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Car and Driver
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
Hardcore Vette: 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Tested
The Road Test: The Last Word on How a New Car Drives, Feels, and Performs While there are many parts to Car and Driver, a foundational element is the road test. The ultimate expression of our product expertise and knowledge, the road test blends subjective opinion garnered from our experience with objective numbers generated by our instrumented testing. While we may not have invented the road-test format, we have spent just shy of seven decades perfecting the formula. Early tests included acceleration, top speed, and fuel economy. Our testing parameters have since expanded to include stopping distance, skidpad grip, passing times, sound-level measurements, and several we created, such as the 5-to-60-mph test. We challenge our vehicular subjects by highlighting their performance on some of our favorite roads throughout the world or testing their off-tarmac capability on chassis-chattering trails and dunes. It's all to inform you just how well a vehicle performs—and do so in a story that is as interesting and exciting as the vehicles and the places themselves. If you're the guardian angel type, you'll want to make sure yours blocks out time in their schedule before you settle into the new Corvette ZR1. You also might want to issue them earplugs because there will be decidedly blasphemous outbursts when the mighty LT7 engine conjures its full output. It would be unprofessional to admit that the ZR1's specs are terrifying. But 1064 horsepower and 828 pound-feet of torque are certainly intimidating. Greg Pajo | Car and Driver The $8495 Carbon Fiber Aero package's wings, dive planes, and splitter help the ZR1 make more than 1200 pounds of downforce, but the package reduces the claimed top speed from 233 to 225 mph. Twenty years ago, the Bugatti Veyron inaugurated the four-digit club and charged more than a million bucks for admission. Generating the Bug's 1001 horsepower took 16 cylinders, 8.0 liters, and four turbos; putting it to the ground required all-wheel drive and custom-made tires that cost $25,000 a set. The ZR1 has a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V-8 and routes its torque solely to the rear axle. The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2Rs on the car we tested aren't cheap, but the replacement cost basically amounts to the sales tax on the Veyron's rubber. Here is a comprehensive list of more powerful regular-production cars that are rear-wheel drive: The list of quicker rear-drive cars is also nonexistent. The ZR1 blitzes to 60 mph in 2.2 seconds, to 100 mph in 4.5, and through the quarter-mile in 9.5 at 149 mph. Within this magazine's history was an era in which numbers like these were the exclusive domain of slingshot dragsters with the life expectancy of a hand grenade—and a similar kill radius. But here they are, generated by a regular-production Chevrolet covered by a five-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty. Greg Pajo | Car and Driver The force of the exhaust out the back creates 37 pounds of thrust, or as much as a large model-rocket engine. Set up properly, the ZR1 launches with shockingly little wheelspin for something with such monumental output and only two driven wheels—though the rear tires are 13.6 inches wide and are very nearly slicks. Chevy sent us instructions on how to set up launch control for optimal acceleration. Step one: Perform hellacious burnout to clean the tires and bring them up to temperature. (Skip this step and the ZR1 will light up its tires and swing sideways if you floor it even at 70 mph on the freeway. This is not recommended unless you are hopelessly constipated.) Step two: Use the thumbwheel on the right steering-wheel spoke to experiment with different launch rpm and tire-slip allowances. Step three: You brushed up on what muscles fighter pilots flex to prevent blackouts during high-g maneuvers, right? Because the ZR1 sustains more than 1.00 g of acceleration until 85 mph. HIGHS: Can break any speed limit in the country in under 3.8 seconds, is less eager to humiliate you than you might think. With launch control engaged, the engine revs to your chosen rpm like any other supercar but then stutters as Chevy's antilag system steps in to allow the turbos to build a few pounds of boost. When you lift off the brake, the ZR1 hooks up hard enough to elicit an unintentional grunt, and your face gets all tingly as the blood rushes to the back of your head. (In the time it took you to read that sentence, the ZR1 has already hit 130 mph.) You might feel tempted to touch the back of your skull to see if you've developed a wind fairing, but it's best to keep both hands on the wheel since you're now doing about 170 mph. The eight-speed dual-clutch automatic shifts so quickly that you only notice it working at all because the yowling flat-plane-crank V-8 and whooshing turbo chargers drop in pitch—but only momentarily. (Oops, you're going 200 mph. This is frowned upon in most jurisdictions.) Not that anyone is recommending you try, but Chevrolet says the ZR1 will accelerate from 80 to 200 mph and brake back down to 80 in just 24.5 seconds. Based on our testing, it should need only about a mile and a quarter to do so. But you should not do so. Greg Pajo | Car and Driver The Great Eight The ZR1's megapowerful Gemini V-8 democratizes four-digit horsepower. Born from the same clean-sheet, dual-overhead-cam 5.5-liter engine