After 5 years of Skoda ownership in the form of a Fabia mk2 vRS and concurrent participation in this great forum, I developed a soft spot for Skodas which meant I was bound to get back into one sooner or later. Car in question is the facelift Sportline Superb 280. It is going to be used (surprise surprise) as our family car but I am intending on having some fun with it too on occasion, might even take it to the local track for some reasonably paced laps, more out of comparison purposes with my previous cars.  I am pretty familiar with the platform as I currently run the same engine and wanted to have it again in my next car but need to clear some things up so that I build my spec in the best possible way for my use and preferences.

DCC: I currently have it in my GTI Clubsport and like it. I am coming from cars with tight suspensions and do a bit bit of fast road use so I fear I might be disappointed in the standard dampers if they are too soft. Does DCC in Sport make it tighter than non-DCC and more relaxed in Comfort or...?  Also, are the Sportline springs (non-DCC) harder than "standard" line? Haven't looked much into the trim differences.

Infotainment: I think this time I will settle for the 2nd best head unit option (Amundsen) as the top ones both in VW and Skoda seem ridiculously priced for what you get over the smaller version. Other than the 1.2" smaller screen, are there other differences in terms of resolution or processor? How does the Amundesn unit fare overall? Responsive and efficient or you have to go for the Columbus in order not to be ****ed off during operation? I will try to test this out at a dealership if possible.

Park Assist (550 eur option where I'm based) :  Is this a 360 camera view similar to the system on the Tiguan or it's just about displaying instructions of when to turn the wheel? If it's the latter, rear park sensors AND a rear camera is all that I'd need, the former might be more cool to have as a gadget so I could consider it.

Acoustic windows:  Anything that makes the ride quieter is welcome and the cost is small so I'd add it easily. Objections?

AERO rear wipers: What is that exactly? (90 eur option)

Lane assist (430 eur) :  I am going with blind spot and rear traffic alert mostly for resale value as those options seem to be everywhere nowadays but lane assist? I 've read it was more of a nuisance in some cars but no idea how it behaves in the Superb implementation. I surely don't think I need it but open to opinions.


Other stuff that is recommended or to be avoided maybe?


There's not really much else that is not standard on the Sportline I think, I am adding heated and electrically operated functions on the seats as when the missus takes the car and messes with my seat settings it takes me ages to get to the exact same position but other than that it comes with LOTS of standard equipment.

Cheers
 

Edited 19 November, 20187 yr by newbie69

Park assist doesnt have a camera, a rear view camera is an optional extra. I think there also used to be a 360deg camera option, but not showing here in the uk.

 

If you go for the hatch, it doesn't have a rear wiper as standard, but it can be specified as a free option.

 

New builds obviously.

I have a 280 with DCC. In normal mode it is OK for towns etc but on the open road I always have it in Sport (Scottish roads where I can enjoy the car). However I don’t know if  DCC “normal” is the same as a non-DCC car.

 

Park Assist actually parks the car for you in terms of turning the steering wheel for you. You still work the pedals and gear. Works surprisingly well for parallel street parking and will get you effortlessly into a small space (the car having first worked out whether the space is big enough). I find it less good for bay (perpendicular) parking (supermarkets etc) because it takes several back and forth goes, whereas I can usually do it in a oner assisted by the rear camera. A bit of a luxury perhaps, if you already have the sensors and camera, but fun!

 

Lane Assist is only really useful for motorways etc where the road markings are good. I drove a hire car recently with Ford’s (IIRC) version of lane assist and didn’t like it, but the Skoda version is quite good if fairly subtle. Obviously if you are driving the car properly you don’t need it, but we are all human and on a long motorway run it helps guard against inattention and also reminds you to use the indicators when you want to change lanes, which is good for avoiding the development of bad habits! Quite an expensive option but was included in my L&K trim level.

Would heated seats, heated washer nozzles and heated windscreen not be appropriate for the climate in Sweden? (not sure if they are standard spec in your market) The heated seats are very nice but with Alcantara they aren't as much as a 'necessity' as with leather. 

