For what has seemed like eternity (but in reality is less than seven weeks since the order went in) I will be taking delivery of my new Superb on Friday 3rd April.

I think I have read almost every single post about the new Superb on Briskoda, scoured websites for reviews and titbits and probably driven my other half nuts with Skoda talk but I can now see a light at the end of the tunnel.

I get the impression that the vast majority of people on this forum are very happy with their new cars apart from the odd niggle with hard rides on 18" rims, condensation in the foglights, satnav shortcomings, alarm troubles, odd positioning of folded mirrors and whether the stick-on rear spoiler should be a standard feature or not!

I have a few concerns of my own, namely:

Have I chosen the right colour? I have plumped for the Rosso Brunello red, which I've seen criticised for being an 'old man' colour. I would have chosen the 'electric blue' colour they did on the old Superb but that's not available on the colour chart any more. And no, it wasn't called 'electric blue' but I don't have a old Superb brochure to find out what it was really called! Can anybody enlighten me?

Have I chosen the right model and specification? I originally chose a 1.4TSI S spec with extra toys but worked out I could actually afford a 1.8TSI in SE spec with a manual gearbox. I simply couldn't stretch to the DSG option but I've never had an automatic so hopefully I won't know what I'm missing. I guess an Elegance spec and DSG is something I can aim for next time!

Petrol or Diesel? My last two cars have been diesels (a Furby vRS and a Roomy Scout.) I did the maths on all of the models I was interested in. I calculated my figures on the OTR price, options I wanted (metallic paint, park assist and mats), road tax and 'real world' MPG figures (official combined -20%.) I used the fuel prices from my local supermarket at the time of calculation. Considering I do 20,000 miles a year I was very surprised that the total cost of ownership for the 1.8TSI was a couple of hundred quid cheaper than the 170CR diesel over three years. I left insurance out of the equation as it would have made little difference to the figures. The other missing figure is servicing costs but I've always been under the impression that diesels are more expensive to service than petrols. If anybody 'in the know' can confirm or deny this I'd like to know.

Is the car too furkin' large? My mate has a current Series 5 Beemer which looks huge and I know there's very little difference in dimensions (the Superb is 3mm shorter, 25mm thinner and 8mm lower if memory serves me right.) The biggest cars I've owned was a Mark 1 Focus and my current Roomster. I have a feeling I'm going to be bricking it at first down narrow roads, roads lined with parked cars and car parks! This was why I went for the front parking sensors (the 'park assist' was worth it as a great toy for the little extra money it cost.) I also forgot to mention that I've got to get it back to the mainland on the Isle of Wight ferry! The Superb is about 5.5 inches wider than the Roomster so God help me! Will I be able to get the damn doors open once I park it? Both me and SWMBO are rather rotund so we can't squeeze through a barely opened car door! Maybe I can crawl out via the massive hatchback!

Talking of my mate, I think he's just as excited about me getting the Superb as I am! He owned a Octy vRS in the past which he loved (and probably would love to own another one.) His Beemer cost about £37k and mine is nearly half that at £19.5k. It will interesting to find the Blue Propeller's extra £17.5k of 'added value'. He didn't even get a brolly in the door for that money!

When I get it next Friday (and subject to the weather) I will take some piccies and post them up here as I know some people on this forum get rather irate when someone gets a new car and doesn't show it off!

wow i ordered mine beginning of Feb and dont have a date yet:(

Have I chosen the right colour? I have plumped for the Rosso Brunello red, which I've seen criticised for being an 'old man' colour.

Speaking as an "old man," the reason I chose the Rosso Brunello was because it looked stunning in the showroom. It looks stunning when it's freshly cleaned and it looks stunning when the rain beads on it. Dust, however, is a different matter altogether. My previous car (Octavia Elegance in "Saraha" - light gold colour) didn't show the dust anywhere near as much, but - hey - I actually like washing my car!

Is it too big - no. It is amazingly big inside, but so what? My wife was apprehensive initially, but she throws it around now just as she did the Octavia before it. That said, she was taught to drive early on, then had several "updates" along the way. The ivory leather interior makes the car look even bigger internally, BTW.

The front sensors could help if you're at all nervous, but for forward travel they'll need switching on first (top right-hand switch your side of the gear lever).

Ray.

Both me and SWMBO are rather rotund so we can't squeeze through a barely opened car door!

I hope you've spent a good bit of time driving a demonstrator and sitting in the car before ordering. If not I would recommend that you do so now and make sure your satisfied that the seats are comfortable. I used to have a Mk1 Elegance and replaced it with a Mk2 Elegance. It is not in the same comfort league as the old car. The seats in the Elegance (which are probably exactly the same size as what you've ordered) are smaller than the seats in the Octavia.

You jammie blither.

Two weeks ago I seen one close up in the showroom and.... fell in love with it.

Cannot afford one though-and quite happy with my Furby vRS.

Looking forward to seeing the piccies! Enjoy the car!

wow i ordered mine beginning of Feb and dont have a date yet:(

It must be all of the extra toys that the Elegance gets slows down production

Speaking as an "old man," the reason I chose the Rosso Brunello was because it looked stunning in the showroom. It looks stunning when it's freshly cleaned and it looks stunning when the rain beads on it. Dust, however, is a different matter altogether. My previous car (Octavia Elegance in "Saraha" - light gold colour) didn't show the dust anywhere near as much, but - hey - I actually like washing my car!

