[lancer_rit]

Congrats on buying the Karoq, wish you many years and many miles of safe and happy motoring.

Originally Posted by Parth Oomphy

The Indian Superb has a ground clearance of about 164mm (similar to my Ameo 1.5 TDI DSG), but it’s wheelbase is very long, due to which it does scrape its underbelly a lot, even on average size Speed breakers (I was having this problem with my Ameo as well, but it wasn’t this bad).

This surprises me, because the Superb GC is actually quite good despite the LWB and soft suspension. On Bangalore Mountain speed breakers, I have only bottomed a couple of times (with 2-3 folks in the car). Of course, you have to take speed breakers at very slow speed - but it can handle them much better than the Honda City and BMW 3. So, possibly, the L&K test car had some issues - low tyre pressure or suspension topics ?


I drive MY 2018 Superb Style 1.8 TSI MT. So, its a bit lighter than the DSG and 2.0TSI (~68kgs) but I doubt this dominates as I had test driven the 1.8TSI DSG a good bit, and it seemed OK

[Parth Oomphy]

Originally Posted by lancer_rit

Congrats on buying the Karoq, wish you many years and many miles of safe and happy motoring.



This surprises me, because the Superb GC is actually quite good despite the LWB and soft suspension. On Bangalore Mountain speed breakers, I have only bottomed a couple of times (with 2-3 folks in the car). Of course, you have to take speed breakers at very slow speed - but it can handle them much better than the Honda City and BMW 3. So, possibly, the L&K test car had some issues - low tyre pressure or suspension topics ?

I don’t know about other cars, but I guess I’m not used to slow down too much on bad roads & bumps, maybe because I mainly drive SUVs & SX4 (which has the best GC for a sedan).
Same problem of low GC I did found in the Honda City back in the days, so I went for the SX4. It has served me very well & at many occasions, I have thanked myself for not going with the city. I get confidence & peace of mind to tackle anything w/o worrying about my car getting damaged or stuck.
And it’s great if your superb is serving you well, It’s a great car no doubt. But after my Ameo experience, I definitely would not have wanted a car with similar GC. I think driving SUVs does spoil you as you don’t slow down on bumps that much. But it must be my problem I guess, Superb is otherwise a awesome car.

[On the Move]

So i did take back to back test drives of Karoq and Superb last Sunday.

Interiors & Space: In terms of space, the Karoq appears quite compact on the outside as well as inside (this is coming after driving a Fabia regularly for last 8-9 years, occasional duties in 2nd gen city, Creta, Elantra, Seltos, WagonR and Fortuners of family, and drooling over a #Dark edition Harrier couple of days back). Did not feel much of an upgrade from Fabia in terms of driving space (maybe 20-25% in boot, and 10-15% interior wise (I am 6-2 in height and medium built, so the space perspective was very different for my co-passenger of 5-2 height). Though quality wise the dash and front layout appeared to be a big upgrade, and shall i say a notch above the L&K as well. The chunky gear knob from Kodiaq completely knocks out the one in Superb.

On the other hand, the front and rear space and comfort in Superb knocks out Karoq (which has not much to write about at rear space - and is much less), although took some effort to get out from the low seating position in Superb.

Coming to the boot, Superb of course boasts of the largest capacity, but for some reason it looked to be just a tad size smaller than the previous generations and multiple T-BHP posts (where one could literally lie down comfortably) - not sure if the size has been marginally squeezed or I was just expecting the cargo hold of an aircraft , but definitely wayyy bigger than Karoq. To be honest, Karoq's boot while rated close to 500 litres on paper did not appear much bigger than the Seltos parked on the side - maybe when we start to actually pack the luggage it may be able to swallow more than expected.

Ride Quality: Both performed admirably, although to be honest, half of the test drive was on smooth highway and other half was on by-lane with mild road imperfections and some potholes. Karoq, like all notched up pseudo-SUVs, moved as expected over mild imperfections, and Superb acted like a true blue sedan. In fact when you are in driver's seat in the Superb, you do not feel its large dimensions - i was able to maneuver the turns just like i would do on my close to decade old Fabia - as pointed out in several T-BHP observations about Superb's hiding its size very well while driving.

Deal Breakers-Karoq: Given my primary requirement is space (both inside and in boot), with a heavy heart moved Karoq off the list - although it is a very attractive proposition in terms of interior quality, CBU unit, moon-roof.

