Skoda Superb 2.0 TSI 220PS DSG Laurin & Klement, motoring review

It's a superb hunk of engineering but Skodas have become a touch boring

Few surprises: The new Skoda Superb

Price: £30,640
Engine capacity: 2-litre petrol
Power output (PS): 4,500 to 6,200
Top speed (mph): 152
Fuel economy (mpg): 45.6
CO2 emissions (g/km): 143

Skoda used to be "interesting". Particularly so, it must be said, when the company was extracting itself from its Communist-era inheritance of rear-engined jokemobiles (and I should know, I used to own one, which topped out at 55mph before it blew its top hoses and enveloped me in a cloud of steam). The Octavia was the outstanding product that re-established the company's venerable reputation. The Fabia helped to establish it as a smaller car choice, and as a fun "alternative", with the Roomster and Yeti. Only a marque that has regained its self-confidence would launch a new model with such a silly name.

The Superb took the Skoda brand into the "exec" car market. "Surprising Skoda" was a slogan from the bad old days of the firm, but the Superb really was that when it first appeared in 2001, with more room in the back than its Volkswagen Group cousin, the Bentley Continental Flying Spur, which cost seven times as much. "Superb" was not an ironic name, even though more seemed to be run by airport cabbies than finance directors.

Driving various examples of the new, third-generation Superb, I found all to be extremely competent, with few surprises.

My favourite was one of the two-litre petrol versions, the lower-powered 220PS model, in "Laurin & Klement" trim (named after the firm's founders). Here is a superb, if you'll pardon the expression, hunk of engineering. It has clever touches such as a boot that will open if you wave your foot under the bumper, and dimples in the cup holder that will help you to open a bottle of mineral water single-handed (it works, too). Superbs can be specified with an Audi Quattro-style 4x4 transmission and a slick direct-shift gearbox.

Yet the point, I suppose, is that Skodas have become a touch boring, really. Based on VW "modules", they're basically a VW, but with more perpendicular styling. You can spend anything from £18,000 to £34,000 on one of these big five-door hatches – more for the popular and cavernous estate which arrives later in the year – and no one should laugh at you for doing so, but they're getting a bit like Volvos now. No joke.