What model are you having isto? I’m going from 192hp to 115hp

We have ordered a 1.4tsi SE Tech. The 1.4tsi is 150 so it has a decent turn of speed. Just over 8 seconds to 60 I think so a bit of an improvement on my wife’s 1.9 tdi Leon.

The good news if you have gone for a different engine is you have avoided what is now around a 6 month wait.

On making it not look like a turd?

Personal opinion and all that but I am not sure there is much difference in the level of turdiness.

keen to hear how that wee 1.0 tfsi (115) engine gets on. We have a car coming soon with it – looks ideal for the short journey, urban type stuff my wife will be using it for

S’all aboot da Cross Coupe’ darhlinks..

a lot of the comparisons aren’t really like-for-like. The easiest of those I can think of is the focus estate vs kuga. focus is the same length, has a 4% bigger boot, and is ~12% more fuel efficient on a like-for-like basis (same engine, 2wd), and £3k cheaper (£20k vs 17k for titanium ecoboost)

That’s not quite fair though as the Kuga is finished to a higher standard so it’s not exactly like for like. I went from a 62 reg focus to a 14 kuga. As has been mentioned, the SUV might be officially smaller but the space is more practical and easy to use if that makes sense. I would prefer a car myself but have to agree that the SUV is great with two children under four. As a practical option when choosing a vehicle to fit a certain time of your life the Kuga really fits the bill.

We had a look at the Ateca a few months back when our pcp was coming to an end but decided against as it felt a bit smaller than the Kuga, especially in the boot. To get the spec we wanted the price was creeping up too so ended up paying the Kuga off and keeping that for now.

I was sad enough to look this up but the Kuga has a fairly small boot..lifted from a review:

Ford Kuga has a smaller boot than a Volkswagen Tiguan and Honda CR-V, while even the smaller SEAT Ateca and Peugeot 3008 beat it for space. Furthermore, the spare wheel option decreases boot space to 406 litres, giving it 97 litres less than a Mazda CX-5.

On paper I was going to get the 1.4 as I still wanted some oomph .. But after driving the 1.0 tsi I was pleasantly surprised it pulled very well up to 50mph and as it won’t see lots of motorway miles it will be ideal ..

It’s same engine that is going into the vw up gti so it’s a gti by default 😆

plus one – Member
On paper I was going to get the 1.4 as I still wanted some oomph .. But after driving the 1.0 tsi I was pleasantly surprised it pulled very well up to 50mph and as it won’t see lots of motorway miles it will be ideal ..

It’s same engine that is going into the vw up gti so it’s a gti by default

good to know, thanks !

Personal opinion and all that but I am not sure there is much difference in the level of turdiness.

My bad – I’d not seen the new one, or was thinking of something different

Boot size in litres isn’t always the best test. a tall narrow boot might be less useful in certain circumstances that something wide and shallow (think bags of delicate things you don’t want to stack)

Shape and design is almost as important

Agree with the above. The Kuga may be smaller in official litres but has a more practical load space. Isn’t a decent amount of the VAG group space under the initial boot floor? Either way, with the pram base against the back seat the Ateca wouldn’t have as much space for the dog as the Kuga.

How big are your dogs? As they get older are you able/willing to lift them into the hire boot of an SUV? If not buy an estate – safer bet for dog owners IMO.

SUV’s were invented in America where in some situations the extra ground clearance actually makes sense. In the UK however, its generally pretty pointless and inferior to estate cars in almost every way.

Perhaps if you got away from your comfortable urban existence and spent more time driving around in some proper countryside, with narrow, potholed, muddy lanes with occasional cratered passing places, or grass verges you have to drive up onto to get past oncoming vehicles, because the last passing place was a quarter of a mile back up a 1:6 hill, you might get over yourself and begin to realise that what is ideal for you, isn’t ideal for others!
I’ve got absolutely NO need for an estate, I don’t even need a car the size of my Octavia any more, what I do need is a shorter car that’s got tyres with deeper sidewalls and greater ground clearance to cope with the shitty roads I regularly drive over, and give me the option of being able to drive some green lanes without ripping the underside out of the car, along with the overwhelming desire to be able to get in and out of the car easily, which I’m finding it increasingly difficult to do with lower saloon cars.
SUV’s were invented as a more civilised utility vehicle than a pickup truck that enabled people into outdoor activities/sports to carry a shitload of stuff into the back country without trashing the car, an estate with greater ground clearance, the smaller crossover cars are more suitable for general usage than the likes of a Range Rover, Jeep Grand Cherokee and the like
I’ve had to replace a couple of suspension springs and two alloys on my Octavia, due to potholes on main A-roads, a bloke opposite had to have a lower wishbone on his VW Amarak replaced after hitting a pothole recently, which also did a lot of damage to the outside of the nearside alloy, and that’s a pretty big crewcab 4×4 pickup, so Christ knows what that would have done to a car with low-profile tyres!

sbob – Member
nickfrog – Member
Our Tiguan is better in almost every way than the equivalent Golf Estate.

