Bought a Superb iV just over 2 weeks ago to replace the 44 month old 1.4 TSi Superb and have to say its absolutely magic.

Which engine does the new one have? And what are you finding different / better in the new one compared with your previous one?

It still uses the 1.4 TSi but I suspect that there will be differences to make it integrate with the hybrid powertrain. No idea why it uses this engine when the 1.4 was replaced by the 1.5 in all other applications, as above I suspect it must be because of changes to make it integrate and since the reasons for replacing the 1.4 in purely petrol models do not apply to the hybrid (emissions) they decided not to change.

As for the differences its pretty much chalk and cheese. Its very different to drive but different in a very good way. So far we have been using it in hybrid mode set to "auto" (the car decides how much electricity to use) with the transmission in "B" mode (better energy recuperation). Unlike every other DSG I have driven in the past (and recently) there is no hesitation pulling away, no hesitation deciding what gear to select approaching a junction and no wondering what gear to use when driving normally, it just gets on with life. We drove a Superb 1.5 TSi DSG and I have to say it was the worst auto I have ever driven, it was totally clueless. Forced into a corner I would have bought a CVT any day (the RAV4 we drove after the Superb 1.5 DSG was actually pretty good but not quite for us - and way more money than we paid for the iV). The 1.5 engine in that car was also noticeably noisier than our old 1.4 but that could have been the simple fact ours was well bedded in.

Its early days yet and I have no idea how accurate the the dash display is (or how it calculates the displayed mpg with regards to charge used) but we have done 2 trips to the MIL's on which the 1.4 TSI would have displayed about 50 mpg on a good day (really 48 mpg). On those 2 trips the iV has displayed 58 mpg but I have not fully charged the battery before either trip. This weekend I will give it a full charge and see if it shows an improvement.

Its got loads more kit compared to the old car one feature being the DCC (dynamic chassis control). Reports I have read suggest that it makes quite a difference and is a worthwhile extra on cars not fitted with it. So far we have simply used it in "normal" mode, another thing to try.

Not tried the go faster button either. That gives you the full combined power of petrol and battery with no consideration of economy. It also puts the suspension into sport setting. But with a big heavy barge its never going to be a Ferrari.

Is it worth the extra over a standard Superb, at retail probably not if you are a private user but that would be different for business users (even if they never charged it). But since we got a very good deal the difference between the iV and a broker supplied Superb 190 TSi DSG was not that great and the projected residuals suggest it should recoup that at resale in 3 years. Add in the fuel savings (hopefully) and it should be happy days

Hope you enjoy hybrid motoring as much as I did.

Thanks and I intend to.

I will not be letting all the negative vibes that many on here post about how modern cars are a disaster waiting to happen. If we had relied on that lot the wheel would never have been invented, far to complicated with way too many moving parts.

During my motoring life I have seen many innovations and every time a group of people in the press and in pubs (before the internet was invented) were on their soap box telling us that the end of the world is nigh. A few examples. When rear seats belts became mandatory many threatened to ignore the law (including my BIL) because the Daily Mail claimed many children would be burned to death in accidents. There have probably been some instances but compared to how many serious injuries and deaths have been prevented I think we have proved that wrong. Then there was the introduction of catalysts and fuel injection. We were told the roads would be littered with broken down cars that would cost loads to repair. Personally I know of only one person since the introduction who has had to replace their catalyst and that was on a 12 year old Corsa. I was told I was mad buying a turbo diesel since the mpg would be appalling and the car would be difficult to drive. We had at least one such car on the drive for over 19 years and they were all brilliant.