So I've had my SE business estate for a week and a half and have covered 500 miles. My initial thoughts...

Good:

17's with standard suspension is pretty comfy

I like the non colour Maxidot (had the full colour version in my last VW)

Seats are nice

Generally really well finished inside

Great balance of features, has pretty much everything I could ever need

I like apple CarPlay, although it does crash sometimes.

The boot really is bloomin massive

My kids (3) have plenty of room in the back

The Helios wheels have grown on me

The electronic parking brake is great. Much better than others I've had and despite no hill hold spec'd the auto hold works perfectly on hills

Bad:

No easy shortcut to get back the apple CarPlay from another setting (may not have found it yet)

It's really loud on the motorway (road noise). My last golf was significantly quieter, in fact my caravelle was quieter and that's a van!

Not always a massive fan of the acc. It's great on a really quiet road but on a busier one I prefer the instant response of manually controlling the cruise, it takes too long to react when the road has cleared. Also can only increase in 5mph increments. What's that about?

Auto tilting wing mirror when reversing is way too slow, normally finished reversing by the time it's tilted

Handling is a bit "floaty" and uninvolving

Traction sucks, it spins it's wheels in the wet in first three gears but this is the same as all torquey diesels I've had

Thought it had full light assist

Washer jets are rubbish

Overall though I'm really impressed with the car. All the bad points are minor. It's my 40 somethingth car and the first I've ever bought without seeing or driving, I took a punt and I'm not disappointed. Mine is leased but I'd say if I was going to buy my own I'd want adaptive suspension to sharpen the handling, 18's to fill the arches, a more powerful engine and probably the dsg box as all the driver AIDS would be better with full auto.

Oh and I've averaged 42.3 mpg (via the trip) on my first tank (527 miles) average speed of 33 mph.

Edited 15 December, 201510 yr by Bugginbob

Thanks for the feedback...

 

My concerns from your thoughts are :-

 

It's really loud on the motorway (road noise). My last golf was significantly quieter, in fact my caravelle was quieter and that's a van!

What type of noise are we talking about? wind, road/tyre, boom, engine, gearbox ?

 

Im not sure if i have been spoilt over the years, but my BMW E60 (5er) was very very quiet if the radio was off at speed with very limited wind noise

 

Traction sucks, it spins it's wheels in the wet in first three gears but this is the same as all torquey diesels I've had

Coming from Rear wheel drive to FWD i guess it will be interesting to see how the toque pulls the car rather than pushes it.  What are the factory fit tyres ? 

 

Handling is a bit "floaty" and uninvolving

I know it is what it is type of car, but is there much feedback in the steering ? Have you set the driver mode to sport/ individual to add the max weight to the steering ? I always like the feel of heavier steering, also what PSI are you running?

Thanks for the feedback...

My concerns from your thoughts are :-

It's really loud on the motorway (road noise). My last golf was significantly quieter, in fact my caravelle was quieter and that's a van!

What type of noise are we talking about? wind, road/tyre, boom, engine, gearbox ?

Im not sure if i have been spoilt over the years, but my BMW E60 (5er) was very very quiet if the radio was off at speed with very limited wind noise

Traction sucks, it spins it's wheels in the wet in first three gears but this is the same as all torquey diesels I've had

Coming from Rear wheel drive to FWD i guess it will be interesting to see how the toque pulls the car rather than pushes it. What are the factory fit tyres ?

Handling is a bit "floaty" and uninvolving

I know it is what it is type of car, but is there much feedback in the steering ? Have you set the driver mode to sport/ individual to add the max weight to the steering ? I always like the feel of heavier steering, also what PSI are you running?

It's a mix of road/tyre noise and winds noise. The majority is the tyre roar at motorway speeds. The engine noise is actually pretty quiet (or tempered by what appears to be a fake engine sound pumped through the speakers). Towards the end with my golf I put some cheap Chinese ditchfinder tyres on and even they didn't produce as much noise as the superb. It's not terrible though, far from it but not as quiet as I expected a new car to be.

Standard tyres are conti's. They give a fair amount of traction when cornering but as with all torquey fwd diesels they don't cope well in the wet with so much torque. This isn't a big deal as I've learnt to live with it over the last 5/6 years with various diesels. It's better with a manual as you can temper your input with the clutch and throttle as soon as the traction control kicks in rather than an auto when you just have to throttle off. My wife has a diesel 1 series coupe with the same bhp, it's rear tyres barely ever break traction.

I've played with all the settings and tend to leave it in individual, with the engine set to normal and steering on sport. You don't get great feedback from the steering, even in sport the feedback is no better, just requires more effort to steer. Overall I like it but best to think of it as a nice easy, relaxing drive rather than an involving one.

