[Closed] What Hybrid SUV or 4X4?

If you're talking new, what about the Volvo XC40? I have no experience of it, but was reading about it in light of the fact that it has just won European Car of the Year.

If I was in the market, I would be seriously looking at even if I wasn't already a Volvo fan.

Why not a normal car? They can also go over bumps. In my area the roads are pretty much the worst in the country but my Focus works fine. That’s unless you are going properly off-road

My experience of the big SUV/4x4 cars is they don’t feel much different over bumpy roads.

You’d get a lot more choose with normal cars if you want a hybrid.

I'm driving a BMW 320 MSport at the moment, which does have sports suspension. But it's a real pita avoiding the amount of potholes here in the Scottish Borders.

SUV hybrid? Bit pricey to be knocked about ..

Just get a diesel SUV as a workhorse..

Diesel works out very expensive as a company car, a £30k hybrid would be less than £1000 a year in tax. A diesel would be way more than that. Plus the fuel costs over 16k miles will be much lower with electricity.

rickon

So I’m looking to get a very comfy SUV/4×4 for driving to work.

newrobdob

Why not a normal car?

Ah.. Toyota RAV4 hybrid then.

Should also clarify I live at the foot of Glentress. The roads are pretty terrible. Bad weather can make the roads pretty dodgy. I drive about 2 hours a day. Do about 16k miles a year just to and from work.

I've driven around there. Its smooth as a babys bottom on the roads compared to West Yorkshire. Mind you most places are.

Rather than get a daft SUV, buy a car with decent suspension. Your BMW has the M-sport pack which basically stiffens the suspension for no good reason, all it does it make your bog standard diesel repmobile less comfortable. And no, no amount of suspension gimmicks or M-sportery stick on badges makes your car an M3.....

The best upgrade for most people nowadays is smaller wheels and bigger tyres. I remember having a fast Astra SRI as a hire car once and while it was fast in a straight line the bumps made my back hurt and it skipped all over the shop in corners so you had to slow down loads. I then drove a lesser spec one with 2" smaller wheels and it handled a LOT better in the corners.... (and yes I understand there is a limit with an Astra!).

I've seen more people swapping wheels for smaller ones recently as bonkers big wheels and hard suspension just isn't fun for 99% of the driving we all do.

Don't forget the BIK for hybrid cars will increase from April 1st to 13% and from April 2019 to 16% IIRC.

If you are looking at something like the outlander they are upgrading the engine to a 2.4 and increasing the battery range later this year.

My preference for a car is now an SUV/crossover, like the Qashqai, Mokka, ix35, CX-5, etc, for no other reason than I much prefer the higher seating position, it makes getting in and out of a car much easier; getting in and out of the average BMW is a pain, as much because so many owners have the seat set as low as possible, I guess because they believe it ‘enhances the driving experience’, or some such bollocks.

I also prefer the extra visibility all round that sitting higher gives, I’m not too fussed about spirited sporty performance these days, although the Merc S350 parked out front had a nice bit of oomph when asked for driving it home today.

Too sodding big for my taste, though.

Just get a pickup and be done with it..

I’ve never driven or been driven in an suv/4x4 that has had  a better ride on any surface than an normal car. You’re sat so high up above the suspension you get a real pendulum effect which can only be countered by stiffening up the suspension and antibroll bars so you either thane very stiff suspension or softer suspension but vomit inducing roll and wollowing. If you can get something with clever active suspension then you might get a half decent ride but if it’s comfort you want then you’re not going to get better than a proper ‘normal’ car.

All I want is a phev with 4wd and a range of 200kms.. then we're talking.
Like an Outlander phev but with a useful range to get us from home to the ski hill and back on the battery.

A 4x4/SUV isn't a solution to smoothing out bumpy roads.  The extra suspension travel helps in one way, but causes lean and generally more movement in another.

Saying that, I have a full 4x4 SUV, but this is because I sometimes have to travel across deserts, for safety (high sides), and for its load carrying.  Ride quality wouldn't ever be the reason.

Maybe the OP wants a 4x4 or SUV because we wants a 4x4 or SUV? He did give us a clue.

My 2p worth would be to get an SMax* 😉

*I have an SMax BTW.

New range rover sport hybrid coming out soon......bet that'll be nice!

Would either of the teslas be any good or too pricey? Seems like there are a lot of hybrid SUV reviews if that helps

Carwow on YouTube is pretty good for reviews..

I also had a 3 series touring M Sport rickon and like you the potholes and rough roads made it a nightmare to drive.  I now have a 3 series GT on 18" alloys and the difference is amazing.  It soaks up all the bumps and handles much better than any 4x4.  You also get a 60mm higher driving position and a boot that is bigger than the touring.  If you want 4x4 you can even get it in Xdrive.

Cheers Shinton! Might be an option.

Cheers everyone else, sounds like I need to get on some test drives.

How old is your 320 m sport ?

Ive got a 330e M Sport and the suspension is fine on shitty horrible West Yorkshire roads

Look at 330e or 530e. You can get less low profile tyres if needs be, but the latest generation 3 series is not a bad ride

I don’t know where you’d stand with it being a company car so to speak, but one of the big aspects of the M sport ride being too harsh and crashy can be traced to the run flats. If changing them is an option then it might solve your problem.

Ive got non run flat Goodyear eagle F1’s on mine and it handles pretty much everything fine. They are 17’s, 225/45 so a half decent sidewall, but still, I think just being normal radials is a large portion of the improvement over the standard 18” run flats.

