Skoda Superb Fast Fleet test – 16,000 miles in the GTI-powered estate

I’ve run many practical performance cars during my time at evo, but at the end of its 11 months and 16,000 miles with us, the Skoda Superb Estate SportLine Plus 2.0 TSI 280 PS 4x4 DSG – to give it its full title – has established itself as my favourite to date. 

It achieved this by ticking so many boxes. Boot space is an obvious place to start, as it’s likely one of the main reasons you’d have a Superb Estate on your shortlist. Rest assured there is no shortage of it. In fact, KY22 VNH must have had one of the most commodious load areas we’ve ever experienced on the Fast Fleet, making transporting bikes, furniture or, most typically, a full load of photographic equipment an absolute breeze.

> Skoda Octavia vRS (Mk4) Fast Fleet test – six months in the £30,000 Q‑car

Behind the wheel, every mile was covered in complete comfort, eight-hour journeys holding no fear as you appreciated the interior’s clean, practical, modern design and how outside noises were kept to a minimum – all the better for enjoying the top-spec, and very decent-sounding, audio system. The infotainment was easy to use on the go, too, thanks to its large, 9.2-inch touchscreen and an interface that never had you scrolling through countless options to get to the one you were after. Also welcome were the cooled centre armrest box, which kept drinks and food fresh throughout the day, and the space-saver spare wheel (£205), which guaranteed I could complete my journey home when I got a flat-tyre warning at 11pm one night. Definitely a must-have option. The four-wheel-drive system proved its worth many times, too, finding extra traction on frosty roads and giving confidence in wet conditions.

The Superb wasn’t all about the sensible stuff, though. Arrive at a decent driver’s road and you’d quickly find a satisfying rhythm. This ability, in combination with the performance on offer (276bhp, 0-62mph in 5.3sec), allowed me to keep pace with many of the more extreme cars we test at evo when they were being driven briskly between locations on photoshoots – and all without the Skoda drawing attention to itself, thanks to its smart but discreet exterior design; a proper ‘sleeper’.

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Upon arrival at a location, VNH often became part of my photographic kit, the huge panoramic glass roof (£1295) allowing me to pop up from the passenger seat to capture car-to-car action shots, or even sucker a tripod and camera to the glass to achieve the same. Most buyers will appreciate it for the way it allows more light into the cabin, though…

The Superb’s drive modes helped it adapt well to the job in hand, although as Jethro Bovingdon observed when he tried the car for a few days, the automatic gearshifting strategy in Comfort mode often left you struggling to access enough of the 2-litre engine’s performance even for everyday driving, so you’d inevitably resort to using the paddles or selecting a different mode. Said engine requested its first service just before it went back to Skoda; it didn’t need any extra oil during our time with the car, but it did need its coolant topping up once. 

If there was one trip that summed up the Superb, it was a long drive out to Hamburg, two-up and loaded with kit and luggage, where we hit an indicated 165mph on the autobahn, managed 400 miles from a tank and averaged a healthy 29.7mpg. All in a day’s work.

In short, when it came to doing the kind of jobs it was designed to do, the Superb really did live up to its name. My next long-termer has a tough act to follow.

This story was first featured in evo issue 316.