The Skoda Superb Sleeper Edition embraces exactly what you want from a fast Skoda. It is not the first time that the Czech brand has come up with a nice and somewhat modest estate.
Last week we received some great news from Skoda. It remains a fun recipe, the sleeper. Nothing to see from the outside, but mechanically a bloody fast car. It is often based on the idea that you drive a car for yourself and not for what other people think of it. Skoda embraced the term sleeper with the Superb Sleeper Edition. It is a project of the English branch of Skoda to wave goodbye to the third generation Superb, with a heavily tuned engine in a standard body.
Fast Skoda Station Wagons
It therefore seemed high time to delve into the world of the delightfully alliterative fast Skoda station wagons. Skoda estates are always good all-rounders and that also applies to the sporty versions. And yet they have always been a bit in the somewhat vague corner, a sporty Skoda is a contradiction in terms. VAG bought both SEAT and Skoda so that the former could become somewhat sporty (a kind of Spanish Alfa Romeo) and the latter could become nice and down-to-earth and practical. That makes a fast Skoda unexpectedly fun and therefore a breath of fresh air. High time to take a look at what Skoda had in their arsenal between 2002 and now, sorted as a timeline per model.
Skoda Fabia Combi Paris Concept (6Y)
2002
Funny enough, it all started with the Skoda Fabia. In 2002, Skoda Design fantasized about a kind of top version of the first Skoda Fabia Combi (6Y) for the Paris Motor Show. In terms of body kit, spoiler work and rims, this blue compact sports wagon was fine. Skoda was a bit quiet about the engine. If this were to become a kind of Fabia RS, the 1.9 TDI from the hatchback would probably be installed. Incidentally, the Combi is not as far-fetched as you might think as a sports version. One of @willeme’s favorite facts is that the Combi has a higher top speed than the hatchback due to its teardrop-shaped rear. so you could happily cruise along the Autobahn. We don’t know, because the Fabia Paris remained a concept.
Skoda Fabia Combi RS (5J)
2010
However, a fast Fabia Combi eventually came from the facelift of the second generation. After all, the Fabia always borrows a lot from its brothers from other brands, the SEAT Ibiza and Volkswagen Polo. In the case of the second generation Fabia (5J), Skoda was able to borrow the drivetrain of the Polo GTI (6R). That means, just like the Polo, a 180 hp 1.4 TSI that was only coupled to the DSG for the Fabia RS, but unlike brothers Polo GTI and SEAT Ibiza Cupra, Skoda also put the engine in the Fabia Combi. Quite a nice idea, such a small estate with a powerful engine. Unfortunately, not a resounding success and the only fast Fabia station wagon that you have ever been able to get your hands on.
Skoda Octavia Combi RS (1U)
2002
You would think that the saga of fast Skoda station wagons starts with the Octavia, after all, that was the first completely new car when VAG took over the brand. However, the Octavia only came after the first facelift as (v)RS. We want to clear things up right away: vRS was the name Skoda gave to their fast wagons in the United Kingdom because Ford made a fuss about the name RS. In the rest of the world it was RS, so we will stick with that for this article. Anyway, the pre-facelift of the ‘1U’ did have the 1.8 20V Turbo, but with 150 hp. Only from the facelift onwards was this increased to 180 hp with a sporty body kit. And so the RS label started that the Octavia always carried with it to become the Czech Golf GTI. With the USP that the GTI was never available as a station wagon in Europe.
Skoda Octavia Combi RS (1Z)
2007
And so the tone is set. In the second generation Skoda Octavia, the RS was part of the standard range quite soon after its introduction. As mentioned, the car shares a lot with the Golf GTI and so from the second generation (1Z) you could enjoy the well-known ‘EA113’ 2.0 four-cylinder turbo with 200 hp, and of course the debut of the well-known DSG automatic transmission with dual clutch. That makes the Octavia RS a cool total package: you have to have the Golf for the pure feeling, but as an all-rounder that swallows a large mountain of luggage, the Octavia is a nice option.
Skoda Octavia Combi RS TDI (1Z)
2008
What do you ideally want in a sober, economical family car in 2008? A diesel of course. However, a Skoda Octavia TDI is a very ‘dusty’ car. You buy that with your head, not with your heart. Just like with the Golf GT Sport TDI, Skoda decided to combine the sportiness of the RS with the economy of a diesel. The 2.0 TDI was boosted to 170 hp and a not bad 350 Nm, which made it quite a hoot for a diesel. The only disadvantage of the RS TDI is that it is actually not quite as sporty as a petrol RS and not quite as economical and comfortable as a TDI. A compromise, then. However, if you do it for the thicker stance, sports seats and body kit that come with an RS, we understand.
Skoda Octavia Combi RS/TDI (5E)
2013
And so the fast Skoda station wagon based on the Octavia evolved with the generations of the middle class. The third Octavia also became available as an RS and this time with the updated 2.0 TSI with 220 hp, of course just like the Golf GTI (VII). Volkswagen had also transformed the recipe of the GT Sport TDI into the somewhat simpler called ‘GTD’ and that version also came to the Octavia with the second RS TDI. This also enjoyed a small engine upgrade to 184 hp and 380 Nm and again it is visually almost identical to the petrol RS.