Is it too big - no. It is amazingly big inside, but so what? My wife was apprehensive initially, but she throws it around now just as she did the Octavia before it. That said, she was taught to drive early on, then had several "updates" along the way. The ivory leather interior makes the car look even bigger internally, BTW.

The front sensors could help if you're at all nervous, but for forward travel they'll need switching on first (top right-hand switch your side of the gear lever).

Ray.

Oh dear, I hate washing cars, although it might be a little easier on the Superb as washing the Roomster's roof is a bit of a stretch even for a lanky soul like me!

The only Superb I've seen in that colour was a taxi (surprise, surprise!) and was parked along Great Yarmouth's seafront. Unfortunately it was 9pm so I couldn't judge the colour at all (although I did have a darn good look around it!) I have seen the pictures you took of your car and it does look like a great colour and probably even better 'in the flesh'.

As for the size, well, it's too late to back out now!

I hope you've spent a good bit of time driving a demonstrator and sitting in the car before ordering. If not I would recommend that you do so now and make sure your satisfied that the seats are comfortable. I used to have a Mk1 Elegance and replaced it with a Mk2 Elegance. It is not in the same comfort league as the old car. The seats in the Elegance (which are probably exactly the same size as what you've ordered) are smaller than the seats in the Octavia.

Taken it for a test drive you say? Erm, well, I sat in one after I'd ordered it and was very impressed the quality and it seemed comfortable enough. I actually sat in one to see if I could still get to the wrong-side handbrake after SWMBO's copious behind was in the passenger seat - thankfully I could! As for a test drive, I didn't bother which I know is a stupid thing to do (considering the cost of the thing) but I was confident that the seating would be better the Roomster's. Hey, I'm sure a beaded seat cover or two could sort out any shortcomings with the seating!

In all honesty, out of the nine new cars I've bought over the last 17 years, a number of them I bought blind including a Furby 1.2 54hp (bugger me that was gutless), Furby vRS, this new Superb and a Lada Samara (ahem, moving swiftly on...) I'm sure it will all be fine (fingers crossed!)

... copious behind ...

It was nice knowing you, Darren!

Ray

It was nice knowing you, Darren!

I'm safe, she doesn't look at this forum as it's full of Skoda loving petrolheads If it was a forum about Terry Pratchett or cats then I'd better be checking my life insurance policy sharpish!

Seriously, we were both fat when we met and nearly eight years of good living has done our respective waistlines no favours! Saying that, we both started diets three weeks ago and have so far lost 13 pounds each which will improve the fuel economy when I get the new motor!

Taken it for a test drive you say? Erm, well, I sat in one after I'd ordered it and was very impressed the quality and it seemed comfortable enough. I actually sat in one to see if I could still get to the wrong-side handbrake after SWMBO's copious behind was in the passenger seat - thankfully I could! As for a test drive, I didn't bother which I know is a stupid thing to do (considering the cost of the thing) but I was confident that the seating would be better the Roomster's. Hey, I'm sure a beaded seat cover or two could sort out any shortcomings with the seating!

In all honesty, out of the nine new cars I've bought over the last 17 years, a number of them I bought blind including a Furby 1.2 54hp (bugger me that was gutless), Furby vRS, this new Superb and a Lada Samara (ahem, moving swiftly on...) I'm sure it will all be fine (fingers crossed!)

I understand what you're saying but you might want to pay heed now rather than regret it later. I also ordered mine 'bind' at the previews last July way before the official lauch and with much the same thought as yourself. The old MK1 Superb Elegance was a 'very comfortable car' as far as I was concerned. Why would I ever have thought that the seats on the new model would be both physically smaller AND much less comfortable (I don't have any reviews to hand but look at the latest Which Mag with all the cars - it only scores 3 stars out of 5 for 'Comfort and Space' - just like the A4 and the seats 'appear' to be very similar in a lot of ways. Well there's nothing the matter with the space it is an good as the old model - it is being let down on comfort). You see I made the mistake of thinking this was Skoda's Flagship and everything about it would be bigger and better than anything else in the range - I WAS WRONG. If your the sleek type of person I've always dreamt of being, you might not notice it much - if you 'have a presence' you may well do so. Now I was coming at it from a different route to yourself, I've never sat in a Roomster so don't know how comfortable or otherwise it is. I was coming from a very comfortable Mk1 where you could drive for 8 hours and get out feeling as fresh as a daisy - it was a delight on a long journey because of the space and comfort.

Don't get me wrong. Everything ELSE about the car is GREAT. Mine is also Rosso. It's a great colour, it changes according to the light conditions and quality of the light. On a sunny morning the shaded side is near black from 10m away and the other side quite a quite different metallic reddy-browny unusual colour mix. I'm delighted with the colour ------ if only the seats were comfy!

Incidentally, it's not just my opinion, I took the car into Seat Surgeons in York and they noticed the problem without really being prompted.