Skoda Superb Estate versus Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate - comparison

Yet the Skoda wastes few opportunities to confound the inferiority that the badge snobs will expect of it. The vast load bay we already know about, but the Superb is also shorter and lighter than the E-Class, as well as more powerful and faster-accelerating. More capable, too, thanks to the availability of Haldex-type four-wheel drive, whereas the Benz remains rear-wheel drive only.

The E-Class counters meekly on paper, with slightly lower CO2 emissions and better claimed fuel economy. But the vitals more important to estate regulars, from maximum allowable towing weight on a braked trailer to maximum payload weight in the boot, are all on the Superb’s side.

Credit to Skoda, too, for keeping the Superb’s costs of ownership low. Our market sources suggest that even this top-of-the-range Superb will retain 43% of its showroom value after three years and 36,000 miles – impressive considering that the E-Class is rated at only 45.2%. The Skoda also charts 11 insurance groups lower than the Mercedes – a difference of hundreds of pounds a year for a typical renewal premium.

So far, so good for the Skoda. Tougher territory now, though. Attractiveness is a facet so tightly bound up with desirability and brand allure that it seems impossible to discuss the Superb’s styling in isolation. It’s a handsome car, sure enough – to these eyes, better looking than the E-Class, whose boxy rear end and high roofline both seem relatively awkward. Handsome enough that you wouldn’t care about turning down a Benz for a Skoda, though? I doubt it.

The Superb’s cabin, as well as being large, is rich, solid and very pleasant indeed. Nonetheless, it’s on cabin quality that the E-Class distinguishes itself. The difference between the two isn’t huge. Both have lined storage bins and smooth, carefully stitched leathers. Both are cars of apparent quality. 

The Skoda has bigger oddment cubbies. But the E-Class’s fixtures and fittings feel that little bit more substantial in your hands than the Skoda’s and its cabin is, by a nose, the nicer place to be.

Time to measure up and get loading. I had hoped that this bit would be straightforward – that the car with the bigger real-world load bay would swallow the golf clubs, stepladder, baby buggy and toddler’s trike, while the other one would refuse. In fact, with the smaller section of the split-fold rear seats folded in both cases, both cars surmounted the challenge. There is little, it seems, that a Superb Estate will carry that an E220 Estate won’t. If only we’d had a washing machine, a 70in flatscreen TV and an enormous cuddly toy.

Dive into the load bays and explore in greater detail, though, and you can identify the better estate car. It may not be the one you’re expecting.

The tape measure confirms that, for passengers at any rate, the Skoda is the more spacious car. Rear leg room is more abundant in the Superb to the tune of almost 100mm. On head room, the cars are evenly matched; likewise on cabin width.

But measure up the load bay and you may wonder, at first, where the Skoda’s advantage lies. On loading length, there’s nothing between them: 1160mm behind the second row in the E-Class, 1140mm in the Superb, rising to exactly 2000mm when you flop the seats down in both cases.

But on width, the E-Class has the edge; the Merc’s load bay is 1140mm wide at its narrowest, the Skoda’s only 1000mm. So on everyday carrying capacity – floor space, essentially – the E-Class is marginally the more useful of the two.

Where the Skoda hits back, and ultimately delivers its overall capacity, is on load height. Floor to ceiling, the Superb offers a space up to 820mm high in which to stack things up, versus only 750mm in the E-Class. However, that extra height may only come into play on a handful of occasions during the average ownership of any estate car. By my reckoning, width is more useful than height in an estate – and the Merc has width to burn.

Read the full Mercedes-Benz E-Class review

That’s not the end of the practicality debate, though. You can get a folding front passenger seat in the Skoda but not in the Mercedes. However, Skoda adversely affects the usefulness of that feature by failing to flip the layout of the split-folding rear seats around for right-hand-drive 
cars, leaving the larger section behind the driver.

What that means is that, in the E-Class, you could tilt and slide the front passenger seat as far forwards as it’ll go, flop the bigger portion of the back seats down, seat a passenger behind the driver and leave the maximum amount of load 
space available for bikes, potplants, flatpack furniture or whatever. In the Superb, there’s significantly less through-loading space.

The Superb’s practicality shortcomings don’t end there. I like proper, flat-folding back seats in my family wagon, with release levers positioned close to the boot opening for optimal convenience, and a flat load bay floor for easy loading. The E-Class offers all three things as standard.

The Superb’s seats won’t quite go flat, and if you want a flat ‘false’ floor or remote seatback releases, you’ll need to spend more for the required options – even on a £35k, top-of-the-line model.

You also have to pay extra for a proper load bay partition in the Superb, to keep those bathroom tiles you’ve stacked up to a height of 820mm from sliding forwards onto the rear seats when you brake. All of which makes it too easy to order a Superb that’s just a little bit disobliging to use.

Decision time. I said there wouldn’t be much about driving dynamics in this twin test – and what there is only makes the verdict tougher.

The Superb is the more refined car and has the more obedient automatic gearbox, marginally more overtaking and hauling power and a more comfortable, calming, big family car vibe about 
its ride and handling.

The E-Class is heavier in its control weights, a touch grippier and more direct in its handling, but less cosseting overall. The Benz feels more like a modern executive car, affected slightly by its need to feel multi-talented, assertive and sporty.

The Skoda is entirely laid-back – secure about the simplicity of its dynamic brief.

On that front, and not only that, I prefer the Superb, which feels, in many ways, like a truer modern take on an old Mercedes W123 estate than the E220. You’ve got to hand it to Skoda for exceeding so many of the standards of one of the best modern load-luggers on the market here, and then making the finished product available at a price to beat a like-for-like Ford Mondeo. All things considered, the Superb is a remarkable family car.

But it hasn’t slain the giant. With its layout, quality, convenience and desirability, the E-Class reeks of the decades of experience that have gone into making it arguably the greatest modern estate in the world and keeping its legacy secure.