Skoda Superb Scout 2021 review: A wagon/estate on stilts

CarExpert

Is the Skoda Superb Scout the perfect balance between wagon and SUV? Paul Maric reviews the 2021 Skoda Superb Scout 200TSI, which now comes with a petrol particulate filter, but a still quite punchy 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine. Is it any good? Watch our detailed expert review to find out!  Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE  Read the full review: https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-reviews/2020-skoda-superb-scout-review/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=review&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=single-car-review  Skip Ahead: Intro: 00:00 Exterior: 00:58 Interior: 03:24 Infotainment: 04:55 Safety Tech: 07:01 Practicality: 07:43 On the road: 12:31 Verdict: 16:43  We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.  Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.  Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1  You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.  Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!  Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!  CarExpert: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au  Paul Maric: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric  #review #skoda #superb #scout @SkodaAustralia @skoda

Transcript

00:00 G'day, I'm Paul.

00:01 So, some people want the space of an SUV,

00:03 but don't really want an SUV,

00:05 but they kind of want the extra ride height.

00:07 So that's where something like this comes into play.

00:09 It is the Skoda Superb Scout.

00:12 It's a wagon, an estate, whatever you want to call it,

00:14 but it sits a little bit higher off the ground,

00:16 and it's got those off-road looking things on the side.

00:18 So it is kind of an SUV without needing to be an SUV.

00:22 Now they sell this in Australia

00:23 just in the one specification, the 200 TSI,

00:26 and it's priced at just under $62,000.

00:30 And it competes with cars like the Subaru Outback.

00:33 It's a fairly narrow pool of competitors in this segment.

00:35 So that's why it actually represents a really good option.

00:38 Today, we're going to do a detailed review

00:40 of the Superb Scout.

00:42 If you do want to skip ahead to other parts of this review,

00:44 you can use the time codes up on the screen there,

00:46 or if you're on YouTube,

00:47 just scroll down and use the chapters below.

00:49 And I would love it if you haven't done so already

00:51 for you to hit the subscribe button and also the bell icon,

00:54 'cause that's going to tell you every single time

00:55 that we publish a new review.

00:57 Now, before I get started on the exterior styling,

01:00 I just wanted to explain, this is our long-term loan car.

01:03 So we've been living with it for a little bit longer.

01:05 So some of the figures and stuff

01:07 that you're going to see today is representative

01:09 of our ownership over an extended period.

01:11 Anyway, exterior styling,

01:12 you've got eight colors to choose from,

01:14 and all but gray is an extra 770.

01:16 There are some other colors as well

01:17 that are more expensive.

01:18 They're sort of out there colors,

01:20 but there is a wide color palette,

01:21 which is good news for buyers

01:22 that are normally restricted with Volkswagen products

01:25 to like the German rainbow, which is just all blank colors.

01:28 Now, in terms of the design of this car,

01:30 gotta tell you, I absolutely love it.

01:32 Styling is obviously completely subjective.

01:33 You may hate it, but I think it looks fantastic.

01:36 It just looks so classy and elegant.

01:38 They've done such a good job here

01:39 with things like this grill.

01:40 It stands out.

01:41 It looks nice and sort of masculine and tough,

01:43 but it still looks executive and classy.

01:46 Skodas have really come a long way in terms of styling,

01:48 even to the point with this bonnet,

01:49 how it's sculpted down the middle there.

01:51 It's just a really nice design.

01:53 So you've got front parking sensors buried in there,

01:54 a radar sensor here.

01:56 You've got adaptive matrix LED headlights.

01:59 Now, if you wanna know how these compare

02:00 to other headlights you can get on cars today,

02:02 including BMW's laser headlights,

02:04 make sure you check out our headlight comparison,

02:06 which is up here.

02:07 We feature our long-term Skoda in that.

02:09 You've got daytime LED running lights.

02:11 You also have indicator built into those as well.

02:14 And then we'll nip around to the side here.