architecture as the Z06's LT6 screamer, the ZR1 adds nearly 400 horses by way of two single-scroll turbochargers. Each makes up to 26.1 psi of boost, and they are integrated into the exhaust manifolds to quicken responsiveness. Changes to the cylinder heads and pistons create a larger combustion volume and lower the compression ratio to 9.8:1 from the Z06's 12.5:1, and the LT7 adds a seventh scavenge pump to the dry-sump oiling system. While the flat-plane crank remains, the ZR1's redline drops to 8000 rpm from the Z06's 8500 rpm. To handle the incredible thirst for fuel, the ZR1 adds port injection in addition to the direct fueling inherited from the LT6. Its 16 injectors can drain the ZR1's 18.5- gallon tank in just over nine minutes when the LT7 is running at full honk. Forced induction eliminates the need for the LT6's torque-boosting variable crossover intake. The ZR1's separate-breathing banks create so much twist—over 800 pound-feet from 3000 to 6500 rpm—that the bolt pattern of the rear hubs expands by 30 millimeters to cope with it. Wow. —Dave VanderWerp The car we tested had a carbon-fiber surfboard bolted to its tail, which, together with the other Carbon Fiber Aero package components, generates over 1200 pounds of downforce at top speed but is already slowing the car by a few mph in the quarter-mile, according to Chevy's engineers. You won't miss those mph. It's not until it shifts into fifth around 130 mph that the ZR1 at wide-open throttle stays in a gear longer than three seconds. The scenery blurs relentlessly faster—but focus, because you should probably get on the brakes soon. They are deliciously meaty. Like the tires, they need to build up some heat before they'll do their best work. Pedal pressure, more so than travel, determines how hard the six-piston front and four-piston rear binders grab, but under a hearty stomp, they haul the ZR1 to a stop from 70 mph in a mere 140 feet. Greg Pajo | Car and Driver Greg Pajo | Car and Driver The ZR1's braking and 1.13-g skidpad figures are in a close dance with the Corvette Z06's performance, as expected. Usually, when an automaker introduces a new model with almost 400 horsepower more than an existing one, it tends to be, you know, a whole new car. The ZR1 is more than just a Z06 with a pair of 76-mm turbos, but not much more. The LT7 V-8 shares its naturally aspirated sibling's block but features unique heads and cams, a different (but still flat-plane) crankshaft, and port fuel injection in addition to the LT6's direct injection—the higher flow volume being necessary to generate that immense power. (In a day of track lapping, we achieved 4 mpg. With a full tank, the car projected only 84 miles until empty.) Redline falls from 8500 to 8000 rpm, as the turbos provide so much oomph that there's no need to spin the crank any faster. The eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission gets beefed up with sturdier input and output shafts and wider gears. Greg Pajo | Car and Driver The ZR1's Gurney flap creates a pressure variation that helps suck air through the radiator in the flow-through hood. Outside the engine room, the differences between the Corvette Z cars are even fewer and mostly concerned with guiding air where it is needed. The frunk is gone, replaced by an intercooler under a vented hood that also increases front downforce. The trailing edges of the Z06's signature wishbone side air intakes are repurposed into ducts that cool the rear brakes. And carbon-fiber epaulets sprout from the ZR1's shoulders, feeding cold intake air to the engine. A carbon-fiber roof and carbon-ceramic brakes are also standard on the ZR1. A new manufacturing process incorporating longer fibers keeps the 15.7-inch front and 15.4-inch rear rotors cooler on the track and improves longevity compared with regular carbon-ceramics. They're similar to the brake rotors McLaren charges $15,523 for on the 750S. Greg Pajo | Car and Driver Like the 1989 ZR1, the 2025 will get a one-year interior. Next year, all Corvettes get larger screens and lose the great wall of HVAC controls. The car we tested is as close to a no-frills performance spec as the ZR1 can get. In the base 1LZ trim, it forgoes the 3LZ's nappa leather upholstery, heated and ventilated seats, and 14-speaker Bose Performance Series sound system, but ours boasted the $13,995 carbon-fiber wheels that cut unsprung weight by a claimed 42.8 pounds. The ZTK Track Performance package includes stiffer springs and the ultrasticky Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires, which have little more than a couple of circumferential grooves to make them street legal. Technically, ZTK only costs $1500, but it's not available unless you've already spec'd the $8495 Carbon Fiber Aero pack, which includes the mondo rear wing, a tall Gurney flap on the leading edge of the hood vent, and dive planes. Throw in a few odds and ends, and our ZR1 landed at $205,265. Greg Pajo | Car and Driver Greg Pajo | Car and Driver Sports cars with more than 400 or so horsepower need a track to be fully appreciated. Cars with 1000 horsepower? Those need a special subset of tracks, the longer the better. We had GingerMan Raceway in South Haven, Michigan. Its 2.1 miles with 11 turns make good use of the region's few variations in terrain, but nowhere do they allow for more than eight or nine seconds of wide-open throttle. The longest straightaway tests the ZR1 driver's resolve with a little kink that coincides with a slight rise that the Corvette crests at upwards of 100 mph. It's odd to be leery of full throttle