Skoda Kodiaq vs Skoda Superb

What's the difference?

The new Skoda Kodiaq is an impressive, family friendly machine with a sharp design, loads of standard fruit, top-shelf safety and heaps of thoughtful touches throughout. It’s comfortable and refined, but thirsty relative to key competitors, and could do with a little more oomph, plus there are some niggles related to things like lane keeping refinement and the reversing camera. But there’s no doubt this so far low-key contender deserves a bigger share of the large, three-row SUV spotlight.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

If you’re part of the endangered species who wants to continue to go against the crowd and pick a sedan or wagon over an SUV - the Superb is about as good as it gets without spending luxury car money.

It’s slick and classy, refined and practical, it’s dollops of fun on a curvy road, and more entertaining than its most direct rivals. Frankly, it’s hard to see why you shouldn’t look at the Superb if your budget stretches far enough for it.

Remember to check back in early 2025 closer to the Superb’s launch in Australia for our final verdict and some of the missing details, but for now this is one is worth keeping an eye out for.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

The new Kodiaq’s overall proportions are similar to the out-going version, but it’s around 60mm longer, with a new headlight arrangement and octagonal grille treatment at the front.

Squared-off wheel arches are a design signature, as is the ‘dark chrome’ D-pillar with silver roof rails. The turret slopes markedly towards the rear, no doubt a contributor to the car’s slippery 0.28 drag coefficient.

At the rear, sharp C-shape LED tail-lights are split into three and the dark chrome finish is also applied to the Skoda logo type.

Aside from specific badges on the front guards, car-spotters looking out for the Sportline should tick off 20-inch rims and metallic black finish on the grille, wing mirrors, roof rails, D-pillar and diffuser as well as a horizontal light strip on the grille.

In classic Skoda fashion there are numerous thoughtful details that make life that little bit easier, including pop-out door protectors, bins in both front doors, an umbrella slotted into the driver’s door, and even a media screen wiping tool (dubbed ‘Dry display cleaner’) to keep the inevitable fingerprints under control.

The interior is dominated by a 13-inch multi-media screen and 10.25-inch ‘Virtual Cockpit’ instrument display with ventilated wireless charging pads for two phones on top of the broad centre console. And that console is broad because gear selection is via a stalk on the steering column rather than a traditional centre shifter.

But the standout feature is a trio of press and turn configurable ‘Smart Dials’ for heating and ventilation control.

The current function for each dial is shown on a digital display in its centre. Press the dial to select the chosen function and adjust by turning it. The middle dial can be customised to control up to four user-selected functions including audio volume, fan speed, air direction, map zoom and driving modes (on the Sportline).

The dials are chunky and easy to use. A super neat ergonomic master class.

There are numerous styling tweaks for the new-generation car, but at a distance it’s hardly a revolution from the outgoing version. Skoda sticks to a pretty conservative formula for its core range of vehicles.

In the metal and up-close, I reckon it looks fresh and understated, perhaps even a little stately with its extra length. After all, the Superb has a more important role to fill than ever before for the VW Group with the departure of the Passat.

Key changes include more sleek and compact light fittings, new wheel designs and a tweaked grille.

Inside, some of the most notable changes are the new screens and software, but there’s also a more elegant treatment for the dash, which uses an interesting pattern to cover the air vents and separate the upper and lower sections.

There’s also a notable increase in soft-touch materials. The brand also says 100 per cent of the textiles used in its new interior are made of recycled fibres.

New wheel and column-mounted switchgear helps keep the centre console clear, and key climate hardware makes a glorious return in a set of tidy multi-function dials.

At 4758mm long the new Kodiaq is around 60mm longer overall than its predecessor, but the wheelbase (2791mm) has only grown by 1.0mm. Yet Skoda claims the interior, including the third row space, is more generous.