02:16 18-inch alloy wheels.

02:17 You have a fairly chubby profile tire as well.

02:20 So this car rides fantastic.

02:23 And we're gonna go into a bit more detail

02:24 about that when we go for our drive,

02:26 but it's all partly thanks to that chubby profile tire

02:28 and the adaptive suspension.

02:30 So being an off-road version of the Superb,

02:33 it has the trademark wheel arch flares.

02:36 It's 15 millimetres higher than a standard Superb,

02:38 giving it a ground clearance of 151 millimetres.

02:41 Now, in comparison to an SUV,

02:42 that isn't actually that impressive.

02:44 Even in comparison to something like a Subaru Outback,

02:46 that's not very high.

02:47 An SUV is going to be around the 220 millimetre mark.

02:50 So not really going to be doing any major off-roading

02:53 in this. A little Scout badge on the side there.

02:55 Indicator built into that wing mirror.

02:57 We've got privacy glass.

02:59 These brushed aluminium roof rails.

03:01 Come around to the back here.

03:03 LED tail lights.

03:04 You get a four by four badge,

03:06 so everyone knows that you've got an all-wheel drive wagon.

03:09 You also get a 2,200 kilogramme braked towing capacity.

03:12 That's going to be enough to cater for things

03:14 like camper vans and the type of things

03:15 that you'll be able to go away on holidays with.

03:18 So let me know in the comments below,

03:19 do you like the design?

03:20 I think it is a particularly handsome looking car,

03:22 but let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.

03:24 So we're inside the superb Scout.

03:26 Let's start off with the key.

03:27 It's behind this little garage door.

03:29 Pretty straightforward.

03:30 You've got lock at the top, boot, unlock.

03:33 And then on the other side, you have the Škoda badge.

03:35 It looks very much like a Volkswagen key.

03:37 It's fairly similar to every other Volkswagen key I've seen.

03:40 It's a proximity sensing key,

03:41 so you just keep that in your pocket, grab the door handle.

03:43 Then once you're inside, you push the start button,

03:45 which is just up against the steering wheel.

03:47 Now, what about styling?

03:48 Look, I think it's really nice and pleasant.

03:51 It's elegant.

03:52 I think that's the look that they're after.

03:54 It's not sporty, it's not young, it's not hip.

03:55 It is just elegance.

03:57 And you can see here with this brushed

03:59 sort of plastic stuff that it really stands out nicely.

04:02 And then over there, you've got a 3D looking Scout badge.

04:04 Then what they've done as well is integrated this screen

04:07 with a chrome surround.

04:08 I think this could also be a little bit higher

04:10 to make it visually more accessible,

04:12 but outside of that, the styling is quite nice.

04:14 Now, what about the materials here and the touch points?

04:17 So this is fantastic.

04:19 This is what Skodas have really become known for recently.

04:22 You kind of get, dare I say it, Audi quality here

04:25 without the Audi price tag.

04:27 And that means that all of these touch points,

04:28 such as this center console,

04:30 the door trims are all nice and soft.

04:32 Now we do have a tool to test exactly how soft they are.

04:35 It's called a durometer.

04:36 We have tested all the surfaces in this car.

04:38 If you want to see how this car compares to other cars

04:41 that we have tested before,

04:42 you can follow the link in the description.

04:44 Now, what about build quality?

04:46 It is rock solid.

04:48 This comes back to my comment about Audis,

04:50 which we've found to be fairly solid

04:52 in terms of build quality.

04:53 All feels really nice and well put together.

04:55 Moving on to infotainment,

04:57 you get a 9.2 inch infotainment system.

04:59 It's called Skoda Columbus.

05:01 Now this is just going to be a brief overview,

05:02 but if you want a detailed review

05:04 and a look at all the features that this comes with,

05:06 you can click up here to watch

05:07 our Skoda Columbus detailed infotainment review.

