Skoda Superb 1.8

The sense of a well crafted, thoughtfully put-together car is carried over to the interior as well. First impressions inside the cabin are staggering. The combination of rich tones, quality textures and perfectly finished real chrome are simply stunning, worthy of a luxury car twice the price. It’s so good, you immediately think this is just too good to be true and start looking for blemishes and low quality bits — of which you find almost none. Okay, the doorpads could have been built better with softer materials and the design of the central console is quite old fashioned, but apart from these niggles, the insides are . . . well, just superb. The quality and shape of the steering wheel is exceptional, it’s really comfortable to hold and the chrome ‘smile’ and Skoda badge make it look special. The hooded circular dials look terrific, the air con is easy and intuitive to use, and the puddle lights inside the cabin add to the luxurious feel. Even the quality of the ‘wood’ and manner in which small knobs have chrome piping is impressive.

Other salient features of the new Superb include a central touch screen that controls everything from the radio and in-dash CD-changer to the phone and navigation system.

The front seats are ample, very supportive and electrically adjustable in every direction. With acres of legroom and full sized seats, you are unlikely to find more comfortable seating anywhere in this class. With seat memory and electric lumbar support, finding your ideal driving position is easy. But, if you really want to be comfortable, there’s no place like the rear. There’s enough legroom here for a pro basketball player and unless you’re Shaquille O’Neal, you don’t have to tuck your feet under the front seats. The headroom isn’t equally generous, thanks to the high-mounted seat which gives you a good view forward. Generous shoulder and under-thigh support and a backrest reclined at just the correct angle add up to give a true limousine-like experience. We only wish the seat cushions were a bit softer.