Deal Breakers-Superb: Coming to the Superb, this ticks all the boxes in terms of size, space, new engine and gearbox, discounts and personal preference of a sedan (yes, i am one of the minority who still prefer a sedan ride over SUVs), even if the boot felt slightly small. However, i just happened to fixate over the "Long Term Fuel Efficiency" in the Superb which was just about 6 kmpl - and I triple checked, i was not looking at the instant fuel economy or the recent trip fuel economy. This freaked me out completely, as this car had just came from a long drive from Udaipur couple days back. while I could discount couple points for a test drive vehicle with multiple stop-starts and short trips, but 6 kmpl over long term is a complete deal breaker. It brought back nightmares of our old Contessa from childhood, which nobody wanted to touch (even in days when petrol costed just 20 bucks). In contrast, the same figure in the Karoq was about 12 kmpl.

May i request if anyone has had any reasonable long-term experience with the new 2.0 L engine and can clarify the fuel economy aspects. While i did expect average of about 8 kmpl in city and 10-12 kmpl on highway, 6-7 kmpl on highway is not acceptable. I would very much love to own this car and the price point is just irresistible, but don't want to end up with a guzzler that becomes un-drivable with the rising fuel prices.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by On the Move

May i request if anyone has had any reasonable long-term experience with the new 2.0 L engine and can clarify the fuel economy aspects. While i did expect average of about 8 kmpl in city and 10-12 kmpl on highway, 6-7 kmpl on highway is not acceptable. I would very much love to own this car and the price point is just irresistible, but don't want to end up with a guzzler that becomes un-drivable with the rising fuel prices.

I'm pretty sure the MID might not be showing the actual figures. The Superb will be 6-8kmpl in city traffic and given the fact that the 2.0L engine is improved version of the 1.8L TSI, I would expect mileage close to the 1.8L.

Highway cruising mileage will easily be 12kmpl+.

The Superb will give you scary figures if you drive like you stole it and redline that motor to glory.

Overall really not much to fault with the Superb package and given the discounts, it is ~4-5 lakhs above the Karoq and the amount of additional stuff you get from engine, more reliable DQ381 gearbox, space overall, rear multilink suspension it's a very easy pick to stretch.

Efficiency will not be as good but it's a small price for the extras.

[CEF_Beasts]

The biggest bummer for me are the facelifted Superb’s headlights, they may have moved from bi-xenons to LEDs but in the process they deleted adaptive headlights (AFS in Skoda terms??) and in the pre-facelift car the LED DRLs doubled up as the turn indicators whereas in the facelift it has halogen indicators.

But the Superb definitely competes a class above against the Germans be it rear legroom, stonker of an engine, big boot and decently equipped! With discounts it is worth the price and much better than the very expensive Camry.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

The biggest bummer for me are the facelifted Superb’s headlights, they may have moved from bi-xenons to LEDs but in the process they deleted adaptive headlights (AFS in Skoda terms??) and in the pre-facelift car the LED DRLs doubled up as the turn indicators whereas in the facelift it has halogen indicators.

But the Superb definitely competes a class above against the Germans be it rear legroom, stonker of an engine, big boot and decently equipped! With discounts it is worth the price and much better than the very expensive Camry.

True the lights were a cost cutting step but you know what how many actually knew that the Superb earlier had AFS and so does the Karoq and Kodiaq.

Also whether AFS or no AFS, in India with the high beam mentality of oncoming cars it was pointless. LED's themselves are not great in rains so this is not a huge miss.

The LED system that it comes with is still very good similar to the Tiguan and not much to complain. 98% of the buyers won't even know the difference between AFS and non AFS system.

On the Sportline it totally makes sense but I guess it would have been nice to have on the L&K.

[Venkatesh]

Skoda Superb facelift review by CarandBike

https://youtu.be/2yjo3Sddelg

[manson]

Originally Posted by On the Move

Will keep you posted if it gets sweetened more and if I finally decide to take the plunge (just to mention, my offer has been 30L OTR ), though thinking i may close it at 31L or 32L OTR, all inclusive.

Originally Posted by civilizedguy

I am still negotiating with them.

Just wondering if either of you did go ahead with purchase and what final discounts were you able to negotiate?

Meanwhile I spotted the first 2020 Superb (thankfully a Sportline) on the road apart from the bunch parked at Autobahn Prabhadevi showroom:




I personally find the color choices on the Sportline are either too neutral (moon white), attention grabbing (race blue) or oddball (Steel grey) and nothing in between.

[AMG1]

Originally Posted by manson

I personally find the color choices on the Sportline are either too neutral (moon white), attention grabbing (race blue) or oddball (Steel grey) and nothing in between.