Are parking sensors standard spec on Swedish cars?  If not, I'd go for them; the Superb is a big car and whilst it has reasonable visibility, parking sensors are a worthwhile convenience/aid in my experience. 

 

 

Combined reply:  and by the way, I am looking at the saloon/sedan.

 

Rear park sensors and rear camera are standard in the Sportline version in Sweden so I will be fine with those and skip Park Assist. Same for Lane Assist, I don't think it's a feature I need, or at least something which I'd pay for. 
I think I'm sticking with DCC in this car too. Flexibility is never a bad thing.
Heated seats are on the list, washer nozzles are standard here (i think), but windscreen I am not too convinced? I am totally on the south part anyway so the snow we get is not worse than some UK areas actually.

Stopped by the dealership today and spent some minutes in a Superb Combi non-Sportline. It had the Amundsen which I was thinking of getting also, I wasn't exactly impressed. It was clearly slow from a cold start, then it got a bit better after a couple of min but more like "borderline acceptable". Now intrigued to see if the Columbus is actually faster.
Another thing which hit me as not particularly nice was the triple button cover on the right side of the steering wheel (it read "view", showed a car and some other symbol), when I was pressing down one of its buttons, the opposite side was raising almost to the point of coming out and it overall felt too loose. Well I suppose it's not an A6 or E-Class and it wouldn't steer me away of the car but I thought the Superb was clear of such quality issues, anyway

Sounds like you should consider the Sportline Plus. Decent set of extras over the Sportline for a pretty hefty discount on what it would cost to spec them on the Sportline. I've been doing plenty of research on DCC having specced it, and on the whole I'd say people think it's well worth having given the flexibility it offers. Haven't yet discovered if Sport setting on DCC is harder than sport suspension on the standard Sportline.

If it. Does not come with front sensors then spec them, I find very convenient  

30 minutes ago, Fantantonio said:

Sounds like you should consider the Sportline Plus. Decent set of extras over the Sportline for a pretty hefty discount on what it would cost to spec them on the Sportline. I've been doing plenty of research on DCC having specced it, and on the whole I'd say people think it's well worth having given the flexibility it offers. Haven't yet discovered if Sport setting on DCC is harder than sport suspension on the standard Sportline.

 

There is no Sportline Plus in Sweden but I just checked and there's an incredible sum of 4K worth of extras (yes you read that right: 4K) that is offered as standard in the Sportline trim in Sweden compared to the UK, and is the following:

 

- Integrated tow bar
- Electrically operated boot
- Light assist with high beam control
- Rear airbags 
- Rear park assist with rear cam
- Virtual Pedal
- Trizone climate control
- Canton soundsystem

Most of those are not even part of the SL Plus UK package as I can see.

Price for the Swedish Sportline including all the above: 31.500 gbp (!).  Adding all those to the UK Sportline or Plus sums it up to almost 40K gbp, i think Sweden must be one of the cheapest Superb markets...

14 hours ago, newbie69 said:

Car in question is the facelift Sportline Superb 280. 

DCC: I currently have it in my GTI Clubsport and like it. 

Park Assist (550 eur option where I'm based) :  Is this a 360 camera view similar to the system on the Tiguan or it's just about displaying instructions of when to turn the wheel? 

Lane assist (430 eur) :  I 've read it was more of a nuisance in some cars but no idea how it behaves in the Superb implementation. 

 

there is no "facelift" Superb mk3 yet.  this likely to be released sometime next year.

 

DCC - get it.  

 

Park Assist - unlike the Kodiaq, or Tiguan, the current Superb does not get the 360 camera birds eye view.  maybe the facelift version will?

 

Lane assist - get it.  the Active Lane Guidance is handy when combined with ACC, to get Traffic Jam Assist.

Can you spec Traffic Sign Reconition instead of High Beam Assist; TSR gives you the A5 forward facing camera and then HBA and Lane Assist can be coded with VCDS, if you know of someone who can do this? 

