Skoda Superb 1.8 TSI (A) 

The Review

When I first heard of Skoda, I wonder to myself, where are they from? They’re Czech, said my friend. Okay, where’s that? Czech Republic. Right. Then I heard the name of the car – Superb. Gosh I nearly choked on my coffee. Have these car companies no shame? Self praise is international disgrace, you know? The last nail in the coffin was when I saw Skoda models being used as cabs. Case closed, I’d never even consider the make, much less buy a car from them. Then awhile back my colleague and close friend bought one. I was flabbergasted. I questioned his logic, his sanity, even his sexuality. Okay, I was joking about the last part. I was frankly quite befuddled as to how anyone would desire a taxi cab supplying, self praising car company’s car. My friend rolled his eyes and just threw me the keys. Exterior wise, it has a mean looking grille and headlamps; a nice touch. It also has BMW-esque hood creases. So far, it looks not too bad, I find myself admitting albeit grudgingly. The rear lights look like they were modelled after the Mondeo’s but with the cute factor removed. And that I liked. It was the interior that really caught me off guard. I knew it was supposed to be a continental car but I was expecting a half hearted engineering effort in the interior but boy was I wrong. The entire interior looks impressive to say the least. Cleanly laid out dials and buttons are wrapped in soft plastics and seats lined with Alcantara. Once I sat into the driver’s seat, the amount of space within the cabin just blew all of my preconceptions of the car clean out of my mind. I turned the key and woke the engine. 160bhp and 250Nm at 1,500rpm made the car an easy ride. Couple that with a 7 speed DSG gearbox, power is available at any speed. If you want to do sedate cruising, it’s got that covered. If you want to be frisky, it’s got that covered too. Nifty. After coming back from a run around, I found out that the car has a parking assist function. What? A parking assist function in this segment? I am really impressed now. After getting out of the car and letting my excitement bleed out, I could only come up with 3 reasons why I wouldn’t consider buying this car. One, resale value. Two, brand snobbery. Three, higher price than an Accord (but I got 13km/l on the car, which is higher than an Accord). I am humbled by this Czech-made car. I realised I shouldn’t judge a car by its badge. This car is simply Superb!

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