MAGNIFICENTISM , The Skoda Superb 1.8 TSI A/T

Skoda has put in a lot of interesting cars in its portfolio since its inception in the Indian subcontinent. Starting off with the Octavia, the company has brought a smile on the Indian Automobile Fanatic’s face. Bringing in cars like the Octavia vRS and the later Laura vRS, Skoda had claimed its plot on the entry performance segment. But what if that performance segment lover needs a booster juice of luxury at the same time without compromising on the performance?

The Superb 1.8 TSI is exactly what Skoda wants to showcase to such a buyer. The sharp creases on the body and brilliantly designed panels and the attention to detail in the exterior are worth noting down in the history notebooks of the beautiful automobiles.

So what does the specification sheet say?

The superb is powered by a 1798cc, turbo-charge induced petrol engine which produces 160bhp of max power at upto 6200 revs and 250Nms of max torque. This engine is mated to a 7-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox (DSG) which indeed is extremely potent and does the job of seamless gearshifts optimally.

Turbo-charged engine. Hmmm... how’s the turbo lag?

Turbo charger spools in at 1500rpm, so whether you’re ferrying your kids to school in traffic or exercising your right foot on the twisted roads of the hills, the jerk free acceleration makes every moment of driving this car and extremely comfortable and exciting one.

How comfortable is it?

The Superb is an epitome of luxury, refinement and comfort in its segment. To prove this fact, I took it to one of the most crowded roads in the capital city of New Delhi, Palam colony, which I found has the largest potholed roads and the maximum number of red-light honkers you’d find anywhere else in the city. And to the most I chose the time of maximum traffic, somewhere around 6pm in the evening on a Monday, when all the office dwellers are desperately rushing towards their homes.

Sadly though they do that at a top speed of around 3-4kmph. Bumper to bumper traffic means lots of pressing the Accelerator, Brake and Clutch, lots of changing gears from neutral to first, maybe second and neutral again, lots of calls from the wife and kids and most of all lots of frustration.

Thanks to superb’s butter smooth automatic gearbox and double glazed windows, you’ll be cocooned in the confines of the car like you’re sitting in a library full of books made of sponge and wool.

Pushing along the car on the potholed roads, one can easily feel as if you’re gliding over a tarmac full of double whipped cream. The all round independent suspension setup and multi element axle at the rear means the superb glides over any kind of surface seamlessly. And more to that the superb in India boasts 205/55 high profile Goodyear NCT  tires  wrapped around the 16” wheels which provide good overall grip and low tarmac noise as speed progresses.

Ok, how luxurious is it?

Skoda made sure they load the superb to the gills with all kinds of gadgets and gizmos which a major number of perspective owners are fond of in present times. But these features aren’t just for show! They are very practical and useful indeed. But the equipment loading the superb is so much, that it puts cars like the Mercedes E class to shame. The interiors are well laid out with all the controls within the reach of the driver. 

Soft touch materials, lacquered wood inserts and sumptuous leather is there wherever you may touch and lay your eyes on, and this makes the interiors of the superb all the very good place to lounge yourself in. There’s glove box which opens in slow motion as if the curtains of the opera are unfurling, talking of curtains the rear seat gets rear windscreen and side window retractable curtains, AC vents are placed on the B pillars rather than being behind the front central console. There’s mood lighting, puddle lamps, floor lamps, courtesy lamps, lamps to read your Maxims and a lamp to even dial a number on your non back lit mobile phones! The car can pair with upto 5 mobile phones at a time to receive calls and stream music. 

Talking of music, the car has an 8 speaker sound system which has a pretty good bass and treble output. These speakers receive their sound from the Skoda’s ‘SWING’ audio system with built in amplifiers and a touch screen with which you can pair a variety of inputs like your mobile phone, ipod, there is an SD/MMC reader to plug and play the music from your cameras and it also has a 6 CD changer where you can slot in your 19^th century classic Opera discs whenever you need a vintage boost, it also boasts various in car information like the temperature settings and puts on the visual parking assist system as soon as you slot the gear into reverse. Sadly though there isn't any parking camera to see the beautiful legs of the girl standing behind your car who is intruding the way or a Navigation system to find the way to the nearest florist because it’s your girlfriend’s birthday. What is there is a sunroof, which looks kinda tiny for a car of this size but it does the job well of blowing the wind in your hair when it had stopped raining on those mountain passes. 

There are memory seats for you can adjust to your seat position at a touch of a button after your son just drove it back from a late night party reclining the seat back like a lounger. 

And to my surprise there is an umbrella holder hole inside the rear door for the valet to pull it out and make you exit the car like an Arab sheikh on his oil field trip. The last car I saw with that umbrella thing was in the Rolls Royce Phantom! 

The twin door system for the boot lid which makes the superb a hatchback at a click of a button for loading those wardrobes with your favourite ZARA and ALDO apparels.  

Alright, so the car is luxurious and spacious, how is it on the performance front then?

To find this out I took the superb to the place where they say are the most twisty and slippery roads in India. The road from Kotdwar to Lansdowne in the state of Uttarakhand. To play the game of ‘legends of the hidden temple’ with me arrived the rains. Most people travelling northwards would step backwards in caution to the subdued landslides and other calamities. I then took this as an opportunity to find empty roads till the top. Superb has an array of safety and driving electronics. Things with abbreviations like AFS, ABS, EBD, TCS and other scientific 3 lettered combinations of A,B,C,Ds,  all of which help to make driving your superb more comfortable and safe.

You can corner hard through hairpin bends tightly on the slippery hill roads, as the Electronic Stability Control, Traction Control and Electronic Differential Lock are working 25 times per second to keep you balanced and stable and prevent oversteer or understeer. A three stage ABS system to stop this ship when a pretty woman with a fixation with her blackberry messenger jumps in the middle of the road. Bi-Xenon lamps to spot that herd of lamb crossing the country roads half a kilometer ahead of you so you can break gradually.

But what fun is with all these electronic goodies doing the job that I should be doing and spoiling the sheer pleasure of driving enthusiastically. Some toggling through the settings and I succeed in switching off all the electronic driving aids on the car. As I shove my right foot into the floor a cloud of white burnt rubber smoke emerge in the rear view mirror as I dart forward. The sheer feeling of mechanical parts making contact with you is so satisfying that I have no appropriate words for it, closest best I would say, It’s like eating an ice cream of your favourite flavour with double the ingredients. The steering, it has such a great feel to it, you can feel every inch of activity happening under the front wheels. As I emerge towards the hairpin bend in front of me I was sure that the long overhangs of the car at the rear are bound to slide off since the stabilizing gadgets were off and so can the car understeer since most of the power is propelled to the front wheels.

But none of that happened! The steering was precise, like point and shoot, the car oversteered but that was counter controlled by the Electronic Differential Lock system which couldn't be turned off. The sheer pleasure of tail whipping a 4.8 meter long limo is beyond the word thrilling, that too when you do it 1600 meters above sea level with a massive drop down to the river Ganges.

So, what’s the Verdict?

The acceleration is seamless. The handling is absolutely brilliant, the body control is magnificent, even the fuel efficiency of this monster limo will keep your pocket hot and full, except when you do things that are as aforesaid above by me, the interiors are as close as a first class airliner as it can get. One can go on with innumerable adjectives from the thesaurus to describe the sheer feeling of driving the superb.  At times I think the blokes at the Czech Republic shouldn't have named it the Skoda Superb, It should rather be Skoda Magnificent.

Drive Safe, Wear your seat belts..Always!