 

Heated screen is brilliant IME.  We always had them in Fords and missed them when we switched to Škoda/VAG. First thing I spec’d on both Sportlines I’ve had. 

 

Canton is is also excellent. 

Edited 20 November, 20187 yr by penguin17

9 hours ago, JR RS said:

 

there is no "facelift" Superb mk3 yet.  this likely to be released sometime next year.

 

DCC - get it.  

 

Park Assist - unlike the Kodiaq, or Tiguan, the current Superb does not get the 360 camera birds eye view.  maybe the facelift version will?

 

Lane assist - get it.  the Active Lane Guidance is handy when combined with ACC, to get Traffic Jam Assist.

To be honest I was confused when a friend suggested "facelift" Superb, at least I can't see any differences compared to models from 2016, i think he mentioned something about headlights with black housing and minor bumper differences? Doesn't really matter to me, the most important bits that I didn't find up to MY2018 I think (i might be wrong here) is the new DSG 7 speed and the digital dash, I wanted both in my next VAG car.

 

Yep DCC is checked, Park Assist not (since it's what it is) and as for Lane Assist I'm probably leaving it out too. I'm not doing such long trips that will get me tired or turning to any sort of automated driving. I have had ACC in my current car and I have only used it once out of curiosity. Using it is in fact making me more tired and bored than ever driving on the mostly straight Swedish highways.

5 hours ago, penguin17 said:

Can you spec Traffic Sign Reconition instead of High Beam Assist; TSR gives you the A5 forward facing camera and then HBA and Lane Assist can be coded with VCDS, if you know of someone who can do this? 

 

Heated screen is brilliant IME.  We always had them in Fords and missed them when we switched to Škoda/VAG. First thing I spec’d on both Sportlines I’ve had. 

 

Canton is is also excellent. 

I can add traffic sign recognition yes, pretty cheap option and I am comfortable with coding, i have an OBDEleven device so if it's just a typical coding procedure I could do it myself, that's a pretty useful tip actually and gives me Lane Assist for free, thanks!

 

So I have mostly concluded on the options. There's only one question and a dilemma left unanswered.

 

1) What are the technical differences between Amundsen and Columbus units other than the 1.2" bigger screen? Different resolution and or CPU? Is there any other impact of choosing one over the other? Like for example, in the Golf MK7 FL, in order to have Maps displaying in the digital dash you MUST have the highest trim Discover Pro unit, you can't do it with Nav Discover evne if you have digital dash which is something the brochure or salesman does not tell you.

Now the dilemma. If I was to place an order soon, I'd be receiving my car around March according to the dealer. I imagine this will be just the time the actual FL Superb is going to come out and I can't help thinking this will mean even more instant depreciation but more importantly, if the changes are clear and even worse, if i like them, I am going to be in big regret that I rushed into ordering, without in urgent need of the new car anyway. There's also the possibility that I will hate the look of the FL (like it happened with the MK3 Octavia and the split headlights) and in that case I could only wish I find a pre-FL car specced they way I want it in the used market. Hmm...

11 minutes ago, newbie69 said:

So I have mostly concluded on the options. There's only one question and a dilemma left unanswered.

 

1) What are the technical differences between Amundsen and Columbus units other than the 1.2" bigger screen? Different resolution and or CPU? Is there any other impact of choosing one over the other? Like for example, in the Golf MK7 FL, in order to have Maps displaying in the digital dash you MUST have the highest trim Discover Pro unit, you can't do it with Nav Discover evne if you have digital dash which is something the brochure or salesman does not tell you.

Columbus; bigger screen, higher resolution, built in HD, DVD/VIM capability, 

Columbus; bigger screen, higher resolution, built in HD, DVD/VIM capability, integrated Wi-FI. 

 

There's also USB and SD card connectivity but I'm not sure if those are available on Amunsden too (?)

 

I thought you were spec'ing the CANTON system? If so, isn't that option reliant on also specifying the Columbus? 

