Anyone driving one and any comments? I noticed that the Subaru Forester doesn't have a spare wheel as that space is taken up with the batteries. Cheers Mackka
Looking at buying a Hybrid SUV petrol battery,
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We drive Corolla and Camry Hybrid's at work and do a fair few K's. These are not plug-in at all. Electric motor with a petrol motor that kicks in and out when needed. And downhill and on braking the wheels somehow provide a charge back to the battery.
I live in a 'hills and valleys' type scenario with no city traffic, stop lights, traffic jams, etc.
Really happy with both although I prefer the Camry as it is a bigger vehicle and I am 6' 3" tall and not a light weight. They are zippy if you need them to be but if driven properly they can be quite fuel efficient. Generally the Camry gives 4.5 - 5 litres per 100 km and that is summer or winter with the aircon/heater on or off - it doesn't seem to make much difference. I think that is reasonable for a fairly good sized family car. Oddly enough, I find the Corolla's actually don't do any better with fuel efficiency and sometimes even worse - no idea why but maybe there are bigger batteries in the Camry or a bigger charge is gained on desceleration or going down hill - no idea!
Driven properly. As with most cars, if you zoom around it uses more juice and these are no different. A few little things can help such as:
- Taking off calmly
- Taking your foot off the accelerator an extra 50 metres early from an intersection and coasting as this helps in 2 ways. The car is re-charging whilst coasting and it also reduces the amount of braking required which helps as the car uses more power when braking.
- Coast as much as possible when going down a slope or a hill, even to the point of not using the cruise control as it will continuously kick in a little bit. As long as you are not hampering traffic around you, coast - coast - coast.
We don't do a heap around town but I find it a little better around town than out on the open road sitting on 100 km/hr. To maintain high speeds on flat roads it just needs to keep kicking in that petrol I suppose.
I have no idea about service costs and service intervals, etc, as that is all done by the fleet team. I imagine servicing cost would be low as there is minimal to service. No idea how long batteries last and cost to replace either. Ours are all around the 60,000 km mark and still going well.
About the only 'issue' I would have with owning a hybrid Camry is that they are quite low. Something to keep in mind if you have a lumpy dirt driveway, a steep driveway, do a decent degree of back road driving, etc. Also worth keeping in mind if you have physical limitations of getting into low vehicles.
Cheers, NE.
I should also add, a client of ours that recently passed away had a 2018 (??) 4 door diesel Jaguar. Very nice looking car and he said it was amazing on fuel. He said it only used about 2.5-3 litres per hundred km if driven properly but when needed, it went like a rocket. I know there was also a Top Gear episode from a while back where (I think) Jeremy drove a diesel Jag from full until it was empty and he got 1,200 miles or something ridiculous out of a tank. All of that is a bit of second hand info though. Would be interested if anyone has any 1st hand knowledge of the diesel Jags.
I live in a 'hills and valleys' type scenario with no city traffic, stop lights, traffic jams, etc.
Really happy with both although I prefer the Camry as it is a bigger vehicle and I am 6' 3" tall and not a light weight. They are zippy if you need them to be but if driven properly they can be quite fuel efficient. Generally the Camry gives 4.5 - 5 litres per 100 km and that is summer or winter with the aircon/heater on or off - it doesn't seem to make much difference. I think that is reasonable for a fairly good sized family car. Oddly enough, I find the Corolla's actually don't do any better with fuel efficiency and sometimes even worse - no idea why but maybe there are bigger batteries in the Camry or a bigger charge is gained on desceleration or going down hill - no idea!
Driven properly. As with most cars, if you zoom around it uses more juice and these are no different. A few little things can help such as:
- Taking off calmly
- Taking your foot off the accelerator an extra 50 metres early from an intersection and coasting as this helps in 2 ways. The car is re-charging whilst coasting and it also reduces the amount of braking required which helps as the car uses more power when braking.
- Coast as much as possible when going down a slope or a hill, even to the point of not using the cruise control as it will continuously kick in a little bit. As long as you are not hampering traffic around you, coast - coast - coast.
We don't do a heap around town but I find it a little better around town than out on the open road sitting on 100 km/hr. To maintain high speeds on flat roads it just needs to keep kicking in that petrol I suppose.
I have no idea about service costs and service intervals, etc, as that is all done by the fleet team. I imagine servicing cost would be low as there is minimal to service. No idea how long batteries last and cost to replace either. Ours are all around the 60,000 km mark and still going well.
About the only 'issue' I would have with owning a hybrid Camry is that they are quite low. Something to keep in mind if you have a lumpy dirt driveway, a steep driveway, do a decent degree of back road driving, etc. Also worth keeping in mind if you have physical limitations of getting into low vehicles.
Cheers, NE.
