2026 Skoda Superb Sportline wagon review

If you’ve clicked on this review, there’s a fair chance you’re interested in, or are looking to buy, a Skoda Superb wagon.

If so, congratulations, because the number of people like you is shrinking as SUVs continue to take over the motoring world.

It’s rare for a car brand to continue to offer a wagon, let alone two – in Skoda’s case, the Octavia and Superb – and invest in the development of new-generation versions.

The Skoda Superb has carved out a niche as a large, family-sized wagon with a spacious cabin and punchy turbo engine under the bonnet that isn’t priced into unobtanium.

Here’s why the Superb is as great as ever – but not without its weaknesses.

The new Skoda Superb is currently available in a single, top-of-the-range 195TSI Sportline model grade, with a choice of body styles: a liftback-style sedan priced from $67,990 plus on-road costs, and a wagon priced from $69,690 plus on-road costs.

Those equate to $73,990 and $74,990 drive-away nationwide, respectively, with the only extra-cost options being $770 red paint – all other colours are free – and, on the wagon, a $1900 panoramic sunroof that’s not fitted to this test vehicle.

Both are powered by the same 195kW/400Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.

A plug-in hybrid Superb is due by the middle of the year – expected to offer 150kW and front-wheel drive, possibly in a wagon body style only – but, in the meantime, 'all you can eat' is the only way to have Skoda’s biggest car that’s not an SUV.

Direct rivals? Well, there really aren’t any. The Skoda Superb is the last new petrol-powered ‘large car’ – let alone wagon – on sale that doesn’t carry a prestige badge or a $100,000-plus price.

Indirect competition for the wagon on test includes the Skoda Octavia RS front-wheel drive ($64,490 drive-away) or Subaru WRX tS Sportswagon all-wheel drive ($63,290 plus on-roads), but they’re smaller cars without the Superb’s interior space and footprint.

There are also luxury cars like the Audi A5 Avant TFSI 200kW all-wheel drive ($92,900 plus on-roads) and Genesis G70 Shooting Brake rear-wheel drive ($80,265 plus on-roads), but they’re considerably more expensive.

Standard features include 19-inch alloy wheels, matrix LED headlights, 15-stage adaptive suspension, a 13-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, a 10-inch instrument display, head-up display, tri-zone climate control, and a ventilated wireless phone charger.

There are also power-adjustable front sports seats with heating, ventilation, massaging, and memory, a heated steering wheel, heated outboard rear seats, leather-look upholstery, a 12-speaker Canton stereo, and a full suite of advanced safety features, from a 360-degree camera to highway lane centring.

The new Superb is a big step up over its predecessor in cabin styling and features, but not necessarily dimensions.

It is 40mm longer nose to tail and 5mm taller than its predecessor, but the wheelbase – the distance between the front and rear wheels – is unchanged and, unusually, it’s 15mm narrower.

That means the cabin doesn’t feel quite as broad as you might expect of a car this long – be that the old Superb or something like the defunct Kia Stinger and Holden Commodore – but the benefit is a smaller feel on the road.

Width aside, rear passenger space is still cavernous. There is excellent knee room, plus ample head room and toe room, for my 186cm (6ft 1in) tall frame seated behind my driving position, though the big central tunnel means it’s not as comfy in the middle seat.

Back-seat occupants get access to outboard heated seats, a zone of climate control, two USB-C ports, flock-lined door pockets, sunblinds in the doors, bottle holders, and plenty of pockets for storing stuff, as you’d expect of a big Skoda.

Up front, the cabin is all new, with the infotainment screen moved up into a freestanding 13-inch display and more minimalist switchgear underneath.

The heated and ventilated front sports seats are excellent, with good comfort (despite firm bolstering), plenty of support in tight corners, and a broad range of power adjustment, plus extendable under-thigh cushions ideal for longer-legged drivers.

The steering wheel is a great size – not too big, not too small – and is heated around its thin, perforated rim. The buttons, while physical controls, take some trial and error to learn, and the plastic shift paddles don’t feel very expensive.

The gear selector has moved to the right-hand steering column stalk, opening up space in the centre console for two cupholders, a prominent wireless phone charging tray, two USB-C ports, and a slot for sunglasses or the key fob.

The storage compartment under the driver’s left elbow is deep – with a clip-in tray to better use the space – though the armrest doesn’t slide and tilt, like in other Skodas. Door pocket and glovebox space is also good, the former fitting Skoda’s trademark rubbish bin.

Amenities include tri-zone climate control, ambient lighting, heated, ventilated and massaging front seats, and a heated steering wheel, plus Skoda-specific touches such as an umbrella in the driver’s door, and a ticket holder on the windscreen.