1 minute ago, penguin17 said:

Columbus; bigger screen, higher resolution, built in HD, DVD/VIM capability, integrated Wi-FI. 

 

There's also USB and SD card connectivity but I'm not sure if those are available on Amunsden too (?)

 

I thought you were spec'ing the CANTON system? If so, isn't that option reliant on also specifying the Columbus? 

 

Swedish market remember! Canton and all of its 610W are standard here with the current campain regardless of head unit, it's actually crazy all the equipment you do get included in the current campaigned Sportline variant. Columbus is not one of the though.

1 minute ago, newbie69 said:

 

Swedish market remember! Canton and all of its 610W are standard here with the current campain regardless of head unit, it's actually crazy all the equipment you do get included in the current campaigned Sportline variant. Columbus is not one of the though.

Nice.  Yes, I wasn't sure about the Swedish market.  

I have no experience of the Amunsden unit but will say that I've had the older style Columbus in my first Sportline and comparing to the newer Columbus unit; the latest unit is a real step up, it's additional size and resolution make it much nicer to use and look at.  Though the lack of shortcut 'hard buttons' on the unit would be my only criticism. 

51 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

Nice.  Yes, I wasn't sure about the Swedish market.  

I have no experience of the Amunsden unit but will say that I've had the older style Columbus in my first Sportline and comparing to the newer Columbus unit; the latest unit is a real step up, it's additional size and resolution make it much nicer to use and look at.  Though the lack of shortcut 'hard buttons' on the unit would be my only criticism. 

 

I am with you on the physical buttons thing. Power and Volume need to be actual buttons period I don't care what modern trends suggest (and I am all for innovation in general). Ok any decently spec-ed car today has controls on the steering wheel too but still. The up/down selection also can sometimes be frustrating if it's done via touch screen only, especially when you are browsing a screen with 10+ options while driving over far from perfect road... I am just curious if the Columbus is any faster and more responsive than the Amundsen which was rather average.

Edited 22 November, 20187 yr by newbie69

51 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

Columbus; bigger screen, higher resolution, built in HD, DVD/VIM capability, integrated Wi-FI. 

 

There's also USB and SD card connectivity but I'm not sure if those are available on Amunsden too (?)

 

I thought you were spec'ing the CANTON system? If so, isn't that option reliant on also specifying the Columbus? 

 

So I ended up with the Amundsen unit following the Sportline/Plus changes that occurred after I placed my order (I have the non-plus model).

 

The Amundsen has SD card capability, not sure about USB (there are USB ports and you can use CarPlay obviously) not tried a USB drive etc.  Canton is definitely available with this head unit as I specced that, there is no Dolby 5.1 capability as I believe you need the TV tuner on the Columbus for that.  Canton sounds great though, I've taken to playing Kendrick Lamar really loudly round the 'hood, with the sub on max,  as if i was 17 again...(my) kids are not impressed.

 

 

29 minutes ago, newbie69 said:

 

I am with you on the physical buttons thing. Power and Volume need to be actual buttons period I don't care what modern trends suggests (and I am all for innovation in general). Ok any decently spec-ed car today has controls on the steering wheel too but still. The up/down selection also can sometimes be frustrating if it's done via touch screen only, especially when you are browsing a screen with 10+ options while driving over far from perfect road... I am just curious if the Columbus is any faster and more responsive than the Amundsen which was rather average.

 

I'm sure you know already but just to clarify, the physical buttons on the Amundsen only relate to the 2 x round buttons (on/off/volume dial and the menu selector dial).  The other 8 'buttons' up the left/right are touch only.

 

Regarding responsiveness, hard to say as I haven't had a huge amount of time in front of the Columbus, but in the 6 days I have had my car I have yet to be frustrated by any performance issues with the Amundsen .  If anything there is a slight hesitation sometimes when switching between CarPlay and built-in functions. However one positive which I was not expecting is that you can play music from CarPlay but still use the other in-car functions such as Nav (I don't speak from much experience but the Ford implementation for example doesn't let you do that  based on recent hire cars I have had).    As much as I like Waze it still seems limited functions/settings via CarPlay - I maybe just need more time with it.

