Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Out of curiosity, I just had a look on Skoda's UK website and they don't appear to be listing any VRS models or anything with a 2l petrol engine in it, under new cars.

Wonder what's going on there?

The website is a pita to use as well.

Isn't there some kind of net emissions quota for large manufacturers?

Idk if it works on % of available product range or cars sold. But it could be they don't have any capacity for that level of emissions.

Superb is such a cheat code car for space

@stevo_com a car will be so much nicer than an MPV for everything other than sitting more people in full size seats.

This ^ is along the lines I was thinking- I would expect to see future performance models using a hybrid drive to add some more beans to the cooking version of the motor rather than increasing capacity and size of turbo

a car will be so much nicer than an MPV for everything other than sitting more people in full size seats.

I never noticed much difference in niceness between the various MPVs (mainly Galaxy’s, Hondas and Toyotas) and the large number cars I’ve driven.

If anything the MPVs have been more relaxing; all autos, bags of room, no fannying about to stick bikes, furniture, dump run stuff, elderly people in them.

TLDR Nice car is nice, nice MPVs is also nice.

Also I can recommend a ford galaxy if you’re going to spend thirty-nine hours straight, other than piss-stops, in a car.

what are the road tax levels for the various superbs and octavias talked about above. looking at a superb estate myself too. and what relaibility issues have you come across with these models ?
my preference if for a 2nd hand 1.9tdi laurin and klement model. with the nice stereo and 50+ mpg on longer runs
am hoping to be able to fit 2 mtb's in the boot, would that work ? not so keen on wrecking a bike on a low level car park entrance when it's on the roof and not thinking ! and the extra mpg's the drag would cause.

my sis has a superb estate she's had it for a good few years now it's over 100k miles and beginning to have some electrical issues. although to be fair it isn't looked after as well as it could have been.

Went to see that E63, left without test driving it- dealer insisted that I commit to buying the car in order to be able to test drive it, to which I thought “fuck that”.

I agree with your thought! I find that very odd too.

We've had our superb estate from new. It's now 7 years old / 60k miles. We have had zero reliability issues, main dealer serviced throughout which hasn't been cheap but also not outrageous.

It's the 2l petrol 220PS DSG which is pleasant to drive and gives about 40mpg on a run, you could probably coax a bit more out of it with a lighter right foot.

Round town that drops to low 30s mpg; we don't use it for driving around town much cos public transport.

Can't remember exactly what the road tax is, think it's £180 or something like that?

Not really a test drive in those circumstances, is it?

Ok, slightly more:

The grill is obviously aftermarket, badly retained and would need to go.

A sensor of some description has been mounted below the number plate in a bracket that looks to have been made from mild steel plate - now very rusty. Maybe some part of the Distronic system relocated due to the grill?

One Pirelli and three Michelins, although the wheel refurb job looks well done it also looks like the final time those wheels could be refurbished.

Bonnet had an odd dent in it, although that’s the only dent on the car.

Load cover missing.

Aftermarket puddle lights fitted.

Some stuff to fix/change/find.

Dealer refused to let me test drive it unless I committed to buying the car- at that point we walked away.

It’s a 2010 performance (high performance?) 6.2 litre V8 estate, the dealer insisted on £24,000 for it, wouldn’t consider fixing any of the issues either.

Finally- I didn’t trust the dealer at all

Would trust anyone who replaces a single tyre only on a performance car…

Indeed

Good luck to the dealer in finding someone who wants to part with £24k with that attitude.

it could be they don't have any capacity for that level of emissions.

would be interesting if this is the case. so you can buy a new 2l diesel but not a new 2l petrol, not sure if that's a great step forward.

There's a reasonable number of the petrol models available second hand.

Could also be supply times.

Our mates got a new Octavia fairly recently. I swear it was a year or something ridiculous from ordering.

Yeah. That.

Ok, suggest me some big, fast estate cars please- I think I’ve looked at all the C63/E63 in range and there’s nothing available that’s ringing my bell.

A cheap blast while you look around - Subaru Legacy 3.0 R Spec B?

Volvo V60 Polestar?

I’ll have a look.

Bit small I think, really - I did have a look at V90 T8’s but quite a different thing.

I presume you’re not interested in the default choice RS4/Rs6?