So, I picked up my lovely new Skoda on Thursday 9th June, but unfortunately I had to lock it in the garage for a few days becuase I just didn't have time to try it out.

That moment came the next Tuesday morning when I set out for Dunkirk to get the ferry to Dover, and continue on up to Manchester.

What a car. As a motorway cruiser it is fantastic. I still haven't quite found the perfect seat position, but I'm getting close to it. After the trip from Dover to Manchester, stopping once for a 20 minute break, I arrived as fresh and awake as if I hadn't been driving for the past 5 hours.

Whilst in Manchester, we took 2 small day trips. One up into the Yorkshire Dales, and the other down to Chester via the Jodrell Bank. On the small, hilly, and twisty B roads of Yorkshire, the car was a delight. The DSG gearbox handled the gearing almost better than I would have in a manual. I tried the autobox in manual myself for a while, but soon shifted it back into auto as it was doing such a good job. The 4x4 capabilities kicked in twice I think: once on a sharp bend where I might have been going a little too quick, and the road was wet after a torrential downpour; and the second time when I was taking off from traffic-lights on a wet road - I really felt the car glued to the road as it zoomed off...

The trip back on Saturday was a bit rushed, as I had misremembered the time of the ferry leaving Dover. The M6 toll was empty, so I put my foot down and at speed (not too fast, just around 140kmh) the car was a well behaved and quiet as if I was only doing 100kmh. In fact, I found it generally hard to keep to the speed limit when not using cruise control because of the silence of the car.

The only thing which didn't work as it should have (I think) was when I had the lights on auto (with tourist mode turned on), and during one shower the wipers came on, as did the dipped lights. But after the rain and the sun came back, the lights would not go out. Even by manually turning off the auto wipers and setting the lights to OFF, when I turned the lights back to auto (in bright sunshine), the dipped lights also came back on. Only after stopping for a short break and turning the ignition back on did I notice that the lights were behaving properly again.

The SatNav was quite good. It tried a few routes which I would not have taken, but I ignored the instructions, and it generally went OK. It took me a while to figure out how to turn off the automatic redirection of the route according to the traffic (I only found that before I set out to come home again).

All in all I'm very very happy with the car. Fuel consumption is currently around 6.0l/100km (maxidot calculation). As soon as I get the opportunity to calculate properly I will. But for a car still being run in, I think that this figure will improve over time.

On the roads, I had a few thumbs up from people passing me. One policeman slowed right down beside me to take a look, and in various car parks, etc I spotted quite a few glances and walkarounds

Did anyone spot me on the roads between Tuesday and Saturday?

I have no photos of the car, as the weather has been ****y almost all the time since I got it, but I will try and take some in the coming days (after I've given it a wash...)

Good to hear you like it!

You should never "feel" the 4x4 working - i haven't on mine, and i've had it for over a year now, even during the snow, there was no "kicking-in" to be felt - it just worked! - mine is a manual tho....

Al.

Glad to see you're enjoying the motor... Dover to Manchester with just one stop is quite impressive

With regards to the seating, I find I prefer to sit much higher in the Superb than in my previous Saab 93. Perhaps you just need to lift it up half an inch or so to find that perfect position.

As for the auto lights, I've also noticed that after rain they don't tend to want to go off as quickly as I would expect... Perhaps they stay on on the assumption the road is still wet and they may be spray..?! They certainly turn off quickly after driving through tunnels, so I don't see it as a fault.

Have fun

Good to hear you like it!

You should never "feel" the 4x4 working - i haven't on mine, and i've had it for over a year now, even during the snow, there was no "kicking-in" to be felt - it just worked! - mine is a manual tho....

Al.

It's not that I felt the 4x4 kick in, but I felt more glued to the road. On the slippy back roads of Yorkshire, my old car would have been sliding; the Superb went around the bend effortlessly. And for the trafficlight takeoff, I would normally have expected a little wheel-spin in my older FWD Alfa, but in the Skoda, nothing. Just zoom

I do love the car though...

Glad to see you're enjoying the motor... Dover to Manchester with just one stop is quite impressive

With regards to the seating, I find I prefer to sit much higher in the Superb than in my previous Saab 93. Perhaps you just need to lift it up half an inch or so to find that perfect position.

As for the auto lights, I've also noticed that after rain they don't tend to want to go off as quickly as I would expect... Perhaps they stay on on the assumption the road is still wet and they may be spray..?! They certainly turn off quickly after driving through tunnels, so I don't see it as a fault.

Have fun

Only one stop was needed, because for a very strange reason, there were no holdups at all anywhere. Clear motoring all the way. I only had to slow down twice, and that was to throw money in the baskets at Dartford and the M6 toll.

Thanks for the tip on raising the seat a bit. I'll give it a try.

I see you're in Chester. I spotted a Superb 3 cars in front of me just before a turn-off when I was there on Friday... It looked to be a silver colour combi.

It's not that I felt the 4x4 kick in, but I felt more glued to the road. On the slippy back roads of Yorkshire, my old car would have been sliding; the Superb went around the bend effortlessly. And for the trafficlight takeoff, I would normally have expected a little wheel-spin in my older FWD Alfa, but in the Skoda, nothing. Just zoom

I do love the car though...

Yes, That's more like it - No kicking in feeling, just "stuck" to the road You Gott'a love the 4x4 system!

Al.

I never mentioned, I also had mud flaps put on, front and back.

Since coming back, the car has been parked up, and we have been using the other car (a 5m long car in the city is not the best idea really). This evening, I decided to take the Superb out for a spin, and noticed that the car was a bit dirty.

To me, it really seems that they are only a little better than useless. OK, maybe it would be worse without them, but I don't think so. I'll take a photo tomorrow morning and upload it for comments and opinions just in case I expect too much.

Note that I was only driving on paved roads. No dirt roads or tracks...

I see you're in Chester. I spotted a Superb 3 cars in front of me just before a turn-off when I was there on Friday... It looked to be a silver colour combi.

Not me as I was in work, although "Roy&Val" on here are from Chester and they have a silver Combi... could have been them