 

In the UK the Columbus is now about a £1K option - not worth it at that price IMHO, unless you plan to be watching a lot of movies or offering up a Wi-Fi hotspot. 

 

 

2 hours ago, newbie69 said:

 

I am with you on the physical buttons thing. Power and Volume need to be actual buttons period I don't care what modern trends suggest (and I am all for innovation in general). Ok any decently spec-ed car today has controls on the steering wheel too but still. The up/down selection also can sometimes be frustrating if it's done via touch screen only, especially when you are browsing a screen with 10+ options while driving over far from perfect road... I am just curious if the Columbus is any faster and more responsive than the Amundsen which was rather average.

 

I also was considering between Admunsen and Columbus. And finally I took Admunsen: for physical buttons, to have direct soft buttons to Radio, phone, Apps, etc (this helps by one press to access any mode - in Columbus you will need to press menu and the will be able to choose Phone mode for example). I have no issues with responsiveness - maybe only after starting engine phone mode is accessable after 5-10 seconds - all other functions latter forks fine for me (Anyway - Admunsen is 5 times quicker than Toyota CH-R multimedia system :)) )  

 

Radio, Media, and Apps - is most frequent used modes, works fine, browsing songs on SD card is qiuck, in any sorting mode (files directories, artists, Albums - I have MP3 or flacs about 50GB on SD card), also I am heavy user of android auto - google maps or waze - works also nice (sometimes I had some problems with waze: it were working slowly at start  (5-10% cases) - but disconnecting cable, closing waze app on phone and re-connecting always helps, and I suspect this is fault waze app. )

 

Actually I took Admunsen for ergonomic and price (of corse - additional 1000Euros matters) reasons and I am happy with it.

 

Thanks guys. I need to try a Columbus to see if it is any quicker than Amundsen. I don't care that much about the bigger screen, so if they are the same speed I'd rather save the money (correction: spend them somewhere else).

Of-course the question about the possible limitation of the digital dash not showing full screen map when speccing Amundsen instead of Columbus (as in VW cars) can't be answered before someone gets such a configuration which I think is rather early? Haven't seen any digital dash cars yet in YT or forums, they must be arriving just now.

Question to Amundsen and Columbus owners: Anyone with an mp3 collection of more than 11K files in the car able to report if it works without issues?  The MIB2 Discover Pro unit in my MK7 stops at 11K files even though the SD is half full, some max file number supported limit, pretty frustrating if you have a large collection that fits in the SD easily but hits this limit file number wise.

from wat i remember reading in the past:-

- Columbus has a slightly better processor, hence the navigation is more crisp/clear.

- Amunsden does not have a built-in 64gb HDD, like the Columbus does.  hence why it needs the maps on the sdcard at all times.

- Columbus does maps in 3D.  Amunsden does it in 2.5D

Appreciated JR RS. I'm too much of a sucker for technology so I'd probably pay again the silly extra money the top unit, Columbus, demands over the Amundsen just for the bigger screen despite mind saying no. However, my dilemma is more what I described above, that I'd be effectively getting the car just before the FL launches and it could be that I regret it big time, both in depreciation terms as well as which model I prefer.

Thinking sensibly, my best bet is to wait for the coming spring to see what the FL brings and then decide if ordering new, or (If I don't like it) sourcing a pre-FL close to the spec I like (DSG7, digital dash, Sportline) for less money.

It's just that this current (Swedish) campaign is so good which makes it extremely tempting, we are talking 7K off a 46K car... It's a "no-compromise" specced 280 with every single extra added, for less than 40K  

 

Edited 23 November, 20187 yr by newbie69

Agree with the comments above - The Amundsen system works great for me. Way better than what was in our Mk7 Golf. I was pretty close to choosing Columbus but preferred the physical knobs and extra shortcut buttons you get with Amundsen… Seems like the extra cost of the Columbus is only really worth it if you will use DVD player and hard drive. It also annoyed me that you were also forced to add the 1000kr DAB option!