Better visibility

Worse for everyone else.

Probably 4/5mpg worse off though
Worse than that according to google, FWIW.

Considering that a good proportion of cars are now SUV height then, no it’s not everyone else as SUV vs SUV is non worse than Estate vs Estate but I still get your point. Having said that, lateral visibility is still there and not to much detriment of other road users.

As for mpg, Google is not always your friend, short of running both cars. We get actuall 44mpg out of the old heavy Tiguan in TDI 150 2WD manual despite 70% short town trips. I find that staggering and whatever the additional “saving” would be against the estate, it’s really not worth it for us, it’s basically cheap as chips.

As for turdiness, while I appreciate that image/looks are important for some (despite them not having to have a SUV), not only that’s pretty subjective but we don’t give a damn what others think. I do agree they look ridiculous but we bought one despite that, that’s how brilliant they are functionally.

How big are your dogs? As they get older are you able/willing to lift them into the hire boot of an SUV? If not buy an estate – safer bet for dog owners IMO.

We have one, a Lab. As mentioned, the SUV suits us now. When it doesn’t we’ll change it.

TBH I’m interested in the whole backlash against derv at the moment and expect some more revelations to appear in the future so am happy to keep what we have while greener tech improves and until the wind significantly changes at which point I will dump the oil burner.

We looked at the Tiguan and Ateca, neither justified their price tags for us. The Ateca felt especially dreary inside.

The CRV was a different league of capacious. Loved the seats too. Sadly the shite dash layout and naff infotainment system let it down, badly. It’s expensive too.

We went for a CX-5 in the end. Massive discount off list as it was one of the last built before the new model came out. Not as much tech as the Tiguan but still had all necessary features and is a rather pleasant place to sit for a few hours.

Perhaps if you got away from your comfortable urban existence and spent more time driving around in some proper countryside, with narrow, potholed, muddy lanes with occasional cratered passing places, or grass verges you have to drive up onto to get past oncoming vehicles, because the last passing place was a quarter of a mile back up a 1:6 hill, you might get over yourself

Where the hell are you driving? I live in the Peak District and drive narrow back country roads every day. I drive a hot hatchback with 45 profile tyres and wouldn’t want anything bigger.

I’m a bit disappointed by this thread- SUVs are a bad thing for the environment pretty much every way you look at it. Always less economical than the equivalently sized hatchback/estate and use more raw materials to produce for now gain in interior space. And do more damage to pedestrians. If you really must have one, because you live up a very muddy track that requires ground clearance, then do but in places like the Swiss Alps most people just drive a normal car with four wheel drive.

I’m a bit disappointed by this thread- cars are a bad thing for the environment pretty much every way you look at it.

FTFY

I live in the Peak District and drive narrow back country roads every day. I drive a hot hatchback with 45 profile tyres and wouldn’t want anything bigger.

I’m a bit disappointed by this thread- SUVs are a bad thing for the environment pretty much every way you look at it.

Compare your hot hatch emissions to a low emission SUV.

munrobiker

If you really must have one, because you live up a very muddy track that requires ground clearance, then do but in places like the Swiss Alps most people just drive a normal car with four wheel drive.

Normal cars with four wheel drive??!!? Those inconsiderate swines. Why would they destroy baby rabbits and melt glaciers by driving heavier, less fuel efficient, four wheel drive cars when we all know that a front wheel drive car with winter tyres is immeasurably better than four wheel drive.

😈

As for mpg, Google is not always your friend, short of running both cars.

Don’t need to drive either vehicle to know that increasing frontal area increases drag and therefore fuel consumption. 🙂

We get actuall 44mpg out of the old heavy Tiguan in TDI 150 2WD manual despite 70% short town trips.

I got over 50mpg from my last car; petrol auto built in 1995! 💡

CountZero – Member

Perhaps if you got away from your comfortable urban existence and spent more time driving around in some proper countryside, with narrow, potholed, muddy lanes with occasional cratered passing places, or grass verges you have to drive up onto to get past oncoming vehicles, because the last passing place was a quarter of a mile back up a 1:6 hill, you might get over yourself

😆
I’ve stayed in rural Sweden. Neighbour had a MkII Micra.

Does seem a little weird that this thread is veering down the SUV Good or Bad route.

