SKODA SUPERB ESTATE

Fourth-generation load-carrying stalwart sticks with tradition and retains its very conventional estate car form

- MATT PRIOR

TESTED 14.3.24, PORTUGAL ON SALE JUNE PRICE £39,520

In a decidedly old-school format, Skoda's latest Superb Estate follows the theme set by its predecessors. This large estate (and hatchback, to follow shortly) has plenty of equipment and is cavernous inside, and it comes with a range of pure-combustion, or mild or plug-in hybrid, engines. Even a diesel, of all things. Crikey.

The Superb has typically been well received in the UK - we're among its biggest markets - from which other similarly conceived cars (Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Insignia) have been departing.

"That gives us the opportunity to fill the gap for customers looking for a traditional offering," says Tatiana Cizmar, from Skoda's product marketing division. She says those customers want "roominess, practicality, usability, a good range of equipment..." I mean, that lot does sound quite straightforwardly compelling.

Prices start at £36,165 for a 1.5 petrol, rising to £43,680 for a top spec all-wheel-drive diesel. Plugin hybrid prices are to follow. The fourth-gen Superb (if you don't count the one they made in 1934, which I'm inclined not to include here) is built, like the latest Volkswagen Passat, around the group's MQB Evo platform, and it has grown a little over its predecessor.

Not so much as to be a worry: it's 40mm longer, at 4902mm, but pleasingly 15mm narrower, at 1849mm across the body. Hallelujah. Height is up only 5mm, so it will have a slightly smaller frontal area than before, and, with the drag coefficient down from 0.30 to 0.25, Skoda reckons it's up to 15% more efficient than it was.