even above 100 mph, but the ZR1 is still pulling so hard at that speed that it accelerates from 100 to 160 in about the same time as it took an early C4 Corvette to reach 60 mph. LOWS: Uncorking it anywhere other than a racetrack is a seriously bad idea. Prudence is supplied wholly by the driver, and they have already shown an aversion to it by choosing a car that will go from zero to 150 mph in less than 10 seconds. But it dictates a few cautious warm-up laps. Even driving seven-tenths or so for some scouting, the ZR1 is so fast that we're halfway through our third lap before we realize we're not even pushing the car yet. How much more speed is there in that bottom bit of pedal travel? Greg Pajo | Car and Driver Great googly moogly. Just as Chevrolet recommends a burnout to bring the Pilot Sport Cup 2Rs up to temp for the quickest acceleration, you'll need a couple of laps to get them warm enough for maximum grip on track. But with some heat in them, the tires have tremendous stick. And if you're expecting a 1064-hp twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter to be laggy, you're wrong. The wastegates close when you jump off the throttle, keeping the turbos spooled for immediate response when you get back on the accelerator. Corner after corner, we gave it more gas earlier and earlier, each time bracing for disaster. Mostly, all that happened is we lapped faster. The ZR1 will accept heavy throttle inputs far earlier than your sense of self-preservation is comfortable with. Just keep in mind that idiot-proof and 1064 horsepower are mutually exclusive concepts. Roll in easy, and you'll probably survive. Chevy already offers Corvette buyers a substantial discount on a two-day performance driving school; it wouldn't be a bad idea to make the program mandatory before owners can take delivery of their ZR1. Greg Pajo | Car and Driver Greg Pajo | Car and Driver On the road, the ZTK suspension feels only marginally more aggressive than other Corvettes'. Its springs are stiffer, but the magnetorheological dampers remain and allow the car to relax somewhat. In its heaviest setting, the steering is wonderfully weighty and direct, although with the alignment optimized for track use, it's so heavy that crossing the dotted line turns lane changes into brief arm-wrestling matches. There's also little notice through the wheel that you've exceeded the front tires' grip. It's up to your eyes and butt to notice the car is no longer responding to steering inputs. The ZR1's greatest drawback is outward visibility. Anywhere but forward, the view is atrocious. Blind-spot monitors are not even available on the base 1LZ trim level; buyers wanting them have to throw down another $11,000 for the 3LZ. And while the C8 ZR1 marks the return of the fabled split rear window to the Corvette's greenhouse, it's a perfect reminder of why such a memorable styling element got dumped in the first place. The central spine is louvered to improve visibility, but that means there are two central spines with louvers between them. The glass flanking this carbon-fiber ribcage is tinted but does not reach all the way to the bottom of the louvers (allowing hot air to escape the engine bay). Glance at the rearview mirror, and you're peeping through a kaleidoscope of shapes and opacities with all the clarity of a dirty, beveled-glass mail slot. There is a rearview camera, but on cars with the Carbon Fiber Aero package, that just gives the driver a good look at the rear wing and the pavement for maybe 20 feet behind the car. Greg Pajo | Car and Driver The Tech: Code Brakers To get the ZR1 to its 233-mph top speed, Corvette engineers had to play a few tricks. Even with 1064 horsepower to work with, the ZR1 team had to overcome a couple of hurdles to reach their top-speed goal. The first problem was that the engine would engage its rev limiter as it crept closer to redline in sixth gear, making 230 mph impossible. The powertrain team had to allow an extra 100 rpm, or about 3 or 4 mph of bandwidth, in sixth gear only. The extra revs are unlocked exclusively in Top Speed mode, which also has a workaround for the flip side of reaching top speed: safely stopping. In the ZR1, the Bosch-based PTM software that manages stability control and ABS is limited by its code to 223 mph (99.9 m/s). Going faster means doing without electronic aids. Top Speed mode lacks stability control, but Chevy engineers spent a year developing and adding a second ABS for speeds above 223 mph. Global vehicle performance manager Aaron Link tested the ABS calibration from 233 mph. Drivers who've gone 200 are in a small club; those who've done a panic stop from that speed are in an even smaller one. Link reported good stability and that it takes 1500 feet to stop, give or take a skid mark. He did it twice. —K.C. Colwell And while the ZR1's various drive modes and Performance Traction Management (PTM) settings are absolutely essential to making the car approachable and keeping its driver alive, navigating them is needlessly complex. Accessing launch control requires twisting the drive-mode knob to Track, double-pressing the stability-control button—but not too quickly (seriously)—to activate PTM, then scrolling through menus with the thumbwheel on the right steering-wheel spoke. Don't forget to rub your head while patting your belly and reciting Ulysses backward. Then smash the brake pedal, stomp on the gas, and go. Other supercars require a lot less planning. Greg Pajo | Car and Driver Greg Pajo | Car and Driver The ZR1's competition might be easier to use, but few cars