TBH if you’re that concerned about whether an SUV is Good or Bad, you may want to have a chat with the millions of Hyundai/Kia SUV owners and Gazillions of Quashqai/Kuga owners and get thier POV.

For its them that will be hardest hit when the SUV/Diesel debate really gets going.

sbob – Member
As for mpg, Google is not always your friend, short of running both cars.
Don’t need to drive either vehicle to know that increasing frontal area increases drag and therefore fuel consumption.

We get actuall 44mpg out of the old heavy Tiguan in TDI 150 2WD manual despite 70% short town trips.
I got over 50mpg from my last car; petrol auto built in 1995!

I never said the MPV didn’t use less fuel – I said the difference in consumption was negligible compared to the equivalent Estate Golf. Certainly less than the difference in depreciation in favour of the SUV.

50mpg is rubbish – we get 60mpg out of our Yaris petrol. 😉

Comparing like for like, are we ?

Either way, our Tiguan is better in almost every way than the equivalent Golf Estate but may or may not be as good as a car built in 1995.

My soon to be wife has just got an Ateca after a well-to-do woman in an AMG V8 sportscar thing pulled out of a t-junction into the side of her Fiat 500. The Fiat was a write-off so we went on the hunt for a new safer car.

After looking round a car supermarket it was the compact SUV’s that took her fancy, a bit of research later and she had settled on the Ateca because of all the 5 star reviews and decent price compared to some of the competition.

She managed to get her hands on one of the only ones available in the country on short notice. It’s a 1.6 oil burner with fairly good options package for a very reasonable price.

She absolutely loves the thing. Much prefers the higher driving position, feels really good on the road, decent acceleration, great fuel economy and she does 18k per year so will be noticed. She also works on a farm so feels the ground clearance will be useful. Overall we are both very happy with the purchase.

CountZero – Member
Perhaps if you got away from your comfortable urban existence and spent more time driving around in some proper countryside, with narrow, potholed, muddy lanes with occasional cratered passing places, or grass verges you have to drive up onto to get past oncoming vehicles, because the last passing place was a quarter of a mile back up a 1:6 hill, you might get over yourself

😆

I used to drive 8 miles up a Highland single track road, rarely gritted or ploughed in winter. Best car ever was the light, nimble, low power Yaris on winter tyres. Many of the local farmers in 110’s and 90’s commented how good it was at stopping compared to 3tons of 4×4.

Even the Touran was handy enough.

Edit – the last mile was up 1:5 up 800′ climb of a driveway, no passing places at all.

Don’t give me the ‘countryside needs 4×4’ line…

We went for a CX-5 in the end.

It was between a CX-5 and an Ateca for us. I would agree the Mazda is a nicer place to sit but we thought the Ateca was nicer to drive and had more up to date tech in it.

Can’t believe we’ve had 2 pages and no Audi Q2’s …… 😀

I think the Q2 is a fair bit smaller and the Q3 is probably around the same size but more expensive. But yeah I am surprised no-one has suggested a Q3/X3/Chintzy Merc (model escapes me) or worse still an Evoque. Not that any are in the same price bracket…but that doesn’t usually hinder people.

Q3 is X1 size, we looked at them when we bought the 2AT.

Q5=X3=GLC

Q3 is X1 size, we looked at them when we bought the 2AT.

Q5=X3=GLC

Cheers. Sorry I didn’t put that well, I was comparing them in size to the Ateca mentioned in the OP.

Q2 and Q3 share the same platform, though Q2 is a bit smaller in and out. It feels about same size as an X1.

Q2 and Q3 share the same platform, though Q2 is a bit smaller in and out. It feels about same size as an X1.

Q2 is significantly shorter than a X1, which is 10 inches longer. Even the Q3 is shorter than the X1.

The Q2 felt like at least 1 category down in size, unsurprisingly.

T6 4motion Kombi for the win.

mandog – Member
T6 4motion Kombi for the win.

Nah.

That’s a “lifestyle” vehicle and there’s a thread for that 😉

Own an E-class (07) for general use and a Discovery3 (06), mainly for work (towing 3500kg, on and off road). More often than not we use the estate. It’s quicker, more economical and in 80-90% of circumstances, it swallows all our stuff. The roof bars are lower, so much easier to get stuff on and off of.

I wouldn’t own an SUV (the D3) unless I towed big trailers, it’s just too expensive to run, although 7 seats are handy sometimes. Estates for me every time.

I thought long and hard and realised I’d be spending silly money on a new Seat Ateca which would only see trips to work and putting the dogs in 😀

So I canceled the new car and bought this £3700 and all it’s missing from the Ateca is touchscreen and Led lights 😆