Why we ran it: To see whether the latest Skoda Superb can cut it as an object of not only supreme practicality but also luxury
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Life with a Skoda Superb plug-in hybrid: Month 6
Our mile-eating snapper has put three Superbs to the test. What’s the verdict? - 4 November 2020
My three-model, in-depth getting-to-know-you session with what many in our office still regard as one of the most overlooked and underrated new cars on sale, the estimable Skoda Superb, is at an end. And, well, yes, I am a bit cut up about it, actually, mostly because I know that my next longterm test car is likely only to make me miss the big Skoda even more.
Life on the Autocar long-term test fleet is ever changeable. When you’ve had a doozie of a car – one almost perfectly suited to your purposes and plush enough to make you feel good about all those early starts and long motorway journeys – you can be pretty sure that your next car, as grateful for it as you will be, probably won’t suit you half as well. Well, you could say that I’ve had three cars in a row that suit me almost perfectly: the two diesel Superb Estates in which we began this voyage of discovery, and then the plug-in hybrid Superb iV hatchback that it now pains me so much to see depart.
The big questions that we wanted this test to resolve can be covered off pretty quickly. My answer to the first – is the hatchback so big and practical that the estate is actually redundant? – is an emphatic ‘no’.
The problem isn’t outright space so much as access. I live and operate out of my car pretty much five days per week, and the more easily I can just open the boot and grab any camera, tripod or flashgun that I happen to need, the better my day is. Good weather plays a part, as do punctual, considerate journalists with cars that I like, quite frankly. But believe me, I organise a boot like others might organise their office desk. Everything has its place.
In the estates, all of my bags could sit near the lip, where I could reach them easily, so I was always in and out quickly. But the hatchback’s boot wasn’t quite tall enough to take those bags in the same position, which meant I had to repack it an awful lot more. Several times on some days.
The only thing I came to dread about any of the Superbs I ran was the sound of the iV’s motorised bootlid failing to click home as it tried vainly to close itself on top of my gear. I actually ended up carrying some of my kit on the back seats.
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pointless test
what is the point in giving someone a plug in car they can't plug in just run the normal petrol in that case how very green if you autocar !
Wireless Apple CarPlay
Has the WIRELESS Apple CarPlay been reliable in the iV ?
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40/60 loading
Ha ha, you hit the nail on the head with one of my gripes with estates and hatchbacks alike, although I hold the opposite view. You say 60/40 for right hand drive would be more practical? Any particular reason?
This is my reasoning for 40/60. If you're going to carry a long load then you can fold down the 40 side and load thru to the front footwell or glovebox, so carrying say a 2.5m - 3m length of wood or plastic pipe is practical as you can still carry two additional passengers. With the 60/40 arrangement, you can only carry one additional passenger.
I found 40/60 is much better for a family trips to the likes of IKEA or the garden centre when someone hits me with the line, that tree would look nice in our back garden.
Practicality
scotty5,
I didn't say that 60/40 split for rhd would be more practical. I completely get what both you and the journalist who wrote this article are saying.
I just think that the amount of times you would actually need it the other way around are so few and far between as to make almost no difference. I mean, how often do you actually buy 3m lengths of pipe or wood? How often do you go with three people to buy something really long in Ikea? Perhaps you need a pick up truck?
Practicality
Just noticed the reply from martin_66.
Perhaps you need a pickup truck he says? Perhaps I do. But then again if I did, why would it be necessary to buy something the size of a Superb?
Some years ago my parents phoned me from an antique auction - "The bloke assured us it would fit in to your car so we've just bought it. Could you come and..." It's a bit pointless buying a large estate like this for the weekly shop at Tesco.