 

As for your DCC question - I definitely think you should try to drive both options. I found both the Normal and Comfort setting way too soft so figured it was better just to stick with the std ‘Sportchassi’ which also means the car is about 5mm lower and you can spec the Progressive steering (So same or similar to what you have on the Golf). If the Sportline had been available with a ’Sportline’ specific DCC (more like what is on the GTI) where the normal mode was still pretty hard (like current ‘Sport’ setting) and you could either make it a bit softer (more like ‘normal) or even firmer (Track) I would have gone for it. I have no regrets so far. Mostly it's a pretty good compromise. But sometimes I do wonder if the DCC sport setting would be a bit better… If mine wasn’t leased I would be seriously thinking about upgrading the springs/dampers since its about the only thing that annoys me about the car… If you are near Stockholm and can’t find a non-DCC sport line to test send me a PM.

 

One more thing - If you are adding 'blind spot and rear traffic alert’ maybe double check what is std in that package you are looking at. Smart Light Assist, Lane Assist, Blind Spot Detect, Rear Traffic Alert was all included on mine earlier this year. All I added/payed extra for was Progressive Steering, Travel Assist and the Amundsen...

 

Edited 23 November, 20187 yr by ewlmr

18 hours ago, newbie69 said:

Of-course the question about the possible limitation of the digital dash not showing full screen map when speccing Amundsen instead of Columbus (as in VW cars) can't be answered before someone gets such a configuration which I think is rather early? Haven't seen any digital dash cars yet in YT or forums, they must be arriving just now.

Regarding maps on digital dash: yes, it looks cool, but I suggest to think how many time you will use Skoda noavigation. Personally I am little bit "technologu addicted" and for me Skoda navigation is not so good as GoogleMaps or Waze - so usually I am using them, and Skoda navigation in 1 year period I used only 3 times  But, keep in mind: to use Google Maps or Waze with Admunsen I need to connect  phone by USB, Android Auto or Mirror Link  is not working with Admunsen via Bluetooh. I am not sure about Columbus, but you need to check - maybe it is possible to connect phone in order launch Adroid Auto (or Apple Car) via Bluetooh o WiFi? So, in combination with PhoneBox option (support for wireless charging) Columbus can be very nice solution: you can put you phone into Phone Box and it will be charged also you will be able to launch Android Auto apps without USB cable. This is only argument for Columbus in my opinion

37 minutes ago, Gied3ius said:

Regarding maps on digital dash: yes, it looks cool, but I suggest to think how many time you will use Skoda noavigation. Personally I am little bit "technologu addicted" and for me Skoda navigation is not so good as GoogleMaps or Waze - so usually I am using them, and Skoda navigation in 1 year period I used only 3 times  But, keep in mind: to use Google Maps or Waze with Admunsen I need to connect  phone by USB, Android Auto or Mirror Link  is not working with Admunsen via Bluetooh. I am not sure about Columbus, but you need to check - maybe it is possible to connect phone in order launch Adroid Auto (or Apple Car) via Bluetooh o WiFi? So, in combination with PhoneBox option (support for wireless charging) Columbus can be very nice solution: you can put you phone into Phone Box and it will be charged also you will be able to launch Android Auto apps without USB cable. This is only argument for Columbus in my opinion

For me the use is more like 60-40 (GMaps via AA vs VW integrated Navi). Sure the AA GMaps looks and feels much better but if I just want to find a destination of an area I know in general I use the integrated Navi. If I worry about traffic or going somewhere completely new I usually trust Gmaps and Waze.

The thing you mention about the cable is a requirement from Android Auto itself so it doesn't have to do with which unit you select. It's true that with wireless charging now available, Google and AA could remove the requirement to connect via cable but it has not happened so far and there is no word on when the limitation could be lifted. If it did happen at some point it would work on both units anyway.