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Showing posts with label for sale. Show all posts

Road Test: Mercedes-Benz E300 BlueTec Hybrid

Posted by Alex Bale Thursday, February 21, 2013

Price as tested: €52,200

+ Smooth, efficient, seamless hybrid system, classy, comfy
– Very little really
= Merc's first on-sale hybrid is a cracker, right up with the Lexus GS450h

The problem with hybrids is that they never work. Hmmm. That last statement may need a bit of explaining and context. OK, here goes; the problem with hybrids is not precisely that they don’t work (clearly they do, as they go, stop and steer) but that they never seem to work quite as well as you want them to. Hybrids are very clever, very good for lowering your official emissions figure and therefore your annual motor tax bill and very good for making you feel like you’re doing your bit for the environment. What they tend not to be very good at is returning anything like their claimed fuel consumption figures in real-world driving.

Partly, that’s a weight issue. All those batteries and electric motors add mass and complication to a car and the inertia of that mass has to be overcome every time you accelerate. Partly, it’s a driving style thing. To get the best economy out of a hybrid (or any car for that matter) you just have to drive like a saint, or as if a baby panda has taken up residence under your throttle pedal.

So it was that I came to the Mercedes-Benz E300 BlueTec Hybrid expecting to be disappointed. And yet, it had a surprise for me. It may have a long-winded name but actually, the E300 is one of the more simple hybrids around. It’s not expected to do duty as a pure-electric vehicle for anything other than short bursts, so its weight and complication are kept to a minimum. In fact, the E300 weighs just 110kg more than the standard E250 CDI diesel upon which it is based. That makes it only the third diesel hybrid car to go on sale (following on from the French pair of Peugeot 3008 Hy4 and Citroen DS5 Hy4) and, I’d argue, the most successful yet.

Instead of a massive stack of batteries eating into boot and cabin space and pushing up the kerb weight, the E300 has a smaller 19kW lithium-ion battery that’s actually packaged within the engine bay. That feeds a 27bhp electric motor which is neatly packaged within the existing casing of the seven-speed 7G-Tronic automatic gearbox. The idea behind all this extra gubbins is to give the E300 the power and grunt of a big V6 diesel while retaining the economy and emissions performance of a smaller-capacity four-cylinder engine.

And, on paper, it works rather brilliantly. A standard E250 CDI diesel, with a manual gearbox, returns Co2 emissions of 130g/km, giving you an annual road tax bill of €270. An E300 BlueTec does 109g/km, depending on which size of alloy wheel you spec it with. That means you’ll pay just €190 a year to tax it. Perhaps not the biggest consideration for someone spending north of €50k on a new Mercedes, but nice to know all the same.

Speaking of the price tag, there’s a major benefit there too. A very basic E250 CDI, with an optional automatic gearbox, in Classic trim, costs €51,665. An E300 BlueTec in the same trim, but with a standard automatic gearbox, costs €52,200, which seems like not a major extra expense. But wait, it gets better. A regular E300 CDI V6 diesel, to which a BlueTec Hybrid is more or less comparable in terms of performance, costs €64,160 and costs €390 a year to tax. This whole hybrid thing is looking pretty good.

Of course, this is the point where a hybrid’s on-paper performance tends to fall down and disappoint. But actually, the E300 BlueTec rises the the challenge quite well.

I think the key here is the gearbox. Hybrids tend to have very annoying gearboxes, whether it’s the CVT in a Prius that lets the engine rev and roar annoyingly any time you ask for a bit of acceleration, or the EGS gearbox in the Citroen or Peugeot cars which seems to pause for a long and deep thought between every ratio. The Merc’s conventional wet-clutch automatic transmission is a revelation in this respect. You ask for acceleration; you get some. You back off and cruise, and everything goes quiet again. Gear changes are done without fuss, noise or pause. In hybrid terms, it’s an unusually lovely experience.

It’s a very refined powertrain as well. You’ll most likely start off in electric mode, and considering how small the battery is, you’ll go for a surprising distance before the diesel engine kicks in. When it does, you’ll know all about it as there’s little or no hope of entirely disguising the noise of a DERV engine firing up from a cold start, but once everything warms up, it’s a very smooth, refined unit. What will also surprise you is how often, in motorway and main road cruising, the engine shuts down and the electric motor takes over. Known as sailing, this effect can dramatically cut your long-range driving fuel consumption.

