Skoda Superb Estate - long-term review

Welcome to the best car in the Top Gear Garage. The office will probably disagree, obsessed as they are with 0-62mph times, downforce and the sexualisation of carbon fibre, but if you need a car that makes a decent fist of pretty much everything you need to deal with in real life, then you can’t really argue with this one too hard. Or you’ll look daft.

So what have we got? Well, it’s a plain old, and plain old-school, diesel estate car. In a world of zeitgeisty electric SUVs, that’s a strange thing to say - but that’s also why it’s here. Has a car like this still got a place at the table when everything else hangs on higher-riding, electrified underpinnings?

After all, there’s not even any sort of ‘mild-hybrid’ to hide behind here - even if that is usually an oversized starter motor - it’s just a 1,968cc four-pot diesel with a turbo. You might as well say that it’s powered by liquid leprosy.

The answer in the first 1,000 or so miles is immediately yes. It’s fast enough but not licence threatening, has been managing an easy 45-48mpg which feels like it’ll improve. There’s AWD traction - though very front-biased - and it rides well (especially on a motorway), has accurate steering and feels very light compared to anything electric.

It handles better than you think, and way better than any SUV. Oh, and a 66-litre tank of diesel sees you right for 650-675 miles so far. That’s freedom and convenience right there - and I’m a huge fan of electric cars.

But the big news is that it’s just so damn practical. Front and rear seats are roomy, well-appointed and comforting. I know, I have officially become old, but a 690-litre boot that opens out with the rear seats folded - via levers in the boot - to 1,920-litres is so friendly for family life, it’s unreal. Skoda also knows that it’s the details that count. There’s the usual umbrella in the driver’s door, a jumbo centre console, loads of charging points, tablet and phone holders, storage up the wazoo… and we’ve been using them all.

So far there aren’t any glaring weak spots apart from it sounding very much like a diesel - after years of EVs, that start/stop diesel re-fire sounds gruff - and a very cheap-feeling gear selector. For something you touch every time you drive the car, it seems a weird place to save some pennies.

Still, I think the latest generation of Superb walks the line between value and cheap very well. Our spec might seem slightly odd, but that’s by design. We’ve forgone the 19in optional alloys on this top-end Laurin&Klement spec and replaced them with 18s on winter tyres. Much more suited to the place that I live, fabulous traction and extra sidewall for pothole-scaling adventures.

There’s sober graphite grey paint (£680 as an option), which keeps it boring-but-handsome on the outside, the cognac brown leather on the inside with the walnut wood feeling slightly bouji. We’ve also got the head-up display (£540), pano roof (£1,350) and Family package, which includes winged headrests in the back and blankets, plus some other bits. It’s not cheap all-in at just under £50k, but the Superb Estate range starts at just under £37k OTR, so you can find a spec that fits.

Generally though? First impressions are everything; and the Superb Estate takes very little getting used to; it’s cracking right from the off.