Superb: What can I look forward to?

[MorrisOx]

So I placed an order for a Superb 1.4 TSi DSG SE hatch just before Christmas and have had a provisional build week of Week 6 (week commencing 5th Feb) for March delivery.

 

I’m coming to it from an Octavia (the one with the terrible torision beam back axle) and I’d be interested to hear what I’ve got to look forward to in terms of ride, performance, refinement etc. I tested a couple of Superbs before I took the plunge but these were only comparatively short test drives on routes chosen by the dealer.

 

Ta for any observations.

Edited 8 January, 2018 by MorrisOx

[facet edge]

That's exactly the car I have. Very happy with it, the engine is very lively and coupled to the DSG it is very smooth. The ride is good and it is quiet. I think you will enjoy it.

[xman]

I ordered a 1.4 tsi manual on Dec 22. Dealer just emailed me the build week moved forward from week 6 to week 5. As I only had a 5 min test drive as a passenger in a diesel version (an after thought at that) I am effectively buying blind..... relying on opinions in this forum....

 

Foolish or what 

[rtj70]

Excellent engine. Had it with the DSG in the previous car (A3 saloon) for 3 years and no problems. Compared to a diesel it is lighter at the front and therefore nicer to drive... mpg not quite so good.

[MorrisOx]

The thing that interests me most is people’s perceptions of how comfy the car is. I quite liked my Octy to begin with - surprisingly good all-round performance when you consider the price - but as time has gone by the noisy, unsettled ride at the back has really begun to grate on me.

 

Did my homework on why that might be (delving into the dynamics of torsion beam suspension and the way its spring rates are compromised) and concluded that I’d be better going up to a Superb at the end of my PCP because it has independent rear suspension.

 

Will I notice the difference?

[Whenwillilearn]

My octy was noisy and this sportline is not exactly isolated from tyre noise.

[CheshireBumpkin]

From a comfort perspective I find mine very good - but the ride is nowhere near as cosseting as some of the gushing reviews in the auto press would have you believe. In my opinion, it's good, but not exceptional. I'd expect some variation between models, wheel sizes and engine types - mine is a 150 diesel on 18" wheels.

[rtj70]

I can't fault mine for comfort. It wallows a bit if I put the active dampers into Comfort mode. I prefer normal or sport.

[xman]

Warning......long ramble ahead....

 

The comments above confirm the immediate impressions I got on my 5 minute passenger test ride. It was the correct spec (SEL hatch on 18 inch wheels) but with a diesel and dsg. I already knew the difference to expect between engines from past experience.

 

The diesel engine was surprisingly muted, but we never went above 30mph so don't read too much into that.

 

I too had read all the gushing reviews referred to earlier and the salesman did (a bit tongue in cheek methinks) refer to the inevitable rolls royce comparison. 

 

I knew the test route well and after about 2 mins, I asked the salesman to coast to a halt slowly...... Yup, the usual Skoda road noise....not quite as loud as an Octavia but still there. Disappointment..... Carry on I said. Yup, the car still dips and rocks through the potholes but not as viciously as the Octavia. Learn to ignore motor reviews.......

 

For some reason I still went ahead and ordered one even though I well and truly broke my own initial remit, that is, grab the scrappage cash to buy a cheap and cheerful octavia which I know is cheap and easy to maintain diy fashion. Instead I went for stupidly expensive large low comfort tyres, expensive xenon bulbs, and if those dcc shockers ever fail....and what about that electric parking brake??

 

And I still wonder why I wandered into leather seat territory. We have a dog for Pete's sake.

 

I guess its because the price difference wasn't as great as I expected it to be (which leads me to think the Octavia is overpriced) and the mk3 Octavia has always looked a bit plain and small (compared to mk2 facelift) especially parked next to a Superb as was the case in the showroom.

 

And to cap it all, we are having to say goodbye to our trusted family friend that everyone loves (really), the 20 year old Alhambra, which is still in excellent condition, plus the knowledge that I could have got the damn 4k off by exploiting the finance route....****.....