Ah yes, the dreaded question of fuel consumption. Mercedes quotes an average consumption figure of 4.3-litres per 100km, or 65mpg. Will you be surprised if I tell you we didn’t manage to match that? Of course not, but if an average of 6.0-litres per 100km on our brief test drive (47mpg) seems like the traditional hybrid disappointment, then perhaps it shouldn’t be. For a start, from an engine with more power and grunt (590Nm) than the standard E250 CDI, that’s a match for the conventional diesel’s fuel consumption, and on top of which, I reckon you’d easily get the E300 to average around 5.0l/100km without too much effort.

There’s not much point in pronouncing on the handling and ride, as our test car was the outgoing-shape E-Class, and there’s a new, sexier-looking E, with tweaked and improved suspension arriving any time soon. Suffice to say that like almost all E-Class models that have come before, what it loses to rivals like the BMW 5 Series in terms of outright precision, it makes up for in terms of comfort and quietness.

No, the E300 BlueTec isn’t going to save the planet, the wales or the endangered salamander, and nor thankfully does it claim to. It is, instead, a well-engineered, good to drive car with a distinctly well-thought-out hybrid transmission installation that will save you money on fuel and tax, relative to other, similar cars. And it’s one of the first hybrids we’ve ever driven that’s not a disappointment.


Mercedes-Benz E300 BlueTec Hybrid

Price as tested: €52,200

Capacity: 2,143cc

Power: 201bhp + 27bhp electric motor

Torque: 590Nm combined

Top speed: 250kmh

0-100kmh: 7.8sec

Economy: 4.3l-100km (65mpg)

CO2 emissions: 109g/km

Road Tax Band: A3. €190

Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 86% adult, 77% child, 59% pedestrian, 86% safety assist.










Road Test: Volvo V40 XC T4 SE

Posted by Alex Bale

Price as tested: €37,303

+ Chunky styling, lovely cabin, smooth handling, engine, safety
– Too cramped inside to be a practical family car, too expensive compared to standard V40
= Surprisingly likeable, but ultimately standard car makes more sense

Any child of the eighties will remember the Matra Simca Rancho. It was a chunky 4x4-style vehicle, launched by a  company that was teetering on the edge of being shut-down by its US masters at Chrysler (it eventually was and sold off to Peugeot). It had spot lamps, roof bars, a tall ride height and a big, spacious body. It also only came with front-wheel drive, something that puzzled car buyers of the time. Surely, we all said, a car that looks like a 4x4 should be able to tackle dirt, mud and rough ground?

Almost needless to say, the Rancho died a commercial death – yes, even the one fitted with a winch and a spare wheel on the roof to make it look even more butch. New owners Peugeot closed down production in 1984 and Matra went running off to rivals Renault with a new idea it had for something called the Espace... Fewer than half a dozen are apparently left in the wild.

What none of us realised at the time was that the Rancho was years, decades even, ahead of its time. Not only was it the first true 'soft roader' it even came with an optional third row of seats, making it one of the first seven seat MPVs. In the thirty years since the Rancho's demise, pretty much every major car maker has taken to heart the idea of a car that looks like it can tangle with sand dunes but actually is just for parking in Dunnes'. The compact crossover segment (faux-by-four if you like) is one of the precious few segments of the European car market that is on the up.

Which brings us rather neatly to this, the Volvo V40 XC, a car which may just be the pinnacle of shameless cosmetic engineering – but in a good way.

The recipe is as simple as one of Delia's. Take a standard (handsome, well-made, good to drive, safe) Volvo V40 hatchback. Increase the height of the suspension. Superglue on some rugged looking bumpers, foglights, Cross Country badges and roof rails. Sit back and watch the sales come rolling in.

You could, in a certain light, call it deeply cynical, but that would be to underestimate the charm of the V40. No, it won't off-road, at least not more so than any other mainstream, front-wheel-drive hatchback. There is not even the option of a four-wheel-drive model in the range. It is not any more spacious or practical than a standard, more affordable V40.