I should also add, a client of ours that recently passed away had a 2018 (??) 4 door diesel Jaguar. Very nice looking car and he said it was amazing on fuel. He said it only used about 2.5-3 litres per hundred km if driven properly but when needed, it went like a rocket. I know there was also a Top Gear episode from a while back where (I think) Jeremy drove a diesel Jag from full until it was empty and he got 1,200 miles or something ridiculous out of a tank. All of that is a bit of second hand info though. Would be interested if anyone has any 1st hand knowledge of the diesel Jags.
https://www.drive.com.au/reviews/2022-toyota-rav4-cruiser-v-subaru-forester-comparison/
"In any case, our experiences with the Forester Hybrid is underwhelming. Its battery is too small to be useful resulting in marginal benefit over a petrol-only Forester which is, by far, the pick of the Forester engine options."
"In any case, our experiences with the Forester Hybrid is underwhelming. Its battery is too small to be useful resulting in marginal benefit over a petrol-only Forester which is, by far, the pick of the Forester engine options."
Great review thank you. Mackka
Re: the Foresters. I drive them at my ‘other’ workplace and have done for about 6 years. I would barely have one if it was given to me. Utter tinny, plastic, rattly, drive poorly, sticky accelerator, crap steering pieces of ‘you know what’!!
By that’s just my opinion
By that’s just my opinion
David-Karratha
David
Hired a hybrid Toyota RAV4. Featurewise, It’s exactly what you’d expect from Toyota - not a RollsRoyce, but not entirely crappy either.
For a hybrid, it goes really really well. Plenty of power if you push it, and overtaking at Highway speed was a breeze. According to the specs I saw it’s supposed to get 1150km to its (60 litre I think) tank. I never checked details exactly, but it was really frugal on fuel. It also had all the modern bits&pieces (dynamic radar cruise control etc) which once you’re accustomed to it, is absolutely fantastic.
For a general family commuter, I’d buy one without hesitation. My wife drives a Subaru Forester, but hasn’t yet convinced herself to buy another one. Niece drives a new Subaru Outback and loves it.
For a hybrid, it goes really really well. Plenty of power if you push it, and overtaking at Highway speed was a breeze. According to the specs I saw it’s supposed to get 1150km to its (60 litre I think) tank. I never checked details exactly, but it was really frugal on fuel. It also had all the modern bits&pieces (dynamic radar cruise control etc) which once you’re accustomed to it, is absolutely fantastic.
For a general family commuter, I’d buy one without hesitation. My wife drives a Subaru Forester, but hasn’t yet convinced herself to buy another one. Niece drives a new Subaru Outback and loves it.
Hi ,
I drive a hybrid AWD. RAV4 get about 5lt per 100k out of it . Previous all petrol model was about 8 lt per 100 k.
I’m happy with it
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if no spare wheel that may mean its running run flat tyres. They have a hard side wall permitting you to drive slowly to go get the flat fixed. Try and avoid run flats, they screw the drive up making it a really rough ride. I had them on one of my previous cars and swore never again, they're expensive as hell to replace too.
Having a look at the Haval range, anyone got one and any comments please? Mackka
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Look away
Care to expand your comment mate?
Dave's Office
Have Detector Will Travel
The Haval got a pretty good wrap in the motoring section of The Adelaide Advertiser the other day, it said words to the effect of being "good value for money" compared to the established 4x4 brands and they were selling a lot of them.
Thanks Dave. I appreciate your comment. Mackka
I'm not sure if this is the right model:
https://www.drive.com.au/reviews/2022-haval-jolion-ultra-hybrid-review/
There's other relevant Haval articles here:
https://www.drive.com.au/search/?news=true&reviews=true&advice=true&opinion=true&searchText=haval
https://www.drive.com.au/reviews/2022-haval-jolion-ultra-hybrid-review/
There's other relevant Haval articles here:
https://www.drive.com.au/search/?news=true&reviews=true&advice=true&opinion=true&searchText=haval
Thanks Grubstake, I will have a read. One thing I noted with this brand is the Warranty and Service Agreement compared to the other well known brands on the market. I was looking at a Subaru Forrester hybrid but it didn’t read to well in the reviews for the amount of money they want. I am in no hurry . Mackka
This article includes some interesting comments about Haval:
https://www.drive.com.au/caradvice/...if-i-opened-a-multi-franchise-car-dealership/
Relevant extract:
https://www.drive.com.au/caradvice/...if-i-opened-a-multi-franchise-car-dealership/
Relevant extract:
Thanks mate, very much appreciated. Buying a new car at my age is like researching for a new prospecting area. Long and tedious, but, fruitful in the end, I hope. Regards Mackka
It certainly is long and tedious Mackka. And then you have to deal with the salesman......sorry, salesperson...aaww, you know what I mean.
FJ, I was a State Manager for 21 years, not cars, or real estate , and I have seen the best and worst. The PA has a great variety of professional people on here and that is why I appreciate all youse ( thanks Mr. mundene) help. Mackka
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