are faster. Chevy has already collected a stack of records from lapping tracks around the country in the ZR1, including Virginia International Raceway, home of our annual Lightning Lap competition. There, the record it broke had been held since 2019 by our own executive editor, K.C. Colwell, in a $982,816 McLaren Senna. VERDICT: Even at $205,000, the Corvette remains an unparalleled performance bargain. One could argue that the last-generation ZR1's greatest achievement was proving to Corvette loyalists—and GM brass—the necessity of the transition to a mid-engine layout. Even with 105 more horsepower than a C7 Z06, the C7 ZR1 was only marginally faster. This ZR1 validates the decision to go mid-engine and opens a comfortable gap over its naturally aspirated sibling by ably applying stratospheric power to the ground. And in the proud Corvette tradition, its performance embarrasses cars that cost many times as much—only now, that truism targets the sort of car other manufacturers make you apply to purchase. It has never been more apt to call the Corvette a world-beater. Greg Pajo | Car and Driver The ZR1 marks a return of the split-window Corvette. Counterpoints I didn't think I could feel more powerful than I do when I skip an advertisement on YouTube, but that was before I drove the ZR1. I am the Greek god Apollo. My winged plastic chariot has 1064 horsepower and needs to go 150 mph. I am giddy. I am . . . wait, is that Ford Explorer a state trooper? No, I see roof rails. Good to go. Accelerator, meet floor. The ZR1 flies by a Subaru Outback so quickly that I'm pretty sure I can speak Greek now. Opa! Opa! I try launch control. Even with each rear tire facing 532 horsepower, the Vette hits 30 mph as quickly as a Porsche 911 Turbo S. As the god of music, I must say that the V-8 sounds better outside than inside. Before the Corvette faithful ask, no, I have not grown donkey ears. —Tony Quiroga On public roads, with cold tires, the ZR1 is diabolical. Note to future leavers of Cars & Coffee events: The boosted V-8 overpowers the rear rubber so forcefully and instantaneously that stability control is the only thing keeping you out of the trees. But within the relative safety of GingerMan Raceway, I decided to face the beast fully unleashed, switching off its excellent driver aids. Much to my astonishment, not only can the Cup 2R tires, once warm, take way more power than expected, but even when you overcook their high limits, they let go gracefully. Surpassing lofty milestones of 1000 horsepower and 230 mph is certainly impressive, but even more so, this insanely fast Corvette is (relatively) tractable. It's a freak on the street but a road-course savant. —Dave VanderWerp The engine gets the headlines for good reason, but this car's chassis is just as intoxicating. It's a bit softer than the Z06—and better for it—while still clearly on the firm side of what a Lexus ES owner thinks is perfect. Back-road impacts in the ZR1 are rounded off just enough to brew a piping-hot carafe of driver confidence. Drink up. Embrace the warmth. The heavy steering leaves nothing open to interpretation. Suddenly I'm way too comfortable driving way too fast on way too narrow roads in a machine making way too much noise. And sorry to the Z06 owner who tried to flag me down and talk shop. I was late for dinner because I had spent too much time on good roads. I'm addicted. —K.C. Colwell Greg Pajo | Car and Driver Specifications Specifications 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Vehicle Type: mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door targa PRICE Base/As Tested: $178,195/$205,265 Options: carbon-fiber wheels, $13,995; ZR1 Carbon Fiber Aero package, $8495; ZTK Performance package, $1500; Competition sport bucket seats, $995; body-colored split-window trim, $995; microsuede-wrapped steering wheel, $695; black exhaust tips, $395 ENGINE twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port and direct fuel injection Displacement: 333 in3, 5463 cm3 Power: 1064 hp @ 7000 rpm Torque: 828 lb-ft @ 6000 rpm TRANSMISSION 8-speed dual-clutch automatic CHASSIS Suspension, F/R: control arms/control arms Brakes, F/R: 15.7-in vented, cross-drilled, carbon-ceramic disc/15.4-in vented, cross-drilled, carbon-ceramic disc Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R ZP F: 275/30ZR-20 (97Y) TPC R: 345/25ZR-21 (104Y) TPC DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 107.2 in Length: 185.9 in Width: 79.7 in Height: 48.6 in Passenger Volume: 51 ft3 Trunk Volume: 9 ft3 Curb Weight: 3831 lb C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 2.2 sec 100 mph: 4.5 sec 130 mph: 7.1 sec 1/4-Mile: 9.5 sec @ 149 mph 150 mph: 9.7 sec Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.2 sec. Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 3.0 sec Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 1.8 sec Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 2.0 sec Top Speed (mfr claim): 225 mph Braking, 70–0 mph: 140 ft Braking, 100–0 mph: 273 ft Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 1.13 g C/D FUEL ECONOMY Observed, Track/Street: 4/13 mpg EPA FUEL ECONOMY Combined/City/Highway: 14/12/18 mpg C/D TESTING EXPLAINED Reviewed by Jared Gall Contributing Editor Jared Gall started his career with Car and Driver as an unpaid intern, but has now worked here more than half of his life. He has held numerous positions within C/D's digital and print teams and has driven some 2500 cars. Employee records indicate that he is the only staffer ever to T-bone a school bus with another school bus.
