but I think the problems lie with cost cutting and lack of tuning for the dampers and springs and way they work together. I agree about the A3 as my experience with them is a car which has a brilliant ride handling compromise which gives you a lot of confidence over rough tarmac. The only car which I felt was better was the Hyundai i20 oddly. Ridiculous that such a cheap car does it better than the superb. My brother in law's A4 feels very similar to the A3 and kind of makes me wish I spent the extra. With regard to the previous comments and the adaptive modes. I feel a fully adaptive mode which apapts continuously like the 5 series has would be perfect but this is a far more expensive car so fair enough I guess.