Can't remember what exact psi my tyres are at but whatever the manual states. Good point though as I may play with them a bit.

Edited 15 December, 201510 yr by Bugginbob

Thanks for posting this, I to have an SE Business and also came from a VW car (Passat estate), i've done 3k in mine now and while I agree with the vast majority of the good and bads of the car I must disagree on the ACC. This for a motorway driver is one of the best features of the car in my opinion, it works excellent for me.

 

A couple more points on the bads for me are:-

 

The mixed light types make the car look a little down market ie the lights in the door handles are bright white, the lights in the foot well are warm white, the centre arm rest is bright white. The lights under the side mirrors are bright white but when you open the doors the warm white light from the interior clashes on the floor.

The front assist seems to have a mind of its own sometimes.

While I think the infotainment system is excellent I think the standard speaker quality is not great.

I don't like that bulge in the middle of the bonnet, makes the front look old fashioned in my opinion.

The front headlights are not very bight.

 

Over all though, for the money I think the car is very good and am pleased with it but I to ordered it before the dealership had a demo car in for me to try and based on online reviews, I don't think i'll make that mistake again.

 

Anyone else gone from a VW (or even an Audi) to the Superb, am I being to picky?

Edited 15 December, 201510 yr by Guest

The two OEM tyres are I think Conti and Pirelli. They are both at the high end of comments about noise in many reviews by users. Indeed their test values, which are 72dB, might give some idea why that is.

 

Unfortunately tyres are all about the compromises between performance, wear rate and noise. So I guess you have to chooose the elements important to you personally.

 

I am a life long Dunlop/Goodyear fan, so I am biased of course, but I bet a set of Dunlops would have you wondering whether you were actually moving at all. I have the very noisy supplied Pirellis on my L&K at the moment and but they are coming off to be replaced by a set of Dunlops. The pirellis can sit in the workshop where they are remarkably quiet  .

Pull the cruise control stalk towards you (resume) to increase speed in 1mph steps - assuming it is the same as VW.

Pull the cruise control stalk towards you (resume) to increase speed in 1mph steps - assuming it is the same as VW.

 

And push the button on the side on the stalk to decrease the speed in smaller steps.

Feel slightly stupid now. Have re-read the manual and indeed pulling the column does increase by 1mph.

Edited 15 December, 201510 yr by Bugginbob

Thanks for posting this, I to have an SE Business and also came from a VW car (Passat estate), i've done 3k in mine now and while I agree with the vast majority of the good and bads of the car I must disagree on the ACC. This for a motorway driver is one of the best features of the car in my opinion, it works excellent for me.

A couple more points on the bads for me are:-

The mixed light types make the car look a little down market ie the lights in the door handles are bright white, the lights in the foot well are warm white, the centre arm rest is bright white. The lights under the side mirrors are bright white but when you open the doors the warm white light from the interior clashes on the floor.

The front assist seems to have a mind of its own sometimes.

While I think the infotainment system is excellent I think the standard speaker quality is not great.

I don't like that bulge in the middle of the bonnet, makes the front look old fashioned in my opinion.

The front headlights are not very bight.

Over all though, for the money I think the car is very good and am pleased with it but I to ordered it before the dealership had a demo car in for me to try and based on online reviews, I don't think i'll make that mistake again.

Anyone else gone from a VW (or even an Audi) to the Superb, am I being to picky?

We're all different I guess. The lights don't really bother me :-) .

I agree the acc is good but it annoys me in one particular situation but I find myself in it everyday on the m5. I cruise up to the back of another car in the outside lane, acc naturally slows me down. when they move in and I want to head past I find it takes a good 4-5 seconds before the acc registers this and starts to speed me back up again.

Ok in the big scheme of things it's not a big deal but it annoys me as I want to accelerate back up to my cruising speed as soon as the other car has moved.

but it annoys me as I want to accelerate back up to my cruising speed as soon as the other car has moved.

 

Just put  your foot on the throttle and accelerate as quickly aa you want to. 

We're all different I guess. The lights don't really bother me :-) .

I agree the acc is good but it annoys me in one particular situation but I find myself in it everyday on the m5. I cruise up to the back of another car in the outside lane, acc naturally slows me down. when they move in and I want to head past I find it takes a good 4-5 seconds before the acc registers this and starts to speed me back up again.

Ok in the big scheme of things it's not a big deal but it annoys me as I want to accelerate back up to my cruising speed as soon as the other car has moved.

Just push the accelerator to speed up again

Just push the accelerator to speed up again

that kind of defeats the point of it though.

Edited 15 December, 201510 yr by Bugginbob

We're all different I guess. The lights don't really bother me :-) .