Auto Car
14-06-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Car
Superb? More like legendary. Our 12,000-mile test of Skoda's biggest estate
Close Of the handful of five-star road test verdicts awarded by Autocar in recent years, none surprised me as much as that for the latest Skoda Superb Estate. The thing is, I'm not really sure why. Of course, our testers evaluate cars on a fitness-for-purpose basis, on which this big wagon has always scored highly, offering tremendous value for money, pleasant enough driving, reasonable comfort and more luggage space than your local Big Yellow Self Storage facility, but a big, diesel-engined Skoda estate still seemed like an unlikely entry into the rarefied air of 'brilliant, unsurpassed; all but flawless'. Well, I suppose the brilliance of a car such as the Superb Estate only really shines through when you use it every day for everything life and work might throw at you – and so that's exactly what I'm going to be doing for the next few months. This Superb is classed as a new model generation (the fourth), although its underpinnings – the Volkswagen Group MQB platform – and powertrains remain familiar. The key point is that it was developed alongside the new VW Passat but with Skoda rather than Volkswagen taking the development lead, which explains why the few compromises that previously affected the Superb have been overcome this time around. Speccing our car was easy: I'll have it in the exact five-star form from the road test, please. Estate body, 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel engine and mid-range SE L trim. The only real variety comes from the options list: Graphite Grey metallic paint rather than Ice Tea Yellow, an 18in spacesaver spare wheel (because potholes) and an electric towbar, just in case I suddenly get bored of writing and decide to open a burger van. As such, this car costs £41,675. Skoda is definitively no longer a budget brand, but given the Superb's size, that still represents tremendous value for money to me. Being absolutely honest, had I been speccing a Superb for myself, I would have been reluctant to select the diesel. But while diesels are in seemingly inexorable decline, they remain a terrific option for a certain use case. Which perhaps explains why there seems to be something of a mini-renaissance of firms offering diesels, particularly within the Volkswagen Group. There's even a mini-renaissance of diesels on our fleet: magazine editor Rachel Burgess recently took delivery of an Audi A3 Sportback (Autocar, 31 December 2024) powered by the same 148bhp engine as this Superb. The two are similarly priced, too: it will be interesting to see if the Audi hatchback's premium sheen or the Skoda estate's practicality wins out. In terms of ensuring the Superb gets seen in an ideal light, I have several long journeys lined up and a conga line of colleagues with large items to move forming behind me. And that should be a treat: during road testing, the Superb managed 765 miles on a single tank of fuel, the sort of number that's incomprehensible to someone who has been running electric cars in recent years. This is actually a car for that person who claims they can't buy an EV just in case they need to drive from Inverness to Truro without stopping. When said apocryphal driver does reach Truro, they will also be able to buy all the Cornish pasties. This estate's boot capacity is a whopping 690 litres even before you fold down the rear seats, and the boxy shape makes it really practical to use. How big is 690 litres in reality? Let me give you an example. The Superb arrived with me shortly before Christmas, so one of my first journeys in it was to visit family in the West Country for the holidays (yes, there was some Chris Rea...). When I loaded up the car for the trip, my bags of presents didn't even fill half the boot. What I had thought was a festive bounty suddenly made me feel like Scrooge McDuck. At least I was a comfortable miser: on initial acquaintance, the interior of the Superb is glorious. It being a traditional estate, the driving position is nice and low, and while the infotainment touchscreen is big (13in) it's well placed and nicely complemented by physical switchgear. In particular, I m a big fan of the multitunctional Smart Dials, which control various infotainment and heating controls. Undoubtedly, the Superb is a large, long car. When parked, the rear of the boot probably sits in a separate postcode from the bonnet. But it's still relatively narrow and is proving surprisingly easy to navigate. I can even fit it snugly into the ridiculously small parking spaces outside my 1960s house. My initial impressions are good, then, but that isn't really a surprise: this is a five-star car, after all. Hopefully I won't find any hidden gremlins in the coming months that will give me pause to reconsider that verdict. Update 2 Our diesel-engined Skoda Superb Estate has done a good job convincing me that I'm well suited to driving electric cars. Counterintuitive as this sounds, I mean that as a compliment. While diesels are not exactly in vogue, they still have a real use case in the right circumstances. I've had to make a number of long trips away from my south-west London home in recent weeks, and it's notable how much the fuel economy improves once the engine has warmed up and I escape the capital's congested