 

Sorry if I've bored you all 

[rafmike]

I did get the £4K off it made the difference to me.  Over the years I’ve had the Renault and Ford equivalent to the Superb but I found no match, both myself and SWMBO love our Superb 1.4 tsi SEL Exec it’s a fabulous car and I’ sure that you will enjoy it.  We’ve had ours for exactly two years now, it’s never seen the inside of a garage except for servicing. We’re  both getting on a bit  and we had to decide what our motoring requirements are going to be for the next few years so we treated the last couple of years as a bloody good test drive.  They’re building our next car next week, so much do we love this car that it’s the same one again even down to the paint job just an 18 plate rather than a 65.  Wait I lie, we have replaced the stupid self park with the rear view camera, I mean if you can’t park your own car why are you driving.  I only used it once and it impressed the hell out of my eight year old grandson.

 

just noticed that you have a dog, why the hatch back?  We have a walking hearth rug (Old English Sheep Dog) and she loves the estate.  She has a Dog Bag by (Roofbox) in the boot and treats it as her dog cave may the Lord help anyone who tries to get in it.  Mention the beach and she’s gone.

Edited 18 January, 2018 by rafmike

[skidpan]

On 1/8/2018 at 19:08, MorrisOx said:

So I placed an order for a Superb 1.4 TSi DSG SE hatch just before Christmas and have had a provisional build week of Week 6 (week commencing 5th Feb) for March delivery.

 

I’m coming to it from an Octavia (the one with the terrible torision beam back axle) and I’d be interested to hear what I’ve got to look forward to in terms of ride, performance, refinement etc. I tested a couple of Superbs before I took the plunge but these were only comparatively short test drives on routes chosen by the dealer.

 

Ta for any observations.

 

We have had a 1.4 TSi SE since 01 March last year, love it. It replaced a 1.4 TSi Seat Leon SE (which had the "terrible torsion beam back axle") and we loved that as well. In truth there was nothing terrible about the rear suspension of the Leon.

 

But

 

In 2010, 2013 and last year we wanted to like the Octavia as it seemed to suit us perfectly (we actually looked at one in 2002 as well but it had no more rear legroom than our 1996 Golf so bought a Mondeo). We have tried driving 4 cars over routes chosen by ourselves and regardless of engine and gearbox all had the same issue, incredibly loud road noise which made us walk away. In 2013 we tried the new MQB Leon and were amazed at how much better than the Octavia it was for refinement, drove on Saturday, ordered Monday, collected Friday, owned for nearly 4 years. Last year we hoped that the MQB chassis would have given the Octavia the same levels of refinement but to be frank both cars we tried were still rubbish although its fair to say the hatch was slightly better than the estate.

 

The Superb has met all our needs perfectly. With the folding passenger seat i have fitted lengths of timber in that would previously have needed the trailer (and a towbar fitting), it was a good extra to have). 430 miles in a day with no hint of tiredness at the end of it. Last year to Superb cost very little more than the Octavia since it comes so well equipped as standard even in SE trim, the list of extras needed on the Octavia was very long.

 

Think its quite a bargain providing you stay sensible when buying.

[MorrisOx]

I’d love to have added the xenon headlamps, but £1300 for decent lights is nuts to me. I’d rather car manufacturers made practical features like that standard than infotainment systems which can’t hold a candle to a smartphone.

 

I went for the electric tailgate release, which comes packaged with LED rear lamps for some reason; don’t get the logic on that combo at all. What is a bit of a disappointment is that the LED DRLs listed against the SE in the brochure and the spec sheet look like a misprint - haven’t seen an SE anywhere that has them. No deal-breaker but would have gone well with the rear LEDs.

Edited 18 January, 2018 by MorrisOx

[Steviedakota]

We are very happy with our 1.4tsi DSG.  I think it is a deeply impressive car for what we paid for it, €21k at 1 year old.

As you say, ignore the journos and judge it on its merits, I'd be surprised if you are disappointed in any way really.

