6,500 miles on the clock and another continental blast-fest out of the way. The first opportunity to really get to throw Carrie MacCarface around the (fantastic) Bundestrassen and Landstrassen.

It's still a waking wet dream for me in situations such as when I came up behind a convoy of four artics. I moved out for the view, saw a gap between lorry two and three and thought "I can safely make that gap before that next bend" - then realised I'd so greatly underestimated the car's performance as it flew past all four with plenty of room to spare.

With two refuels of 100 RON (Shell) and 98 RON (local brew) and mixed driving at anything between 30 and 240 km/h the maxi dot average "since last refuel" was around 35 mpg for both fuel grades and struck me as pretty damn good going.

Weather on the autobahn, both arriving and leaving, was crazy. Brilliant sunshine regularly interspersed by thunderstorms. The combination of all wheel drive, lane detection (I was amazed the camera could "see" the road markings in the torrential downpour as I certainly couldn't) and the ACC detecting vehicles ahead that just weren't visible made driving in those atrocious conditions so much easier.

As everyone else slowed to a snail's pace I was able to make reasonably unhindered progress, though the lyrics "Gotta have faith..." kept running through my head.

It amused me to see the Krazy Klaus's in their Porsche Carreras and AMG Mercs fly past me at warp factor 10, then I'd enter the next thunderstorm and soon after it cleared those very same cars would suddenly come flying past me again!

But the icing on the cake was on the journey home, whilst stopped for a pee/coffee/fag break at the last Autobahn Rastplatz before crossing into the Netherlands. A father walked by with his little boy in hand. The boy, about kindergarten age, pointed at my car and in German said "Papa, can't we go in that car?" - "Nein" he replied - "But it's nicer than yours!". Last seen getting into an Audi A6. From the mouths of babes...

Can't wait to do it all again in six weeks, hopefully without the thunderstorms.

I've bitten the bullet and ordered the RaceChip "Ultimate" and "Response Control" - and asbestos underwear!

6,500 miles on the clock and another continental blast-fest out of the way. The first opportunity to really get to throw Carrie MacCarface around the (fantastic) Bundestrassen and Landstrassen.

It's still a waking wet dream for me in situations such as when I came up behind a convoy of four artics. I moved out for the view, saw a gap between lorry two and three and thought "I can safely make that gap before that next bend" - then realised I'd so greatly underestimated the car's performance as it flew past all four with plenty of room to spare.

With two refuels of 100 RON (Shell) and 98 RON (local brew) and mixed driving at anything between 30 and 240 km/h the maxi dot average "since last refuel" was around 35 mpg for both fuel grades and struck me as pretty damn good going.

Weather on the autobahn, both arriving and leaving, was crazy. Brilliant sunshine regularly interspersed by thunderstorms. The combination of all wheel drive, lane detection (I was amazed the camera could "see" the road markings in the torrential downpour as I certainly couldn't) and the ACC detecting vehicles ahead that just weren't visible made driving in those atrocious conditions so much easier.

As everyone else slowed to a snail's pace I was able to make reasonably unhindered progress, though the lyrics "Gotta have faith..." kept running through my head.

It amused me to see the Krazy Klaus's in their Porsche Carreras and AMG Mercs fly past me at warp factor 10, then I'd enter the next thunderstorm and soon after it cleared those very same cars would suddenly come flying past me again!

But the icing on the cake was on the journey home, whilst stopped for a pee/coffee/fag break at the last Autobahn Rastplatz before crossing into the Netherlands. A father walked by with his little boy in hand. The boy, about kindergarten age, pointed at my car and in German said "Papa, can't we go in that car?" - "Nein" he replied - "But it's nicer than yours!". Last seen getting into an Audi A6. From the mouths of babes...

Can't wait to do it all again in six weeks, hopefully without the thunderstorms.

I've bitten the bullet and ordered the RaceChip "Ultimate" and "Response Control" - and asbestos underwear!

 

A fantastic read! It sounds like you had a great time, and I'd love to have seen the father's face after his son had said that! I must admit your economy surprised me considering the speeds involved, even with 98/100 RON fuel. Very impressive. 

Edited 5 July, 20169 yr by Rainmaker

From one of Skoda's latest promotional videos..... The only thing you could compare many older high performance cars and of course none would match the technology in most modern cars anyway.

 

https://youtu.be/5m1BCn_mu9o

Edited 4 July, 20169 yr by Superb170

I'd love to have seen the father's face after his son had said that!

You should have seen my face! Talk about smug!!!

 

I must admit your economy surprised me considering the speeds involved, even with 98/100 RON fuel. Very impressive

 

As with my diesel Mk.2 combi I take the MFD fuel calculation with a pinch of salt and can't be asked to get an accurate value by keeping a record of pump versus mileage because...

I don't really care. Nonetheless it compares favourably with the indicated 27-28 I'm getting at home where I use 97 RON.

I'm still gobsmacked how VAG/Škoda get that kind of performance out of a 2-litre four-pot and those smooth (not a pothole in sight) German roads are where you can really get the best out of the car - probably a greater positive effect on consumption than RON rating.  Though nobody seems to have explained to VAG/Škoda that grunt is supposed to be the obverse of economy.

Edited by request.

