Jaguar 4x4

[Deleted member 26715]

Taller cars feels like more space. Estates sometimes have lower seats meaning people with long legs like me are squashed. Higher seat gives me more legroom.

Which is why the cheap & nasty city cars are very much sit up & beg, the seats are almost like diningroom chairs so you can get people in for the shortest car

 

[tyred]

Which is why the cheap & nasty city cars are very much sit up & beg, the seats are almost like diningroom chairs so you can get people in for the shortest car

Which is actually not a bad thing. I've come to prefer a more upright seating position. I mortally detest my aunt's Suzuki Wagon-R thingy but I wouldn't say it was uncomfortable, just unsuited to long journeys for other reasons.

Was it the Austin 7 which was allegedly designed by setting 2 kitchen chairs on the floor and drawing a car around them with chalk?

 

[Over The Hill]

Taller cars feels like more space. Estates sometimes have lower seats meaning people with long legs like me are squashed. Higher seat gives me more legroom.

Most 4x4s like the Jag in the OP raise up the roof but then also raise up the floor so the inside dimension is not that far off an estate.

I cant see any problem with with getting a car with a big boot or higher roof if you need a big boot or higher roof.

Where I am rather mystified is with people buying a 4x4 because the advertising people tell them they need on to drive around a crowded city in.

The city car has long been defined as being compact, easy to park and agile. These big 4x4s are none of these things but somehow people still buy them to do something they are bad at doing.

 

[screenman]

How do we know what people use a car for? They may town all week and long journey at weekends. Choice, it is something we should all welcome. I would never entertain a hybrid bike, but I would not criticize people for owning one.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Spokey, it did go well though.

Ah yes - must remember; glass half full is best!

 

[Fnaar]

I would never entertain a hybrid bike.

I did a song and dance routine for mine... flipping unappreciative heap of metal (etc) that it was...

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Not wanting to get at anyone who owns a car like this but I am really interested in why you choose a SUV rather than a large estate car or hatch.

I go with the Estate car option. Reasons-
I don't drive across ploughed fields so don't need 4 wheel drive.
I tow a caravan with it perfectly well.
It has more room inside than most SUVs
It uses about a quarter less fuel than a SUV
It has a lower centre of gravity and so sits lower, is more sporty and smooth.
It has much better safety features than most 4x4s.
It costs less to service, tyres cost less.
It is made to drive on the road - which is what I do, not made/compromised to do something I don't need it to do.
It is safer on the road for bikes and other road users who can be seen around me better.

So why go for an SUV?
I can only think of -bullying presence on road.

You don't need to drive across ploughed fields to get a benefit from 4 wheel drive - 4x4 is handy when it snows, is icy and gives tremendous stability on wet and twisty roads.

Which estate cars have better safety features than eg RR Sport, RR, Porsche Cayenne, any of the Audi SUV's etc?

Re towing - a caravan weighs bugger all - try a horsebox with a couple of hunters in on anything other than a flat stretch of tarmac.

Have you actually driven a modern large 4x4? If you had then no way would you say a Range Rover isn't smooth, or a Cayenne etc.

As for sporty - hit the pedal on eg a Cayenne Turbo and that'll show you what sporty is all about.

 

[screenman]

I can remember our first Range Rover with no power steering, I think they have got better since.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I think the Discovery is assumed to be big inside as it is big outside. It wastes loads of space in its chassis, big wheels, and all the drive system and longer suspension reach.
Sad git I am I have the figures next to me in an old What Car? Disco boot 577/1993 litres (seats up or down) Mondeo Estate - which is not known for its space- 540/1700. Almost matching it.
Take a big booted estate even in a smaller range car like the Pug 307 estate and it is 562/1805. My E class merc comes in at 690/1950 and I would argue that the bigger floor area is much more use than a higher but not as long floor area.
Any decent size estate will match most 4x4s for boot size.

There is of course a bit of difference if you go along the Ford Galaxy type MPV strand rather than the Discovery 4x4 strand and lots in between.
I don't my the Galaxy type car as at least it is doing the thing it is supposed to do well (carrying lots of people or stuff).

I think my gripe with the 4x4 suv fad is that really they are a poor choice for what most people actually require. They are not suitable and are rather bad for city use.

It is perhaps a bit like if someone re-invented space hoppers instead of bikes and a group of people started using them instead of bikes saying things like "well it floats on water you know" or some useless trait they will not need.

A Discovery 4 is VAST inside. In 2+3+2 mode the boot is not big but is ok.

Drop the back 2 occasional (but still very comfy) seats and you have a decent sized boot.

Drop the next row and it is enormous.

I've owned a number of large estates (Saab 9-5, E class, 5 Series) and they are not a patch on a large 4x4 when it comes to carting heaps of stuff around.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I can remember our first Range Rover with no power steering, I think they have got better since.

Yes, a bit better - they have also gotten way beyond what I would want to spend on a car these days!

A friend has latest RR and it is stunning to drive and ride in - a beautiful machine. *loody fast too. Eerily quiet at naughty speeds.

 

[KneesUp]

I can remember our first Range Rover with no power steering, I think they have got better since.

You can even get a five door version now. Sacrilege.

 

[screenman]

You can even get a five door version now. Sacrilege.

You are kidding me.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Whatever happened to the days when Jaguar stood for 'Grace, Pace & Style'?
The days when boys had a picture of a E-Type, or XJS on their wall (possibly the XJS with Purdey from 'The new Avengers'...)
I wonder if any ever had a picture of a X-Type estate????/

That said, I'd happily have a new XF, or XJ, as they're taking the fight to the Teutonic machinery (& as for the XK-R/F-Type.... wow)

Granted, 'market forces', drive the demand for production, but, why steal (or try to) sales from your sister company?, when the buyers who want a Range Rover/Discovery/'Ewok' will buy one of those instead

My thought Is; it something created by the marketing department, that they now have to sell, not what the customers have asked for??


Am I biased towards sporting Jaguars??, yes I am, as we had a XKR for a few years

 

[screenman]

"Granted, 'market forces', drive the demand for production, but, why steal (or try to) sales from your sister company?, when the buyers who want a Range Rover/Discovery/'Ewok' will buy one of those instead"

Are they doing that or are they after the customers who would have brought off of everyone other than LR.

 

[Peteaud]

Jag, Rolls, Hyundai, Kia

4X4


All you ever need is.......
















The SSSSSSangyong Rodius Ultimate behemoth of monstrosity.

Room for a skip, cheap, and ermmm available in silver

Why would you want anything else.

And yes, to quote the sssangyoing web site :-

The Rodius offers more roomy transportation for the money than perhaps any other car. With 7 seats in a highly versatile cabin, the UK's most affordable MPV can carry a family and their luggage across continents in comfort and style. The top of the range EX 4x4 combines all this space with serious off-road capability.