Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI Evo 2019 first drive

This is the facelifted version of the third-generation Skoda Superb: the large, hugely practical and comfortable barge championed by airport taxi drivers and sales executives up and down the country.

While that might sound like some sort of snide generalisation, it’s not really, because according to Skoda’s European figures, fleet customers accounted for 82% of Superb sales in 2018. The updates introduced as part of this mid-life refresh are intended to shift that bias even further towards business buyers.

So, what are they? Well, in typical mid-life refresh fashion, the car’s looks haven’t been changed too much. There’s a lightly redesigned front end that incorporates a new foglight and running light design (and also extends the car’s length by 8mm), more chrome, a slightly altered grille and 'Skoda' lettering across the boot lid instead of the classic roundel. The interior has been refreshed along similar lines, with additional chrome and a new digital instrument display being the most noticeable features.

The four-strong engine line-up has been rejigged, while new 148bhp 1.5-litre turbo petrol and 148bhp 2.0-litre diesel units are set to join later this year. The Superb iV plug-in hybrid - Skoda’s first ever electrified model - will make it to the UK in 2020, while the rugged Superb Scout - a lifted, more off-road-friendly version of the estate car - has been introduced in markets other than ours. It's a smart-looking thing, so it's a shame we won't be getting it.

There are six trim levels to choose from, with prices ranging from £24,655 to £40,695, and four-wheel-drive is still available with the most powerful 2.0-litre petrol and diesel engines.

Elsewhere, though, it’s business as usual for the Superb. It remains on the same MQB platform, is still suspended by MacPherson struts and a multi-link arrangement at the rear and is still available in both liftback and estate bodystyles.

We tested the 2.0-litre TDI powerplant, seeing as it’s brand new and expected to be the most popular engine among British buyers when it arrives. It’s the first of the Volkswagen Group's latest-generation 'Evo' diesel engines to be offered in a Skoda, and it develops 148bhp and 266lb ft - all of which is deployed to the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.

It’s hardly sporting or in any way exciting, but you can’t deny that it suits the Superb’s laidback, wafty character to a T. It’s an impressively refined motor, this: hushed, smooth and unintrusive. It’s barely audible from inside at a steady cruise, and even under full-throttle acceleration it still manages to sound distant. Admittedly, you can still very much tell that it’s a compression ignition unit, but it’s one of the good ones.