roads. On an A-road or motorway, the Superb is so pleasurable to drive, relaxed and effortless. And over a long trip, that fuel economy will just keep on getting better. I'm averaging 52.5mpg so far, but at a relaxed cruise I've regularly seen well over 65mpg on the gauge. Combine that with a massive fuel tank and the real-world range is easily eclipsing 760 miles without any real effort. It means I've been making several three-plus-hour trips covering several hundred miles in a car that has absolutely no need to stop. Which is a big adjustment from running a number of EVs recently, wherein such trips tend to require at least one quick charging stop for confidence. A refreshing change, then? Well, the catch is that I often still need to stop, even if the Superb doesn't. It might be for the toilet, because I'm thirsty, or I need to stretch my legs, or I've just remembered yet another bit of overdue copy I need to file. So I find myself sheepishly stopping while the Superb quietly gives off 'we've only done 200 miles; I was just getting warmed up' vibes. It's a bit humiliating to realise that I'm now the weak link. Oddly, I've also become as obsessed with range as I would in an EV. Clearly, with the ability to do 760 miles, I don't need to maximise the Superb's efficiency. But I've taken my quest to squeeze the most out of a battery and applied it to this diesel. I'm using all those EV ef ciency tips to eke out every drop of fuel. As I write, I'm 510 miles into a tank, and the indicated range suggests I've got 305 miles left. Is a ridiculous 800 miles from a single tank on? Let's find out. Update 3 I'm running a Skoda on the Autocar fleet, and that apparently means I'm contractually obliged to discuss its Simply Clever features. You know what I'm on about: those not-so-secret features designed to make life easier. Umbrellas in doors, ice scraper in the fuel cap, parking ticket clip on the windscreen etc. The ice scraper has helped me on a cold morning, I've clipped things to the windscreen and the umbrellas have saved me from getting wet. Although my most notable discovery is that the new Volkswagen Passat is so closely related to the Superb (development of the two was led by Skoda) that it also gets them. Is that a first for a Volkswagen? I think it might be. In summary, then: Simply Clever features are present and correct here and as simple and clever as ever. But most Skoda fans probably know that already. So that's mostly all I have to say about them. Besides, it's other elements of the Superb that I've come to marvel at for simplicity and cleverness. So let's talk Skoda's Smart Dials. Yes, strap yourself in for a thriller. These three dials are at the bottom of the dashboard, and each controls a range of heating, comfort and infotainment features. They're cleverly multifunctional: pressing a dial changes what it controls. The dials on the le and right cycle through controls for the cabin temperature and the seat heating and cooling for their respective sides of the car (if you hold down the driver-side dial when on the heating mode, it syncs the vent temperatures). The central dial can be programmed for up to four functions, including the direction of the air vents, infotainment volume, driving modes and map zoom. Each dial contains a little digital display showing you what operation is selected at that moment. And, frankly, they're brilliant. They're clear, easy to find when you're driving and pleasingly tactile: they've got a nice feel and click neatly when you turn them. Best of all, in an era when physical controls are under threat as more and more functions are operated via touchscreens, the Smart Dials feel like a really neat solution. One reason car designers have cited for putting controls on touchscreens is that modern cars now have hundreds more functions than they used to, and if each of those functions had a physical control, they would end up with a dashboard so full of buttons and dials that it would look like a plane cockpit. Frankly, I would be all for that, but I can understand the argument against. Then again, that argument is rendered somewhat moot by the use of physical multifunction controls. Here are physical controls that combine to control up to 10 separate functions in a way that's really easy and intuitive. There's no second guessing about which sub-menu you need and none of the uncertainty that comes from not knowing if you've actually pressed the right bit of the screen. The Smart Dials are a usability delight, and truly simply clever. Sadly for me, this could be the last time for a while I get to wax lyrical about such features, because I'm about to wave goodbye to the Superb. It's not actually leaving the Autocar fleet yet, but since we're running it because our road testers bestowed an ultra-rare five-star verdict upon it, they've insisted that they should be treated to the keys for a few months. Given the mileages they rack up, frankly they will get more use out of the Superb's amazing long-haul capabilities than I will, so I've very reluctantly agreed to hand the car over. And I will be intrigued to see what more they learn about it. One con dent prediction, though: they will love the Smart Dials. Update 4 We don't give five-star road test verdicts often at Autocar. Indeed, 2024 qualified as an unusually fertile year with just three – for the Porsche 911 