Skoda Superb

New executive hatchback joins the estate version in offering limo-like space at a keen price On sale July Price from £34,875

- Chris Haining

WHILE ESTATE CARS are just the thing for carrying a couple and their luggage on a romantic weekend getaway, many people associate them with much less glamorous pursuits. Less 'escape to Chamonix' and more lug that old dishwasher to the tip'. This is where the Skoda Superb hatchback comes in. As an alternative to the Superb Estate launched earlier this year, it's still deeply practical, but disguises that with a more streamlined shape.

Just how 'deeply practical' is it, though? Well, its 645-litre boot is so cave-like that you might expect to find Neolithic paintings daubed around it. It's only 45 litres smaller than the estate's, and dwarfs that of the Audi A6 saloon - let alone the Audi A4 that counts among the Superb's executive rivals. True, the estate's more upright rear end means it'll take bulky items more easily, but you'll still get that broken Hotpoint into the hatchback if you fold the rear seatbacks down.

Of course, the Superb has always been just as good at carrying people as it is their belongings. It takes a much pricier car - a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, for instance - to beat a Superb for rear leg room, and you'll need to be way beyond six feet tall before head room begins to get tight.