In accord with its name

IN ACCORD WITH ITS NAME…

…that’s the Superb for you, as Amit Chhangani discovered after engaging the Czech saloon in a fistfight with its oriental nemesis
Photography: Sanjay Raikar

Well, you won’t think of the Superb as anything more than an advanced luxury family saloon with a tinge of sportiness if you haven’t driven it. So I wasn’t exactly expecting to get shocked or overly impressed when I opened its door and got in to take the car out for a spin. The fact that I have very recently driven some very fast machines like the BMW 650i and the 750Li meant that it was even more difficult for a luxury sedan to impress me. When I held the Skoda’s beautifully crafted, soft touch three-spoke steering wheel in my hands and twisted the ignition key, I was essentially looking forward to another regular drive in a luxury saloon.

From there on, the new Superb began unravelling its wonders to me. A 1.8-litre turbo petrol with more than 160 horses on tap may sound promising, but that figure isn’t exactly good enough to make the hair strands on your hands rise up in anticipation. As I selected D, no, S on the drive selector controlling a seven-speed DSG transmission, I anticipated a nice drive at best. My expectations were a long distance away from what words like exciting and tantalizing would suggest. But within moments of putting my right foot down, I realized that I was behind the wheel of something special. The punch from that forced inducted powerplant may not exactly be manic, but it’s stimulating enough to set your pulse racing. The speedo needle keeps climbing up at a rapid pace as the tacho spike ascends and drops around the dial at an alarming frequency. The muffled howl of the engine does its bit to help you muster enough courage to keep the right pedal pinned. It’s a different sort of an experience to drive the Superb especially for this category of cars. The new luxury sedan from Skoda is a complete charmer for the wheel nut. Hiding under the disguise of the Czech power suit, this Skoda is an athletic high-school German lad who excels at every sport on the field. The steering feel, the urgency of the engine sound, the dance of the tacho needle, the reassuring way it responds to the orders to change directions – the Superb is much, much more than just a luxury saloon. It fuses an accomplished driver’s car into a family saloon and catches the connoisseur by surprise.

On the other hand, the Accord is a more laid back, softer car. Its unrelenting focus is on luxury and it somehow feels turned out more to the taste of the guy who would want to sit in the backseat. The steering wheel, the Civic-esque interior is contemporary and looks modern but somehow doesn’t invite you to drive it. Even with the 180PS of power, the Honda doesn’t quite deliver the sporty feel that the Superb manages to serve up with its relatively lesser 160 horses. The seven-speed auto on the Skoda with closely spaced ratios and the brilliant DSG ‘box weaves it’s magic and takes the Superb to 100km/h from a standstill in less than 10 seconds as against the Accord which takes about 2 seconds more to reach that mark.

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The Accord makes its presence felt, both to the onlookers and to the driver. It feels expansive from inside and makes the driver wary of its dimensions. The Superb wraps itself around the man behind the wheel and asks him to charge on. The softer suspension on the Accord absorbs rough surfaces more silently than its Czech counterpart, but there is a slight bounce at the rear when you try passing over a trademark Pune speed breaker at anything over the prescribed speed limit of 10km/h. The Accord is well damped and soft but the Skoda has better poise. It’s slightly stiff and the wheels make a thuddy noise as you try to negotiate potholes, but once the speed builds up, the Skoda feels unshakeable unlike the Honda which is relatively wavy. There is a world of difference in the way the two cars behave when hurled around corners. The Skoda is a proper athlete and isn’t averse to being subjected to some torture around the twisties. Of course the underpinnings aren’t custom designed to create a virtual rail track ahead of the car around the hilly roads as you stomp the accelerator pedal with disdain. It’s no BMW 3 Series or Audi A4 3.2 FSI Quattro but it definitely rewards enthusiastic driving with a fair degree of steering feedback, great body control and commendable composure. Till you decide to go absolutely manic with your need for speed and push your luck to the hilt, the Superb will quench your boy racer fantasies as much as an economical luxury car ever could. The Accord in contrast, even after being reasonably fast, composed and controlled, isn’t really a driver’s car. The body roll, owing to a softer suspension is more pronounced and it doesn’t really appreciate being driven by ruffians. The Skoda has a clear edge over the Honda as far as driving dynamics and a sporty feel goes.

Inside the cabin, the Superb has an electronic playground laid out for you. For the price at which it’s offered, it almost looks like overkill for a moment. At the centre of it all is the wide drive selector lever dressed in classy chrome and leather bits with DSG proudly emblazoned on the top. This system started a revolution in transmission systems and holds its own even today as carmakers the world over sweat and pant to catch up. An impeccable fit and finish with smart and classy use of chrome and wood inserts in places, makes the interior of the Superb a really nice and luxurious place to be in. The class and elegance is then complimented by a dash of technology with a centrally mounted touch screen control system – quite unlike the other menu driven command systems but hi-tech and convenient to use nonetheless. And to top all that, the interior of this Skoda is so laden with technology, convenience and safety aids that talking even briefly about each one of them will probably make me cross the word limit for this shootout. Eight airbags, adaptive front xenon lamps, ABS with EBD, traction control with anti slip regulation, an electronic differential lock to enhance grip in tricky conditions, hill hold control, tyre pressure monitoring and an advanced Parktronic system are just a few safety and driver aids to begin with. Then there are features and amenities inside that could put a few of the much more expensive luxury limos to shame.

In a nutshell, the Skoda Superb stomps all over the Honda Accord in terms of the features and technology you can avail of. Rupee for rupee, the Czech car has much, much more to offer than its Japanese counterpart. Even the combined front and rear legroom in the Superb is slightly more than in the Accord. The latter, on the other hand, offers a wee bit more shoulder space. Overall, the Superb scores over its Oriental opponent in terms of cabin space too. There is, however, one department where the Honda still manages to outclass its closest competitor. The old Superb resembled its smaller sibling (the Octavia) way too much to be differentiated easily from a distance. It didn’t have the presence or the appeal to justify its Rs 20+ lakh price tag. In its newest guise, the Superb looks much better with wraparound headlamps, a new grille, a more curvaceous body replete with classy chrome inserts and distinctive tail lamps but it still doesn’t have that character to make people turn around for a second look.The Accord with its wide and aggressive stance in addition to an eclectic mix of curves and angles looks like a proper luxury car. With size and style to its advantage, the Accord will probably appeal more to the guy who wants people to acknowledge that he has spent a lot of money on a big, classy looking luxury car. For the discerning auto aficionado, however, the relatively humble design of the Superb will probably be discounted in favour of its other virtues.

Verdict
We didn’t have to think too hard about this one. The 2009 Superb quite clearly outclasses its Japanese nemesis in almost every perceptible department. At an equivalent price, the Czech car offers a whole lot more to the customer in terms of safety, technology, luxury, driving dynamics and performance. We have always said, and still do, that the Accord is a mighty tough contender to beat in its class, but the Superb has achieved the feat and quite comfortably so. It just goes to show the wonders its association with parent VW Group has done to the Czech brand. The new Superb is a formidable player in its segment and it’ll take a Herculean effort from any other carmaker to give it a good fight. Skoda will shortly introduce the 2.0-litre TDI PD engine for the car with a slightly higher price tag which will make it an even more sensible buy over the Honda. We just hope the Japanese firm introduces its wonderful 2.2-litre diesel mill soon enough in the Accord to thwart the ominous challenge posed by the new player in the field. Till then, we think the Accord has only its looks and style guarding its fortunes against the latest Czech assault.

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