Central to the cabin experience are the Smart Dials, which are three customisable rotary controllers that can alter a variety of parameters, including the audio volume, fan speed, and temperature.

They spin like regular dials, but what they control can be changed by pushing them in. The outer dials can be switched between air temperature, and seat heating/ventilation, while the centre dial can control four of the following six functions at any one time: fan speed, air direction, ‘Smart Climate’, drive mode, map zoom, and volume.

These dials are a great solution filling the ease-of-use gap left by moving vehicle functions into the touchscreen, but they can be improved: they are easy to overshoot, and you still need to look away from the road when swapping functions.

The dials are surrounded by physical buttons for auto climate, recirculating air, and defrosters, so controlling the rear heated seats is just about the only climate-related function that drivers need to use the screen for.

Less impressive is the gloss black on the centre console, which attracts fingerprints and scratches, but soft materials have been used elsewhere inside for a feeling of quality.

The boot is still massive, with a deep load area, a power tailgate that opens high, not much of a load lip, and plenty of practical touches: adjustable luggage dividers that Velcro to the boot floor, nets that clip into built-in pins, four tie-down points, and bag hooks.

The rear seats fold almost flat in a 60:40 split – plus a ski port – though they don’t recline or slide. A temporary spare wheel is standard.

New for the latest Superb is a 13-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless and wired versions of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, digital DAB radio, and voice control.

It’s quick to respond, and once you get the hang of its menus, not too difficult to navigate. A row of shortcuts pinned to the bottom of the screen helps with usability, as do the customisable controls along the top, which can be set to functions such as drive mode, auto engine stop-start, safety features, and more.

Wireless Apple CarPlay is prone to dropping out under toll gantries, but at all other times it connected easily and worked without issue.

The 10-inch instrument display offers plenty of customisation in content and layout – from dual dials to a horizontal tachometer, and a full-screen map – but it could be larger given how big the bezels around it are.

The head-up display takes much of the load off the instrument cluster, while the 12-speaker Canton premium sound system packs a punch, though it doesn’t set any new benchmarks for audio quality.

Skoda's Superb doesn’t offer a remote-connected smartphone app, nor features like SOS call or vehicle tracking.

The Skoda Superb is covered by a five-star ANCAP safety rating based on overseas Euro NCAP crash testing of the twinned Volkswagen Passat in 2024.

It earned category scores of 93 per cent for adult occupant protection, 86 per cent for child occupant protection, 82 per cent for vulnerable road user protection (pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists), and 85 per cent for safety assist technology.

There’s a broad range of advanced safety features fitted as standard to the Skoda Superb and, like most new cars from the Volkswagen Group, they work well.

Lane-keep assist does its job without being too intrusive, and the combination of adaptive cruise control and lane-centring assist is smooth.

The driver fatigue alert is not intrusive either. It typically manifests as little more than detecting the driver has been using the screen for a few seconds too long – as they wander in the lane – and briefly pauses touch inputs, rather than screaming at them with a loud shrill like many new cars.

The Superb is one of the first new Skoda models in Australia with traffic sign recognition technology. It is reasonably accurate, but as with most systems of its kind, it tends to misread signs and think the driver is speeding when they’re not.

Fortunately, that isn’t accompanied by an audible alert unless you opt into one.

Not so impressive is the resolution of the parking cameras, which is poor by 2026 standards.

Skoda covers its vehicles with a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, the longest of any European car brand in Australia.

It is accompanied by 12 months of roadside assistance, topped up for another year each time the vehicle comes in for a scheduled service at a Skoda dealer.

Those services are set at industry-standard intervals of 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first – but the high maintenance costs (unless you pay in advance) don't reset any industry benchmarks… not good ones, at least.

Three years of pay-as-you-go servicing is quoted at $2141, rising to $4155 for five years, and a whopping $5748 for seven years.

The fourth-year service is $1469 alone – more than five years of routine maintenance on a Toyota Camry (not a direct competitor, but just as context) – and the five-year cost compares to a typical $2000 to $3000 on most other new cars on the market.

Even an Audi S5 Avant – a turbo V6-powered performance wagon wearing a prestige badge – doesn’t cost that much more to service over five years at $4597.

It is highly recommended that you opt for a prepaid service pack – purchased before the first dealer visit – which costs $3000 for five years and $3700 for seven years. They are more reasonable figures for a vehicle of this performance and prestige.

Skoda claims fuel consumption in mixed driving of 7.8 litres per 100 kilometres, split across 10L/100km in urban conditions, and 6.5L/100km in extra-urban and highway driving.

In our time with the car – skewed heavily towards stop-start city driving, as well as some winding roads to explore its performance, and some time spent idling while the car was photographed – the trip computer returned a less-than-flattering 11.8L/100km.

