I'm thinking about possibly replacing my Octavia 4x4 with a Superb 4x4 Estate and have a few questions, which I tried finding the answers to, but couldn't get them all.

1. Can the spare wheel well accommodate a full size alloy wheel? As we will be using this as a long range holiday car, I want to be able to swap like for like if I have to, like I have in my Octy.

2. Is the 4x4 Superb suspension raised at all like the Octavia?

2.2 Did any models have underbody protection fitted, like some Octavias? IE, was it an option worth looking around for?

3. On the manual version, does it have a low range first gear like, yes, the Octavia?

4. Would anyone (potentially) want to swap their 16" alloys for the 18's that would be on the Elegance?

Edit: Before someone suggests I just keep the Octavia, I may well do so, but I would like a bit more comfort in my frail old age, with it being a pretty rough and noisy car.

1. Yes

2. No & No - not even on Outdoor version, just chunky plastics

3. No

4. I would think so

Thanks, nice and simple and what I expected the answers to be. The spare wheel is the only 'killer' question.

Depends on what you mean by full size. I have 225/17 on the superb estate 4x4 but the spare is a steel 205. I think an alloy 225/17 would be too tall when laid down to fit under the plywood cover. But yeah, it's a real wheel and tyre without silly speed restrictions.

I've just put my 18" spare alloy in and can confirm that it does fit but when I put the jacking kit inside the wheel the floor doesn't sit flat. I would have to cut away the foam padding stuck to the floor to get it sit flush. But it's not too bad and I'm not going to bother

Thanks ashfan, that's perfect.