2016 Skoda Superb review | first drive video

Richard Berry road tests and reviews the Skoda Superb with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its Australian launch.

Find out more at our Skoda Superb hub: http://carsgui.de/1RlMT9Q

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Skoda's new generation Superb has arrived. Now if you're going to call your call Superb – then it better be, right. Skoda reckons its big flagship car is worthy of the name, but let's get into it and see for ourselves.

Ok here's a bit of trivia for you. The first Skoda Superb was made in 1934 the car was a V8 and all-wheel drive. They resurrected the name in 2001 for the new first generation superb and this is the third generation. History lesson over.

So what's new. Well, this latest generation car is longer and wider than the previous one, plus the distance between the wheels has been stretched. That mean more legroom, headroom and shoulder room in the cabin. It's verging on limo territory now.

The previous generation wagon and sedan both had an enormous cargo areas, their now 60 litres bigger. The sedan's boot is now 625 litres and the wagon's is 660 litres. There aren't many cars in this class that can beat that size.

From the outside the car has a new look too.

The new Superb has many of the styling cues of the Skoda Vision C concept first shown at the Geneva Motorshow in 2014. That awkward looking hump over the back doors in the previous model is gone and it now has a sleeker coupe like roofline. And take a closer look at the headlights, you'll see a tribute to Skoda's Czech origins here with a Bohemian crystal design to the plastic surrounds.

There's new engines as well – you've got two petrols and a diesel.

Each engine is assigned to a trim level. There's the entry level 162 TSI which is a petrol, then there's the 140TDI diesel and at the top of the range is the 206 TSI 4x4 petrol car which is the higher performance car.

Also new to Superb is a stack of in-car technology.

This includes an eight-inch screen with satnav, and reversing camera, plus it's Apply Carplay and Android Auto ready. Adaptive cruise control is an excellent feature for making highway way traffic easier to live with – and it's standard on all Superbs.

This new generation Superb also comes with an impressive amount advanced safety equipment.

Making its debut on a Skoda is Front Assist with City Emergency Braking. It uses radar to monitors the road ahead and will brake if it senses an impending collision with the car in front. It's standard on all trim levels, so is the Multi-collision brake system which applies the brakes following a collision. The tech pack brings rear traffic alert, lane assist and traffic jam assist which steers brakes and accelerates the car in bumper to bumper traffic.

There are two things in particular that I like about Skoda as a brand – first is it's made by the Volkswagen Group – so most of this stuff – the materials, the technology and engines is found in VWs and Audis, but you're getting for less packaged as a Skoda.

The other thing I like about the brand is how they pride themselves on little clever feature – like the umbrellas in the doors, the tablet holder.

Skoda says that the big sellers is most likey going to be the wagon version of the car – I'm in the base spec of it now. Skoda also reckons that the wagon could be a good alternative to an SUV. But I'm not convinced

Skodas have a great approach to functionality and the Superb is a good example of this – there's window sun shades for the kids in the back, the air conditioned glove box three zone climate control, ventilated seats, cargo nets cupholders galore and heaps of awesome storage pockets.

That said the extra height that comes with an SUV makes loading kids and cargo in and out so much easier. That ride height will let you go places a wagon can't too. So maybe hand on for the big Skoda SUV that's coming.
So what's it like to drive? It's comfortable, quiet, there's a premium feel to it. The ride is smooth the engine is great. Is it Superb? I'm not sure it's superb, it's more the Skoda pretty darn good.

Видео 2016 Skoda Superb review | first drive video канала CarsGuide