Edited 5 July, 20169 yr by BillyJim

I was at Le Mans a couple of weeks ago, we were camping at Mulsanne corner and the people who had parked in the car park had to walk past us to the viewing area.

The amount of looks the car got was very noticable, a lot of pointing and double takes and even two or three asking about the car. Considering there were a lot of other 'nice' cars parked nearby the Superb certainly got the most attention.

My red 'un certainly draws a lot of attention.  To date:

 

• Pub landlord who spotted it in the car park and went out to have a look
• Random bloke at the seaside who crossed the road for a look and a chat
• Chap on the touring caravan site who was looking for an A6 replacement.  I showed him the various gadgets and now his wife wants one
• Over-heard two other people on the same site who seemed to think it was a Volvo
• Random mini bus driver in a car park who wanted a nice weekend car

It always surprises them when I tell them it's 280(ish)BHP and 4x4 

The amount of looks the car got was very noticeable...

Like a prat in a Range Rover who stopped in the middle of a T-junction, holding up all the other traffic, just to get a good look!

(Here at home, not on the continent).

So, BillyJim, do you think 100RON makes any difference (vs. 97/98)?

 

When I tried it in March, on the outbound journey I filled the car with 98 (BP in Holland) before extended (very) high-speed autobahn running. Upon setting off for the return, I filled the car with the 100 “Racing” V-Power. I cannot say that I felt any difference. However, that comparison was somewhat skewed by considerably different loads in the car: outbound just my not inconsiderable weight and a bag, while probably two-three times the weight (lots of beer etc.) on the return. So I’d be interested in any like-for-like feedback.

 

I wonder who on earth would regularly buy the 100RON; it’s an awful lot more expensive than the 98. OK, so it mightn’t matter to the average Ferrari / Porsche owner, whose self-image alone would compel them to buy the “Racing” fuel (even though – or perhaps because – they might be clueless drivers).

 

That of course takes us back to the wonderful stealthiness of this car! I wouldn’t like it half as much if it was ‘adorned’ with ‘sporty’ bits. It rarely fails to take others by complete surprise.

 

 9300 miles driven since 2 March …oops…

 

Glad I bought it before the vote for huge economic self-harm and the consequent collapse of sterling.

Glad I bought it before the vote for huge economic self-harm and the consequent collapse of sterling.

This :clap:

Edited 5 July, 20169 yr by maffyou

So, BillyJim, do you think 100RON makes any difference (vs. 97/98)?

None that I could notice.

 

I wonder who on earth would regularly buy the 100RON;

 

+1

For me: Botrup refuel = Shell = 95 or 100 = not much choice!

So, BillyJim, do you think 100RON makes any difference (vs. 97/98)?

 

I know you asked BillyJim directly, but since he's already given his experience... As far as I know, VAG only have ignition timing tables for 95 RON and 98 RON plus. Rather than, for example, maps for 97, 98, 99, 100 etc. As such provided the latter is triggered (eg 98 on the continent, 99 RON here) then anything over it is basically wasted, just like using super unleaded on a car only mapped for 95. It'd be interesting to see if anyone knows any different though?

 

BTW thanks BillyJim.

If someone does not mind a demonstrator this seems to be a more than reasonable price IMHO:

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201604213202839?fuel-type=petrol&make=skoda&search-target=usedcars&model=superb&sort=pricedesc&maximum-badge-engine-size=2.0&searchcontext=default&radius=1501&minimum-badge-engine-size=2.0&maximum-age=up_to_1_year_old&page=1&onesearchad=new%2Cnearlynew%2Cused&postcode=gu68qe&logcode=p&adPos=9

 

Price dropped another £1,000. 

Strange, I thought these were popular?

Wow, that is ‘low’.

 

On the one hand the collapse of sterling is bound to drive prices up soon; on the other hand, an economy heading for – self-inflicted – recession will make it tough to sell all manner of goods. Not exactly rosy prospects, especially without even a government to begin the decade-long salvage operation that should be starting today. Instead, we’re just heading rudderless into the abyss.

 

If I were a dealer with stock to shift, I’d probably say to myself ‘the first loss is the least painful’ and go as low as it takes to get rid of the metal now.

Autoexpress are reporting that Skoda are planning a hotter 'VRS' Superb after the Skoda boss talked about it being launched along with a Kodiak version too.

Autoexpress are reporting that Skoda are planning a hotter 'VRS' Superb after the Skoda boss talked about it being launched along with a Kodiak version too.

Yep new topic opened earlier today.

280 Superb faster than a Honda NSX?

 

Edited 7 July, 20169 yr by Coops

Lol, great ad!

Correct colour as well ;-)

Autec Wizard. 9kg each.

 

 

Registration numbers for Q1 2016 are out for both the L&K and SE-L !

 

 

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/skoda_superb_l_&_k_tsi_4x4_s-a

 

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/skoda_superb_se_l_exctive_tsi_4x4_sa

So remind me again Skoda thought they might sell 10-20 280bhp's a year, and they are selling 71 per quarter in the UK.

Shows how much they got that wrong!

I thought 71 was the total until now?

Waiting for the 72nd!!!

Petrol engines are the near future before the petrol/electric hybrids are developed. Diesels will be banned in major city centres before too long. I don't do the miles I used to do so the 280PS 4x4 fits the bill for me.

Autec Wizard. 9kg each.

Which winter tyres are you running?