Superb 206TSI Review

[2009fsi]

Going well, ope126.
I'm slowly getting across the differences with my previous 191V6 sedan. There are many.
First I noticed was on sitting in the vehicle. The wheel well doesn't intrude into the cabin like the 3T, so the pedals are not offset to the left & much easier, less tiring on a long drive requiring a lot of on/off driving. The brakes are very good, not as 'savage' as the old V6.

First thing I did, before leaving the dealership was to set the suspension mode to 'Individual' > set sports handling, but all else left as 'normal'. I find the 'comfort' mode reminiscent of a 1960s yank tank & 'normal' too pitchy, front to rear, on our less than smooth roads.
I find that setup gives very good handling, slightly softer than my old V6.

I'm a big bloke, so the new seats are an enormous improvement. Seat cooling actually works. You can feel the fan driven air passing through the seat. For me, the seats are much better than those in the 3T. They are wider. I no longer have the right side plastic hard on to my right hip. The visibility all around is vastly better, especially to the rear & right quarter when entering an intersection.

The car feels no bigger than the 3T on the road; I don't feel any change needed to those stupid 'traffic calming' chicanes which litter suburban streets around me. Those chicanes also confuse the car's collision avoidance, lane & traffic jam assist sensors, as do some lane marking. A funny experience while trying those out saw the car wanting to turn left instead of go straight ahead on a stretch where old & new lane marking marking were clearly visible. The steering take a few kilometres to get used to. It is lighter & lacks the direct feel of the 3T, but I've adjusted fairly quickly.My view is Traffic jam assist probably works very well on well marked major roads with heavy traffic, but you'd be brave to trust it on anything less.

With the Cruise Control, speed limiter & Adaptive CC all work well, but I find the placement of this third lever in front of the steering wheel, below the blink lever, awkwardly placed. Will need time to get used to. As with all cruise controls, sudden steep rises can catch these smaller 4cylinder engines short of torque if the car enters the rise at lower revs/longer gear. I drops out quite easily.

The 206 engine has good response on its own for suburban driving & responds fantastically if you hit the loud pedal. In making a quick right turn across three lanes of oncoming traffic the car responded beautifully on all fronts. I felt no turbo lag or hesitation in the DSG & the rear end traction excellent. The power from the 206 was such as the car turned, it easily spun the back wheels for a brief moment, before traction control responded. In my opinion this 206 turbo tsi engine responds better than the R36 V6, if you need it to go harder.

One thing I have disabled is the stop/start engine mode. It works well, but it is sometimes tardy starting & driving the DSG. Where this really shows up is if you are at a quick changing set of lights. By the time it responds, the driver behind is blowing the horn in frustration at running out of time to turn. As far as fuel consumption goes, too early to have an opinion, but the fuel gauge has hardly moved since delivery. The old V6 would be needing over half a tank by now!

I had reservations about the Pirelli P7s on the 4x4. Their small block tread pattern appeared a recipe for rear end tyre noise. NOT SO, properly inflated at about 37psi anyway. The is clearly less road & tyre noise in this car than the 3T 4x4. I talk about the 4x4, because it was always the rear end which generated mind numbing resonant noise in the cabin of the 3T 4x4, unless you had Contisport3 or Michelin PS3 on it. I've had the car on a variety of road surfaces now & there is minimal noise from road or tyres.

The car's size is only realised when I put it in my garage. It is as wide & longer than my earlier XR8 Ford. The power hatch gave me a real uppercut the first time I opened it & found the the gap between rear & garage door insufficient for me to get out of the way.

I have to mention spare parts or dealer fitted accessories. There aren't any. My dealer couldn't get the right mudflaps from Skoda. They'd sent out the old 3T jobs. I rang another Skoda dealer on Friday to enquire about the mudflats, a spare Phoenix alloy. He confirmed there is nothing yet available in Australia. So, don't run over a curb & damage one of your road wheels.

All in all, this car is a huge leap forward on the 3T. It is everything I hoped it would be. In my opinion, Skoda has responded to the shortcomings of the 3T & fixed them all. The only thing which I hate is, not having a proper spare tyre in the boot. Australia is not Europe. Our suburban & country roads are crap & if you drive in the country often, you are a lot more than 80ks from a tyre dealer stocking a 235/40-19" P7.

[woofy]

Re the spare, does the full tyre fit in the well? I know when the Mk3 Octys came out they had a full spare wheel and then later on they went. My RS has a true skinny tyre but the spare wheel toolkit clearly fits into a much bigger tyre and there appears to be proper space there. Our mk2 has a steel wheel that is closer to the actual alloys. I was going to try and get the dealer to include a proper spare but decided I would wait for a wrecker to have something suitable.

[OilBurna]

Great review thanks for posting well done


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[2009fsi]

Yes woofy, a full size spare fits.
The toy spare has after all to be the same diameter & the depth is there.

There is not a hint of rattle or squeak anywhere, by the way. I mention that as one motoring writer seemed to focus on that in one Australian review. He reckoned it was the umbrella in the door. Presumably they were the same as mine & they're a very tight fit.

The windscreen sticker declaration of fuel & emission levels is surprising. It shows the CO2 output from the engine as 169g/k. The Czech configurator site displays 199g/t for the same engine. One of them must be right!

[woofy]

Curious you have given the ACC a workout already, I only got my car last week but nowhere near the 1500km on the clock where you can start using it. It's hard to say what a geniune full size spare wheel would be as they always quote crazy pricing if you ask. I planned to get one as they were including them with the elegance but then didn't with the RS. Might be a weight saving thing.

[OilBurna]

How much is one rim from Skoda?


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[2009fsi]

Sorry woofy, you referred to ACC & I've muddled the response. It just happened, not planned. The CC/ACC lever is I find, quite difficult to access, buried as it is behind the wheel spoke, below the blinker lever. You have to feel for it. It is quite easy to bump it into ACC ON position, particularly on an uneven road. To me, it is the one bad design feature in the car. You have to take your hand off the wheel & feel for it. Not good.

I'm told they didn't provide a full size spare to reduce weight in the quest to clock under 6secs. I think $s more likely. If you want to comply with specs on size & specified offset, there is little other choice than to stump up another $700-800 in the spares department. If you look closely, VW has a slightly different offset & an 8.5" width.

I think it planned that way, Oilburna. It should be possible to get a full size steel fom one of the makers. They usually make to order, with required stud pattern & offset. You can google to find several wheel makers in Oz, What their prices are like, I don't know.

[2009fsi]

Superb 206Tsi acceleration & top speed demonstrated on a German autobahn.

Note the low number of Kms on the car. Some poor bugger will likely buy this as a demonstrator, not knowing it is a track thrashed journo fodder.

New Skoda Superb 2015 2,0 TSI 4x4 - acceleration 0-260 km/h and more dynamic tests - YouTube

British Journos seem very impressed with the 206, which is termed the 280 (hp) over there. This one fingers it a real wolf in sheep's clothing, certain to dent the egos of a few traffic light pilots in what they think makes them king of dragsters, off the line.

First drive: Skoda Superb Estate 2.0 TSI 280 4x4 DSG | Car Reviews | by Car Enthusiast

[Tigger]

Great review thanks!

I missed out on an R wagon...(and to be honest, I prefer Skoda cars!)
So this is the perfect car for me in a wagon!

Can wait for a dealer to have a car to test drive.

[OilBurna]

What is the warning light in the video the triangle down the bottom?


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