2009 Skoda Superb at MIMS

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By Matt Brogan | February 27th, 2009

The all-new Skoda Superb has made its Australian debut today at the Melbourne International Motor Show.

Although new to Australia, the Superb has a long history which dates back to the 1930s.

When it was re-launched in 2001, the first modern Superb represented a new start, a re-entry into a market which had long been neglected.

This latest Superb, however, is a pivotal car for the brand which Skoda hopes will combine its illustrious past with an ambitious future.

The new Superb offers a host of clever features, including ‘TwinDoor’, which turns the car from a Sedan to a Liftback at the touch of a button, lifting the Superb to even greater heights of flexibility.

Depending on what is required, either the boot lid alone can be opened for smaller items to be placed inside. Or, by operating another button on the underside of the boot lid to activate an electro-mechanical release, you can lift the entire boot lid together with the rear window, allowing bulkier items to be loaded.

When the rear seat backs are in an upright position, the boot will accommodate 565 litres of luggage, and if they are folded forward this volume increases to a massive 1,670 litres.

A range of engines are available to fulfil a variety of needs including a 1.8-litre, four-cylinder (118kW/250Nm) petrol unit; a new 3.6-litre, V6 (191kW/350Nm) petrol engine; and a 2.0-litre four cylinder (125kW/350Nm) turbo diesel engine.

Full specifications will be released at the time of launch with pricing to range from a competitive $42,990 to $56,990.

HAL

Overall the design is a fail IMO. It’s a shame because I see some quite good designing in elements of the front of the car, with the agressive headlights and strong presence of the lower bumper section. But then it’s let down by the creasing along the top of the bonnet section, the rear of the car and the Skoda family grill – very old hat and should be resigned to the scrap bin ASAP for new models.

It’s a shame because I think Skoda has something to offer, but just for now they seem to be getting 2 thirds of the puzzle right, but the final piece is eluding them.
Reckless1

Hal, I gues you measure success in terms of how big a loss a car company can make.

Skoda is not getting it wrong, they’re making money…..
charles

Hal, 5th Gear did a funny little test of skoda superb. Amoungst others parts of the test they taped over the skoda symbol and parked the car on a street in the banking section of london. They stopped people walking by what they thought of the car and what make of car they thought it was. Guess what; everyone thought it had a great design and the majority thought it was a BMW-
Reckless1

The one at the show was very nicely built and finished. It’s a large car with big boot and superb interior, but at $55,000 was the same price as the base Audi Q5.

That’s where the race was lost.

The Q5 is so far ahead in desirability for the same money, although I realise you only have to tick a couple of options and you get to $70,000+ before you can blink.
Jake02

As a Skoda owner, I was thoroughly impressed with the Superb. The model on show (Elegance 2.0TDI) was very nicely finished and looked great. BUT the problem are the idiots who go around and say: “Skoda. Eeeew” when the Superb is arguably a better car then the Volkswagen Passat (any VW in fact).

Reckless1, I am failing to understand why someone would compare an Audi Q5 (of which I sat in both there and was quoite impressed) to the Superb. The fact of the matter is the top spec Superb is $56,990 (3 grand cheaper than a Q5) which comes with the V6/4X4 system and the base Superb is only $42,990. Thats alot of car for the moolah.