That should be enraging, but the fact is that the V40 XC is so handsome in its fake off-road get-up that anyone who craved a Swiss Army Knife after watching McGyver will be unable to resist. The better news is that it remains a lovely car to drive, regardless of the extra suspension height.
While most will probably crave diesel power in a car like this, Volvo provided us with a 1.6-litre 180bhp turbocharged petrol model, badged as a T4. Now, that sounds like a recipe for horrendous fuel consumption, but actually the XC averages an easy 7.4-litres per 100km (38mpg – pretty impressive really) and emits 129g/km of Co2, meaning your annual road tax bill will be a manageable €270 a year. Better yet, the engine is a peach to drive, with a rich seam of turbocharged power and a remarkable level of refinement, especially compared to is diesel rivals.

The XC is also good in the corners, eagerly punting along a twisty back road, while its longer travel suspension does mean that it's better at soaking up lumps and bumps, although the big alloys and low profile tyres do mean that it gives in to an occasional dose of the jiggles.

Inside is both the V40's trump card and its biggest failing. Up front, there are wonderfully comfortable seats, a gorgeous instrument and control layout and levels of quality that would put any Audi or BMW to the sword. The digital instruments can be configured in three different setups and the overall effect is one of a Swedish comfort and calmness that's so typical of Volvo. The problem is that there simply isn't enough space, especially for a growing family. The standard V40 suffers from the same problem, but the appellation of the XC badge just makes it worse; you mentally assume that a Cross Country Volvo is going to be big and practical.

That aside, it's hard not to like the V40 XC. Yes, it's silly, a bit pointless and very expensive compared to a standard V40 hatch, but the rugged looks and that gorgeous cabin lift it above its station and make it properly desirable. Time for a Rancho re-boot, perhaps?

Volvo V40 XC T4 SE

Price as tested: €37,303

Price range: €29,095 to €37,695

Capacity: 1,596cc

Power: 180bhp

Torque: 240Nm

Top speed: 215kmh

0-100kmh: 7.7sec

Economy: 5.5l-100km (51mpg)

CO2 emissions: 129g/km

Road Tax Band: B2. €270

Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 95% adult, 87% child, 74% pedestrian, 86% safety assist.












Road Test: Volkswagen Golf 1.4 TSI ACT Highline

Posted by Alex Bale Monday, February 11, 2013

Price as tested: €33,642


+ Solidity, comfort, technology, refinement, styling, desirable
– Not as economical as a diesel, not sporty to drive
= Golf cements its position as the best family hatch around


Success, of course, breeds success but it can, without care and attention, also breed complacency. Look at George Lucas. Back in the seventies and eighties he created the original Star Wars movies, which delighted and entertained a whole generation of sci-fi fans. Come 1999, and the return of Star Wars to the big screen with The Phantom Menace, those same fans were frothing with excitement at the arrival of what we all confidently expected to be the cinematic event of the decade. Aaaaannnnd... we were sorely disappointed. Lucas seemed to have spent so much time carefully honing the digital effects (which were, in fairness, brilliant) that he forgot that a great film needs a great script. And characters. And a plot.


So it is we come to the seventh generation of Volkswagen Golf, a car that has transcended the boundaries of its class to become classless. You could just as easily and naturally be seen pulling up in your Golf at Aldi as at the Ritz. It is the epitome of affordable Germanic engineering, a family hatchback with the breeding of a teutonic thoroughbred.



For this Mark VII version, VW has really pushed the boat out in engineering terms. There's an entirely new chassis under there, called MQB in VW-speak, and it will go on to form the basis of almost every car in the whole Volkswagen empire in the future. It's light, sophisticated and makes the Golf fractionally more spacious than before. That really shows up inside, where behind the exceptionally comfortable front seats there's plenty of room for kids in bulky safety seats and lanky teenagers.



From the front seats, the cabin is instantly (and hardly surprisingly) Golf-ish, with beautifully clear instruments, a logical control layout and on our highly-specced press demo car, one of the best sat-nav systems we've ever seen. Not only did it have clear, precise mapping but the screen actually detects when your finger is hovering near it and makes the buttons bigger.



