2017 Skoda Superb vs Volkswagen Passat

What's the difference?

Tim Robson road tests and reviews the new Skoda Superb SportLine wagon with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its Australian launch in Sydney.

It must be tough being an automotive product planner whose brief includes sedans and wagon, and not SUVs.

Explore the 2016-2017 Skoda Superb Range

2016 Skoda Superb review | first Australian drive video
2016 Skoda Superb review | first drive
2016 Skoda Superb review
2016 Skoda Superb 206TSI 4x4 wagon review | quick test
Skoda Superb 162TSI sedan 2016 review | road test
Skoda Superb 140TDI 2016 review | road test
Skoda Superb 140TDI wagon 2016 review | Torquing Heads video

Anything with large wheels and a taller stature is simply muscling other, equally capable cars out of way on the showroom floor, and there seems to be no end in sight.

The large sedan and wagon segments have paid the highest price in terms of sales, while the SUV boom is also impacting the medium sized sector as well.

It's a bit heartbreaking, then, that cars as capable – and as relatively affordable, spec wise – as the Skoda Superb SportLine are in danger of being overlooked because it's not an SUV.

Richard Berry road tests and reviews the new Volkswagen Passat 206 TSI R-Line Wagon with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Do your part to stop the spread of SUVs - buy a wagon. Yes, sports utility vehicles have become so popular that this year they’re expected to outsell regular cars in Australia for the first time. The thing is wagons generally offer just as much (or greater) cargo space and have more sporting ability than their SUV siblings. 

Take Volkswagen’s Passat 206TSI R-Line wagon which is not only the flagship in the range but the spiritual successor to the Passat R36 war wagon that was revered for the way it could haul ass and a decent cargo at the same time. It’s a hard act to follow, but the new wagon has been given a drivetrain transplant from another Volkswagen known for being an animal.  

The eighth generation Passat arrived in 2015 but this flagship of the range didn’t land in Australia until late in 2016 and when it’s not hating SUVs it hunts Subaru’s Levorg and other fast wagons including Volvo's V60 T5 R-Design and the Skoda Superb 206 TSI.

Quickness aside this is still a wagon and that means it needs to be practical, too.

So how did the Passat 206TSI R-Line wagon deal with children, shopping and everyday commuting? Is it as athletic on the road as it is on paper? Could it be the best reason to join the resistance and not buy an SUV?