Latest news with #familycars
Top Gear
27-05-2025
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Skoda Superb Estate
Recently, I've been scurrilously accused of being 'sponsored by Skoda' after a mere couple of mentions about how good the Superb Combi is at real life. Okay, so it might have been more than a couple of mentions. Repeatedly. But one of the main ways to assess whether or not a car is successful is to look at the mission statement. If the vehicle does what it is designed to do with a bit of flair, then it's a success - which is why journalists complaining about on-the-limit handling in family cars, or bootspace in supercars makes my teeth itch. If you can manage surprise in the compromise, all to the good, but it's not a core value. Advertisement - Page continues below The truth is in just 3k miles, I've found that the Superb Estate does everything I need it to. Very fast cars on the road are fun, but their window of opportunity is vanishingly small if you can hit 100mph in second gear. I'm far more likely to be rolling back from Heathrow at 11pm after being awake for longer than is strictly healthy and for that, I need comfort, anonymity and ease. Which the Skoda has in spades - and yes, the massive range feeds into that; you don't need to fill it up very much when you can nudge 800-miles to a tank on a motorway cruise. On the flipside, it's got space that shames vans. Think a Mercedes E-Class Estate is big? That runs 615-litres of loadspace in the back with the seats and everything else in place, 1,830-litres with the seats down. The Superb? Some 690-litres and 1,920-litres seats down - and that's enough to notice, not a points victory. And the Merc starts at £60k for the E220d 2.0-litre diesel with the same power as the Superb. And it's not just me. My dog Frank loves it, the kids love it - and they're full-sized humans at this point, not stump-legged toddlers - even my aged parents love it thanks to the generous door openings and space for arthritic-slash-plastic knees. It doesn't stop there though. In a recent test, I found myself testing a triplet of new double-cab pickup trucks, which, under HMRC's new rules, are now taxed as cars and can't reclaim the VAT that made them so appealing. A plain old big estate car is more economical, handles better, has more equipment, is cheaper, more comfy, more secure and faster. Advertisement - Page continues below It even tows - not quite as much as a pickups, but enough to deal with a caravan or trailer. In fact, the only thing the pickups did better was handle big, awkward loads and serious off-roading, and the Superb in this AWD form was more than capable of a wet field (which is what most people need, if we're honest) even if it can't handle ruts or water troughs.
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Auto reviewer shreds 'dumb' car features nobody wanted... but they're stuck with them anyway
Car companies are spending billions to pack vehicles with more screens, sensors, and semi-intelligent assistants. Some of it works: adaptive cruise control, automatic child locks and phone mirroring have made driving safer and more family-friendly. But much of it is 'just dumb.' That's the opinion of Kristen Brown, who has driven hundreds of vehicles — from rugged off-roaders to bloated minivans — for outlets like A Girls Guide to Cars. As a mom of two toddlers, she often evaluates new features while wrangling car seats, dropped toys, and rambunctious kids. Her verdict: these million-dollar tech innovations are bloating car prices. Plus, many of the features are redundant and not built for real life — especially for mothers. 'I see cars from a different perspective than other reviewers,' she said. 'My goal is to speak to an underrepresented, underserved, and unappreciated audience.' Here are the features Brown says aren't worth the hype. In-cabin fridges Luxury SUVs and minivans have started offering built-in fridges, often as high-priced add-ons. Brown encountered one in a $59,869 Toyota Sienna priced at $735 — and found it almost completely useless. 'You can't take the fridge out of the car, like you can with a $35 cooler from REI,' she said. 'The fridge barely kept our drinks cool.' Worse, it became a cumbersome hazard. She tripped over it while securing her daughter's car seat. Built-in navigation systems Massive infotainment screens that mirror phone apps have become standard across the industry. That's fine — until automakers force in their own navigation systems. 'It's redundant to have its own dedicated navigation system,' Brown said. 'Why can't they just give us the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto?' Brown said there is a bit of a distinction: EVs and plug-in hybrids can benefit from automaker-produced navigation settings. Built-in maps in electric vehicles can help plan charging stops and precondition the battery for faster fill-ups. But for gas cars, third-party apps are more reliable and easier to use. Voice Recognition Touchscreens are distracting, so automakers are turning to voice commands to keep eyes on the road. Brown's take: most don't work. 'Voice recognition is redundant to me,' she said. Recently, she test drove a Kia Carnival, and found its voice-command particularly egregious. 'Every time I tried to make it do basic stuff it misunderstood me or didn't work.' Sometimes, the cars have even misheard regular conversations with activation phrases, starting the voice recognition software in error without being prompted. Ventilated seats Some drivers love cooled seats, but Brown isn't sold. Unlike seat warmers, cooled seats only circulate a small amount of air through the seat and back panels. To Brown, they don't change a body's temperature enough to justify the often hundred-dollar add-on. The internal fans are also prone to breaking, she said — and replacing them isn't cheap. Brown praised Toyota's phone storage systems, which can turn off wireless charging pads Wireless phone charging New vehicles often include wireless charging pads inside center consoles. In theory, they encourage drivers to stash their phones. In practice, they overheat devices and wreck battery health, according to Brown. 'They're dumb,' she said. 'They always just make my phone really hot, and it's actually really bad for your phone's battery health.' But one automaker earns a pass: Toyota. Some of its models, including the GR Corolla and Sienna, include a power-off button for the pad — allowing phones to be stored safely without constant heat buildup. Leading car warnings Some new cars now alert drivers when the vehicle ahead starts to pull away at a red light. If the driver in the new car doesn't start to pull forward, the leading car warning will chime. Brown loves the feature, saying that it helps when she has to take her eyes off the road while stopped to retrieve fallen toys dropped by her children. But her in-laws hate the tech. They think its a reminder of how much cars monitor driving habits. 'It's definitely a generational thing,' she said.