That's not the only example of VW putting some seriously careful thought into lightening the drivers' load. There was also Lane Keeping Assist that actually nudges the car back into lane if you start to drift across, active cruise control that brakes (a little too jumpily sometimes) if a car slows in front of you, active cornering lights, LED daytime lights, automatic parking brake, Bluetooth... The list really does go on, but then at the €33,642 for our test car, it should do. Panic not, for the standard version of the Highline model with 1.4 TSI ACT starts at a more reasonable €26,745 and is still very well equipped.



What's ACT I hear you ask? Active Cylinder Technology, a new gizmo that VW hopes will allow drivers of its petrol turbo cars to achieve diesel-like fuel economy. It works by shutting down two of the engine's four cylinders when cruising on a light throttle, seamlessly firing up all four again when you need more power. It's just about undetectable save for a small logo that pops up in the multi-function display in the dashboard, and the faintest sense that a slight harmonic vibration is coming and going, off in the distance. Very clever stuff. Does it actually work? Well, almost. We managed to average 6.5-litres per 100km fuel consumption over a week with the car (that's 43mpg) which isn't at all bad, but we would have easily cracked into the high fifties, even low sixties in mpg terms with an equivalent diesel Golf. And considering that there's only €200 extra to pay for the equivalent diesel model...



Still, this Golf, as with any Golf, is just brilliant to drive. It feels a touch less sporty and agile than the last-generation model, but the comfort and refinement levels have seriously been amped-up. We honestly think that you'd have to trade up to the likes of a BMW 5 Series to find a car that's as quiet and relaxing on a long journey as this one. The only dynamic complaint comes from the fact that the suspension can occasionally get caught out by the typically bumpy, lumpen tarmac that we endure in this neck of the woods. When that happens, the Golf thumps and shudders in a most unseemly fashion, but the rest of the time all is serene. Perhaps the 17” alloy wheels were at least partly to blame.



So, the new Golf is as Golf-y as it's always been, but more so. The quality levels are higher than pretty much anything else in the class, refinement is off-the-scale good and if it doesn't feel quite as agile and enjoyable to drive as before, then its improved comfort and cabin space present a worthwhile trade-off. Shall we stick with the golfing metaphor and conclude that it's a classy hole-in-one?




Facts & Figures
Volkswagen Golf 1.4 TSI ACT Highline
Price as tested: €33,642
Range price: €19,995 to €31,645
Capacity: 1,395cc
Power: 140bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Top speed: 212kmh
0-100kmh: 8.4sec
Economy: 5.0l-100km (56.5mpg)
CO2 emissions: 112g/km
VRT Band: A4. €200 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 94% adult, 89% child, 65% pedestrian, 71% safety assist 





Road Test: Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works GP

Posted by Alex Bale Thursday, February 7, 2013

Price as tested: €47,640

+ Handling, performance, styling, seats, noise, fun
– Hard ride, impractical
= Small car, massive fun

The back seats are missing. That’s the first thing you’ll notice when you climb aboard the (deep breath) Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works GP. It’s a limited edition Mini, with just 2,000 production examples for worldwide sale, and it’s been tweaked, tuned and body-kitted to within an inch of its tiny life.

But as I say, the first thing you’ll notice is that the back seats have been binned. That’s both a weight-saving device (the GP weighs in at an impressively dainty 1,100kg) and it improves the handling, thanks to the massive red strut brace stretched across the space where the seats aren’t. It makes the body stiffer, which in turn makes the supension work more precisely which in turn... you get the idea.

Under the bonnet which is under some fairly silly GP stickers and some fairly lovely (an unique to the model) Thunder Grey metallic paint, you’ll find the familiar 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine that has been powering the Mini Cooper S model since 2006. Clearly, for the GP it’s had some tweaks over and above the regular Cooper S and the previously range-topping Cooper S John Cooper Works model, with its 210bhp output. It gets an aluminium cylinder block and engine mounts, reinforced pistons and cylinder head, a low-weight crankshaft and even valves filled with sodium to improve their cooling efficiency. And all of that jiggery-pokery gives you... 218bhp. Hmmm. So not a massive improvement in power, then.