Rickon, how about a Vespa? Hang on, hang on, hear me out. I used to have one and it handled muddy farm tracks well and if you get the right waterproof gear, you’re no more wet than sitting in a regular saloon. Also - 100mpg, so you get a bit of spare cash to put snowchains on it for winter. Win, win!

(I love these threads where someone asks a specific question and by reply #3, someone suggests exactly what he *doesn’t* want. Yes, I’m looking at you, newrobdob, soft lad 🙂 Made me LOL (in the nicest sense)

The OP asked for hybrid SUVs !!! Plus he pointed out Hybrids are appealing from a BIK tax perspective.

IMO the Japanese are far ahead here, so I would look at Toyota first and foremost.how about the quirky new C-HR.  Maybe Lexus (Toyota’s premium brand). I would second the CarWow youtube reviews and also their service, mate saved 12% on a Q7

https://www.toyota.co.uk/suv/hybrid-suv.json

At 16000 a year I'd have thought a hybrid fuel bills would be far higher than a diesel based on the fact that the hybrid will only manage the first 20 miles of any journey on electricity then you are on petrol.

I do 23k a year and got a Passat GTE hybrid a week back. Have done 500 miles thus week and hoofed it around in a similar fashion to my 1.6 diesel Zafira tourer that I've had for the last 3.5 years. Possibly more so as I have had to try the GTE mode a bit, imagine that'll die down. Passat is doing mid 40s , same as the Zafira. OK there is the electricity cost but expect to get 50mpg when the novelty wears off. I will lose out when going on longer trips like on holiday but I'm over  £100 a month better off in BIK a month which is a fair bit of fuel so it's not black and white. Bear in mind though that the Passat is a 1.4 turbo so fairly economical as petrol engines go, can't see it working if you have a hybrid with 20 miles battery range and a 3L V6!

Also I'm not destroying the environment (as much) and furthermore the Passat has Max Power blue calipers.

At 16000 a year I’d have thought a hybrid fuel bills would be far higher than a diesel based on the fact that the hybrid will only manage the first 20 miles of any journey on electricity then you are on petrol.

My 2.0 petrol guzzler hybrid manages 47mpg avg on long journeys without a battery charge and that’s not driving like a granny either.

You still don’t loose the battery power though as it’s still there to assist the petrol engine giving bonkers performance and great mpg

OP definitely get some test drives on rougher roads. Some of the SUVs we have driven recently have been setup like “sports cars” with low profile tyres and firm suspension. We have asked for test drives on rougher roads and some have been very harsh (Q2 the worst for that on model we tested)

The new Honda CR-Vs are going hybrid I think. Only car I've ever ownedbut it's fun to drive and has rakes of space inside.

Just did a run to Oban and back, those roads are shocking right now as you can be driving along at 60mph and suddenly see so many potholes joined together that they've formed a trench... Anyway, point being that despite all the wincing and swearing, I wouldn't have said it was ever uncomfortable..

<div class="bbp-reply-author">jambalaya
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OP definitely get some test drives on rougher roads. Some of the SUVs we have driven recently have been setup like “sports cars” with low profile tyres and firm suspension.

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You're not wrong but I think the term is so vague/overused/misapplied that it spans everything from a Nissan Juke to a Porsche Cayenne or G-Wagon.

I tested that C-HR out whilst deciding on my new car..

I really liked it, it is small though (so I ruled it out on the basis I wanted more room in the rear) think of it as a small high normal car the size of a Focus in the front but a Fiesta in the back.. it sort of tapers in in the rear seat back to the boot.. so quite thin. Roof space though was good, so if you have lanky 12-14yr olds they’d be fine sitting in it, but the middle seat isn’t much more than a thin bit of leather.

The front seats were marvellous, plenty of space and arm room. Spacious driving position and passenger seating, great dash and funky design.

Drove nice enough, perky and easily a bit “spirited” when you wanted it. I drove the hybrid and it was effortless, bit whiney when you put your foot to the floor but driving normally was very quiet if a teeny bit road noisy. I managed 53mpg on my mornings test on a mix of motorway, a roads, lanes and small lanes. Dead easy to live with.

It was a bit small for me, I wanted a bit more room like a bigger saloon or estate or modern SUV family type car, and this car comes up smaller on the inside than I wanted.. plus I wanted to get two surf boards in and you can’t do that without a proper faff flattening the rear seats then pushing the passenger seat forward and winding the backrest all the way down, my board would just go in but resting on the dash.. so not ideal for my requirements.

Perfectly lovely car if you want to live with one, the interior was very well finished and the seats were excellent.

And not expensive really..

If work are paying for it, then a nice double cab pick up, or a T6 Kombi 4motion or 4x4 Vito. It will work out much cheaper for the business.

Maybe the OP wants a 4×4 or SUV because we wants a 4×4 or SUV?

The OP also suggested that the reason for wanting an SUV was because of bumpy roads.  It seems very reasonable to mention that if this is the reasoning then other options are available as they don't make any real difference in that respect.

To put it this way, if someone came on here asking for suggestions for a "fat bike for my 10 mile each way morning commute because the cycle path has gravel sections" then you'd expect the suggestions to not include said fat bikes.

It's not ignoring the original question or being a know-it-all, it's offering alternative suggestions, with reasons why, in a perfectly straightforward manner.

If I had a road only commute in the UK on bumpy roads and I had the choice between an estate and an SUV then I'd go estate because I reckon I'd get a better car for the cash and the ride would be very similar.   As it happens I drive a 4x4 full SUV because these aren't my needs!

It's ok to suggest something that an OP hasn't asked for - it's all about ideas and opinions. I'd want someone to do that for me if I asked a question on here.