And that stacks up in the front which is roomy, functional and visually interesting with lots of room and plenty of storage. That includes big door bins, a box between the seats,with a padded, adjustable lid that doubles as a centre armrest, a lower (large) and upper (medium) glovebox, a hinged compartment near the base of the steering column, and multiple cupholders in the centre console.

Move to the second row and sitting behind the driver’s seat set to my 183cm position and there’s tons of leg and headroom, and enough shoulder room for three grown-ups to sit together with too much grumbling for medium-length journeys.

And Skoda’s helpful, common-sense approach is there in abundance with, for example, map pockets on the back of the front seats, which have a phone-sized slot stitched into them. -There are pull up shades for each window, big bins in the doors with plenty of room for bottles and more, a pull-down centre armrest with two cupholders, tablet holders in the back of the front headrests, adjustable climate controlled vents plus a ‘Jumbo Box’ on the floor for extra bottles and ‘stuff’ (removable if you need foot room for a centre passenger). Nice.

As for the more spacious third row, it’s still best to think of the two positions back there as occasional spots for up to mid-teenage kids. It’s too tight for adults on anything other than a painful and brief emergency trip.

That said, there’s oddments storage and a cupholder back there. But the second row seat doesn’t roll and fold for rear row access. It’s more a matter of slide (forward) and tilt (the backrest) to provide enough space to scramble in.

No power outlet back there, either, but there are three USB-Cs in the front (one near the rear view mirror for a dashcam), plus another two USB-Cs and a 12-volt socket in the centre row.

Boot capacity is generous and class competitive at 289 litres (VDA) with seven seats up, 749L with five seats up and a whopping 2035L with the second and third rows folded.

In the boot there are numerous thoughtful touches like extra storage wells, bag hooks, a 12-volt power outlet, a luggage net, and of course, the power tailgate.

There’s a space-saver spare under the boot floor, and you’ll be able to tow a 2.3-tonne braked trailer (750kg unbraked).

For a start, The dials go a long way to making the interior much more pragmatic and functional, particularly for the driver, compared to almost every other VW Group product.

Not only do they provide physical hardware for ease of adjustment, you can also press them down to switch what they control. It’s even customisable via the centre screen if you don’t want to have to click through all the options all the time.

I’d go so far as to say the Skoda interior features are the best the brand has to offer. It features the best of the new stalks, screens, and touch-based light function buttons, without the inconvenience and distraction of the touch sliders which appear in VWs and Cupras.

Let’s also not forget the brand’s signature ‘simply clever’ touches, of which there are new ones. Yes, of course the umbrella is still hidden in the door, but there’s now also a little screen cleaning eraser block in the centre console (a genuinely great idea in the era of touchscreens which I’ve never seen before), a set of removable floating caddies in the armrest console (which Skoda refers to as the ‘Jumbo Box’ thanks to its 5.5-litre capacity), integrated rear window shades, Velcro cargo brackets in the boot and removable bins in the front door pockets.

The rear seat offers an enormous amount of room for myself behind my own driving position at 182cm tall, and there’s no shortage of leg and headroom. Unfortunately there is a raise in the floor to allow for all-wheel drive, making it squishy for an adult in that centre rear position.

Aside from the integrated window shades, the Superb also gets a set of three pockets on the backs of each front seat, mounting brackets for tablets or game consoles (great for kids) and a small touch panel on the back of the console for the rear climate zone.

There are also adjustable air vents and USB-C outlets for charging. Large bottle holders appear in each door, with a further two in the armrest, which also has a flip-out tray with a little phone holder.

The liftback still benefits from an impressive 645-litre luggage capacity, while the wagon balloons to 690 litres while adding that hatch opening back, larger and more useful than most mid-size SUVs.

Towing will be possible, although we don’t yet have figures for the new car, as it is subject to change in line with Australian design rules.

At the time of writing, it was too early to tell you what the final price-tag for Australian-delivered cars will be. We also don’t have exact local specification, although the brand has confirmed it will continue to only import a single high-grade Sportline for the next-gen car. It also said not to expect pricing to jump too far from the circa-$70,000 price-tag of the outgoing car.