05:10 So on the left-hand side, you have the shortcut buttons,

05:12 but they're not really buttons, they're capacitive touch.

05:15 So you just basically tap with your finger

05:18 and then it all happens.

05:19 Super high resolution screen.

05:20 And you'll notice that you get extra context menus

05:23 as your hand approaches.

05:24 You can see them appearing there.

05:25 Then on top of that, you have gesture controls.

05:27 Watch this.

05:28 With sound effects.

05:31 I don't understand the point in that feature,

05:33 but anyway, it's there nevertheless.

05:35 In terms of radio, you have AM, FM, DAB plus digital radio.

05:40 You've got a CD player as well for music.

05:42 And then in terms of smartphone connectivity,

05:44 everything runs over a wired system.

05:46 So it is not wireless.

05:48 I'll show you what Apple CarPlay looks like.

05:50 Really impressive integration.

05:52 Look at that full screen, very high resolution

05:55 and super quick as well.

05:57 Let's take a look at Android Auto.

06:00 Now the full screen integration, that looks great.

06:02 And then you've got your menus there.

06:04 We'll do a little scroll around Google Maps here.

06:07 Yeah, that is nice and fast.

06:09 Very impressive.

06:10 Moving on to virtual cockpit,

06:11 which is the screen in front of the driver.

06:14 It measures 10.25 inches, fairly high resolution.

06:17 And the good news is using the view button,

06:19 you can switch between a stack of different displays here.

06:22 So you really do have a high level of customization.

06:26 Then on top of that,

06:27 you can also flick between different context menus too.

06:30 You can display everything from audio, car data,

06:33 telephone, right through to navigation.

06:35 So really nice integration, very clean

06:37 and easy to use as well.

06:38 What about the speakers?

06:39 You have a 12 speaker Canton branded sound system.

06:42 And in terms of connectivity,

06:43 one USB port down the front here,

06:45 which is used for your CarPlay or Android Auto.

06:48 You've got a 12 volt outlet,

06:49 another USB port inside the center console.

06:51 Yes, they have a wireless phone charger

06:54 that sits right down there.

06:55 It fits a big sized phone as well.

06:57 And then in the glove box,

06:58 you have SD slots and your CD player.

07:01 Let's talk about safety technology.

07:02 You get autonomous emergency braking.

07:04 It works forwards and backwards.

07:06 You get rear cross traffic alert,

07:07 blind spot monitoring built into the actual wing mirror

07:10 itself instead of the glass.

07:12 You get a lane departure warning,

07:14 radar cruise control, front and rear parking sensors.

07:17 But let's have a look at what this reverse view

07:19 camera looks like.

07:19 That's pretty impressive actually.

07:20 So you can see the sensors appearing there.

07:23 And then same with my finger as it approaches,

07:25 that lights up that context.

07:26 You've got your guidelines there.

07:28 We can make that disappear.

07:29 We also have tools for connecting a trailer.

07:32 And then you also have semi-autonomous parking

07:35 for parallel and perpendicular,

07:37 plus that rear cross traffic alert

07:39 on a wider screen as well.

07:41 So really nice integration there.

07:43 Moving on to practicality,

07:44 and we'll start with storage.

07:45 So your phone lives up there in the wireless phone charger,

07:47 but you can put it down here if you want.

07:50 And in terms of bottle storage,

07:51 you've got ample room there to store your bottle.

07:54 And then inside the door,

07:55 you've got bottle storage as well.

07:56 What I love about Skoda's though,

07:58 is the carpeted door bins.

08:00 And then there's also a little bin in here as well.

08:02 It's super cute.

08:03 Now, center console is interesting.

08:06 Oh, by the way,

08:07 roll the doors there and there as well.

08:09 The center console is interesting.

08:11 You open it up,

08:12 there's an air conditioning port, which is handy,

08:13 but down here, you have like a secret slot.

08:17 I have no idea what that's for.

