WDB
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 11:08:02 GMT
Post by WDB on Jun 25, 2021 11:08:02 GMT
Silly name, nice car. Some first impressions. - Space I had some time to climb over the fairly basic 60 model in the showroom - fabric seats, manual adjustment, nice stitched fabric on the dashboard - before driving the 80 demo car. Passenger space is similar to the CLS, possibly slightly better in the back thanks to the flatter floor (you can get in on the left and slide across to the right) and higher roofline. Curiously, having driving the 80 - perforated leather, electric adjustment - I got in behind myself and found there wasn't so much room; not enough, to be honest. Not sure if there are different seat specs or the motors take up space, but this could be important. The boot is huge, though - not as long as a Mercedes estate but very deep, wide and usefully square. No problem there for a family road trip.
- Solidity It's not a Mercedes but it's not bad at all. I wish I hadn't pulled the door shut by the door bin, though (an i3 habit) because that bit is unpleasantly bendy. But the wheel and the major switches all feel good. I could be happy in one of these.
- Smoothness It rides pretty well. Not the superbly planted but supple feel I remember from the iPace, but really very good. I took it on a back-road route from Slough to Beaconsfield and it coped very well with potholes and longitudinal cracks. With one exception, which isn't to do with the suspension.
- Steering This is the first car I've driven with Lane Assist and I'm very glad to have lived without it so far. I imagined it would concern itself only with lanes on fast roads, but this one wants to control my position on country lanes too. It even mistook a couple of repair edges in the road for lane markings and tried to divert me, which was frankly alarming. It can be turned off, apparently; I'd turn it off with a hammer. Likewise the 'collision imminent' warning, which beeped and flashed red when I had to steer through a traffic choke with a clumsily parked van beyond. I was nowhere near hitting anything but could have done without the sudden distraction.
- Speed This is an 8-second 0-62 car, so it wasn't likely to feel as lively as the i3S (6.9s) or the CLS (6.5s). But I was a little disappointed with its acceleration, both off the line - not that I was trying very hard - and at open-road speed, where I would have liked a bit more. It was also hard to find the right amount of regeneration, and the default mode offers barely any, which made smooth one-pedal progress in traffic harder than in the CLS, never mind the i3. This, no doubt, is a matter of learning the modes and the effect of the steering wheel paddles - which for me would flash up "Regeneration level 1" (or 2 or 3) followed immediately by a return to "Regeneration level Auto".
So what next? I like it, and it's hard to argue with as a value for money proposition. But I'm beginning to think it would be worth sacrificing a little performance and the last millimetre of battery range, and looking at the grant-qualifying 60 model with a nice interior and a good helping of toys, including the factory-fit towbar for the bikes. (The toys, as I learned from the i3S, do not count towards the price for grant purposes.) I'll need to be sure everyone will fit, though, so I'll arrange a family visit once Boy1 is back for the summer.
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 11:16:07 GMT
Post by EspadaIII on Jun 25, 2021 11:16:07 GMT
That's useful to read. I know you are taller than me so sitting behind myself would not be an issue for my family. Concerned about the lane departure warning (which I have experienced in rental cars with warnings only and it is irritating). The Tesla one-pedal mode is superb and that's without any paddles at the wheel. I keep reading/watching the reviews of the VAG range of EVs incluing the q4-etron and I just think that they have not really grasped what people want from an EV. Too many little things to gripe about which individually are of little consequence but overall possibly enough for me to say NO..
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Deleted
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 11:21:06 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2021 11:21:06 GMT
Do 60 and 80 in the model names refer to the battery capacity in kwh?
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 11:22:27 GMT
Post by Humph on Jun 25, 2021 11:22:27 GMT
It's just not cool enough though is it?
😉
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WDB
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Posts: 7,425
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 11:28:10 GMT
via mobile
Post by WDB on Jun 25, 2021 11:28:10 GMT
Don’t know. In the right colour (demo car was in metallic blue, similar to the Aygo, but they had another one on the lot in the beech-leaf green Arctic Silver, which I like a lot) it looks different enough from all the other not-quite SUVs out there to work for me.
