[jamiem1987]

Originally Posted by Blacktemplar

And what is it with those hideous squared-off wheel arches? Wrong, just....wrong.

Reminds me of the equally gopping Jeep Compass

I think if we're honest all of the suv's are hideous looking things and we'd never buy one because they look good because none of them look anywhere near as good as the saloon / coupe counterpart, had a walk round BMW yesterday and checked out the new m440i series GC which they have in next to a x3m, if it was based on looks alone no one would touch the x3 but the salesman told me the suv's are outselling others by about 3 to 1, times have changed and this suv thing has become the new hatchback...

great idea about keeping an old m3 in the stable to the other poster, I like the idea of a weekend toy

[JustChris]

Originally Posted by JustChris

Well back to the thread title 'Impressive figures' but the test drive less so.

Considering this is pretty booked weeks ago

1. Car filthy inside and out
2. Petrol light on
3. EV Battery Empty

Unbelievable!

This obviously soured things somewhat but I've been out charging the car when driving for a bit. Now have 35 miles and will pick up daughter from work later.

It's not the one for sure. Although the new 2 Active Tourer is no ones darling it shows that 50+ mile PHEV is coming to all the model refreshes and the 3 is due an LCI soon. That would be my choice maybe now.

Current betting:-

Even - Tesla M3 LR ticks all the boxes to be fair
Even - do nothing a keep X2 up to a year
3-1 Ioniq 5 LOVE it's look but interior is so/so as was the drive
5-1 BMW 330e LCI in a year
10-1 Polestar 2 had the nicest EV cabin
5000-1 with Leicester winning the Prem RAV4 PHeV

Well I got a reputation award for the thread so someone was re reading.
I had a quick scan through and this was reasonably accurate. I did keep the X2 quote a while and ended up in a Tesla.

Also kudos to all the guys who pointed out the CVT drawbacks:-

isleaiw1
Watsey
MashinBenzin

This was absolutely spot on, it was really … dreadful. How is CVT still in Toyota cars with all their investment ability.

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by JustChris

This was absolutely spot on, it was really … dreadful. How is CVT still in Toyota cars with all their investment ability.

Sadly I think the average car buyer doesn't care and actually wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a CVT and an auto, especially now they've got 8-9 gears. If the Rav4 had a ZF8 etc in it then I'd have been happier with the idea of putting more into it to jump from the 335D as the fuel economy figures in the real world are pretty impressive, especially if you live in hilly areas where it seems to augment the engine power with the battery to reduce the peak load and thus fuel drain. I suspect the CVT allows the optimisation of charging and efficiency when mated to the battery tech. Toyota are pretty intelligent and don't tend to do things for no reason, it's just that they're generally not for the improvement of the driving experience for people who care about such things. The Rav4 is a pretty competent and capable car, it goes well, and for a large proper SUV with proper tyres (BMW X-cars are not proper SUV's, they're jacked up estates) it actually handles reasonably well too.

The problem I see with modern SUV's is that they're bought by people who want to pretend they need a tough and rugged car when they'd be better off with an MPV. This then means the SUV's have become increasingly useless at doing the 'SU' bit, leaving very few cars actually useful for those of us who want more than just a higher CoG and willy waving down the local Tesco carpark.