2021 Skoda Superb Scout 200TSI 4×4 Review

When it comes to family cars, Czech car maker Skoda is at the top of the game. Sitting in the Volkswagen Group as the practical and pragmatic brand, Skoda somehow manages to scoop out the maximum amount of interior space out of modest exterior dimensions and in a world of buyers supposedly seeking practicality thanks to huge SUV sales, we think they should be selling stronger than they currently are. Skoda does too, and is on a big product offensive. Enter the 2021 Skoda Superb Scout.

Skoda offers the Superb in three models in Australia: the entry-level 162TSI, top-spec Sportline and the model we tested: the Scout. Initially, the Scout was a limited edition model that plugged the production gap between the pre-updated model and the Australian-spec Sportline. But Skoda decided to return the Scout to Australia permanently and we love a raised wagon at DiscoverAuto. So let’s see what it’s like and whether you should have one over a Skoda Karoq.

Price & Equipment: 7/10

Priced from $63,990 drive away, the 2021 Skoda Superb Scout sits at the mid-point of the Superb range in Australia with the lesser powered 162TSI priced at $54,990 drive away and the Sportline sitting above at $64,990. 

Almost $64,000 drive away is not a small amount of money, so what does the Superb Scout buy you? Quite a lot, actually. 18-inch alloy wheels, LED lighting, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear lever, tri-zone climate control, a 9.2-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, digital radio, wireless phone charging, a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display, a 10-speaker Canton sound system, auto lights and wipers, half-leather and suede upholstery with heated front and rear seats, a heated steering wheel, 12-way electrically adjustable front seats with memory functionality, adaptive dampers with selectable driving modes, keyless entry and start with auto-folding and heated mirrors, an electric bottled with kick-to-open functionality, roof rails, automatic parking, tinted windows with blinds for the second row and paddle shifters.

There are also the usual Skoda ‘simply clever’ features such as an umbrella and bin in the driver’s door, a tablet holder on the back of the front seats and a parking ticket holder on the A-pillar. 

Standard safety kit includes nine airbags, auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, Matrix headlights, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control with stop and go functionality, traffic jam assist, emergency assist, driver fatigue monitoring, front and rear low-speed automatic braking, tyre pressure monitoring, a reversing camera with front and rear parking sensors and an alarm. 

Even at this price, a handful of options are available for the Superb Scout, including larger 19-inch wheels for $900, a $1,900 panoramic sunroof and premium paint that ranges from $770 (‘Lava Blue’, ‘Brilliant Silver’, ‘Quartz Grey’, ‘Magic Black’ and ‘Moon White’) to $1,100 (‘Velvet Red’) and $1,700 (‘Tangerine Orange’). Just one interior colour is available: black. 

Traditional jacked-up wagon competitors to the Superb Scout are few and far between – the less expensive Subaru Outback Touring is priced at $52,390 drive away, while the slightly more expensive Volkswagen Passat Alltrack 162TSI is $65,000 drive away and the more expensive Volvo V60 Cross Country is $71,500 drive away.

Performance & Economy: 9/10

The 2021 Skoda Superb Scout in Australia with a sole engine option: a 200kW/350Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine that also features in a number of other Volkswagen Group cars. In this tune, it produces 200kW of power and 250Nm of torque, and it’s matched to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and an all-wheel drive system. 

It’s a wonderful engine. Punchy, fast and great sounding, the Superb Scout hustles in quite an unexpected way. Thanks to its unassuming exterior, you don’t expect it to be quick and with a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of just 5.7 seconds, it feels pretty fast. Particularly punchy is the mid-range where the peak 350Nm is produced, and the noise it produces is pretty nice as well. Interestingly, thanks to the seven-speed transmission, it’s actually quicker than the more powerful (206kW) Superb Sportline, which hits 100km/h in 6.0 seconds flat.

The 200kW engine in the Superb places it comfortably at the top of the segment for performance – especially in comparison with the lacklustre 138kW 2.5L non-turbo petrol engine in the Subaru Outback, which manages to also use more fuel than the Superb. The Superb Scout is also 38kW more powerful than the Passat Alltrack 162TSI, but thanks to it using a newer engine, it’s also 1L/100km thriftier with fuel. The Superb Scout is capable of towing 2,200kg and features an 90kg tow ball weight.

Speaking of fuel consumption, Skoda claims that the Superb Scout will use 7.1L/100km of premium unleaded and in mixed driving, we achieved 8.8L/100km. Because the Superb Scout has a petrol particulate filter, it must be filled with 98RON fuel – Australia’s awful fuel quality means that only the best fuel is safe from clogging it up. Filling up with any worse quality fuels can cause costly damage to the Superb.

Ride & Handling: 8/10

As with a whole plethora of Volkswagen Group products, the Superb Scout is based on the same MQB platform as the Golf, Passat, Octavia, TT, A3, Tiguan, Kodiaq, etc – though in this application, the platform is stretched thanks to the Superb’s huge 4,863mm length. Like other current Skoda models, the Superb Scout rides well. Adaptive dampers are standard equipment and while the ride is bit floaty in comfort mode for our tastes, normal mode is a better all-rounder. Most Skodas seem to have the perfect ride comfort for Australia’s sub-par roads and the Superb has an absorbent ride quality, even when heading out of town.

