Hi from Ireland.

 

Tested a new Superb yesterday at Donohoe Skoda, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.

 

Style Spec, no extras from what I was told, but included electric boot and larger sat nav.

1.6 Diesel, 120PS, Manual 6 speed.

Quartz Grey. (Looked lighter than configeration pics).

 

First impressions of the exterior were very good. A very attractive car, even though the car was quite dirty.

The interior not so good. Perhaps its just the colour, black leather with grey and silver trim. Looked very bland. My wife thought our Superb II Elegance with the cream interior and fake wood looked a lot more upmarket. Would have to see the cream interior to compare, although I see they are using silver trim which I would have thought wouldn't look great.

 

Got comfortable in the seat (Electric memory for two front seats). Felt a little lower than the mark II with the gear change a little higher. Side window felt a little higher so not as confortable to rest right arm on door. Otherwise very comfortable though didn't notice much improvement in seats compared to Mark II, where I am already very comfy. But centre armrest an improvement.

 

Brought the car for a good run, just myself, my wife and teenage lanky son in the back. A good test drive team!

Instantly felt at home driving the car. I already have the 1.6 Diesel and am very happy with it, so was expecting great things with the new 1.6.

 

It was slightly more powerful, but only very slightly. It pulled very similarly to my own car, having to change down a gear at similar speeds. Engine noise wise I didnt notice much of a difference, but there was slightly less road and wind noise. My own car is fitted with Pirellis which can be a little noisy on some surfaces. Overall, like the Mark II, the car is a very impressive tourer.

 

The only other plus point I noticed when driving was that the clutch is lighter, the garage thought that a DMF is fitted.

 

Now to a few things we didn't like. The new Style spec is similar to the old Elegance here in Ireland. However we loose the park assist and the heated rear seats.

 

My son in the back missed the clock, apparently kids nowadays don't use watches anymore!

He also said that it was not as comfortable for his feet under the front seats. If this is true it is a serious problem, as one of the Superb's major selling points is the rear seat room and comfort.

 

To sum up, we thought the new Superb was a very good car. Improving in some areas, but not in others.

 

It certainly did not have the same quality feel and wow factor as when I first sat in a new VW Passat Highline. And the two cars are now priced very similarly.

 

And in many ways I prefer the quirky and very solid feel to the old model.

 

Will I change? Certainly not yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 1 September, 201510 yr by eagerv

The shoes really do go well with the car...  

The shoes really do go well with the car...  

Yes they do!

"Got comfortable in the seat (Electric memory for two front seats). Felt a little lower than the mark II with the gear change a little higher. Side window felt a little higher so not as comfortable to rest right arm on door. Otherwise very comfortable though didn't notice much improvement in seats compared to Mark II, where I am already very comfy. But centre armrest an improvement."

Raise the seat, perhaps?

 

 

 

"Got comfortable in the seat (Electric memory for two front seats). Felt a little lower than the mark II with the gear change a little higher. Side window felt a little higher so not as comfortable to rest right arm on door. Otherwise very comfortable though didn't notice much improvement in seats compared to Mark II, where I am already very comfy. But centre armrest an improvement."

Raise the seat, perhaps?

I tried to set it as close to possible to my own car. Head about same height from roof. Not really a fault though, just a matter of getting comfortable which is very easy to do on the new model.

Thanks for sharing that.  I very much agree with you on the interior as I'm sure you've read from my review of the 1.6tdi I drove.

Thanks for reviews chaps. Interesting. I feel I will be sticking with my mk2 for some time yet.

If my report on the new model sounds critical I did not mean it to be.

The car is very good indeed.

I think at times we forget how good the old model was.

Good review.

 

If you felt:

 

- a little lower than the mark II

- the gear change a little higher

- side window a little higher

- and your son found less space under the front seats

 

I presume the drivers seat was too low, wasn´'t it?

Good review.

If you felt:

- a little lower than the mark II

- the gear change a little higher

- side window a little higher

- and your son found less space under the front seats

I presume the drivers seat was too low, wasn´'t it?

I don't think so as mentioned earlier.

"I tried to set it as close to possible to my own car. Head about same height from roof. Not really a fault though, just a matter of getting comfortable which is very easy to do on the new model."

Interesting criteria - "head same distance from roof". I have never, ever considered that as a way to measure that the seat is in the right position. Provided my head doesn't actually touch the roof that is one measurement that I totally disregard when setting the seat position in any car.

 

 

 

"I tried to set it as close to possible to my own car. Head about same height from roof. Not really a fault though, just a matter of getting comfortable which is very easy to do on the new model."

Interesting criteria - "head same distance from roof". I have never, ever considered that as a way to measure that the seat is in the right position. Provided my head doesn't actually touch the roof that is one measurement that I totally disregard when setting the seat position in any car.

Perhaps I am talking rubbish . I normally like to sit quite high in a car and also fairly upright, giving me the best vis. So it is easy enough to hit the roof of a lowish car such as the superb II and III. I must look at the actual internal measurements of the new versus the old car. I felt, but could be wrong , that the new car is lower than the old one.

 

Perhaps its just an illusion because the car is now noticibly wider.

I'm 5'11", and find that the bolster on the side of the seat needs to be at least level with the top of the centre console in the Mk II. Looking at your seat position in the first picture and the later ones, I would say that it would be set far too low for me. I recently adjusted my seat position to a higher one after finding I was getting fatigue in my clutch foot when doing a lot of stop start driving - it went away.

 

As I didn't get to drive the demo model I've seen, I didn't focus much on this, but will take another look hopefully this week.

 

thanks for the review!

 

 

 

I'm 5'11", and find that the bolster on the side of the seat needs to be at least level with the top of the centre console in the Mk II. Looking at your seat position in the first picture and the later ones, I would say that it would be set far too low for me. I recently adjusted my seat position to a higher one after finding I was getting fatigue in my clutch foot when doing a lot of stop start driving - it went away.

 

As I didn't get to drive the demo model I've seen, I didn't focus much on this, but will take another look hopefully this week.

 

thanks for the review!

The static pictures were taken before I drove the car, the seats were too low at that stage.

 

Overall I found the new car very comfortable, it just takes a while to adjust to a new car.