Yes, 60 (actually 57) and 80 (77) approximate to capacity in kWh.
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Deleted
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 11:43:59 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2021 11:43:59 GMT
Not quite SUVs. Hmm. Good way of putting it. I suppose I shall end up with one, in the future. Sigh. My kingdom for an estate car.
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 12:07:48 GMT
Post by EspadaIII on Jun 25, 2021 12:07:48 GMT
You could have the MG.. But the Enyaq and siblings are a nice SUV/MPV cross, so more practical from a family perspective than a pure wagon. BUt I reckon the Ionic 5 will be even better.
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Deleted
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 12:10:44 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2021 12:10:44 GMT
You could have the MG.. But the Enyaq and siblings are a nice SUV/MPV cross, so more practical from a family perspective than a pure wagon. BUt I reckon the Ionic 5 will be even better. I absolutely dispute that assertion. I think an estate far more practical for a family, particularly one with a dog. |
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 12:16:44 GMT
Post by Humph on Jun 25, 2021 12:16:44 GMT
As someone who uses estate cars for their intended purpose, I absolutely concur with the view that they are just so much more useful than SUVs. Lifting heavy or bulky items onto and off a low load floor is way easier than getting them in and out of a high one. Then there's loading and unloading a roof rack or roof box if fitted. Much easier on a low height estate than a tall SUV.
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 12:25:39 GMT
Post by EspadaIII on Jun 25, 2021 12:25:39 GMT
I wouldn't get so disputatious....
Having driven: -
MPVs (Mitsubishi Spacewagon, Hyundai Trajet, Ford S-Max);
SUVs (Honda CR-V, Volvo XC90); and
Estates (Subaru Outback, Subaru Forester, Merc E350)
I would happily buy most of them again - but not the Trajet or the XC90 (clumsy or pointless or both). The best overall of performance, family practicality with dog, three children, distance driving etc was the S-Max with the E350 a close second. The modest height increase of the S-Max was enough to make entry and exit so much easier without having to climb up or drop down. With a small dog, the height is mostly irrelevant as he needs to be lifted in anyway (he has to in the Clubman as well he is so short).
I can see having a larger dog would tend towards the estate. But apart from a standard ride height what does the estate have over an S-Max for instance?
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Deleted
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 12:27:19 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2021 12:27:19 GMT
An S-Max isn't an SUV. I have no beef with them. I like them.
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 12:37:21 GMT
Post by Humph on Jun 25, 2021 12:37:21 GMT
An S-Max isn't an SUV. I have no beef with them. I like them. Ditto, I had a Galaxy for a while and really liked that. Borrowed a full fat Discovery recently and lifting heavy kit in and out of that was not fun. |
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 12:49:47 GMT
Post by EspadaIII on Jun 25, 2021 12:49:47 GMT
It is an MPV though...
Can't see the point of a real sitty uppy thing.
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WDB
Full Member
Posts: 7,425
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 12:56:16 GMT
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Post by WDB on Jun 25, 2021 12:56:16 GMT
And I didn’t look in the back of the Enyaq and think, that’ll be a pain to load. It’s not 4WD — although it is RWD — and an electric powertrain steals a lot less space than the propshafts and differentials of a fossil one; no exhaust to make room for either. In load carrying terms, it seems more estate than jacked-up SUV.
That’s borne out on the road too. Batteries lower the centre of mass, and it doesn’t drive like a tall car. If anything, it feels less tall than the i3, although it probably isn’t.
I’ve just checked specs on the 60. I could have one without the lane assist, although with most of the other things I might want.
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Enyaq
Jun 25, 2021 13:53:05 GMT
Post by EspadaIII on Jun 25, 2021 13:53:05 GMT
I could really do with borrowing an EV with say 180 miles real world range and seeing how I get on. I am fixated with the longest range, but I know that is barely relevant for 95% of my driving. It would affect me for a few trips a year but I'm not like Humph; I have the ability to plan my day some time in advance.
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