The Škoda Superb is a large family car and the flagship of Škoda Auto, built since 2001. It revived a name used by Škoda in the 1930s and 1940s, and each generation has been based on a platform from the wider Volkswagen Group, stretched where necessary to give the kind of rear-seat space that buyers of large cars expect.
Škoda Superb at a glance
| Maker | Škoda Auto, Kvasiny |
|---|---|
| Production | since 2001 |
| First generation | B5, Type 3U, 2001–2008 |
| Platform | Volkswagen B5 PL45+, wheelbase 10 cm longer than the Passat |
| Bodies | four-door saloon; Combi estate from 2009 |
| First engines | 2.0 and 1.8 T petrol, 2.8 V6; 1.9 and 2.5 TDI |
| First-generation built | 133,955 |
| Second generation | B6, Type 3T from 2008, with the TwinDoor boot |
| Third generation | MQB platform, from 2015 |
| Fourth generation | unveiled 2023 on a stretched MQB Evo |
History of the Škoda Superb
A bigger Passat
The first modern Superb was shown in 2001 as the Montreux concept and went on sale on 1 December 2001. It was built on the Volkswagen B5 PL45+ platform and used the chassis of the long-wheelbase Passat B5 that Shanghai-Volkswagen had developed for China, with a wheelbase 10 cm longer than the European Passat. With its longitudinal engines, it offered limousine-like rear space and one body style in three trim levels: Classic, Comfort and Elegance. Engines ran from the 2.0 petrol of 85 kW and the 1.8 turbo of 110 kW to the 2.8 V6 of 142 kW, with the 1.9 TDI of 96 and later 74 kW and the 2.5 V6 TDI of 114 kW, raised to 120 kW in 2003 with Euro 4 compliance. The cars were built in Kvasiny and assembled in Ukraine, India, Bosnia and Kazakhstan. Rear seats that folded arrived in 2004, taking the boot from 462 to 480 litres and to 945 with the backrests down, and in 2006 the car received Škoda’s new grille, headlamps, mirror-mounted repeaters and C-shaped tail lamps, with a Laurin & Klement model at the top of the range and an umbrella hidden in the rear door. The company considered an estate but dropped the idea because Volkswagen feared it would take sales from the Passat Variant. In 2002 a Tudor coupé concept based on the Superb was shown and never built.
The second generation and the TwinDoor
The second-generation Superb, Type 3T, was unveiled at Geneva in March 2008 on the A6 PQ46 platform. It switched to a transverse engine layout and introduced the TwinDoor tailgate, which could open either as a conventional boot lid or, with the rear glass, as a hatchback. A Combi estate with 633 litres of boot space followed in 2009. The range ran from a 1.4 TSI of 92 kW and a 1.8 TSI of 118 kW to the 3.6-litre VR6 of 191 kW with four-wheel drive and a six-speed DSG, which reached 250 km/h and 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds; diesels were the 1.9 TDI of 77 kW in the Greenline and 2.0 TDIs of 103 and 125 kW. A 2.0 TFSI of 147 kW joined in 2010.
Third and fourth generations
The third generation arrived in 2015 on the MQB platform, and the fourth was unveiled in 2023 on a stretched version of MQB Evo. The first generation was also sold in China as the Volkswagen Passat Lingyu from 2005, with different front and rear ends but the same body and mechanicals, facelifted in 2009 and replaced in 2011. In Britain, when the Superb went on sale in May 2002, the most expensive version cost only £1,000 more than the cheapest Jaguar X-Type.
Design and features
- Long wheelbase: the first generation used the Chinese long-wheelbase Passat chassis for extra rear room.
- TwinDoor boot: from the second generation, the tailgate opens as a boot lid or as a hatch.
- Wide engine range: from a 1.9 TDI of 77 kW to a 3.6 VR6 of 191 kW with four-wheel drive.
- Laurin & Klement: the luxury trim that tops the range, with wood, leather and an umbrella in the door.
Škoda Superb versions
- Superb 3U (2001–2008): the first generation, 133,955 built.
- Superb 3T (2008–2015): second generation with the TwinDoor tailgate.
- Superb Combi (2009): estate with 633 litres of boot space.
- Superb 3.6 FSI 4×4: 191 kW VR6 with DSG, 250 km/h.
- Superb GreenLine: 1.9 TDI of 77 kW with reduced consumption.
- Volkswagen Passat Lingyu: the Chinese version of the first generation.
The Superb is the largest model above the Škoda Octavia, and its name comes from the pre-war Škoda 860 era of large cars. More cars are in the Škoda collection.
Video: Skoda Superb (2015) – Erste Fahrt im Prototyp
Video by AUTO BILD on YouTube.
Sources
- Škoda Superb, English Wikipedia: generations, platforms, engines, TwinDoor, Passat Lingyu
- Škoda Superb, Czech Wikipedia: launch dates, trim levels, equipment, facelift, production total
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