S/T, Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI Estate. As the road tester who wrote the Superb verdict, I was looking forward to spending more time with the big Skoda. At the same time, there was a bit of uncertainty nagging at me: it's just a collection of Volkswagen MQB bits, so is it really that good? Happily, any doubt melted away as soon as I picked up this car. The Superb isn't exceptional because it brings you driving ecstasy on a special road. Instead it does the ordinary so well, and in a world where most modern cars make you adapt to their quirks and learn to live with poorly integrated systems, this one is just so instantly relaxing. The seats and driving position are great. The response of the controls and the gearbox are just so. The whole user interface is clear and just works, the useful ADAS functions do what they're supposed to and the mandatory annoying ones are a cinch to turn off. Even on passive dampers it rides well, and not to the detriment of handling: the steering is great and the whole car rotates quite nicely into bends. If you behave, this diesel will even do 60mpg on a run. It's one of very few cars where my 'reviewer brain' can switch off and I just enjoy the drive. My time with it has been perfectly timed with my house move. I let a removals firm do the heavy lifting, but the Superb came in very handy for runs back and forth to sign paperwork and to ferry smaller items from Kent to Oxfordshire. At an average of 53mpg, I could do several of those 230-mile round trips on the same 66-litre tank. There's not much more to it than 'big, practical car is big and practical'. I'm not usually a fan of electric tailgates, because it's quicker to open one manually, but here I was thankful for hands-free operation when loading the boot with boxes. The only annoyance is that this car doesn't have a variable-height boot floor, so there's a step when you fold the rear seats. That unticked option box aside, I'm rather enjoying life with the Superb. I'm starting to see more of them on the road, too. It seems people are cottoning on to how good it is. A five-star car? I'd still say so. Illya Verpraet Update 5 Having somehow spent no time at all in the current-generation Superb, I've just put 1720 miles on our long-termer in a week. How did that happen? I'd initially planned to get the Eurostar to Paris to interview Renault Group CTO Philippe Krief, but then Aston told us it would be launching the Vantage Roadster in Salzburg later that same week. The clear play, then, was to link the jobs by road: car beats train beats plane. I scanned the Autocar fleet for an accomplice. Prise the Bentayga from Rachel? Tempting. But the V8's fuel economy might put the publisher out of business. Steve's Wrangler? Similar story, only with ride quality as rough as a bear's backside. I thought Kris's BMW 120 M Sport might be interesting, because these premium hatchbacks are now so grown-up that they've got decent touring chops. But then I remembered our 2.0 TDI Superb Estate, which put the matter to bed. A couple of months ago I drove the new Merc E450d Estate to the Alps. The German is a colossus – in performance, price and capability. It also costs £90k if you get the spec you want, which is more than twice the price of our Superb SE L a er options. But is the Mercedes double the car? Objectively no, of course not. The Superb has the same number of seats and a bigger boot, will slickly run Android Auto or Apple CarPlay and wins a clear victory in efficiency. Where the E450d, with its 369lb six-pot turbo diesel, will return 45mpg at a 75mph cruise, the four-pot Skoda does 55mpg at 85mph. With a 66-litre tank, that's 798 unbroken miles in just over nine hours, versus 697 miles in the Merc, with a little longer in the hot seat. The Superb crunches big distances. This latest one has decent chairs, too, plus generous adjustability in the steering column, so it really is comfortable. I'd also say the Skoda has an easier cabin to rub along with. It is not lavish, but the E-Class has an awful lot of digital real estate, which I've never liked, especially at night. The Skoda settles well on the motorway too, helped by its wheelbase and the lack of a need to be 'sporty'. All that being said, money-no-object I'd take the Merc in a heartbeat. It's one of the great tool cars of this era. But if money mattered, I'd feel pretty pleased with myself if I had a Superb. Richard Lane Final update The Superb had been away from me for a while, getting passed around the team for all to experience its brilliance. It did a long stint with photographer Jack Harrison, munching some serious miles driving all around the country at an average of 54.7mpg (that's a brim-to-brim calculation, although the digital readout is dead accurate). He managed to get 868 miles out of a tank on one occasion, which is brave on his part and impressive on the car's. He reports that there's very little about it that he doesn't like, it swallows his gear with ease and it's great for doing car-to-car photography, because the boot is big and the ride is soft. It's also worth mentioning that everyone, short or tall, seems to get on with the seats.] Anyway, I needed it back recently so I could drive to Belgium to see my parents and pick up a big mirror, some artwork and other odds and ends. Not exactly a challenge for the Superb, but somehow it turned out to be slightly