[MashinBenzin]

We are starting to think about the next family car to replace my wife's Auris. For a long time, a mid-size SUV has been the likely choice. However, now we are thinking that maybe the 440i can become her car and this opens up bigger SUVs that I would be more comfortable driving. As others have highlighted, boot space is relatively limited on the mid-size SUVs and the bigger ones fix that.

It's going to be a few months until we change, so will be updating this thread as the various options get looked at and test driven. It will provide me with a useful reference!

So far...

Tesla Model X - test driven last summer and ruled out for an interior that is a million miles away from the expectations of the ticket price. Lengthy write up in another thread.

Volvo XC60 - had a good look around one this week. Very solid contender, like the interior a lot although some parts are lower quality than the F36. Concerns are four cylinder only and limited boot space. Test drive to be arranged.

Volvo XC90 - as the XC60 really. Boot space issue fixed and an even nicer interior. Slightly too big? At that price, other six cylinder models become an option (see below). Test drive to be arranged.

Porsche Cayenne - had a look yesterday. Seems very nice. Had a good chat with the sales manager and I will contact him for a test drive in the next couple of weeks. Great interior, although the showroom model didn't show it off to the best - too dark for me.
EDIT - Test driven and written up

Range Rover Sport - hadn't even considered these until Chris got his and his thread got me thinking. So far this is my favourite, stunning showroom appeal. Will be test driving. Impressed with the dealer so far - extended test drive offer etc.

Others to be considered include the SQ5.

Hopefully the test drive thoughts will be of some interest as I add them with pics too :-)

[teaston]

Not tempted at all by the new X3, or upcoming new X5?

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by teaston

Not tempted at all by the new X3, or upcoming new X5?

Looked at the X3 and quite liked it. Also interested to see how the X5 turns out. In all honesty though, much as I love BMWs it's time to try a different brand. Especially if we are keeping the 440i, it will be nice to have two very different cars. Will really miss iDrive though, I think it's the best system by far.

[Rbrown]

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

Looked at the X3 and quite liked it. Also interested to see how the X5 turns out. In all honesty though, much as I love BMWs it's time to try a different brand. Especially if we are keeping the 440i, it will be nice to have two very different cars. Will really miss iDrive though, I think it's the best system by far.

Have you tried the idrive on new X3? It’s great!

Get a M40i....you know you want to!!!!

[mcoops]

What are your thoughts on the F-Pace? Friends of ours have the S. Quick, sounds hilarious for an SUV, and lovely to look at outside. I don't like the interior at all though.

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by Rbrown

Have you tried the idrive on new X3? ItÂ’s great!

Get a M40i....you know you want to!!!!

Lovely engine in the M40i think we need a bit more variation between the two cars though. No doubt I'll want to drive the 440i all the time for the engine!

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by mcoops

What are your thoughts on the F-Pace? Friends of ours have the S. Quick, sounds hilarious for an SUV, and lovely to look at outside. I don't like the interior at all though.

Good point, the F-pace should have been on the list as an outside shot.

Actually, it was launched just when I was looking to buy my last car and there was a time when I thought I would buy one - based on early press reviews. Thought the interior looked a bit poor in the brochures and actually never looked at one; then bought the F36.

Will try and look at one this time around, but suspect it will fall short of most rivals. Great looking SUV though.

[Goneinsixtyseconds]

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

Good point, the F-pace should have been on the list as an outside shot.

Actually, it was launched just when I was looking to buy my last car and there was a time when I thought I would buy one - based on early press reviews. Thought the interior looked a bit poor in the brochures and actually never looked at one; then bought the F36.

Will try and look at one this time around, but suspect it will fall short of most rivals. Great looking SUV though.

Personally I like large SUV's. Sorry to all the X3 and Q5 owners on here, but I just expect to see a Mum driving mid size SUV's.

I know large SUV's still get that a bit, but not to the same extent. We tried the X5, XC90 and the Q7. At the start I was adamant I didn't want a Q7, couldn't warm to the looks. But, it drives much much better than the 2 litre XC90 and the refinement and space is much better than the X5. In the end we both agreed on it.

I watched loads of group reviews and I was surprised to see the Q7 winning most of those too, so obviously not alone in our opinion.

Didn't drive an F Pace, but it is a good compromise choice. Size wise it is bigger than most mid size SUV's, but not as big as the cars we tried.

Had a Jag before, when refinement meant everything to them. Fully loaded and top quality leather always came as standard. Now they're trying to compete with the Germans, the interior quality has actually dropped. Same nasty leather as BMW as standard puts me off.

[Goneinsixtyseconds]

I also like the look of the new Touareg that's coming. And at a lower price than the other German rivals, I might give it a go in a few years when the Q7 goes.

Nothing from Land Rover really appeals anymore. Prices are ridiculous and the last two cars released, Disco and Velar, look weird to me.

[....,,,,..,,..]

Obviously you are looking at SUV's but what about the larger Hearses ?

C63 or C43

RS4 or RS6

540i xdrive Tourer

Plenty internal space without the need for two parking spaces

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by Brigand

Obviously you are looking at SUV's but what about the larger Hearses ?

C63 or C43

RS4 or RS6

540i xdrive Tourer

Plenty internal space without the need for two parking spaces

Wife hates hearses, and the more upright space of a SUV plus higher driving position really appeals to me. Think it will make for a more relaxing place to be.

RS6 would be lovely though

Alex440 the new Touareg does look good and the Q7 should be checked out too. Very interesting to read about your comparisons and I've seen the same in magazines etc, where it tends to win against the competitors.

