Tim in Scotland
Member Since: 30 May 2005
Location: Driving along in my automobile
Posts: 17476
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KennyR wrote:You missing the Sport?
Yes and No!
Missing - high ride, the ease that you can leave the tar and drive off over the horizon in total comfort, electrically adjustable seats that make getting in and out easy (my fault for not ticking that option to avoid paying luxury car tax when I ordered the car)
Not missing - the worry that the engine will stop at any minute and land me with a bill for £15-20,000 for a new engine, the rattles and squeaks, the paint defects, paying out £70-80 every week to put fuel in - so far I have put no petrol in (after 12 days ownership I still have a half a 36ltr tank) and consumed £12 of electricity recharging it ( for me that is a hypotecthical cost as so far only one of the 7 charges I have done has not been using my rooftop solar array that easily charges the battery in from empty to full - 26 miles range - in 3 hours) and have covered 345 miles, the £550 more the Sport cost to finance over the Mini to finance monthly on a PCP
What have I learned - I could problably have missed out the PHEV stage and gone straight to one of the longer range (but more expensive ) EV’s. The Mini Countryman (cannot speak for the other smaller models) is as comfortable as an Evoque but spec for spec costs £14,000 less yet is better built, doesn’r rattle or squeak and has far far superior in car technology that just works. It might have “only 224hp” shared between the two power sources but i’m loving the 0-60 in 6.2sec when married to the instant go from the electric engine that will take the car to 80mph before it runs out of puff and when the petrol engine takes over and will take it it on to 124mphnif you want to). You don’t have to have air suspension to have a car that rides as well as a Range Rover and corners as flat as an RRS with Dynamic mode. BMW isn’t as good at some things as Land Rover (design and functionality of the dash and the dash electronics in the Mini is awful and it is mechanical and analogue not electronic when really it should be digital). That often old fashioned switches are better and nicer to use than a touch screen - mini has lots of very nice to use, if a bit small, beautifully styled switches. The icons on them are tiny for older folks to read BUT it has taken me little time at all to be able to hit the right switch without looking away from the windscreen screen - with a touch screen that isn’t so easy. That my elderly parents find it much easier to get into the back of the Countryman, not because it is lower but because there is almost no rear wheelarch intrusion into the door aperture so no cold steel to try to get over. That the Countryman is probably a better replacement as a “baby” Range Rover than a Freelander2 or Disco Sport. I’ve also learned that until electronics get much more clever calculating the fueling costs of a BMW PHEV is hugely difficult as you cannot see the actual petrol consumption, you can have the instant consumption or the tank overall average that includes electric use which is a totally false figure of course. I reckon i’m Averaging around 55-60mpg in Petrol only mode - official claim is 134mpg combined and i’m Certainly not getting that as the trip computer consumption only shows up to 99.9mpg!
I wouldn’t say I would not buy another Land Rover product because there is the New Defender just around the corner (which I hope has either a PHEV or EV option at launch) and I would also consider an I-Pace but not a new one, i’ll Wait until all the technical gremlins have fixes rather than being an early adopter - it is also in base form about £10,000 overpriced and as for the First Edition version............ who are they kidding! No matter how highly the motoring press rate them, most EV’s have killer depreciation - no dealer wants one on his forecourt as they just don’t shift while there is a lot of range anxiety to,worry people and the though of replacing the battery after 8-10 years at huge cost. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW
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Wed Jun 27 2018 9:09am |
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