08:18 So let me know if you can figure out

08:20 what actually belongs down there.

08:22 Why does that slot exist?

08:23 To give you an idea about the depth of it,

08:25 there it is there.

08:26 You can fit a bottle in there very easily.

08:28 That's carpeted too.

08:29 And then you have your glove box.

08:32 Easily fits the bottle and also air conditioned.

08:35 Sunglasses, they live up here.

08:38 And one final storage area, just near the driver's knee.

08:41 You have a little hold of the coins,

08:42 garage remotes and that kind of thing.

08:44 Let's talk comfort.

08:45 So you get automatic tri-zone climate control,

08:48 two zones up the front, one zone for the second row.

08:51 You get headed seats as well for the first and second rows.

08:55 And then seat comfort.

08:56 Check out these seats.

08:57 They get like a half Alcantara suede,

09:00 half leather type thing with Scout lettering there.

09:03 The seats are electrically adjustable.

09:05 You get memory here as well.

09:06 And they're really comfy.

09:08 Steering wheel is nice and small,

09:09 sits beautifully in the hand.

09:10 You get paddle shifters.

09:11 All of this stuff is really easy to reach.

09:13 The only thing I would like here though,

09:15 is a head up display.

09:16 I think for this kind of money,

09:17 it's something I'd expect to see.

09:19 Righto, this is what I love about the Superb.

09:22 If you're mates with Shaquille O'Neal

09:25 or perhaps Scott Colley, my colleague,

09:27 if you have tall friends,

09:29 they are going to love this back seat.

09:31 Look how much leg room I have.

09:32 It is incredible.

09:33 And this seat is pretty far back as well.

09:35 I have acres of knee room.

09:37 Toe room is fantastic.

09:39 Head room is pretty reasonable.

09:41 Taller passengers are probably gonna rub

09:42 a little on the side there, but you get my drift.

09:44 There is heaps of room here.

09:46 So if you've got a litany of kids,

09:48 they are going to be able to stretch out easily here.

09:50 Getting your baby seat in and out

09:52 will be straightforward too,

09:53 because you have ISOFIX points on the two outboard seats.

09:56 So, center armrest, let's have a look at that.

09:59 Pretty decent size, cup holders.

10:02 Bit of a weird system.

10:04 Kind of fits okay though, which is good.

10:06 And then you have a ski port to get into the back.

10:10 This also goes inside the door, which is carpeted.

10:13 Little bit of room either side there.

10:14 You have shades.

10:16 There you go, they go up nicely.

10:17 I forgot to mention earlier as well,

10:18 that these rear seats,

10:20 you do have child locks and window locks combined.

10:23 So the driver is able to basically prevent

10:25 your rear seat passengers from running out of the car

10:27 before it's stopped.

10:28 So it's a handy function.

10:29 Over here, we have mat pockets.

10:31 These are your heated seats in the third zone of climate.

10:34 You can get your own air conditioning vents here.

10:36 Little hidey hole here with a 12 volt outlet

10:39 and what looks like an ashtray.

10:40 Hopefully your kids aren't smoking just yet.

10:42 This is interesting though.

10:44 This is quite a high transmission tunnel.

10:46 So this is all wheel drive,

10:48 which is the reason you have this hurdle here to get over.

10:51 So, I don't know, it looks a bit big to me.

10:53 I forgot to mention this as well.

10:54 It's like an accessory you can get.

10:56 It allows you to put your iPhone and stuff in there,

10:58 so it doesn't really move around

10:59 and it'll keep the kids entertained.

11:01 Let's talk cargo space.

11:03 This is one of the big advantages of a wagon.

11:05 You have a big loading area.

11:07 This one's no exception.

11:08 So just under 700 litres of cargo space here

11:11 with the second row up.

11:13 Fold the second row, which I'll show you in a second,

11:14 and you get just under 2000 litres.

11:17 Now, how does all this work?

11:18 There's nets and all that sort of stuff.

