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Post by EspadaIII on Mar 12, 2023 20:10:17 GMT
So a colleague's Qashqai has gone back to the leasing company and he has replaced it with a Cupra Formentor.
Only just got it but seems to be a pleasant vehicle despite the VAG Group infotainment system which remains as poorly lit and slow to respond as when it first appeared.
However, despite being a Crossover or SUV or some such thing, it is not too high and in fact probably lower than my certainly not an SUV. Ioniq 5.
The design looks a bit squashed but the driving position seems very similar to the Subaru Forester which I really liked. Maybe Sitty Uppy is finally on the way out?
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Post by Humph on Mar 12, 2023 20:58:42 GMT
I believe they are a good drive. Neighbours recently got one to replace a Skoda SUV somethingorother.
They like the new car better.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Mar 13, 2023 9:11:52 GMT
Engineer Boy1 came (by Aygo) for lunch yesterday. Amongst much else, he said that the market dominance of SUVs is putting him off working in Automotive once he graduates next year. He’s learned enough to know that a tall vehicle is an inferior conveyance in dynamic and energetic terms — as well as cycling enough to know that they’re bad neighbours on the roads. He’d rather not be party to creating any more, but (and he cited the demise of the Fiesta) the American SUV idea — originally a tax dodge rather than an engineering solution
— means it’s getting harder to find anyone willing to make anything else.
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Post by dixinormus on Mar 14, 2023 18:28:30 GMT
The tax-dodging vehicle in these parts is the pick up truck. Vile bloated things with large Diesel engines and antiquated leaf springs suspension on the rear. Oh and they are trendy, innit.
Years ago I remember reading how cheap pick ups are to build (especially if manufactured in Thailand like many are) and yet they are priced from GBP30k upwards.
Who needs good engineering if the proles will queue up to buy stuff line this? It’s pretty much all that Ford make now isn’t it?
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Post by Humph on Mar 14, 2023 18:33:11 GMT
I keep thinking I might quite like one though. Bikes, rough tracks etc.
Guess I’d have to buy a log cabin and a pet bear to go with it.
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Post by dixinormus on Mar 14, 2023 19:52:43 GMT
Horses for courses Humph - it might suit your lifestyle. But they are largely used as Chelsea tractors here.
People pay additional money to cover the load bed too, against theft and/or rainwater ingress… Umm should have bought an SUV instead then?!
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Post by Humph on Mar 14, 2023 21:47:49 GMT
Tax thing here too for company cars, classed as vans so much lower BIK. Not that it matters to me anymore.
Thirsty things I gather though.
Speaking of and so on, fuel prices coming down a bit now thank goodness.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Mar 15, 2023 8:23:43 GMT
I keep thinking I might quite like one though. Bikes, rough tracks etc. Guess I’d have to buy a log cabin and a pet bear to go with it. …and some oversized yellow boots. Oh…! |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2023 11:34:03 GMT
Encouraging to hear young people thinking like this about cars, Dubya, but I'd not want him to give up a career choice for the reasons you have stated. If his perspective is common in his age group, then it'll start filtering through as his generation moves through their careers, and perhaps he can even have a hand in changing things for the better in terms of car design. There must be opportunity for him to pursue a career working on the kind of vehicles he would want to be involved with? We need people who think outside of the SUV box in car companies.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Mar 15, 2023 13:40:35 GMT
His age group are mostly not very interested in cars, full stop. He’s an engineer who hangs out with other engineers, so he and they are not a representative sample of his generation. And even he is more concerned with qualities like efficiency and comfort than any idea of ‘soul’ that you might get from some people of our age.
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