[MashinBenzin]

Had a meeting free period around lunchtime today and was able to take my first test drive.

Porsche Cayenne S
Very impressed with this. 2.9 V6 turbo 440hp, I'm guessing that's the RS5 engine. Performance wise, very similar to the 440i if slightly less sonorous. The engine easily overcame the two tonne plus weight and had power in hand at all times.

The Cayenne is a bit of a physics botherer, which I should have expected from the reviews over the years. This was a well equipped model with PASM and air suspension. Handled very fluidly and felt no heavier or more cumbersome than my F36, although conscious of the width in narrower lanes. All in all it was a very enjoyable drive and the gearbox felt as good as the ZF8.

Ride quality was pretty good on 21s, although the Cayenne - especially in this spec - is clearly at the sporty end of SUVs. There was just a slightly unsettled motion on the motorway a couple of times, but today was pretty windy and this was on a fairly exposed section of the M4 near the Severn estuary.

Static qualities - really like the new Cayenne interior. The 12" main screen is outstanding, the capacitive(?) buttons on the centre console look great and the digital dials/display seem to be an incredible set up. Satnav graphics terrible compared with iDrive, but believe that running google maps fixes that. All in all, there was far too much tech and too many features to even begin to take in on a half hour test drive, but very impressive.

Leather dash and door tops lifted the interior.

Cost wise, this looked an expensive one, I think it even had the new coated low dust brakes. So I have to bear in mind that any Cayenne S I was aiming for would have a lot less in the way of options.

Photos are just quick iPhone snaps, so don't really do the car justice. Will pop them in the next post.

[MashinBenzin]

Exterior

[MashinBenzin]

Interior

[Jack_is_Back]

Jaguar i-Pace perhaps?

[Tengocity]

I was very impressed by the new Cayenne at Geneva, probably the one car I spent most time looking over actually. It's huge inside without looking too big on the outside. I think it's very handsome, a simple design update but very modern looking. New interior is nice step up and felt a very nice place to be.

You're right about the engine- same as RS5.

Give those two cars are a similar price the Cayenne looks like spectacular value to me- such a lot of high quality car and great engineering for the money.

But as you've alluded to already, you can easily rack up a lot in extras!

I'm interested to see what price difference there is when the hybrid ones are available, but really ought to get a test drive sorted.

What was the refinement at speed on the motorway like?

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Jack_is_Back

Jaguar i-Pace perhaps?

It's a pretty good looking package all round. I'm just not sure what the infrastructure is right yet for me personally. I'd need this type of car to do long journeys from down south to Scotland and that only seems feasible with a Tesla using the their supercharger network.

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

I was very impressed by the new Cayenne at Geneva, probably the one car I spent most time looking over actually. It's huge inside without looking too big on the outside. I think it's very handsome, a simple design update but very modern looking. New interior is nice step up and felt a very nice place to be.

You're right about the engine- same as RS5.

Give those two cars are a similar price the Cayenne looks like spectacular value to me- such a lot of high quality car and great engineering for the money.

But as you've alluded to already, you can easily rack up a lot in extras!

I'm interested to see what price difference there is when the hybrid ones are available, but really ought to get a test drive sorted.

What was the refinement at speed on the motorway like?

Funnily enough, I was just coming back to say that I hadn't mentioned refinement as the salesman had opened the pano roof. All very pleasant, but meant no impression of the refinement. Something for the second test drive!

That's a great point about similar cost to the RS5, that puts the cost into perspective. The Cayenne is at another level in quality and prestige, plus the obvious size and practicality benefits.

It's definitely a very special car, both to sit in and to drive. I'm sure I could spend hours immersing myself in the tech and every journey would be a joy.

On the size front - 4.9 metres long, so pretty big and very wide too. Definitely one for the far corners of the supermarket car park, but then so is anything in this class. It certainly shrunk around me to drive.

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

It's a pretty good looking package all round. I'm just not sure what the infrastructure is right yet for me personally. I'd need this type of car to do long journeys from down south to Scotland and that only seems feasible with a Tesla using the their supercharger network.

Likewise for me. I don't feel quite ready to give up the flexibility (and fun factor) of fuel yet.

As an aside, coincidentally the test route today covered much the same roads as the test I had in a Model X last year. There really is no comparison, the Porsche feels twice the car that the Tesla is. Particularly in build, structural rigidity and interior quality.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by Alex440

Personally I like large SUV's. Sorry to all the X3 and Q5 owners on here, but I just expect to see a Mum driving mid size SUV's.

Remind me again, what does your wife drive??

I had an E class estate and an A6 saloon and just found them a bit unwieldy when negotiating office / shopping centre / rail station car parks. Occasionally the Q5 could do with a bit more boot - normally when it has a dog crate in it and there are three of us going somewhere overnight. But I wouldnt trade the size for the size of a Q7.

The Cayenne does look nice though - but easy to get to 6 figure prices on Porsche these days...

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

but easy to get to 6 figure prices on Porsche these days...

And that is just about the price you'll actually pay too. No 20% discounts going there.

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

And that is just about the price you'll actually pay too. No 20% discounts going there.

Or pcp friendly APRs. All too easy to blow £10k+ on interest over the life of a pcp. Fairly unmpressive GFVs on the Porsche website right now, although the dealer was telling me that these are about to be bumped considerably. Vs a similar list RRS a Cayenne GFV is up to 10k less.

And the options...wow. No heated seats on a £68k car. No nice bundles packs to at least ease the pain. £3k for decent wheels and painted arches. God bless 'em. Speccing an S to a decent level is an easy £80k touch. Gulp.

Bloody lovely car though.