11:19 I'll run you through the peripherals first.

11:21 So you've got hooks on the side there, which are handy.

11:24 Love this feature.

11:25 You basically have the ability to detach a torch

11:30 and then you can use that for seeing things at nighttime

11:33 and then it charges in its cradle, which is really clever.

11:36 And then with these nets,

11:38 you can simply remove them to reveal your underfloor.

11:42 And then under here, you have a space saver spare tyre,

11:45 your jacking equipment,

11:46 and if you want to hide a couple of things,

11:47 you can probably slide them under there.

11:49 12-volt outlet off to the side here.

11:51 Your first aid kit lives under here.

11:53 Another couple of hooks there.

11:54 This is quite a clever cargo blind

11:55 because it deploys in two stages.

11:57 You can either have it there or fully enclosed,

12:00 and then to get rid of it, it's just one push there.

12:02 It goes to your second stage

12:03 and then another push gets rid of it altogether.

12:05 And then as reference, this will clearly easily fit in.

12:09 There's your bag space, plenty of room in there.

12:13 And I'll show what it looks like

12:14 with the second row folded as well.

12:17 So you can deploy them from the top of the second row

12:19 or just off to the side here.

12:21 One pull of that should drop that, but it doesn't.

12:24 Manually pull that down.

12:26 There it is there.

12:28 Gives you just under 2000 litres of space.

12:30 We've just hit the road in the Superb Scout

12:34 and part of the recent update includes the addition

12:36 of a petrol particulate filter.

12:38 So this has gone from having 206 kilowatts of power to 200.

12:42 A little bit of a drop off there for environment saving

12:45 and all that kind of thing,

12:46 but two litre turbocharged four cylinder petrol engine,

12:49 200 kilowatts of power, 350 newton metres of torque,

12:52 and that's all mated to a seven speed

12:55 dual clutch transmission.

12:57 Now, you know that I'm not the biggest fan

12:59 of dual clutch transmissions,

13:00 but surprisingly Skoda's done a good job with this one.

13:03 At low speeds, it actually hooks up nicely.

13:05 The throttle is a little bit dull,

13:07 but they've done that to just smooth it out a bit.

13:09 So you don't get that jerkiness or that elastic motion.

13:12 It's actually a really impressive setup.

13:13 So being the long-termer,

13:15 it means we've been able to spend a bit more time

13:17 with the car and kind of get to know it a bit better,

13:19 but it also means that our fuel economy

13:21 is going to be more representative of what an owner has,

13:23 as opposed to the week we normally spend with the car.

13:26 Skoda claims a combined fuel economy

13:28 of 7.1 litres per 100 Ks,

13:30 which is pretty impressive for a car this size,

13:33 but let's have a look at what we are achieving.

13:35 We'll flip through here to our driving data.

13:38 So over 2,200 kilometres of driving,

13:42 we've averaged 9.3 litres per 100 Ks.

13:45 Most of that's city driving,

13:46 and look, to me, that's pretty impressive.

13:48 It's not quite the 7.1,

13:50 but it is a reasonably impressive figure

13:52 when you consider the size of the car

13:54 and the type of driving you're going

13:55 to be typically doing with it.

13:57 There is a downside to the petrol particulate filter

14:00 that's fitted to this car, though,

14:01 and it is that you need premium unleaded petrol.

14:04 So it's going to cost you a little bit more

14:06 to fuel this car,

14:07 because the quality of fuel in Australia isn't very good.

14:10 You need to basically be filling it up

14:11 with the best stuff that you can.

14:12 Righto, let's talk about the drive modes,

14:14 and there are a stack to choose from.

14:16 Eco, comfort, normal, sport, individual, off-road.

14:19 Okay, we'll go in reverse order there.

14:22 So off-road is when you're off-roading,

14:24 so that will put the stability control

14:25 into an off-road setting,

14:27 and if you want to see what that kind of looks like,

14:29 have a look at our Volkswagen Amarok review

14:31 by clicking up here.