What is new this time around? Expect an even nicer design on the inside, paired with a big jump in cabin tech.

The grade we tested for this review is the most similar car produced in Europe right now, equipped with leather seats with power adjust and heating, a 13-inch multimedia touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto running a fresh user interface, a 10-inch digital dash cluster based on VW’s very good digital cockpit suite, tri-zone climate control, matrix LED headlights, as well as new adaptive suspension and drive modes.

It’s worth noting Australian cars will miss out on a handful of cool features available in the European market, like the connected services features which enable more detailed navigation. We also don’t expect to see mild hybrid or plug-in hybrid powertrains this time around, which feels like a shame.

There’s no question the Superb will be an expensive car, then, but it occupies a unique position in the Australian market. It’s larger and more luxurious than a Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, Mazda 6 or Toyota Camry, while competing on the price-front with luxury cars a size-down like the Lexus ES or Volvo S60.

All new Kodiaq launch variants are powered by the same 140kW/320Nm ‘140TSI’ 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine driving all four wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch auto transmission and two coaxial (wet) multi-disc clutch packs.

It’s the same direct-injection unit used in numerous other Volkswagen Group products such as the Audi A4 and Q5.

Only one engine will be available in Australia, a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four producing a punchy 195kW/400Nm, a slight upgrade on the outgoing car. It drives all four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

Aside from this tweaked powertrain, the new car also has some structural enhancements thanks to its merging onto the new VW Group 'MQB Evo' platform which comes with tweaks to chassis rigidity, suspension, as well as new adaptive dampers.

Skoda’s official fuel consumption figure for the Kodiaq 140TSI, on the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle is 9.2L/100km, emitting 209g/km of CO2 in the process, which is a reminder we’re dealing with a roughly 1.8-tonne, three-row, seven-seat SUV powered by a 2.0-litre engine.

Minimum fuel requirement is 95 RON premium unleaded and with a 58-litre tank theoretical range is around 630km.

Start-stop is standard and on test over several hundred kilometres in the Select and Sportline, we saw an average of around 8.5L/100km, but that was majority highway and B-road running. Expect low 10s and above in the city. Not horrendous but not spectacular.

We don’t have official figures for the Australian market, or even for this engine in the European market as it hasn’t started production yet (we tested 2.0-litre diesel AWD versions for this review).

Don’t expect it to stray too far from the roughly 8.0L/100km the outgoing car scores on the official combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle. The new engine will continue to require mid-shelf 95 RON unleaded petrol.

Skoda claims the Kodiaq will accelerate from 0-100km/h in 7.9 seconds and while there’s enough power for overtaking and easy cruising, it’s no powerhouse.

Peak power of 140kW arrived high up in the rev range (4200–6500rpm) but maximum pulling power (320Nm) sits in a broad band from 1400–4100rpm, which is just where you want it around town and on the highway.

The seven-speed dual clutch auto delivers quick, smooth shifts and steering wheel paddles (standard on the Sportline) add extra involvement if you want or need to shift ratios yourself.

Suspension is by MacPherson-type struts at the front and multi-links at the rear, and ride comfort is good, with B-road imperfections and high-frequency bumps not upsetting the car unduly.

The combination of the Select’s 19-inch rims, shod with 235/50 Hankook Ventus S1 evo rubber, is comfy, although the Sportline on 20-inch alloys, wearing 235/45 Hankook Ventus evo SUV tyres, is much the same.

We drove a Sportline fitted with Dynamic Chassis Control (as part of the optional Ultimate Package) and in ‘Comfort’ the adaptive damping set-up is overly soft, to the point where the car lopes and feels floaty over undulating sections.

Switch to ‘Sport’ and it’s too firm on anything other than a billiard table smooth surface. Surprise, surprise, ‘Normal’ is the just-right Goldilocks setting.

