This High-Power Skoda Wagon Is Our New Favorite Sleeper

Skoda may not be a familiar brand to most Americans, but it’s a popular automaker across the pond, sitting just below Volkswagen in terms of price. Its flagship model, the Skoda Superb, has been around for two decades now. The company has seen fit to celebrate the occasion not with a middling special edition, but a high-horsepower version of the wagon. Packing a modified 2.0-liter turbocharged VW engine, the tuned Superb puts out 470 horsepower. We covered it previously, but now we finally get to see it in action.

The vehicle was recently featured on the CAR magazine YouTube channel, where it was tested on some twisty backroads. While the tweaked engine isn’t the only upgrade, it’s definitely the centerpiece. The standard 2.0-liter has received a bigger turbo, a new intake and downpipe, and other supporting modifications.

The chassis has been gone through as well. RE Performance, which did the engine modifications, lowered the car by two inches and added a set of stickier tires. The brakes have also been upgraded to larger rotors with six-piston calipers. Besides that, it’s visually identical to a stock Skoda, even featuring the factory 18-inch wheels.

The unfortunate part of this whole upgrade package is that the vehicle is a one-off. While it was officially sanctioned by Skoda and is mostly just a stock, high-trim Superb, the automaker has no plans to put it into production. That’s a shame, because it’s putting down performance numbers akin to an Audi RS4 wagon.

While the appeal among enthusiasts for fast wagons seems high, their market stateside is admittedly small. No American brand builds a station wagon anymore, for good reason. It’s a niche version of a sedan body style, which itself is not as popular as it used to be.

That said, many cool cars have limited appeal to a broad audience. With its green exterior and plush brown leather interior, this modified Skoda would have at least one interested customer if it were taken on a boat ride to America.