14:32 I'll give you a demo of the ABS modes in off-road

14:35 so you can see the advantage that you get out of that.

14:37 Now, in terms of comfort and sport,

14:39 both of those are fairly similar.

14:40 You get that very laid-back and relaxed suspension setting.

14:43 We're in normal mode right now,

14:45 and the ride is sensational.

14:47 Those adaptive dampers do such a good job

14:50 of just soaking everything up that's thrown at them,

14:52 and while we always talk about the Koreans

14:54 doing an Australian ride and handling tune

14:56 and making it bespoke for our country,

14:58 this actually just works straight out of the box.

15:01 Whether you're driving on a gravel road

15:02 or a poor country road like this,

15:04 it really just attacks everything with confidence.

15:06 Then when you do switch over to sport mode,

15:08 the ride firms up, the gearbox goes into an S mode,

15:11 which you can see there on the screen,

15:13 and then if you do punch it,

15:14 really nice and sharp and responsive,

15:18 revs out nicely.

15:20 You would never really pick that this is a two-litre engine.

15:23 It is just a really good package.

15:26 All right, what about zero to 100?

15:28 Skoda claims a time of 5.7 seconds.

15:31 Let's see if we can match that claim.

15:33 Now, what about handling?

15:42 This is a permanent all-wheel drive,

15:45 so it's always shuffling torque

15:46 between the front and the rear axle,

15:48 and that means it's rather dynamic.

15:50 It's got decent steering feel.

15:53 That engine, as I mentioned before, is nice and punchy,

15:56 and it sits fairly flat through corners.

15:58 It's definitely no sports car,

15:59 but I think if you found yourself a mountain pass

16:02 all of a sudden, it wouldn't exactly run off scared.

16:04 One of the few downsides to this all-wheel drive system

16:07 is the turning circle.

16:08 It's 11.1 metres, so you'll find yourself

16:12 having to do three-point turns every now and then

16:15 to get it around.

16:17 Let's talk about visibility

16:18 and what it's like to drive this.

16:20 So, clear visibility out the front there.

16:22 The sides are fantastic as well.

16:24 Visibility out the back is excellent too.

16:26 This car doesn't feel big out on the road,

16:28 so you don't feel intimidated like you do in some SUVs.

16:31 It just feels like any other car,

16:33 despite sitting ever so slightly higher.

16:35 In terms of noise, it is super quiet in here as well.

16:38 They've done a really good job

16:40 in terms of making it a nice and serene environment.

16:42 So, Skoda Superb Scout.

16:44 Their tagline, it's super cheesy, simply clever,

16:47 but, I don't know, it just does that.

16:50 It is simply clever.

16:51 You've got plenty of room in the boot.

16:52 It's sort of off-road, so you can feel like

16:55 you've got an SUV without having to own an SUV.

16:57 It's punchy, comes with a lot of standard kit,

17:00 and it just leaves you happy.

17:01 So, I think that if you are a family person

17:03 and you need something bigger in your life

17:05 that isn't an SUV, this is a fantastic option.

17:08 And it's much cheaper than stuff like the Audi A6 Allroad,

17:11 which is effectively the same car

17:13 in the sense of what it does and its size.

17:14 So, I don't know, seriously consider this

17:16 if you are in the market for something big,

17:18 but don't wanna go down the path of an SUV.

17:20 Let me know in the comments below,

17:22 what do you think of this?

17:23 Have I been hoodwinked by Skoda

17:24 and their Superb Scout?

17:27 Or is it actually a good car?

17:28 Let me know in the comments below.

17:29 If you did enjoy this video,

17:30 please make sure you share it with your friends.

17:32 Hit the like button, subscribe,

17:33 and also press the bell icon,

17:35 'cause that'll tell you every single time

17:36 we publish something new.

17:37 But until next time, drive safely.

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