Post by alf on May 31, 2024 16:21:24 GMT
We drove to the Center Parcs on the Netherlands/German border (a bit south of where all the Market Garden stuff happened in WW2) in half term, like last year. It was my first proper go in Tina's 2020 G21 330e Touring on varied roads (traffic diversions took us through half of Surrey in both directions) and I'm starting to appreciate that its better equipped than I thought. The ride in particular has always impressed me - its on 19" wheels in M sport spec and budget runflats FFS! It turns out that a) 330e tourings don't have M sport suspension even in that trim and b) ours is actually an "M Sport Pro pack" car which means it has lighter wheels and adaptive M sport suspension (BMW specs never being easy). It's very very good, and - unlike the Alfa (where the Ferrari-derived shock mounts can be vocal on certain low speed roads) its silent as it magic-carpets even really bad roads (Surrey again).
Overall its a very refined thing, in Germany Tina was cruising at 100 on her leg and it is - jointly with my first XFR (which had better window seals than the second) the quietest and most serene car I have ever been in at those speeds. It feels very like the Jaguars to corner as well (probably as it weighs even more) - it does handle well, but its nothing like as lithe as the Alfa or Boxster. I also find the steering a bit weird, but I think a downside of the pro pack is variable steering - it seems to take more corrections that it should to steer a steady line.
It is very bloody complicated however. 4 basic driving modes, where two of them have a further customisable "individual" setting on a second press, one an "even more eco" on a second press, and one an extra boost mode as well as individual (so three presses). .At least 7 in total - and WTF is the difference between "Hybrid" and "Adaptive"?? I read the manual and still don't know. It wants you to set up some app thing (Tina tried and it never worked) and some functions on the stalks say "acquirable" - I assume you need to pay - they should remove them if not paid for!! I now understand all the stuff the digital dash is trying to show you (often around regen and power train/economy) and it's quite fun in a very geeky sort of way, but bloody hell its complex. The headlights are great (adaptive - so turny - but not voodoo) but its daft it lacks adaptive cruise and especially blind spot monitoring despite a lot of crap I don't need. Going back to an estate I miss the visibility of the saloons I've had, with the gangsta glass it feels like I'm driving a long dark tube and blindspot monitoring would really help.
The electric side of it works well - it has a lot of poke in town in just electric (circa 90bhp but 200lb ft instantly available) and it does regen quite nicely, though mainly on the brake pedal not a lift, they presumably wanted to make a hybrid brake more like a normal car and not be a "one pedal" drive like an EV. I'm fine with one pedal driving so its a shame you can't make it more aggressive. It annoys me how it just burns through the (typically 22-25 miles) of electric at the start of each journey, I would want to retain say 20% for the odd burst of joint power, and while this can be done in settings I think if it were mine, it would annoy me that you have a very finite amount of big thrust. On engine alone (circa 180bhp 2.0T petrol) its OK - better than I originally thought, but obviously nothing like I'm used to. We did charge it a bit in the park, but at the same £per mile as petrol charged that way, it was more to get used to it, and for how it drives, and to save polar bears, than for the cost. Overall it usually does 40-50MPG on a run, the more you drive in slowish roads with a lot of speed differential (where ICE has really poor MPG) the more % of your driving is done on electric. Long range motorway warriors should stick with a 320d or 330d.
One worry - after heading to the autobahn straight after a charge it displayed "power system faiure" as a warning and suggested we pull over - followed by no warning light or driveability issues so we just carried on at sensible pace (as we had been). It only happened once, but random warnings are never confidence inspiring. Another worry - I got a big oversteer slide on in the wet on a Belgian road at truly pedestrian pace (thank god I was driving then) with a slowcoach ahead and someone behind - who had no issues - it felt like a diesel spill but I suspect the budget tyres, which I wanted to throw away, are useless in the wet. There was plenty of wet and I was very very careful after that!
