Error parsing XSLT file: \xslt\FacebookOpenGraph.xslt Our Fleet Test Drive: Skoda Superb - Final Report
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Our Fleet Test Drive: Skoda Superb - Final Report

Date: 14 November 2011   |   Author: Tristan Young

Six months and 9138 miles on and we're handing back our long-term Skoda Superb Greenline estate.

We set out to see if one of the more capacious estate cars on the market [1] could also be one of the most fuel-efficient. And the Superb estate didn't disappoint.

We saw a high of 68mpg for one tank of fuel, which is well above the official combined figure of 64.2mpg, and the average for our 9000-plus miles was 59.0mpg. The overall figure may be a touch shy of the official (and from a personal point of view I'm annoyed with myself for not cracking 60mpg) but it still seriously impressive.

However, to get this kind of economy there is one thing you always have to do and one thing you should never do.

Firstly, you need to drive like a saint. Always. But that's not all - you also have to be particularly smooth and conservative with the throttle when the engine is cold plus always use the stop/start function. Once I'd got used to the routine of stopping, selecting neutral, and lifting my foot off the clutch, I would then be occasionally disappointed that the stop/start didn't activate, but it only works in certain parameters such as the right temperature or when the correct amount of charge is stored in the battery.

If you don't carry out these actions the result is 51.0mpg, as I found out with the worst tank of fuel.

What you should never do, is load the Superb to the gunnels and then drive across the wilder parts of Scotland [2]. Sure, the Superb did a fantastic job, but the weight in the car and the hills meant the second-lowest mpg figure for a tank of fuel at 51.9.

All this may sound like a motoring journalist claiming all the credit for excellent economy, but in reality it's the car that did most of the work, as the worst figures illustrate better than the best: not being able to get the consumption below 50mpg is all down to the Skoda Superb Greenline.

Best of all, though, was the fact you can have this ultra-efficiency without any sacrifices. We've already said how big the car is, but in Elegance trim the Superb is a luxurious place to spend your miles. Powered/heated leather seats with memory, satnav [3], 32GB music hard drive and Xenon headlights were just some of the highlights of the standard equipment.

At £24,000, I don't know why it isn't the default option for more fleets and drivers, because at its job, you won't find better for less.

Skoda Superb Greenline II Eleg.
Mileage12,225 miles
Our average consumption59.0mpg
Forecast CPM51.1p
Actual CPM50.4p



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