What are they like inside?

Diesel saloons often rack up big miles, so a comfortable driving position is absolutely crucial. The Superb’s is tough to fault; its steering wheel, pedals and supportive seat all line up neatly with one another and both front seats are electrically adjustable.

You sit higher in the Optima and its manually adjusting seats aren’t as supportive around the shoulder area. However, both cars come with adjustable lumbar support to help ward off lower back pain after hours behind the wheel.

You’ll have few issues getting the hang of either dashboard. Big, easy-to-hit buttons are the order of the day in both cars, and although the Superb's interior is finished with better quality materials, the Optima's doesn’t feel at all low-rent.

The Superb gets an easy-to-use 6.5in touchscreen sat-nav as standard, although if you spend an extra £850 you’ll get a more sophisticated system that provides a larger 8.0in screen and other gadgets, including a wi-fi hotspot.

The Optima has a similarly intuitive 7.0in touchscreen (the 8.0in one pictured is reserved for ‘3’ and ‘4’ trim levels). It’s bright and quick to respond to screen presses and, as with the Superb, you get sat-nav, Bluetooth, a DAB radio and a USB socket.

If outright space is your priority, there’s no contest. The Optima is by no means cramped inside, but the Superb is simply vast; it’s almost as long as cars from the class above and has more rear leg room than anything this side of a luxury limo.

If you plan to carry tall people in the back, or just want to make your passengers feels as special as possible, there are few better options than Skoda’s flagship. But a couple of six–footers will still fit quite easily in the back of the Kia – even if the swooping roofline means head room tails off.

Unsurprisingly, the Superb also has the much bigger boot. The space isn’t particularly clever – there’s a big lip at the entrance and no height-adjustable floor – but the sheer amount of it more than makes amends.

Meanwhile, the Optima’s boot is actually broader than the Superb’s at its widest point, but quickly tapers towards the rear seats. The Kia’s saloon boot isn’t as easy to access as the Skoda’s hatchback opening, either.

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