Getting back into mine for a blat on our return, the Alfa felt the best it ever had. The screen looks puny and old tech, but the analogue dash much easier to use, and the materials vastly better (the plastic dash top on the BMW being a particular lowlight). After a few days in the BMW I appreciated the engine note, thinner steering wheel with much more feel, and mostly just how ballistic and naughty it felt. It feels half the weight to drive, and I hit the rev limiter in manual mode as the engine is so smooth and piles revs on so fast. With only the Boxster to compare it with, I thought the Alfa might be a bit sensible, but it really is not when you drive a normal car!
Overall its a very refined thing, in Germany Tina was cruising at 100 on her leg and it is - jointly with my first XFR (which had better window seals than the second) the quietest and most serene car I have ever been in at those speeds. It feels very like the Jaguars to corner as well (probably as it weighs even more) - it does handle well, but its nothing like as lithe as the Alfa or Boxster. I also find the steering a bit weird, but I think a downside of the pro pack is variable steering - it seems to take more corrections that it should to steer a steady line.
It is very bloody complicated however. 4 basic driving modes, where two of them have a further customisable "individual" setting on a second press, one an "even more eco" on a second press, and one an extra boost mode as well as individual (so three presses). .At least 7 in total - and WTF is the difference between "Hybrid" and "Adaptive"?? I read the manual and still don't know. It wants you to set up some app thing (Tina tried and it never worked) and some functions on the stalks say "acquirable" - I assume you need to pay - they should remove them if not paid for!! I now understand all the stuff the digital dash is trying to show you (often around regen and power train/economy) and it's quite fun in a very geeky sort of way, but bloody hell its complex. The headlights are great (adaptive - so turny - but not voodoo) but its daft it lacks adaptive cruise and especially blind spot monitoring despite a lot of crap I don't need. Going back to an estate I miss the visibility of the saloons I've had, with the gangsta glass it feels like I'm driving a long dark tube and blindspot monitoring would really help.
The electric side of it works well - it has a lot of poke in town in just electric (circa 90bhp but 200lb ft instantly available) and it does regen quite nicely, though mainly on the brake pedal not a lift, they presumably wanted to make a hybrid brake more like a normal car and not be a "one pedal" drive like an EV. I'm fine with one pedal driving so its a shame you can't make it more aggressive. It annoys me how it just burns through the (typically 22-25 miles) of electric at the start of each journey, I would want to retain say 20% for the odd burst of joint power, and while this can be done in settings I think if it were mine, it would annoy me that you have a very finite amount of big thrust. On engine alone (circa 180bhp 2.0T petrol) its OK - better than I originally thought, but obviously nothing like I'm used to. We did charge it a bit in the park, but at the same £per mile as petrol charged that way, it was more to get used to it, and for how it drives, and to save polar bears, than for the cost. Overall it usually does 40-50MPG on a run, the more you drive in slowish roads with a lot of speed differential (where ICE has really poor MPG) the more % of your driving is done on electric. Long range motorway warriors should stick with a 320d or 330d.
One worry - after heading to the autobahn straight after a charge it displayed "power system faiure" as a warning and suggested we pull over - followed by no warning light or driveability issues so we just carried on at sensible pace (as we had been). It only happened once, but random warnings are never confidence inspiring. Another worry - I got a big oversteer slide on in the wet on a Belgian road at truly pedestrian pace (thank god I was driving then) with a slowcoach ahead and someone behind - who had no issues - it felt like a diesel spill but I suspect the budget tyres, which I wanted to throw away, are useless in the wet. There was plenty of wet and I was very very careful after that!
Getting back into mine for a blat on our return, the Alfa felt the best it ever had. The screen looks puny and old tech, but the analogue dash much easier to use, and the materials vastly better (the plastic dash top on the BMW being a particular lowlight). After a few days in the BMW I appreciated the engine note, thinner steering wheel with much more feel, and mostly just how ballistic and naughty it felt. It feels half the weight to drive, and I hit the rev limiter in manual mode as the engine is so smooth and piles revs on so fast. With only the Boxster to compare it with, I thought the Alfa might be a bit sensible, but it really is not when you drive a normal car!
