Just returned from a 2-week trip to Scotland, covering both Assynt and Argyll.  Stats:

• Miles:                 1961
• Driving hours:    54hrs. 49mins.
• Ave. speed:       36mph
• Consumption:    35.9mpg (maxi-dot calibrated by VCDS)

 

The stats don't tell the whole story, though: I've driven 4 of us (including two 6'+ lads) and masses of luggage in fabulous comfort on motorways, single-track roads, sweeping 'A' roads, traffic jams, uphill climbs; through shine, mist, rain, torrential rain... and the Superb hasn't missed a beat. Let's not pretend it likes being thrown into corners, but it has a composure and authority that make you feel as if you're driving a limousine.  I once heard a rumour that Bentley had worked on the suspension; probably apocryphal, but I can see why those rumours originate: the car is immense.

 

I bought this 2009 Elegance in July, 2012, with 57,000 miles on the clock for a scarcely believable £8450.  This from a Toyota main dealer, with FSH and one previous owner (a company director). It's now done 87,500, and I think it may be the first car I ever keep beyond the period of my bank loan (another 3 years to go).  Was there ever a better motoring bargain than this?

 

I also want to (again) pay tribute to the tyres: a brand new set of Sailun Atrezzo Z4s, which have provided extreme comfort and unassailable composure through everything the trip has thrown at them, including much standing water. £240 for all 4; you know where to come.

 

Last point: I've had a good chance to road-test the CG-Lock seatbelt enhancer - http://www.cg-lock.co.uk/ - which I heard about from other members on the site. I've got mixed feelings: it certainly holds you snug, but what difference that actually makes in terms of driving benefit is not as clear to me as the media hype would have had me believe.  You have to use great strength to pull it extraordinarily tight if you're going to feel the benefit and then the buckle digs into your side a bit.  That minor irritation aside, I suppose I have had a very comfortable and safe 55hrs of driving, so maybe the CG-Lock played a part in that?  A bit steep at £50, perhaps.

I like you have a petrol Superb and am surprised at the very reasonable return on fuel I constantly get. (low to mid 30's). Having also driven the facelift Superb in diesel form, my petrol one is still a lot quieter. One of the main reasons I got mine in the first place. If economy is your top priority then diesel is the way to go, but if you, like me, prefer the quieter things in life, then I don't think you can beat a petrol version. They are incredible value for money, even from new. I have never heard of the seat belt thingy you are talking about but will have a look at the link. It really is like driving around in a "gentlemans club".

Hi Ned, any chance of an "edited highlights" of the tour itself if you have the time? Sounds interesting, not your normal run of the mill holiday.

 

Was very disappointed to open this post and find it was all boring car stuff!!!

 

 

Like your choice of words there "composure and authority", summs up the Superb driving experience beautifully and I think is what makes the car so satisfying to own.

Sounds like you had a good road trip Ned. Glad the old girl performed well for you. So, no mention of the re-map, or the new alloys: does literal silence = no regrets, and no complaints?

Hi Ned, any chance of an "edited highlights" of the tour itself if you have the time? Sounds interesting, not your normal run of the mill holiday.

 

 

Hiya, Stink; sorry about the boring car stuff, but I save my purple prose travel writing for my students. 

 

We're viewers rather than doers, so I'll just give you one driving highlight which I've done a dozen times but which never, ever palls: the A82 through Glencoe can make poets and priests of all of us.  I've covered nearly all of mainland Britain over the last 30 years and there is no road in this kingdom which has more drama, austere beauty and humbling scale; it's simply beyond.

Sounds like you had a good road trip Ned. Glad the old girl performed well for you. So, no mention of the re-map, or the new alloys: does literal silence = no regrets, and no complaints?

 

I take it that by the phrase "old girl", you meant the car, not my wife.  If you meant the latter, then I'll have to post a different answer.

 

Jake, the wheels are just awesome; every time I look at them, I feel like bursting into applause.  They have totally transformed the look and character of the car; it's all an illusion, of course, but they appear bigger than the previous wheels and the car appears to sit lower.  They also detract a lot of attention from the rather ungainly C-pillar and boot line, the biggest fault with the aesthetics of the car in my opinion; your eye is now drawn to a different dynamic. What is incontestable is that the car looks meaner, more aggressive, more like a sporting saloon or stealth car than a family barge.

 

As for the re-map, I think there's little difference at low speeds, but it revs markedly more freely above 3000rpm - this is great for guerrilla overtaking; I've had a few satisfying pedal-to-the-metal moments which had my wife hanging on to the roof handles. 

....but I save my purple prose travel writing for my students. 

 

 there is no road in this kingdom which has more drama, austere beauty and humbling scale; it's simply beyond.

 

With prose and punctuation like that we're all your students Ned

With prose and punctuation like that we're all your students Ned

 

Aw, shucks...  No-one's ever complimented me on a semi-colon before!  :sun: