FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2018 SKODA SUPERB

Storage in the Superb is like a well designed nappy bag, there is a slot or gadget for everything!

Even the boot has a lot of different features, like little plastic dividers that you can use to create sections of boot floor to hold little things in place, like a ball or lunch box.

Along with the usual bag hooks and levers to flip the back seats down, there is a torch which you can remove or leave in place as a boot light.

Underneath the retractable cargo blind is what they call a ‘sash' that to me is a kind of hammock that you can also use for storage, especially things you want to keep safe or separate from the rest of the boot, like eggs or balls etc.

The boot floor is nice and flat and carpeted so it is perfect for an emergency nappy change. You will have to bend down to do it as it is a wagon not an SUV so the boot floor is quite low. The boot is a really big, square, uniform space that I could fit 15 shopping bags in when it's empty.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres ia not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

The Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller fitted in the boot both widthways and lengthways and I could get five shopping bags in with it.

With the Britax Flexx tandem stroller in the boot, I could get 10 shopping bags in around it.

With the Britax Flexx single stroller in the boot, I could get 10 shopping bags in around it.

The Britax Holiday compact stroller fitted in the boot with 13 shopping bags. It could also go in a footwell in the cabin to give extra boot space.

As you open the front doors of the Superb you will notice there are umbrellas stored in the ends of the doors! This is fabulous for when you have gone out unprepared for it to rain and even more perfect for Melbourne weather!! The umbrellas in my car always end up getting trampled on in the footwell so this is a great way of storing them for when they are needed but out of the way when they are not (or when they are wet).

In the cabin of the Superb, there are two cup holders in the central console but they are small, and suited to hold a 600ml bottle, Pigeon baby bottle or disposable coffee cup.

In front of the gear lever is a small well, with a cover, that is rubber lined and has 12V, USB and AUX sockets inside. I found this was a good spot for my phone as I could charge it there.

The central console storage box lid doubles as the driver's armrest and inside is dial enabling you to chill the box, turning it into a little Esky! I really like this, I think it's a great BabyDrive feature. You can pop your snacks and drinks in there on a hot day which is great!

There is also a flap in the floor of the console box, which if you lift up has a groove you can slot an iPad into and store it out of sight!

There is another storage drawer by your right knee and it's lined so things in there wouldn't rattle, there are also some slots for fuel or car park cards etc.

In the front door bin is a little clip on rubbish bin which is a fantastic BabyDrive feature as I am always getting passed my daughters banana skin or apple core with no where to put it!!

The front door pockets are big enough for my large refillable water bottle and wallet too.

The glovebox in the Superb is not enormous; my wallet and iPad only just fit. The glovebox can be used as an Esky too, as it has the same dial to chill it.

There is a large glasses case in the ceiling but it is not lined. There are lit vanity mirrors in both front visors too.

For the rear passengers, there is my favourite BabyDrive feature; built-in window shades! I LOVE them!! So many times with my stick-on ones I have looked around and seen my daughter is in the sun because one of the suckers has come unstuck! Or they disappear into the footwells never to be seen again! With the built-in blind,s you just pop them up and forget about it!

The rear door pockets would hold a large refillable water bottle and wallet.

There is a fold down armrest in the central seat back with cup holders in it, but like the front ones they are very small, and they have a lid on them that doesn't open up fully so restricted what I could put in there even more. A disposable coffee cup would fit but the lid might might compress it!

There is also a handle in the panel behind the armrest that you can use to open a hatch to access the boot!

There are map pockets in the back of both front seats, which are solid but very small.

In the back of the central console box is a small drawer with a 12V socket inside.

You can turn the parking sensors on and off using a button on the left of the gear lever. You cannot however mute the sensor beep and just keep the visuals.

The rear camera visuals have a clear and crisp image and you can view the car from different angles by selecting the different options on the touchscreen. There is park pilot, so you have a bird's-eye view and I find this helpful with parking within white lines.

The touch screen is minimal until it senses your hand come near and then menus appear.

The indicator noise is nice and quiet in the Superb and I don't think it would disturb sleeping passengers.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

The sat-nav announcement volume can be adjusted or turned right off by going into the settings from the sat-nav screen. You also have the directions display in the digital screen in front of the steering wheel, which is useful while you're driving.

The windows in the Superb have a bit of a clunk as they open and the mechanism is quite loud. The doors open and close nice and quietly though.

I was able to come to a stop, take my seatbelt off and get out of the Superb without any alarms sounding which was fabulous!

Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!
SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)

There is a button to deactivate the auto engine cut out off, positioned by the gear lever.

I find this function really disturbing for sleeping babies, you have just got your baby to sleep in the car and you stop at lights and the engine turns off sometimes they will stay asleep but when the engine shudders to a start again it shakes baby awake and all your efforts are ruined!! Even coming to a stop at lights with the engine running can be enough to wake a sleeping child so turning the engine off and on again will definitely do it! I have driven routes I know have roundabouts rather than lights just to avoid coming to a stop for any length of time!!

I found the cruise control in the Skoda Superb really difficult to use, the controls are positioned on a stalk rather than the steering wheel and I just found it confusing to work out the functions.

Otherwise, the Superb was an easy car to drive that you really don't need to think about which is good. A lot of work has gone into the design, with all the practical functionality like the bins, umbrellas, iPad storage etc. However, there is something plasticky about it too. Sooo practical but they forgot to add soul maybe?!

There is a seatbelt warning alarm in the Superb and it is quite minimal, it sounds a few calm beeps and then it turns off and will repeat them a few minutes later. I quite liked this calmer approach as I sometimes find the shrill beeps and alarms startle me while driving!

Installing child seats into the Skoda Superb was nice and simple. There are ISO Fix in each of the outer seats, they are within plastic guides and were really easy to connect to.

There are top tether points in the two outer seat backs. These were really difficult to reach as the boot is so long so I found bringing the seat backs forward was the best method of connecting them.

The central seat has a top tether point too, positioned just behind the headrest. This one is concealed behind the cargo blind and it is not obviously a top tether point at all! Connecting to this one I found really difficult as the headrest only raises about 2cm, so getting the top tether through that gap is really difficult and I found it even harder to undo! This also makes adjusting the top tether straps difficult as for many child seats the top tether adjustment sits where the headrest is, making it hard to get your fingers in to adjust it.

There is soooo much legroom in the Superb! I installed the Britax Graphene rear-facing child seat in the outer rear seat and this allowed the front passenger to have 30cm of knee room! That is a record amount!!!

The seats are quite sculpted in the back, so I only managed to fit two child seats in; the Britax Graphene (rear facing) and the Britax Unity infant capsule (rear facing).

Sitting in the central seat is not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be as the backrest isn't too hard and there is plenty of legroom.

The front seats feel nice and soft to sit in and the seat base was not too long for me at 162cm.

I found I could wear a ponytail with the shape of the headrests!!

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get it just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.

The aircon controls are centrally located on the dash, are easy to use and I found the air flow effective to cool the cab. There four air vents on the dash; two in the centre and one at either end.

In the back of the central console storage box are two more vents for rear passengers. I really like the position of these vents as while I am driving I can reach to adjust them for little rear passengers' comfort.

Visibility in the Superb is very good for a long car; the big side windows go back a long way making it okay to see out when reversing and the camera really helps with parking as I find the wing mirrors are very small.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread when we get the big cars and utes as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Superb was easy for a big car and enjoyable to drive!

A rear-facing baby would get a good view out of the side windows and for forward facing children the big windows allow a great view and let a lot of light in, even though they are tinted.

There are lit vanity mirrors in both front visors and there is a rear light button in the front light control panel, which is a great BabyDrive feature for allowing you to control the rear lights.

I have found Tulsi does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.
Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINATELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a 5minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!
It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

There are handles above both back doors that will hold a child's toy, but they are positioned a little too far forward so the toy doesn't hang in the right position for rear facing child seats.

The doors and surfaces in the Superb are good for wiping clean, being all plastic but the seats are suede, which is one of the worst for food and drinks to get smudged into!

On the back of the headrests in the model I tested are holders for iPads and portable devices, which are great if your children like watching in the car!!

The tailgate is powered and there is keyless entry.

The Skoda Superb scored a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2016, with an adult occupancy protection score of 96%, and rating of 32.7 out of 38 points.

It scored 7.54 out of 8 for the frontal offset test, and 8/8 for the side impact test and 7.92/8 for the pole test.

For child occupant protection the Skoda Superb scored 86% (42.2 out of 49.)

The crash test performance for a three-year-old scored 11.22 and the crash test performance for an 18-month-old scored 12.00 when tested for the European market.

For child safety features and child seat installation the Skoda Superb scored 7 points for safety features and 12 points for installation check.

For pedestrian protection, the Skoda Superb was scored 71% (25.7 out of 42) and for safety assist it was scored 76% (9.9 out of 12).

The Skoda Superb has nine airbags as standard, dual frontal and side airbags in the front, drivers knee airbag and curtain airbags for the front and rear side passengers and rear side airbags.

The Skoda Superb comes with electronic stability control (ESC) and hill hold control, front assist with city emergency brake, anti-lock braking system (ABS), anti-slip regulation (ASR), extended electronic differential lock (XDL), multi-collision brake, rear view camera, emergency fuel supply cut-off, automatic flashing brake lights in an emergency, electronic engine immobiliser, tyre pressure monitoring system, passenger protect assist, fatigue detection, rear for lights, light assist, rain sensor, LED daytime running lights and activation of warning lights on impact all as standard.

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and the parking sensor beeping sound.

I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!