But the Superb Scout also handles well, too. Thanks to its all-wheel drive system, it feels stable and solid and gives you confidence over a variety of surfaces. Put it in sport mode, which tightens up the dampers and makes the ride a touch firmer (though the body control is better – a good trade off in our opinion) and the steering a touch heavier for a sportier driving experience. Show the Superb Scout a back road and it impresses with solid handling, great nimbleness despite its 1,635kg kerb weight and – like smaller cars on the same platform – a very sure-footed feel.

Forget any SUV behind the wheel – the Superb rides and drives like a car, which is the best reason to consider it over any SUV. Well, and that its boot is much larger and its interior is more spacious. It’s also quiet at speed on the standard 18-inch wheels, with just some coarse chip tyre roar coming in when in the country. On urban freeways, you’ll hear mostly silence, with just the slightest hint of wind whistle from the door mirrors.

Visibility is excellent for a large car meaning that the Superb is easy to park, something aided by the impressive cameras all round.

Interior & Practicality: 9/10

The interior of the 2021 Skoda Superb Scout is typical Skoda: it’s practical, spacious and full of the latest technology such as a digital driver’s display. It’s also very comfortable with great seats with good bolstering and adjustability, it’s ergonomically great and the quality is great with liberal use of soft touch plastics and quality switchgear. Though we’d love to see the Euro-spec wood trims added to the standard kit. 

Centre of the Superb’s cabin is a 9.2-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio and satellite navigation – though no internet connectivity and no live traffic reporting. The screen quality is excellent, and it’s quick too – though it would be nice to see a 360-degree parking camera added to the standard equipment list. But there is also LED ambient lighting, which can be tuned to your taste with 64 available colours and the Canton sound system is quite configurable as well.

Practicality inside the Superb is excellent with huge flock-lined door bins, medium-sized cupholders, a long-but-shallow tray underneath the armrest, a wireless phone tray, a large glovebox and a secret tray under the steering wheel. The quality of the upholstery is good as well, though it’s not overly plush – the Nappa leather used in the more expensive Passat is nicer to the touch.

The interior space on offer in the Superb Scout is seriously some of the most generous in the new car market today. Even with the front seats slid all the way back, rear seat space is massive with more than ample room for both leg- and headroom. It’s a feature packed rear seat too with blinds, an arm rest with cupholders, a separate climate zone, heated outboard seats, tablet holders, two USB-C charging ports, map pockets and large door pockets.

Bootspace in the Superb Scout is pretty large at 660-litres and folding them down opens it up to a humungous 1,950L – larger than a lot of SUV competitors. The Superb Scout’s boot is also clever with plenty of hooks, tie down points, side boxes, a 12V socket and even a double-sided boot mat. The only feature it doesn’t have is a dual-level boot floor, which means that there’s an annoying ridge between the floor and seat base when the seats are folded. 

Service & Warranty: 7/10

As with other Skoda products in Australia, the 2021 Skoda Superb Scout is covered by a five-year/unlimited km warranty with a year of roadside assistance – the same as both Volkswagen and Subaru – and Volvo covers the V60 Cross Country with five years/unlimited km of both warranty and roadside assistance. While the Subaru’s service intervals are a disappointingly short 12,500km or once yearly, the Superb, Passat and V60 Cross Country are slightly longer at 15,000km.

Servicing the Superb costs $2,708 for five years/75,000km ($542 per service), which is not cheap at all. Thankfully, choosing a service pack at time of purchase is over $1,000 cheaper at $1,700 ($340 per service), and that includes five years of roadside assistance as well. Servicing its rivals is very similar in overall cost – the Outback is $2,452 for five years ($491 per service) but a lesser 62,500km, the Volvo is $2,500 for five years ($500 per service) and the Passat is a huge $3,493 ($698 per service), but a five-year service pack is $2,400 ($480 per service) with five years of roadside assistance included.

The 2021 Skoda Superb Scout DiscoverAuto Rating: 8.0/10

Summarising the 2021 Skoda Superb Scout is easy: it’s an excellent all-rounder, as you’d expect from Skoda. It offers great performance, a lot of standard kit, reasonable running costs (if you purchase a service pack), a great driving experience and, being a Skoda, excellent practicality with massive interior space and clever storage solutions. 

But despite Skoda’s typically low pricing, the Superb Scout is not cheap to buy at almost $64,000 drive away, which makes it more than $11,000 more expensive than the Subaru Outback. But despite this, we think it’s good value because it’s comfortably less expensive than the Volvo V60 Cross Country. We also think that importing the 147TDI diesel would be a good option, especially as the Scout will be a cross-country tourer for a lot of buyers. But regardless, the Superb Scout is a very good car that combines a long list of qualities and the typically endearing Skoda character.