[skidpan]

1 hour ago, Steviedakota said:

We are very happy with our 1.4tsi DSG.  I think it is a deeply impressive car for what we paid for it, €21k at 1 year old.

As you say, ignore the journos and judge it on its merits, I'd be surprised if you are disappointed in any way really.

 

Christ, they saw you coming. Only paid £18500 for our 1.4 TSi brand new a year ago and a DSG does not add more than about £1500.

 

The Journo's love them, win magazine tests regularly and deservedly so.

[MorrisOx]

To be fair to Steviedakota, he’s talking in euros for the Irish market. Suspect the price metrics will be slightly different.

 

At the end of the day if you’ve got the car you want at a price you’re comfortable with the ‘deal’ doesn’t really matter that much - though we all like to think we can beat the system!

[Steviedakota]

1 minute ago, skidpan said:

 

Christ, they saw you coming. Only paid £18500 for our 1.4 TSi brand new a year ago and a DSG does not add more than about £1500.

 

You missed the euro symbol.

 

[skidpan]

1 hour ago, Steviedakota said:

You missed the euro symbol.

 

 

So I did, don't have a Euro symbol on my laptop, too old for that stuff.

[rtj70]

Try CTRL ALT 4 keys together.

[MorrisOx]

This might sound like a bizarre question in view of the fact that I’m already committed to buying one, but is it a struggle to find spaces long enough/wide enough in car parks for a Superb? There are a few older multi-storey car parks I use where it is a squeeze even with my current Octavia.

[Steviedakota]

I think you know the answer to this.  If you struggled with the Octy you will struggle more with the Superb! 

 

Personally I find parking easy enough with the rear sensors and all round visibilty is good, but thankfully I don't often have to park in high rise lots.

[Prykey]

The length of the car does give issues with finding parking spaces and some muli-storey car parks are a real challenge especially if the up/down ramps are those with the big kerbs, front and rear parking sensors really come into their own then!

[rtj70]

I knew I definitely needed/wanted from parking sensors but because the car is wide I actually went for Park Assist because it gives you the extra 4 sensors to monitor the distance to cars down the side. It also gives you parking assist of course which I've used a few times. It works better than the version on a Passat CC I demoed in 2011.

 

I sort of wish I'd gone for surround view too now. I also went for the reversing camera - mainly for getting out of parking spaces when you cannot easily see either side of the vehicle and cars just don't stop to let you out. I can be set to a wide angle mode to see more to either side. This is also the reason I have rear-assist/blindspot monitoring - you should try reversing out of spaces at my local Tesco Extra! With such a long car you can have limited visibility of approaching cars especially if a van is parked alongside.

[MorrisOx]

I’ve already got all-round sensors: SWMBO...

[skidpan]

8 hours ago, MorrisOx said:

This might sound like a bizarre question in view of the fact that I’m already committed to buying one, but is it a struggle to find spaces long enough/wide enough in car parks for a Superb? There are a few older multi-storey car parks I use where it is a squeeze even with my current Octavia.

 

The size of the car was the only thing that worried me about the Superb. We had a Mondeo some years ago and that could be challenging in some car parks, the Superb is longer. To be totally honest not had an issue. When on holiday parking at Tesco is a pain and there are no other free car parks locally (they are no better in truth). Went twice last year never thought "wow, this is big", went in fine probably thanks to the rear sensors (Mondeo did not have them). Locally at our Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsburys we tend to park as far away form the store as possible where there are normally loads of spaces (the local idle ******s don't like walking).

 

Guess we are lucky since the wife has a Nissan Note and if we are going anywhere with known challenging parking (like todays outing) we go in that.  As always sods law normally applies and we got a cracking space today, just an idiot in a Jag who kept honking for us to move out of it whilst we ate fish and chips.

[MorrisOx]

Confirmation from dealer today that my Superb is on for Build Week 6 (week commencing 5th Feb) and scheduled for delivery first or second week of March...