There’s one way to describe the most interesting attribute of the Skoda Superb. I’m sitting here in the back, behind a driver’s seat that is set for all 6’2” of me. And there’s room enough to comfortably use my laptop, more room, indeed, than in a first-class seat in a plane. Much more room.

The Superb is Skoda’s limo. Longer than the Passat on whose platform it is based, and from which it is stretched, and just the right job for a long trip. Just the right price too, because the review car with its 1.9-litre TDi engine costs less than E33,000.

The main thing wrong with it is the gloom of the interior of this particular car, leavened only slightly by spatters of chromising. Apart from the headlining and the trim on the pillars, it is black or charcoal all the way. Still, I know there’s wood effect as you drive further up the price chain, along with a bright beige trim option. I'd like to see a brighter detailing in the instrumentation too.

Another problem, probably peculiar to me, is that as a rear seat passenger getting tired, I lean my head back ... and it wedges against the taper of the roof.

But my legs fit. And my arms and elbows and shoulders too. Try as hard as possible, and I just can’t get my knees to touch the back of the driver’s seat in front of me. All in all the Superb is an eminently comfortable car.

It is well equipped too. The safety systems include dual front airbags and side bag units. ABS and traction control are naturally there. And even the (obligatory abroad) emergency warning triangle in the boot. A massive boot where things could get mislaid.

The comfort fixtures include full climate control (but not dual zone), a front-load CD sound system, and the now-famous ‘wet case’ umbrella compartment in the left rear door (complete with umbrella). Designed so any excess water drains away and you have a nice dry brolly when you need it next.

The glove compartment, and the central storage box between the seats, can be chilled with the airconditioning, the last just the job for the half bottle of Chablis to quench the long journey, for passengers only, of course.

Which is possibly why I’m still sitting in the rear. Truth is, I like it back here. Except that we’re not getting anywhere. I need a driver.

Hmmph. No one around. OK, guess the Chablis will have to wait.

Switching on from the front is satisfying, as the thrmmmmm of the 130bhp turbodiesel winds up. Once cleared for takeoff, the familiar VW power unit - which in smaller applications turns them into sporty cars - proves itself more than a match for the extended metalwork of the Superb. It is, still, one of the great engines, and a very real reason why we should consider oilburners today to have any performance par with petrol units, except that they’re more frugal and can even be cleaner.

I say ‘more than a match’ advisedly in this instance, because there’s enough oomph in this particular version of the car to make the traction control cut in even on a dry road when moving off. It just requires a slightly enthusiastic right foot to generate a correction requirement. I wouldn’t worry about it. But imagine if you have the 155bhp 2.5 turbodiesel under your hoof?

On the road, the long wheelbase is part of the reason for a very composed ride, while the steering was well able to cope with even the third world road surfaces (and non-surfaces) around Straffan in Co Kildare (which is why a lot of the K Club guests are helicoptered in, I guess).

Roll on the Ryder Cup, at least we’ll probably get the roads done up?

Truly, though, if there was going to be any unhappiness in the ride and handling, it is where I’d have noticed it. And I didn’t. That made the compariosn all the greater when I had, the following day, to drive a smaller and lesser car around some of the same roads and felt every bump and crater. But saying that is not at all a disservice to the smaller car.

There mustn’t be too many of these Superbs around yet, because I was getting intrigued looks from quite a number of other motorists who may have thought it was an Octavia coming towards them, and then became bemused by the length and general turnout of the vehicle.

Understandable, because the maker saw no reason to much modify the general shape of the Skoda emblem on the front (and, indeed, the rear badge requires a close read to know what the car is). That probably reflects a confidence in the Skoda name which couldn’t have been envisioned even five years ago.

The question has to be asked, though, as to what is the market for the Superb? Despite the luxurious brochure produced to reflect the high quality of the car itself, it might be too much a distance to bridge the image gap between the Czech car and, say, a Rover 75, albeit one at entry level. For the same money, you’d also get a new Opel Vectra in Elegance trim with its splendid 2.2 DTR engine.

But neither car provides an umbrella. Nor anything like the room. Still, if you were in the business of being chauffeur-driven, would you WANT to be driven in a Skoda?

Personally, I wouldn’t mind at all. A small modification so that I had a suitable tray to rest the laptop on, and I could get a lot of work done while Charles or Charlotte took car of the chore end of the motoring. And the front glove compartment would easily hold a FULL bottle of Chablis.

I dunno. I think they should be flogging these goodo to the limo hire trade, to the funeral and wedding car brigade, and to those taxi-drivers who take a real pride in their work and their customers’ comfort.

Maybe that’s not where Skoda in Ireland see their place. But it is a good market, and one where they would have a real price and reliability advantage. This car has a pair of pedigrees, in original name from when Skoda was between the wars a highly-respected brand, and more latterly because the VW ownership and fixing up has made it a marque today that rivals its own.

A Mercedes E-Class competitor it ain’t. But hey, how many of the above potential owners can afford a new LWB Mercedes? As one of their passengers, it wouldn't matter a jot to me if there's a three-pointed star or a bright green bird on the grille.