Recommend a Car

Kompany Car said:
At last, sensible motoring advice is available on this forum. If you want to buy a car designed by Nazi's, go for the original, not some shit battery powered rubbish from a wanna be :-)
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That didn't really form part of my buying criteria. I suppose that makes me a terrible person. I will go for a tootle in the car to cheer myself up. :-)
 
DiscoSteve said:
Good choice - is it hybrid or Full EV? I toyed with a full electric one of these before settling for its brother-from-another-mother, a Polestar 2 - if you know your recent automotive history, you'll know both the XC40 and the Polestar 2 started life as Volvo Concept 40 twins - https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/the-volvo-40-series-concept-bucks-swedens-staid-reputation/

Volvo-Concept-40-feat.jpg
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Have you no pride ? Volvo are Chinese owned. Tienanmen square specials anyone ?
 
Saddleworth2 said:
That didn't really form part of my buying criteria. I suppose that makes me a terrible person. I will go for a tootle in the car to cheer myself up. :-)
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To be honest I'd love to be able to get one, but too many other outgoings at the moment and I dont buy cars on finance or lease (unless it saves me tax).

Will probably be an early retirement present when I quit working full time in about 6-7yrs, doubt it would be a new one but could probably manage a 5yr old model. The older air cooled ones are nice, but as much as I like tinkering with things, I would rather be driving it than messing around under the engine cover and that engine doesn't look the easiest to work on.
 
Mr Grumpy said:
Do you believe in perpetual motion as well?
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Erm well, i know what you are saying as related to the laws of thermodynamics but in relation to the car if we could accelerate to a constant speed and keep it there only braking when we get to the destination then fair enough. Unfortunately we have to brake rather more frequently than people might like, so the option is lose it as heat in frictional losses or instead use a motor/generator to provide a large percentage of the braking and dump the energy into a battery or ultra capacitor. The mass of these units is relatively small and whilst yes you need to put more energy in to lug them around the result is generally neutral or beneficial in terms of energy consumption. Where it makes less sense is where you have a hybrid with a 40-60 mile range. But thats more about reducing pollution when the engine is idling or in stop start traffic, plus its still cheaper per mile to charge up at home on electricity than put the equivalent in your car fuel tank.
 
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Kompany Car said:
To be honest I'd love to be able to get one, but too many other outgoings at the moment and I dont buy cars on finance or lease (unless it saves me tax).

Will probably be an early retirement present when I quit working full time in about 6-7yrs, doubt it would be a new one but could probably manage a 5yr old model. The older air cooled ones are nice, but as much as I like tinkering with things, I would rather be driving it than messing around under the engine cover and that engine doesn't look the easiest to work on.
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In all my 15 years + of owning Porsche I have never had anything mechanically go wrong. Trick is to find an outfit to carry out the servicing etc. Dealers are a complete rip off.
 
Kompany Car said:
Erm well, i know what you are saying as related to the laws of thermodynamics but in relation to the car if we could accelerate to a constant speed and keep it there only braking when we get to the destination then fair enough. Unfortunately we have to brake rather more frequently than people might like, so the option is lose if as heat in frictional losses or instead use a motor/generator to provide a large percentage of the braking and dump the energy into a battery or ultra capacitor. The mass of these units is relatively small and whilst yes you need to put more energy in to lug them around the result is generally neutral or beneficial in terms of energy consumption. Where it makes less sense is where you have a hybrid with a 40-60 mile range. But thats more about reducing pollution when the engine is idling or in stop start traffic, plus its still cheaper per mile to charge up at home on electricity than put the equivalent in your car fuel tank.
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Good answer!.

The truth is basically "how long is apiece of string?"
The type of Hybrid, the style of driving, the driver, the car, etc, all affect the energy balance of the car.

There is a mass of discussion etc on the subject so no need to repeat here but, in average use, a Hybrid has no net gain on any metric including pollution.

Personally, i think they are only of value if they have a final electric drive and then you can at least enjoy the benefits of single-gearing driving.

IMHO, they are/were only ever a sticking plaster for a developing EV network and a consequence of the Carbon Credit scam.
 
117 M34 said:
Are they not cool enough options?

For reference, my last 5 cars have all been a focus so looking for a change.
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They are all good cars, I think he's pulling your leg because they are the typical choice of 'knobhead' drivers. If that's what you want go for it.
 
117 M34 said:
Are they not cool enough options?

For reference, my last 5 cars have all been a focus so looking for a change.
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My advice is get what you really like. There's not a lot to choose between them. All pretty reliable and nice to drive. I would however stay away from the smaller 3 cylinder engines. Whilst they are OK they are a little uncivilised and for some reason seem to have more issues than their 4 cylinder cousins. In the Audi's the 1.5TFSI is tried, tested and reliable and has enough power. With the Merc or BMW stick with the 2ltr petrol units. Diesel is ok if you are doing plenty of long journeys but stay away if you only do them rarely.
 
If longevity is your thing and VFM, get yourself a VW. Had a new Golf for 16 1/2 years. Only got rid because of the scrappage scheme. Bought a new Touran 15 year old and still going strong. Non owe me a penny.
 
Mr Grumpy said:
Who would that be then?
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Me when I lived in the UK. I used to do 30-40 miles a day, all of which could be done on a single electric charge and then when we had the occasional longer journey, I could switch it to petrol and not have to think about recharging.

At one stage I had over 800 miles to the gallon as we so rarely used the petrol but it was there as a fallback if I ever needed it (or forgot to charge the car). It helped that we could charge at home.

It worked perfectly for us.
 
PragueBlue said:
Me when I lived in the UK. I used to do 30-40 miles a day, all of which could be done on a single electric charge and then when we had the occasional longer journey, I could switch it to petrol and not have to think about recharging.

At one stage I had over 800 miles to the gallon as we so rarely used the petrol but it was there as a fallback if I ever needed it (or forgot to charge the car). It helped that we could charge at home.

It worked perfectly for us.
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I don't mean to come across as a smart arse, forgive me if i do.

Your usage case is EV. You've been humping around a petrol engines, tank, exhaust, blah blah, blah for no reason.
At the time, EV charging was probably shit so maybe it made some sense but, as i said before Hybrids were only ever a bridging tech. You weren't getting anything MPG. That metric disappears once you stop using the engine to run it.

Had you bought a proper electric car (BEV) you'd likely been able to any journey you'd like and for less money as your BEV efficiency would be much higher and your range more than adequate.

Being able to charge at home is the key that unlocks full EV use (atm anyhow until the EV network is fully matured). I dunno why you went hybrid with that option.
 
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