Were they actually selling Skodas in Feb. '73?

Ok, you got me... 'twas neither February or 1973. Still, I placed my order a looooong long time ago... !

In Scotland the West End garages have new superbs. Went to the Edinburgh one today and sat in an SE L Executive hatchback and was very impressed. As I've seen others say it didn't appear as big as old model inside but thats possibly a good thing. Still very spacious. Fit and finish seemed impressive too, just a shame my business se won't have those xenon headlights! Also think I picked the wrong colour I need petrol blue looking at a few other cars, looks like it is at its best in sunshine, not something we see a lot of in Scotland.....

Honest appraisal:

 

The car was brand new (12 miles) and I was the 1st non staff member to drive it.

 

The hatch looks gorgeous even on a very drab day, there is a slight ‘lip’ on the rear edge of the tailgate giving it almost a spoiler look, as can be seen here (another Business Grey car but a different dealer)

 

this one had no rear wiper and TBH I think a rear wiper will spoil the lines of the car, the angle of the rear window and amount of metal ‘boot’ from the bottom of the rear window means IMO it doesn’t require a wiper either (I will treat the glass with RainX anyway)

 

 

 

I didn’t like the lack of any visible exhaust tailpipes... so that would need to be one of my first OE modifications. 

 

The DSG was really smooth (as it should be, but has not always been in my experience)

 

Tried the suspension in ‘Normal’ mode ... VERY comfortable, even on the 19” wheels, we then changed it to ‘Sport’ and it was slightly smoother than my MKII Superb Combi Elegance was (on 18” wheels), I agree with others that it can be left in Sport 99% of the time... even over a bumpy level crossing it was no worse than my MKII and certainly was not crashy. 

 

The 150 190 TDi sounded a little rattly (tappety sort of sound) when pushed (up hill), I didn’t look at the revs but they were not high, but enough to kick down the DSG, the 150 will not disappoint most as it is a nice drive... but it was not quite torquey enough for me.

 

The road noise was very quiet and refined.

 

The phonebox is large enough for an iPhone 6+ fitted with an Otter case, it does not sit flat, but the drawer lid will still close.

EDIT: There is even enough room for an iPhone6 AND and iPhone6+ with the drawer closed!

 

I had concerns that the seat squab may be a bit long for me (30” inside legs) as there are reports that the seats are larger, but I am happy to say they were fine for me.

 

The Xenon headlights do not have the additional 7 LED strips in them when Smart Light Assist is not specced, they are just gloss black plastic inserts with moulded strips, so they cannot just be coded on:

 

 

The spare wheel well is only just deep enough for the 205 space saver wheel supplied... if you want a full width 235 spare tyre then you will need to space the boot floor up 30mm.

 

 

In summary, a very nice car and I am now almost there with the spec I want, this car has confirmed a few ‘must haves’ for me (L&K, Business Grey, 19” alloys, 190, DSG, Smart Light Assist, no rear wiper, leather) now need to see a hatch with a sunroof to rule out if I want one... oh and an estate 

 

OK I have been told today that the car I drove was a 190 and not a 150 as the dealer thought (I didn’t check for an adblue cap)

 

So a little disappointed with the performance if I am honest now I know it’s a 190!

OK I have been told today that the car I drove was a 190 and not a 150 as the dealer thought (I didn’t check for an adblue cap)

 

So a little disappointed with the performance if I am honest now I know it’s a 190!

Thought all dealer models were 190?

I saw the comment about a lack of petrol demonstrators being forthcoming. However, now that they are starting to grow in number - does anyone know if/where there's a 1.4 TSI estate demonstrator? Not fussed about spec.