But it must be a torque-monster, with that uprated twin-scroll turbo, right? Well, no. 260Nm of torque (280Nm on short-lived overboost) is about what you get from a 1.6 diesel Cooper D.

This Mini is all adding up a bit oddly, isn’t it? The bodykit, and those gorgeous 17” alloys, seem to be writing profligate cheques that the engine simply can’t cash. And then you clock the time that this car set around the (FearsomeⓇ) Nurburgring race circuit in Germany. Now, normally, I regard Nurburgring times as just so much pointless genitalia-waving but the Mini GP’s time of 8.23 is seriously impressive, and with that relatively under-powered engine, means that the chassis must be doing something right.

Unique coil-over-inverted-shock front suspension is the first step, combined with reduced front toe-in, a 20mm drop in ride height and 330mm front brakes grabbed by six-piston calipers. Understand any of that? No, me neither, but it sounds impressive.

More impressive is the way it works on the road, and here again the Mini GP confounds expectations. With those deleted rear seats, the strut brace, the bodykit and the liquorice-strip tyres, you’ll be expecting a stripped-out, race-spec cabin. But no. Here there is climate control, an iPod connection, Bluetooth phone and a trip computer. Here too are lovely, leather-wrapped bucket seats that grip without squeeze and cosset without ache. This is... civilised. And that is surprisingly true of the whole car. Yes, it rides firmly and around town it bucks and skips over bumps in a highly irritating manner. But get it out onto the open road, and suddenly the ride settles down, and aside from an occasional tendency of those specially-designed 215/40 front tyres to tramline, it’s just so poised and well setup that it can take your breath away. The traction and stability control system can be set up to stop the car sliding out of control, but to do so without interrupting engine power, a bugbear of all keen drivers. The bodykit may look silly, but it cuts rear-end aerodynamic lift by a claimed 90%, so it keeps the GP planted to the road.

The steering is just about perfectly weighted, and feed back a constant chatter of road surface data to your fingers. That long-held Mini trait of seemingly endless front-end grip is magnified here, so that the nose flicks into tight, fast corners with a tenacity that borders on the terrier-like. But it never, ever feels nervous. Even on a proper, bumpy, wet, puddle-and-mud strewn Irish back road, the Mini GP feels secure, sure footed and above all, fun. While it might be setup for the race track (and the suspension is fully adjustable for that if you have the time, tools and inclination) it is actually a supremely talented road car, able to devour favourite stretches in a madcap dash of fizzing revs and limpet-grip. And it can then settle down, quiet down and be a surprisingly comfy and capable motorway cruiser, or at least a far better one than the GT3-styling would have you believe.

Downsides? Well, that lack of rear seats means that it’s either a two-seater with a massive boot or a seriously impractical van. The brakes which are so brilliant and reassuring on a fast run are irritatingly snatchy and sudden around town and it does cost €47,640. For a Mini. With no back seats.

For all that, I’d be amazed if the GP doesn’t sell out, and fast. For a select few, those with the right roads on their doorstep and a love for the Mini brand, it is a brilliant little thing – all pumped-up aggression with a bass-line of usability. Yes, it’s both silly and over-priced, but then so are most Hollywood film stars, and the world would be a poorer place without them, too. It’s not quite the best hot hatch around (Renault Megane RS, step forward) but it is just terrific fun, missing seats and all.


Facts & Figures
Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works GP
Price as tested: €47,640
Range price: €17,900 to €49,940
Capacity: 1,598cc
Power: 218bhp
Torque: 260Nm 
Top speed: 230kmh 
0-100kmh: 6.3sec
Economy: 7.1l-100km (39.7mpg)
CO2 emissions: 165g/km
VRT Band: D. €570 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star adult, 3-star child, 2-star pedestrian














Road Test: Opel Mokka 1.7 CDTI SE

Posted by Alex Bale

Price as tested: €26,495

+ Styling, handling, quality
– Noisy & outdated engine, tight rear seats and boot
= Firmly underscores Opel's premium ambitions

Opel really needs a hit right now. The company has lost no less than €17-billion in the past decade and a half and while its paymasters at General Motors in Detroit have stuck with Opel through thick and (very) thin, patience is running low. So, with minimal surprise, Opel is having a crack at the fastest-growing segment in European motoring. At a time when the market for cars in Europe as a whole is either stalling or falling, SUVs, especially of the small and efficient variety, are charging ahead, taking buyers out of conventional hatchbacks and saloons. Score a hit here, and it will lift Opel as a whole.