Pushing a little harder through some back road corners, the AWD system with automatic torque distribution does its thing seamlessly, while the electrically assisted rack and pinion steering is nicely weighted and accurate with good feel.

What doesn’t always feel so good is the lane-keeping assist system making abrupt, intrusive corrections. Not all the time, but often enough to furrow your brow.

Braking is by discs all around, ventilated and clamped by dual-piston callipers at the front, and solid with single-piston sliding callipers at the rear. They proved progressive and strong over several hundred kilometres on the launch drive program.

Under the heading of miscellaneous observations, this car’s ergonomics are top-notch. All buttons, switches and controls are intuitive and easy to use.

The twisting column-mounted gear shift stalk, an increasingly popular placement, takes a bit of getting used to, but once you’re familiar it’s great.

A 12.0m turning circle is sizeable, even for a car of this size, and we noticed a distorted view from the reversing camera, especially when manoeuvring close to other cars. 

The Kodiaq is impressively refined and quiet in terms of engine, tyre and wind noise.

The standard ‘Comfort’ seats are great, as are the Sportline’s grippier sports seats (and they’re still easy to get in and out of), while soft-touch materials around the dash and doors enhances the cabin’s premium feel.

The Superb is just that when you get it out on the road. While it might look like a plain old sedan or wagon, it drives with quite some finesse.

For this test we weren’t able to sample the 195TSI 2.0-litre turbo-petrol which will come to our market. We drove a 2.0-litre diesel instead.

It still had quite a bit of get up and go, and we’ve driven the 195TSI in other vehicles to be confident enough to say it will remove the occasional turbo lag we experienced.

Regardless, some of the best changes to the Superb are in its suspension, steering and underpinnings. This is a tight, reactive car, with a confident long wheelbase, heaps of grip and sharp steering.

Unlike some smaller vehicles which share the same components, you can feel the Superb’s weight and breadth shift around a little more in the corners. But it does so with a pleasing amount of grace, and powers out of corners in such a way that it’s hard not to have a smile on your face.

This is a car which is pragmatic in the day-to-day, but also a dollop of fun on a curvy road. As you sit nice and low and feel a lot more connected to the road than you do in one of Skoda’s SUVs for example, the Superb is perfect for the ex-hot-hatch driver.

Ride-wise this big car proved very comfortable in our time with it. The suspension components have been upgraded for this new generation version, but so has chassis rigidity.

It’s hard to draw a definitive line through refinement, though, as the European roads on which we were testing our cars are much better sealed than Australian tarmac. Still the Superb soaked what few bumps were there up with ease.

There’s even a notable increase in refinement, thanks to acoustic lamination on the windows, and even the diesel version’s engine note was quite distant.

The drive experience here is hard to fault. Sure, this is a big car with a bit of weight to throw around, but it proved to be confident, graceful and comfortable, at least on the European roads we tested it on.

Expect the full array of active safety gear when the Superb lands down under, including freeway-speed auto emergency braking, lane keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, and rear cross-traffic alert. There’s also adaptive cruise control and traffic sign recognition.

The Superb is also equipped with an array of 10 airbags, and as the version which will land in Australia is built in the same plant as its European companions, there’s a higher chance its Euro NCAP maximum five-star rating will transfer across to an ANCAP assessment.

The Kodiaq is covered by Skoda’s seven-year/unlimited-km warranty, which is ahead of the mainstream five-year warranty pack, although a little short of some, like MG and Mitsubishi at 10 years.

Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/15,000km, which is the expected norm for the category, and costs are still being fine-turned.

That said, you can expect pre-paid service pack pricing of around $2750 for seven years, or an average of roughly $393 per service, which is on the money for the category.

Expect Skoda to continue with its seven-year and unlimited kilometre warranty. It’s the first Euro brand to offer such a warranty, and hence moves the game forward and puts pressure on its most direct rivals to do the same.

Expect the usual pre-packaged service plans, although pricing and details will be revealed closer to the Superb’s launch window in 2025.