I agree the acc is good but it annoys me in one particular situation but I find myself in it everyday on the m5. I cruise up to the back of another car in the outside lane, acc naturally slows me down. when they move in and I want to head past I find it takes a good 4-5 seconds before the acc registers this and starts to speed me back up again.

Ok in the big scheme of things it's not a big deal but it annoys me as I want to accelerate back up to my cruising speed as soon as the other car has moved.

Have you tried switching ACC to Sport in the Individual drive mode? It should give you a quicker response.

Have you tried switching ACC to Sport in the Individual drive mode? It should give you a quicker response.

Yep thanks, accelerates faster but doesn't make it react any quicker.

in mine when I indicate you can feel the engine pickup to overtake?

that kind of defeats the point of it though.

Well, it is a driver's aid, and it isn't perfect for all situations. The ACC will not accelerate until the slow car in front of you has cleared your lane completely, so it can take some time. In these cases I sometimes press the accelerator.

The same can also happen if someone in front of you slows down to turn. The ACC will decelerate even if the car has almost completed the turn and you can easily pass.

Another scenario is if the ACC is accelerating to close a gap and then someone "steals" the gap the ACC will brake rather late so I apply the brake myself. The ACC also sees only the car in front of you but you can see many cars ahead, so you can sometimes make better decisions.

That said I would estimate I use the ACC 80%+ of the time I am driving. On the motorway it is probably 95% - but you still have to stay awake and alert

in mine when I indicate you can feel the engine pickup to overtake?

Yes, if you are driving at a speed below the selected ACC speed and you indicate to overtake it will accelerate. On my O3 DSG it will even change gears down. Normally a quite nice feature unless you are overtaking into a very small gap

if I was going to buy my own I'd want adaptive suspension to sharpen the handling, 18's to fill the arches, a more powerful engine and probably the dsg box as all the driver AIDS would be better with full auto.

Agree on the handling - ours is OK as the comfy family barge it was bought as, but if you want any sort of driving enjoyment then definitely spec the adaptive suspension. And it seems obvious when you think about it, but yes some functions are limited if the car can't change gear by itself.

Every magazine group test i have read have the superb winning,passet allways rated not quite as good,you pays youre money,you choose the car to suit youre needs,agreed,it doesnt handle as well(though for a big motor its not to shabby,especialy in sport mode) as my 5 series did,and yes its a tad noisier(engine noise when you give it the beans in my 280 is rather nice though) doesnt like rough road surfaces,tyre roar.but as a complete package i find it a cracking car,spec an audi bmw passet etc to the same level,pick an engine of comparable power,and gulp at the price difference,not just to buy/lease also servicing and insurance.think skoda should have a big pat on the back for providing us with a bloody good all rounder,just think what they could have done if vw had let them do what they wanted rather than holding them back a tad to make it not quite as good as there 'premium' products,well that back fired,it beats them!! Perhaps we are a bit picky.kevin.

The two OEM tyres are I think Conti and Pirelli. They are both at the high end of comments about noise in many reviews by users. Indeed their test values, which are 72dB, might give some idea why that is.

 

 

I've always found Contis the loudest, followed by Pirellis and then Bridgestone, in that order.  I've had all three types on my Superbs.  72db is on the higher side alright but remember this is measured as noise from an set point on the outside i.e. on the road and not actually noise as it translates inside the cabin.  I've heard a few comments at this stage about the amount of road noise in the cabin of the MkIII, both on here and from the motoring press which is a bit disappointing.  I suppose the differences between the VAG brands has to show somewhere.....

Guess just need to increase the volume on the radio to cure road noise.

 

You could always install some Dynamat sound insulation out of the money saved by purchasing the Superb instead of one of its competitors

I have moved from an E class Merc to the Superb and I can say that it is no noisier than the E class, tyres on my Superb were summer Pirellis and are now winter Continentals.

The 2.0L petrol does make some noise on acceleration but that is not unpleasant.

I had the Superb suspension set on comfort and although, as has been said, this gives a Citroen DS like ride (I owned several DS's in the past(distant!)) it is a little uncontrolled and I now have it set on normal which is fine for me. Much better than the E class 'sport' suspension which would rattle yer bones on any surface that was not perfect!

Traction sucks, it spins it's wheels in the wet in first three gears but this is the same as all torquey diesels I've had

How hard are you stomping on the throttle to break traction in 3rd gear !![emoji15] I've never heard of that before on a 2.0L diesel.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

How hard are you stomping on the throttle to break traction in 3rd gear !![emoji15] I've never heard of that before on a 2.0L diesel.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

on a even slightly greasy road I spin right through 1st most of the way through 2nd then again in 3rd if I change gear quickly......

 

 

400Nm of torque

Edited 17 December, 201510 yr by GuzziDibble