fraught. When I picked up the car from our office, I immediately thought: 'Am I going mad, or is the ride significantly worse and the engine noisier than I remember?' It occurred to me that I had better check the tyre pressures and engine oil when I got home. Indeed, someone had set the pressures to 3.0 bar all round when they're supposed to be 2.5 bar and the oil was down at the bottom of the dipstick (it has an actual dipstick – praise be!). Good news for my sanity and legitimacy as a car tester, less so for the car. I decided to leave the pressures for a while to see if this would make a difference to the fuel economy, but topping up the oil was more urgent – and surprisingly difficult. A sticker in the engine bay informs you that it wants Volkswagen-approved 0W-20 oil but, even though this EA288 2.0-litre diesel engine is a very common unit, such oil doesn't appear to exist. First I tried a big petrol station – nothing. Then I called in to a VW and Skoda dealer on my way to the Eurotunnel – 'sorry, we're out'. At this point, I was running late for my train, so I pressed on. By the time I got there, a warning came on the screen that I should top up the oil. I then tried the first fuel station out of Calais. Again, every type of oil under the sun bar this one. At this point, I gave up and bought a bottle of VW-spec 0W-30, since I reckoned it was close enough and better than carrying on with insufficient oil. In the manual, it says that the engine may consume up to 0.5 litres per 600 miles and a bit more in the first 3000 miles. That's fair enough, but you would expect it to come with a top-up bottle in the boot, especially when the oil you need can be hard find. I also note that its first service is due at two years or 20,000 miles, which seems awfully long to me. It's been shown time and again that these long intervals are just a way to reduce the running costs for fleet managers and people who keep a car only a few years. If you intend to keep it longer, you would be wise to do it at least every year instead and cut the mileage interval in half. I arrived in Belgium with no further incident and with the trip computer showing 62.6mpg. For the way back, I returned the tyre pressures to the correct 2.5 bar, which made no difference to the fuel consumption that I could make out but did take the sting out of the ride. And so our time with the Superb comes to an end. In my job as a road tester, test cars come and go all the time. With most of them, I'm glad to have had the experience and don't look back, but with this one I'm sad that it's departing. It's not the most exciting thing in the world, but it is just so good, so useful, so complete. It does almost everything so effortlessly. Of course there were a few minor niggles. Towards the end, it developed a glitch where the volume control would stop working if you switched between Apple CarPlay and the native so ware a few times. Switching to the radio and back to CarPlay would reset it. I don't love how you have to twist the gear selector and I wish the car had standard cruise control and a more intelligent auto hold system. But that's all extremely minor stuff. Overall it has been brilliant. I won't repeat the five-star road test verdict here, because it still applies, but in short, it's not just that this car is big, practical and fuel ef cient, it's that it also feels luxurious inside, rides well, has a minimal number of annoyances and, when you point it at a corner, actually handles well too. When a major car maker stops for a moment trying to be desperately trendy with too many flashing lights, cartoon characters dancing across enormous screens and 'sporty' suspension for the sake of it, it sometimes results in a really good, fit-for-purpose car. The Superb is that car. Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI Estate SEL specification Prices: List price new £39,705 List price now £40,795 Price as tested £41,675 Options: Electric towbar £1105, Graphite Grey paint £680, spacesaver spare wheel £185 Fuel consumption and range: Claimed economy 55.6mpg Fuel tank 66 litres Test average 55.3mpg Test best 60.6mpg Test worst 51.1mpg Real-world range 803 miles Tech highlights: 0-62mph 9.3sec Top speed 137mph Engine 4 cyls in line, 1968cc, turbocharged, diesel Max power 148bhp at 3000-4200rpm Max torque 266lb ft at 1600-2750rpm Transmission 7-spd dual-clutch auto, FWD Boot capacity 690 litres Wheels 8.0Jx18in, alloy Tyres 235/45 R18 94W, Bridgestone Turanza T005 Kerb weight 1678kg Service and running costs: Contract hire rate £485pcm CO2 135g/km Service costs Oil top-up £35 Other costs None Fuel costs £1358.58 Running costs inc fuel £ 1358.58 Cost per mile 12 pence Faults None Back to the top
BBC News
08-05-2025
- BBC News
Drunk delivery driver in Wisbech twice over drink-drive limit
Drunk delivery driver twice over drink-drive limit The delivery driver was reported to police for being drunk A takeaway delivery driver was found to be twice over the drink-drive limit after police carried out a roadside breath test. Cambridgeshire Police said operators at Fenland CCTV spotted the vehicle leaving Wisbech town centre - and informed police. It was then intercepted by the neighbourhood policing team on North Street, Wisbech on Wednesday. The force said the driver was subjected to a roadside breath test "which they failed by blowing 86, the legal limit being 35".
