[RobUK]

Had to drop off the g/f's car to have something looked at the other day and the dealership lent me a CT200h F Sport for the day. Yes it has no place being compared with a 3 Series, but you can't help drawing comparisons about certain things so thought I'd bore you all with a few musings...





Good points:
- There's a toggle switch for the mirrors, auto/off. When set to auto the mirrors fold/unfold automatically when the car is locked/unlocked. Think I actually prefer this to holding the lock button on the keyfob (which I always figure will drain the keyfob battery faster).
- Build quality is up there with the best. Car didn't rattle, creak, etc. Switch gear all very nice soft-touch stuff.
- Quiet window/mirror motors. I'd say the motors BMW uses are louder.
- Little wind noise (when I eventually got to 70mph).
- Rear view camera screen incorporated into rear view mirror. When it's off the mirror appears to be just a bog standard mirror. Nice touch for those without a nav screen.
- Stock sound system is better than the F30 stock sound system (although DAB reception around Sussex/Surrey wasn't too hot).

Bad points:
- Utterly utterly gutless. After a few miles of trying to make reasonable progress I just gave up and settled back into plodding along. 316i ES owners would eat this thing for breakfast.
- Low profile tyres gave it a ridiculously crashy/jarring ride. My 18s feel positively serene by comparison.
- Tyre noise. Was expecting the car to be quiet but tyre noise was much worse than my F30. Quite intrusive which is rather un-Lexus like.
- Gear lever is this weird handle that just looks
- USB audio port sits in the centre console and has this stupid flap over it that has to be open if you have a USB stick plugged in. Looked very untidy and would be easily knocked/broken.
- Poor rear visibility, again worse than an F30.
- I covered over 250 miles mostly on country roads and got 44.1mpg. For 'gentle' driving with few stops/starts that's nowhere near the claimed 68.9 combined mpg figure, and it's only around 6mpg better than my 328i. Sure there's lots of variables but I expected better from a hybrid that is marketed as 'green'.
- Foot operated parking brake - hate 'em!

Eventually decided this car is the automotive equivalent of a wig - pretending to be something it isn't.

[NISFAN]

Does that mean you might consider trading the beemer in on one?

[RobUK]

Originally Posted by NISFAN

Does that mean you might consider trading the beemer in one?

I used to own an IS300 years ago and that was underpowered for a 3L straight six, but this thing couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding!

[NISFAN]

Originally Posted by RobUK

I used to own an IS300 years ago and that was underpowered for a 3L straight six, but this thing couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding!

ha ha yes, and not great fuel economy if driven hard.

The plastic centre console really does look gash in the pic. Typical 1990's Japanese type look.

[changed]

Had a long conversation with my dad about these, as he was thinking about getting one... They are the dodgy hybrid thingies... It has loads of gadgets and gizmos, but as you say totally gutless. He bought a golf!!

Look quite nice though.....

[rich1068]

Aren't they re-bodied Prius?