Impressions so far:
Nicer than the Audi! More comfortable, more performance, similar economy (if you keep the battery topped up, and don’t use the performance) and generally nicer to drive.
Did my commute to Coventry today, and it got 58 mpg. However driving it briskly over the weekend and it’s easy to get it into the low 30s or even the high 20s.
Cabin is roomy, but the boot is very small. All the space has been taken by the battery and the relocated (small) fuel tank. No room for any kind of spare wheel, so let’s hope I don’t get a puncture.
Not keen on the digital instruments. The flappy gearchange paddles are silly. It’s an 8-speed old-fashioned slushbox. Changing gear manually feels nothing like a manual gearchange and everything like having a dog and barking yourself. The auto works fine.
Charging the battery takes about 3-4 hours on the fast chargers at work, and 7-8 hours on a 3-pin plug at home. Must get a charger installed. For this you get about 28 miles in electric-only mode, and much better economy in hybrid mode (with careful driving.)
The black headlining is weird. I’ve only seen black headlining once before, in a Korean taxi. And that was buttoned black leather!
If you mean the ZF 8-speed, then it’s nothing like a conventional slushbox. Yes, it has a torque converter, but it locks up almost immediately. As far as autos go, then it’s pretty damn good. But yes, paddles are a bit pointless on that kind of car.
I would have preferred the Orange. However while my company no longer insists that all the cars are silver, it still only allows black, white, grey, silver or blue.
Same box my old-man-jag used. Converter locks up in 3rd so you get smoother starts. Sport mode was poor in mine, it worked too high up the Rev range for the diesel. Dynamic was much better, held the revs a little longer but mainly made the changes quicker and kickdown much keener. I only used the paddles for very slow junctions so it was in first ready rather than kicking down as you went to pull away
Took it 60 miles to my mum’s yesterday - a mix of motorway, duel carriageway, single carriageway and urban. Left home with a full battery, and it reported 90 mpg for the whole trip, with 31 miles on electric. But that used ALL the battery. Coming home, with no charge at all, I got 41 mpg. Better than I expected TBH.
The “lane assist” is awful. If you have to do a smart lane change when a truck pulls straight out in front of you on the motorway it tries to wrestle you back into the path of the truck. Not good. You can turn it off, but you have to do it every trip and it’s complicated. Happily there is a big green button in the middle of the dash - if you hold this in for 3 seconds it disables all the “driver assistance” shite. Then it glows redly at you for the rest of the trip.