Skoda Octavia Combi RS 230 (5E)
2016
In 2016, the Skoda Octavia Combi RS received a minor update. Virtually nothing changed, but you suddenly got 10 extra hp to reach 230 units. Not entirely surprising: Volkswagen’s EA888 engine family was significantly beefed up for VW’s R models at the time, so you knew there was always room for more.
Skoda Octavia Combi RS 245 (5E)
2017
Because yes: with the facelift of the third Octavia with the controversial headlights, an even hotter Combi RS came, with the addition of ‘245’. Three guesses how many hp it had. To give you an idea: the front-wheel drive Skoda Octavia RS did get a little faster each time. It started at 7.1 seconds to 100 for the 220 hp version, that became 7.0 for the 230 and at the time of the 245 Skoda was able to drop it to 6.7 seconds. Incidentally, the facelift was also where Skoda said goodbye to the RS TDI.
Skoda Octavia Combi RS (NX)
2021
The fourth and current generation of the fast Skoda station wagon in the form of the Octavia is where the brand became a bit cautious. Actually every VAG brand. The RS was offered in Germany and other European markets with the updated exterior and interior, but exactly the same 245 hp 2.0 TSI that also sprints to 100 in exactly 6.7 seconds. No room for extra upgrades compared to the previous generation. And that’s the rest of Europe. In the Netherlands, the all-new Octavia RS was not even offered.
Skoda Octavia Combi iV RS (NX)
2021
There was a replacement product. On paper, even a better recipe. Skoda brought plug-in power to the Octavia RS in the Netherlands as the Octavia iV RS. The regular Octavia iV got the ‘old’ drivetrain of the Golf VII GTE, where the 1.4 TSI with electric power received 204 hp. The iV RS got the drivetrain of the Golf VIII GTE: the same 1.4 TSI, but with more powerful electric motors for a total of 245 hp. Exactly the same as the 2.0 TSI RS for the rest of Europe. But then more economical because of its hybrid system, with the option for electric driving. Unfortunately, that battery did cost a lot of sportiness: in addition to driving behavior, it also cost a lot of money on the sprint, which dropped to 7.3 seconds and was suddenly lower than the original third generation Octavia with 220 hp. A nice idea, but the execution could have been better. A somewhat bittersweet ending in the Octavia saga. Again, we understand if you’re doing it for the execution: the subtle sporty touches of the RS model can always be handled well by the Octavia.
Skoda Superb Combi 3.6 V6 4×4 (3T)
2010
The Octavia’s bigger brother, the Superb, only came as a Combi from the second generation onwards. This was based on the Passat (B6) and was released in 2010, the somewhat strange transition year from the Passat B6 to B7. This meant that Skoda could already bring the renewed technology of the latest Passat to the Superb, but with the well-known engine of the ‘old’ Passat B6. Yes, that was still possible back then: a Superb with the same 3.6 V6, the well-known ‘VR6’, from the Passat R36, only coupled to a DSG and four-wheel drive. By the way, you should not make the mistake of thinking that this is therefore a Superb R36, because the Superb 3.6 was a brother of the Passat B7 with the same engine. The power was reduced to 260 hp and everything that made an R36 a sporty cannon in terms of chassis was missing. But hey, a big V6 in a Superb: who wouldn’t want that? Since it wasn’t officially an RS, you could even get it as a luxurious ‘Laurin & Klement’.
Skoda Superb Combi Sleeper Edition (3U)
2024
That brings us back to the present and the Skoda Superb Combi Sleeper Edition. The thickest and fastest car on this list and perhaps the most antisocially thick Skoda ever built by the brand itself. And that without radiating it: only the lowering and braking reveal the appearance of this Superb Laurin & Klement what Skoda UK has done to the drivetrain. The 2.0 TSI has been boosted to 477 hp and 661 Nm! In addition to a new intercooler and intake system, so the whole thing remains intact in theory. The Sleeper Edition is also based on the AWD version of the Superb, but Skoda does not disclose what it does on the sprint. We can take a guess: it is bloodcurdlingly fast.
‘BONUS’: Skoda Superb RS?
2025?
The two thickest Skodas in terms of raw power or engine are Superbs, but it may be noticeable that neither of them goes in combination with the RS label. Although it is true that the Superb had to do without sporty pretensions for a long time. Only from the facelift version of the third Superb did it get a ‘sporty’ version called Sportline, not RS. Now this was also an optical package, not an engine upgrade.
There is a small chance of change. The CEO of Skoda said during the introduction of the current Superb (3Y) that ‘the door for an RS version is open’. Whether it will ever gain traction and in what form remains to be seen. The easy way is of course to use the iV drivetrain from the Octavia RS, with that 245 hp. We can’t really imagine Skoda spooning in a 2.0 TSI, which is hefty by today’s standards. Although that would certainly not be a problem. The door for a fast Skoda station wagon based on the Superb therefore remains ajar for the time being.
