Nearly 1500 miles around north-west Scotland has revealed that it’s not the size of the car that has an impact on fuel efficiency, but the weight.
Given the Skoda Superb estate is massive, I’ve always been impressed with the 60-plus mpg figures I’ve been achieving. However, a family holiday to a remote part of Scotland with the car fully loaded saw consumption drop to a new personal worst of ‘just’ 51mpg.
The 15% drop in economy wasn’t just due to the types of roads or driving – it was because the car was fully loaded with passengers and luggage, so you had to work the 105hp 1.6-litre diesel a lot harder than normal, particularly when going up hills.
On the upside, this has been the only occasion the Superb has felt under-powered, which shows you can live with a small, low-power engine in a big car providing you’re not hauling an extra 300-400kg of people and luggage every day. It also reveals that you can quickly come to assume the car will do 60mpg day in, day out and then anything less is disappointing.
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