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Collecting this car was easy. There are not that many bright yellow cars in car parks around the country. This big Skoda is painted in what they call snakeskin yellow; it is probably not one of the company’s best-selling colours but it certainly makes you stand out from the crowd and when you’re stopped it tends to draw a crowd as I found out when I made one of my many stops for petrol. When I came back, a collection of car enthusiasts were standing around it, discussing the finer point of its colour scheme and what engine was under the bonnet. Not something you expect to happen when you are driving Skoda’s big executive cruiser.
Collecting this car was easy. There are not that many bright yellow cars in car parks around the country. This big Skoda is painted in what they call snakeskin yellow; it is probably not one of the company’s best-selling colours but it certainly makes you stand out from the crowd and when you’re stopped it tends to draw a crowd as I found out when I made one of my many stops for petrol. When I came back, a collection of car enthusiasts were standing around it, discussing the finer point of its colour scheme and what engine was under the bonnet. Not something you expect to happen when you are driving Skoda’s big executive cruiser.
Once sitting in the Superb, it has all the luxury that you get in all levels of a well-liked big car, but this one also has some sporty styling and comfortable seats with lots of lateral support. These seats and the gorgeous suede steering wheel are the first hint that this is not your standard big Czech saloon.
This is the Sportline specification, which comes with the Bolero 8in touchscreen system. This allows for the use of Android Auto and Google car play.
As I am a Samsung owner, the Android version was connected and I found it useful being able to use the screen to control the phone’s functions including using the ever brilliant Google maps.
One impressive feature of this system is that once the phone is connected, the screen just shows the Android auto symbol and cannot be used.
This car also came with three-zone climate control, which means that you can set the required temperature for both front- and back-seat passengers.
This car was also specified with a massive panoramic sunroof, which was lovely to look at, but for the week I was driving the car it was warm and sunny. Therefore, if the sunroof blind was open, the air-conditioning needed to be flat out just to keep the car bearable. I know that was an unusual problem this summer but, still, I would find the extra €1,400 difficult to stump up for it.
From the outside, the yellow monster looks great. It has some nice accented pieces on it, from the gloss black splitter under its nose and its matching version on the back with the exhaust protruding out through it to the 18in Zenith platinum alloy wheels, which give the car a real sense of purpose.
On the road
On the move is where the Sportline really comes alive. This one is fitted with the two-litre turbo petrol engine producing 280bhp.
All of this power is supplied to the road via a six-speed DSG gearbox and a good four-wheel drive system. This engine is used across the Skoda and Volkswagen in differing states of tune.
I also drove the New Golf GTI and the two engines are similar and produce lots of power in each case.
To look at the Skoda I wasn’t expecting much in the line of cross-country driving ability due to its sheer bulk but when I found a twisty bit of road, this car proved itself an absolute dream to drive.
With lots of power, precise steering and lots of grip from the four-wheel-drive, the Superb is a spectacular car to drive.
A quick flick of the gear lever to sport and a push of the sports button turns this executive saloon into a proper fast car.
One thing that is completely unnecessary on this car in the availability of launch control which, when engaged, makes for the most impressive of take-offs. This was fun for the first couple of times but then just got boring and worrisome for my clean driver’s licence.
Once out of the twisty stuff and on to the motorway, the Skoda was able to eat up miles in the way you expect a car of this size to do. It cruised comfortably at the national limit, while all the time you knew it was capable of so much more.
Technology
On the technology front, this car came with lane-assist and front-assist. When these two driver aids were engaged the car reminded me if I was wandering from my lane and also was keeping an eye on the car in front and slowing down if they were travelling at a lower speed than I had the cruise control set at.
Once I indicated to overtake the slower car, the speed rose to the set speed and lane-assist starts to work again once you have moved lane and stopped indicating. These driver aids make it easy and relaxing to cover a lot of miles in this car.
Verdict
This car was a surprise in many different ways. Firstly, the colour; at the beginning of the week I really didn’t like it but I wanted to keep it when it was going back. The biggest surprise was the ability of this car to get along at a serious lick on some of the country’s twisty back roads with consummate poise and agility, not something you expect from a car this size.
The engine is a powerhouse and just constantly wants you to drive it briskly. As you would expect, fuel economy is not this car’s strong point. It managed about 10.9l/per 100km (26mpg) over the week but what fun I had.
Skoda claims that 40mpg is possible with a light boot. The best verdict I can come up with on this car is that the driver in me wants one but the sensible family man thinks that the same Sportline spec with the perfectly good diesel engine would be the right one in the real world, and would improve the chances of keeping my nice clean driver’s licence for a while longer.
Most farmers have one but which is the one to buy? This week we begin our tractor testing series and also look at a classic John Deere 4755. Alistair Chambers test drives the Skoda Rapid Spaceback.
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The engine is a powerhouse and just constantly wants you to drive it briskly. As you would expect, fuel economy is not this car’s strong point. It managed about 10.9l/per 100km (26mpg) over the week but what fun I had. 
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