The SUV trend is snowballing at quite a rate, but as a large family car, the Skoda Superb Estate is still one of the best. It might lack the visual presence of its Kodiaq stablemate, but it’s enormous, comfortable, fine riding and competitively priced, and it offers a wide range of engines that are cheap to run. So its fourth-generation successor will have big shoes to fill when it arrives in 2024.
The new Superb hatch and estate share much of their architecture with the jointly developed Volkswagen Passat. The styling is still smart but updated (such as with slimmer headlights and tail-lights) to bring it in line with the new Kodiaq, launching at a similar time. The new Superb Estate is 40mm longer and 5mm taller than its predecessor, with the vast boot increasing from 660 to 690 litres – more than in the Peugeot 508 SW and rugged-looking Citroën C5 X.
Prices, trim levels and specs will be confirmed in November 2023, but there will be a standard Superb, a sportier-looking Sportline version and the luxury-focused Laurin & Klement trim. The slightly raised and more rugged-looking Scout estate will not be offered in the UK.
At launch, there will be three petrol engines, two diesels and a plug-in hybrid, all fitted with an automatic gearbox as standard. The entry-level 148bhp 1.5-litre petrol is the only one with mild-hybrid tech. It’s smooth and quiet and has enough power if you don’t tend to carry a car full of occupants. For more grunt, there’s a 2.0-litre petrol with 201bhp or four-wheel drive and 261bhp. The most powerful 190bhp diesel also drives all four wheels, while the 148bhp diesel feels more lively than the 1.5-litre petrol, with plenty of torque that surges you forward effortlessly.
The plug-in hybrid makes a big leap in battery size and range over the outgoing Superb. As before, a petrol engine combines with an electric motor, but a 25.7kWh battery (the outgoing iV’s is 12.7kWh) is good for a 62-mile EV range. There’s the ability to charge at 50kW, while the slower, 11kW output will charge from 0-100% in two and a half hours.
The latest version of adaptive suspension (now called Dynamic Chassis Control Pro) is available and stiffens or softens the ride depending on the selected drive mode. On the prototypes we drove, we sampled only the Normal setting, which does a good job of ironing out bumps. The suspension remains settled, while body control over undulating roads is well contained. Earlier models of the outgoing Superb struggled to deal with this, resulting in a constant (if slight) ‘floating’ sensation. Overall, this option makes the Superb a calming long-distance cruiser.