Thank You for the pictures . I second your opinion. The color choices for the Sportline leaves a lot to be desired. The wheel option too is very sad. Sportlines should have got larger 18-inch wheels if not 19-inchers, and definitely sportier set of alloys. Red color is conspicuous by its absence.

[On the Move]

Originally Posted by manson

Just wondering if either of you did go ahead with purchase and what final discounts were you able to negotiate?

I didn't - at least for now. With a heavy heart had to push it back in the pecking order.

A few days of bad rains created craters all over the city, and suddenly the Fortuner came back in the reckoning. All of a sudden everything was positive with the Big T (presence on road, go-anywhere ability, rough & tough, fuss-free ownership, ease of serviceability, dirt cheap cost of maintenance, resale value,and the option of 2 additional seats, however crammed), and poor Superb started to seem a highly sophisticated, expensive to maintain and repair vehicle, even though the initial cost of Superb was wayyy cheaper than Big T.

Also, the dealer here didn't seem very interested to push for sale, which was quite surprising. Seems they are quite happy pushing Rapids around. For some reason Tier-2 cities are seeing lot of interest in new Rapid TSI.

So although the heart is still hell bent on picking up the Superb, the heads and family pressure is to opt for the Big T, or an Endy (distant second).

BTW, i was fine with the colour options for sportsline, I just loved steel grey when it debuted on 230RS, and the race blue is much better looking than the metallic blue on L&K or the Karoq. One reason for me to opt for Sportsline over L&K was the steel grey colour - with black grill and spoiler, it looks killer.

[hortons15]

Originally Posted by lancer_rit

On Bangalore Mountain speed breakers, I have only bottomed a couple of times (with 2-3 folks in the car).

I agree. Low GC is not that big a problem on city roads as everyone make it out to be. I drive with a 130mm ground clearance and scrapes are very very rare. Sure you pick good roads, slow down a bit more for speed breakers, and you can't go on uncertain country roads but hey you got SUV's for that. For someone that doesn't need a Jack of all trades, it should be totally fine

[civilizedguy]

Originally Posted by manson

Just wondering if either of you did go ahead with purchase and what final discounts were you able to negotiate?

Meanwhile I spotted the first 2020 Superb (thankfully a Sportline) on the road apart from the bunch parked at Autobahn Prabhadevi showroom:
Attachment 2052167

Attachment 2052168

I personally find the color choices on the Sportline are either too neutral (moon white), attention grabbing (race blue) or oddball (Steel grey) and nothing in between.

Yes, i went ahead with the purchase of Superb 2.0 L&K 2020. I have paid the booking amount and will take delivery. The total negotiated amount it came to 37.8 L including a 4 year maintenance package from Skoda (with replacement for normal wear and tear).

Apologies, I didn't update the group as I am down with Covid19 as I type.

[manson]

Originally Posted by On the Move

A few days of bad rains created craters all over the city, and suddenly the Fortuner came back in the reckoning.

I was thinking along the same lines for the Fortuner, but man that bounciness from a ladder on frame over a clean riding sedan will take some serious compromise! If I remember correctly you were also considering the Harrier AT, must mention we have been considering identical options

Originally Posted by On the Move

BTW, i was fine with the colour options for sportsline, I just loved steel grey when it debuted on 230RS, and the race blue is much better looking than the metallic blue on L&K or the Karoq.

I really like the race blue color, but I also find it a bit too attention grabbing. Add to that the headache of matching the shade for painted panels later in the lifecycle and tedious detailing that this shade demands. I would have been happiest with a black sportline with chrome / matt silver emblems / logos, don't think that really is an option even foreign markets though.

Originally Posted by civilizedguy

Yes, i went ahead with the purchase of Superb 2.0 L&K 2020.

Heartiest congratulations! What color did you decide on?

Originally Posted by civilizedguy

Apologies, I didn't update the group as I am down with Covid19 as I type.

Hope you're on the road to recovery since your last post (?). Take care buddy, wishing you and your close ones good health.

[civilizedguy]

Originally Posted by manson

Heartiest congratulations! What color did you decide on?

Hope you're on the road to recovery since your last post (?). Take care buddy, wishing you and your close ones good health.

I was supposed to visit them at the showroom to take a look at lava blue and then decide whether it is tacky or not. Unfortunately, covid19 has disrupted everything. Otherwise, I am inclined to go with business grey. Safest bet and definitely classy too.

I am recovering slowly, but, not there 100% yet. Expect to give it another 15 days and then take delivery of the car.

[VPJ74]

Hi Civilized Guy,
We are also close to booking a Superb in Mumbai. Considering the Sportline but let's see..

Would love to compare notes ..