Novichok

Ah, that's rotten luck. I really think it's luck of the draw. Some people seem to have had cars that haven't worked as expected. Maybe rejecting the car was a good thing in the end. Hopefully September's car will be good as gold for you both. I'm 18,000 miles in now with the 1st service scheduled in a few weeks. She's not skipped a beat since day 1. What I have noticed are the rear camera resolution has improved slightly, mainly sharpening. The lane detect can now differentiate between a curb edge and a soft verge, and the travel assist (autonomous driving) is now much more polished and drives more like a person would than a machine. I've been very happy and after nearly a year of ownership am looking forward to another year of brilliant motoring. I look forward to her arrival with you!

Hi Arianne. I'd love an update on how you are finding Superb living!

Yes, my experience with BMW and Audi dealers is moving money from your account to their's. Skoda seems more in line with the brand values. I really like the look of your pan roof. Makes the rear look even more spacious! Thanks for sharing.

She's in the family now. I'm pleased your initial impressions were positive. She's a lovely looking steed and I'm optimistic you will not miss the Velar. Since I've had mine I've noticed some improvements via the over air updates. Travel Assist is a lot more natural in its driving style now whereas before it was a little binary with the brake and accelerator. Also the rear camera resolution seems to have sharpened a little, along with a higher resolution Car graphic on the overlay. Also steering assist can now differentiate between curbs and soft verges and this is shown on the display. 13 5k miles in now and no issues, rattles or anything. Fast motorway seems to be it's forte especially fully laden with people. Even in its softest damper setting its so stable and settled. Not long now ...!

Welcome Rosie!

If you are happy then no need to do anything. I was less happy coming from a 5 series. But now I'm 80% there on comfort so good enough.

Did you try the lower pressure yet? I believe they set the 265 at 2.5bar whereas all others are at 2.3 despite wheel diameter. I've done 13k now at 2.3 and won't be going back.

No spending an hour crouching down with buckets and brushes! Progress.

Before After

OK, I've solved the 19" wheel gully cleaning issue. It's not elegant, but it's effective! I've ended up getting a hydrochloric acid based cleaner. Please be careful using this stuff, it tarnishes metal! So I noticed my local hand car wash using something similar and thought I would try it. I wore eye protection and used a small spray bottle to spray my filthy wheels. I left for one minute and then jet washed off. Result, all black gullys now sparkling. Photos to follow...

No problem, I also use FLAC files and I guess they configured the sound with the surround sound option in mind. Regarding the ride again, I always ride in the softest damper setting in individual mode and the reduced tyre pressures of course. I've driven 9k miles like that now with no noticeable down side. The other thing that is unexpected is my saloon version handles like a hot hatch. It's a strange thing, but when in sport mode the steering, stability and 'attack' this car has is out of place in a car of this type. It reminds me of a bmw 128ti I had (minus the aggressive front diff). So there is an added dimension here that gives the car some depth that you can learn over time. And yes, being invisible on the road is it's party piece. I like to think of it as some alien cloaking technology! Being discounted as a non-threat to every other drivers ego definitely makes for calmer driving experiences.

It's a car that grows on you over time. Something else that works well despite logic is the surround sound option slider on the Canton stereo. It turned the stereo from ok to wow. Worth trying it.

Well done David. Sounds like a wonderful spec. Do try the 19" at lower 2.3 bar as it transforms the road noise and ride. Looking forward to see8ng the pictures in March!

Thanks Mike, I do enjoy the process and taking my time to do it as well as I can! Got to keep her nice. No idea regarding the pad material, i wouldn't mind so much if the wheel design was simpler!

Forgot to add the pebble silver vs silver pic!

More pics

Decided she deserved a clean today. Those who have the optional 19" wheels will understand my dread of having to clean the gully behind the spokes. I always wash each wheel separately with iron fall out spray, then various wheel brushes with bilt hamber wash. I've not found an effective way to clean the dust build up in the gully, so I've resorted to using my fingers! The body wasn't too dirty so just bilt hamber auto foam, followed by a rinse then 2 bucket wash. Then a vacuum inside to finish. I always like to see the blue pop in the pebble silver after a wash ( see pic with silver car in background). The blue also comes out on rainy days.

No problem. I understand that thr 265 is 2.5bar tyre pressure whereas the rest of the range is 2.3. On 2.5 the ride was poor and noisy. I dropped it to 2.3 and it's great.

I've done 8k miles in my 265 L&K hatch now. I really love it but it's because I enjoy the what it does for the price point. It's not an alfa romeo so it's not going to make me desire it, but it does have appeal. Firstly, I like the look of the hatch. It's elegant and crisp but with a big dose of old fashioned which I love. It's not trying to be ultra modern or shove a design language down your throat, it's comfortable with itself. Quietly handsome and well proportioned without being attention seeking. On the road it's practically invisible and people expect me to be some inert guy, and that's it's superpower, basically everyone underestimates you and ignores you and it's quite freeing. Its more than fast enough and its the luxury of having more than enough power that adds to the character of not trying hard rather than using it all the time. The handling in sport is amazing. In fact it's overkill for a car of this size and type. You can confidently lean on the grip and get on the power early and feel the rear drive becoming active. It's cool that it has the ability but honestly not something I'd miss from this type of car. Maybe good for a getaway car if you need to rob a bank. I love that I can carry the family in comfort, all stretched out and the dampers in the softest setting allows me to ferry them around with a little waft. Game changer for me is the travel assist which is pretty close to automated driving. Reduces the fatigue and burden of long trips by 50% plus which for me is something I really value. Even with the performance I can get 43mpg on a long run so best of both worlds. Massage seats with the heating are amazing especially after an evening swim. Matrix lights are great too. It does everything I need and it does it well without having to shell out mega money for a premium badged car, and I think that's part of the fun of it. I've got my cake and I'm eating every slice.

I have the same think happen on mine. I think it's when the system has an over the air update ot resets to off.

Got it! Thank you. Looking forward to it.

Hi all, I'm using a Plenue D mp3 player and connecting it to the car via USB C cable to the connector in the mobile phone charger compartment. The car can see the player, but no files. My files are in FLAC format so maybe it's that?

I'm already on full softness. Thank you!

Right, dropped the tyre pressure from 2.8bar to 2.5bar.... Wow! The transformation in the ride is night and day. It's now quieter and the ride feels less brittle over coarse tarmac. THIS is the luxury ride I was expecting!