Over a longer period of ownership, we’re certain you can do much better, especially with more highway driving, and for customers who live further away from the CBD.

We saw consumption of about 11L/100km in traffic, while highway consumption is closer to 7.5L/100km.

As with most European cars sold in Australia, the Superb requires a minimum of 95-octane premium unleaded petrol, while the 66-litre fuel tank is good for a driving range of 880km, if consuming fuel at 7.5L/100km.

The Skoda Superb is a fantastic car to drive, provided your expectations of what it’s trying to be – and what it’s not – are set correctly.

In particular, the Sportline badge on its flanks tells you this is not an out-and-out performance car built to excite, but instead more of a family car that happens to be quicker than most.

The 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine has taken a power cut for the latest Superb – from 206kW to 195kW – but torque has risen from 350Nm to 400Nm, with the fitment of a new, seven-speed dual-clutch transmission to replace the old six-speed.

Despite eating a few too many Christmas chocolates in the process – now 60kg heavier than before – the claimed zero to 100km/h time has dropped to 5.7 seconds for the wagon (down 0.3sec), which independent testing suggests is accurate.

Floor the throttle and the Superb will push you into the back of the seat, backed by a slick transmission calibration when on the move, and an effortless feel across the broad torque band (if not quite as broad as the previous model’s).

At low speeds, the dual-clutch transmission is still not fantastic, with hesitation off the mark, and in its regular ‘D’ mode, and some lag when called upon for a burst of engine power. S (Sport) mode helps, but it doesn’t solve the problem.

The steering is light and easy, yet still quite direct in its regular mode – more weight is available in Sport, though not as much as some might like – visibility is good for a low-slung car, and tyre roar aside, it’s a reasonably quiet cruiser.

New adaptive dampers with 15 stages of firmness lend the suspension a broad range of talents. In some of its softer modes, the Superb deals with bumps remarkably well, smothering small lumps in the road and gliding over speed bumps like a taller car.

At higher speeds – with suspension firmness dialled up – it remains surefooted and composed over undulations or rough tarmac, and it’s not the harsh ride the ‘Sport’ in its Sportline badge might suggest.

The compromise, however, is over big or particularly sharp bumps, into which the wheels clunk, accompanied by a thunk sound and the sense the suspension has run out of travel. It’s no deal-breaker, but is a black mark on an otherwise excellent ride.

All-wheel drive helps the Superb claw out of corners on a winding road, but we would call it competent rather than fun.

Grip from the Pirelli Cinturato tyres is good in regular driving, but not outstanding when pushed, and the quiet exhaust means drivers are quietly impressed by the Superb’s performance rather than engaged and excited – the job of a future RS version, I suppose, were Skoda to change its mind on not developing one.

The brakes are another area where changes have been made. VW Group cars in recent years have typically had quite responsive brake pedals – which can be a touch too grabby in traffic – but the new Superb has gone the other way, with a softer feel that requires a fair bit of pedal movement before the car starts to pull up in a hurry.

Whether it’s a change for the better, or for the worse, will depend on your preferences, but once the brakes start to bite, this wagon washes off speed with ease.

The turning circle has shrunk for the new model, from 11.7 to 11.1 metres, which is a big improvement in car terms.

The Skoda Superb is rated to tow up to 2200kg braked and 750kg unbraked.

However, it is held back by a maximum of 90kg of the trailer’s weight that can be placed on the towball, or just 4 per cent of 2200kg – well down on the 10 per cent recommended for safe towing.

A payload – the maximum mass of people, cargo, and accessories the car is rated to carry – of 495kg is claimed based on its 2320kg gross vehicle mass and 1825kg mass listed in the brochure (claimed to be tare weight), which is enough for five 87kg passengers, a tank of fuel, and some luggage.

The Skoda Superb is a one-of-a-kind car. If you want a large wagon that isn’t a BMW or Audi – with a six-figure price to match – this is your only remaining choice.

Fortunately, it’s a great car too. Space for passengers and cargo is generous, the cabin is well appointed and easy to interact with, it’s up to date on technology, and it’s great to drive with a punchy engine and assured handling.

It requires buyers to set their expectations of what the Superb – the Superb Sportline, to be precise – is trying to deliver.

It’s not a driver’s tool with an RS badge. Rather, it’s a brisk family wagon with luxury and space for the daily commute, and enough grip, poise and grunt to enjoy the longer way home.

That breadth of talent comes at a cost. It is not cheap to service or fuel, even once you’ve accepted the purchase price, because $74,990 drive-away is getting up there for a Skoda.

But if you’re still in the market for a car like this – and find the price reasonable – we think you’ll love the new Superb.

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner

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