No pressure then, but the Mokka gets of to a good start by looking really, really good. With the sporty bodykit fitted to our SE-spec test car, you could even accuse it of looking over-styled, but it succeeds where its key rival, the Nissan Juke, fails; it’s looks distinctive and exciting without being actively ugly.

Inside too, the styling is a success. Now, the brown, brown and beige colour scheme of our test car was, it must be admitted, a tad eye-watering and most conservative Irish customers will stick to plain old black, thanks very much. But if Opel is serious about its ambitions to break into the premium car market, then the Mokka’s cabin at least makes that ambition start to look realistic. Although it basically pinches existing parts and styling from the likes of the Astra and Insignia, it’s an especially successful casserole of parts, and the levels of quality seem to be very high. OK, so the fact that our car was an SE model, which came with leather seats and steering wheel (both of which were heated) and a bevvy of options such as Sat Nav, Bluetooth and more doubtless lifted the ambience, but the basic structure, design and quality are what really shone through.

It’s a shame then that as soon as you turn the key, some of that premium sheen is dispelled. Opel’s 1.7-litre CDTI diesel engine is both efficient (in terms of its economy and Co2 emissions) and powerful (130bhp and 300Nm of torque make the Mokka feel pretty peppy) but the noise and vibration are distinctly old-school. The engine’s basic design dates back to an early-nineties Isuzu unit and it shows, badly. It shakes the whole car on start-up, clatters noisily until you reach a steady cruising speed and has a bad habit of stalling on a light throttle around town. Opel is working on a brand-new 1.6-litre diesel to replace this engine (it makes its debut later this year in the facelifted Insignia saloon) and, frankly, it can’t come soon enough. Mind you, even given all that, the 1.7’s 65mpg potential and 120g/km Co2 rating (€200 a year road tax) are enough to make it still the engine of choice, and at least that punchy mid-range grunt is pleasing.

So too is the Mokka’s dynamic performance. This is an SUV that is actually fun and engaging to drive. The steering is nicely balanced and weighted and you can fling the Mokka through corners with enjoyable abandon. The only mark against the chassis is the fact that the sort of short, sharp, numerous bumps that so afflict our roads can make the Mokka feel a bit too bouncy and skippy, reminding you that underneath is a pretty simply-engineered Corsa chassis.

We do have some concerns over the practicality of the Mokka though. A 356-litre boot sounds pretty good on paper, but in reality it’s just never quite big enough. Many of these cars will be bought by growing families, and a big, three-wheeled buggy is almost enough to overwhelm to boot space. Likewise, space in the back seats is a touch too tight. It’s actually better for tall-ish adults, able to squeeze their knees into the cutouts in the backs of the front seats, but for younger children, perched up and forward in bulky child car seats, space is on the tight side and parents will find themselves cranking their seats forward, taxi-driver-style, to keep the younglings happy.

While all that makes the Mokka sound like a bit too much of a mixed bag, we actually came away from the car quite liking it. Its style and genuine premium-quality feel are very appealing, and it will eventually get the new, smoother diesel engine it deserves. If the likes of the Skoda Yeti has the Mokka beat for cabin and boot space, then at least the Opel can hit back with swaggering style, a quality not to be underestimated in this part of the market.

The €64-million question of whether it will be a hit, or a big enough hit, for Opel will remain unanswered for now, but what’s not in question is that Opel’s first foray into the compact SUV world is well-judged.

Facts & Figures
Opel Mokka 1.7 CDTI SE
Price as tested: €26,495
Range price: €19,995 to €29,495
Capacity: 1,686cc
Power: 130bhp
Torque: 300Nm 
Top speed: 187kmh 
0-100kmh: 10.5sec
Economy: 4.5l-100km (64mpg)
CO2 emissions: 120g/km
VRT Band: A4. €200 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 96% adult, 90% child, 67% pedestrian, 100% safety assist






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