Some of you may know I'm not very complimentary about the Superb and VAG in particular.

Well - I posted this in "general car chat" so I thought it only fair to print it here:

I borrowed a petrol Volvo S60 auto for the weekend whilst my son was using my AWX Superb.

Sorry chaps, the Volvo was an enormous let down. I'll ignore the fuel consumption (just unbelievable) as Volvo make a good diesel.

The turning circle is somebody's idea of a joke. They put a 5 cyl engine in sideways and then forget the front wheels have to swivel. I just could not live with tanker style manoeuvrability - reversing with a trailer would be sheer hell.

There's no room in the damned thing - no rear legroom and the front passenger is pushed over towards the door by this huge console - what's in there? The car is a reverse Tardis. The boot is even worse than the Superb's.

At 70 mph on a motorway the petrol auto is noticeably noisier than my diesel Superb. It rides over concrete sections like a plank too.

Volvo seats - hmm. Nice in theory, but the leather is so slippery that you slump down into an uncomfortable position and get lower back pain. The cloth seats in my poverty spec. Superb are actually much more comfortable for me - and I don't rate them particularly highly.

Despite being a "2.4T" whatever that is, it's noticeably slower than my AWX Superb - I suspect the slushbox kills it. It does handle a bit better than the Superb though - but nowhere near BMW standards.

Anyone following the Superb Mk 1 section may notice I'm not always very nice about it - after a weekend with the Volvo I may love it a bit more. The S60 was a very big disappointment.

rotodiesel.

Edited 31 May, 201115 yr by rotodiesel

Interesting - but not too surprising. I've not driven a Volvo since the days of the 740 and the last of the 240 series. A long time ago, but my recollection is one of wonderment that people thought these cars were so good. For some reason, they have established an unwarranted upmarket reputation. A friend of mine wants to get a C30 for god's sake - why, when they could get a Civic or, dare I say it, an Audi A3 for similar money? Or a used BMW? One of those four won't be so easy to move on in 3 or 4 years' time...

In retro spec, this week my AWX Superb is getting serviced in Germany and i borrowed a 2003 Mercedes E-Class 270 CDI.

The car is fairly expensive compared to the Superb and yet it has not even close to, the same leg room as it. I must say though i am pretty impressed by the drive, feeling and interior lay out. The quality is extremely high and well made.

The fuel consumption is not anything to write home about. The Superb annihilates it in that category though the engines are of course very different. The E-Class has 170 bhp but it weights a lot more, which makes it a stale mate between the two in a drag race. My Superb puts out 165 bhp with the same newtons pr. ton. (chipped)

In the end i would probably choose the Merc in the future (if i win the lottery). Otherwise i must say that the Superb is an extraordinary drive compared to the more expensive range of cars on the market. You get so much for so little. The AWX 1.9 is absolutely awesome.

Sorry rotodiesel, for stealing space in your thread. Just wanted to share.

Sometime you don't realise how good a car actually is until you 'loose' it, sure there are niggles and problems that shouldn't really be there, but on the whole they are a pretty decent car.

Sometime you don't realise how good a car actually is until you 'loose' it, sure there are niggles and problems that shouldn't really be there, but on the whole they are a pretty decent car.

Totally agree Gizmo

Just thought I'd jump in on this one....

I ran an S60 D5 Sport (2.4 5 cyl diesel) for 100,000 trouble free miles. It had a great turn of speed, was quiet and had decent economy on long runs. The 2.4 engine is brilliant, sounds great and is bulletproof. It does have it's faults (turning circle, tight for space etc) but otherwise it's a really great car and totally underrated. Rock solid build quality and far far better handling than a MK 1, and the comfort of the seats is probably the best on the market. I'd recommend them all day long. The only reason it's gone is, it was written off by an idiot during the winter we just had.

Cheers,

Rob

But I buy a car to put people and luggage into...

rotodiesel.

I bought that car for motorway milage...

Rob

I'm on rotodiesel on this. I dont see any reason to own a car with no space.

For me the suberb is one of the best cars you can have.

Off course it's not that perfect build like a mercedes E or a audi A6. But on the other hand it's a model that excist from 2002 and is based on a car from 1996! Even today it's still a nice car to see, especially a full loaded elegance of L & K version.

No a Mercedes E or Audi A6 they are for sure better build, like the armrest in front. In a Superb you can hear some resonance in the doors a somewhere at the back seat. But you still have to compare apples with apples. The comfort of a Mercedes is something were a Superb can dream off.

But now we have the Superb 2 and it comes again closer to perfection...

A superb is in fact a concurrent of a mondeo, vectra, passat b5. And then I think it beats them all. I drove last week in an Audi A4 b7 from 2007 with 20 TDI engine. And I'm sorry to say it, but I was not impressed comparing my 2007 superb elegance. No the engine was noisier then my 1.9 in superb and I have heard some resonance allso. At the back it was so small, I had problems to sit behind the drivers seat. What is a Superb a roomy car!!

A lost point witch is not less important: the cost of having a superb. It is believe me or not cheaper to run than a Dacia Duster diesel.

Here in Belgium it cost at least 10% less in servicing then the Duster. But there or also other things witch are interesting.

Consumption about 5,3-5,5 l/100km with 17 inch wheels!! A car of thise size and weight..

The Passat B5... I bought some roof bars coming from a 2004 passat for 30€. They were like new and only a few times used and 4 keys.

New they costed 280€. Thats the advantage of rebadged car. Same with tyres, front doors,...

A nice double din radio with USB,... if its broken get another one for few hundred euros. It's not needed to buy a OEM radio witch is 10 times more expensive, same with the navigation. Just build in a Pioneer or something.

It's also perfect to do service the car yourself. I bought a vagcom cable for 13€ and a laptop is all you need to be a professional dealer.

In fact for me the Superb is quite Superb. If they were able to solve the parking sensors issue, modificated the stupid front armrest and cabin air leak issue it was to perfect. What can you buy for the same money witch is better than this? I'm out of ideas.

greetz

I have both a Skoda Superb 170 TDI DSG 2011 and a Volvo S40 2.0D 2008.

My opinion is that Volvo's tend to be more elegant and simple in it's style and expression (more northen european), and the Skoda's tend to have a more Eastern European style with clear statements and many small details of luxury which is important for the brands rise up the latter.

When it comes to drivability i know that swedish cars often have high standards with for an example the swedish Haldex 4wd and the (DSG like) Powershift gearbox and i have testdrived the S60 D5 4wd. It's not even interesting to discuss road handling when you compare a smaller car (S60) with the Skoda Superb. S60 is a winner by far (They have the same Haldex system by the way).

When we get into the specifics about the S60 i can agree about the lack of space. I stood between the Volvo S60 and the Skoda Superb when i looked for a new car. I have no doubt in my mind that the interior design of the S60 is Superior of the Superb, but the practicality of the S60 model was near zero. So i chose the Skoda Superb for it's good planing, nice interior and exterior design.... And off cause the fact you get a good quality car for less money.

Thanks for your comments - fair enough I think.

One of my previous cars was a (Swedish, pre-GM) SAAB so I know all about good design and good handling.

The proper SAABs were always, in my view far better designed than the Volvos of the same period but their market penetration and lack of engine variety (no diesel) helped to kill them off. I think they're dead in the water now - what's the view from Sweden?

I still miss that car - a lot. The SAAB felt as though it was designed by a team who cooperated and loved the project. The VAG cars feel as though they are designed by a committee, each doing their bit but the product just doesn't hang together as a well integrated piece of kit to use.

rotodiesel.