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Tuesday – Max Headroom

Jeremy – Ever had that worrying moment when you drive a new car into a multi-storey car park? The ‘max headroom’ sign says 6ft 8ins but you still duck your head in anticipation of a crunch.

The underground car park in Bath looks safe enough – except the metal height limit sign hanging above the entry point was dented and scratched by other drivers who thought they also had room to spare.

The Hyundai Santa Fe is one of the more squat SUVs on the market. Although Jessica measures 5ft 10 ins, she has plenty of headroom in the drivers’s seat. It’s not so roomy sat in the rear fold down seats, where headroom is limited if you have two tall teenagers to contend with. At least they are easy to fold out and there is decent legroom.

The long wheelbase version we are testing this week also has a fantastic load area. It’s just a shame I can’t get the auto boot opening to work from the keyfob – is it something I’m doing wrong? Whatever the answer, there’s a button that doesn’t seem to work however hard I press it.

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Monday – From Unlikely Beginnings

Jeremy – About the same time my father acquired his second Datsun 120Y (not easy to own up to), Hyundai launched the Pony hatchback on an unsuspecting British public. It was Korea’s first mass-produced car and, thankfully, you won’t see many around today because the Pony never achieved classic status.

It was developed by George Turnbull – the former MD of Austin Morris – and a team of five other Brits hired by Hyundai. Styled in Italy by Giugiaro, it was instantly forgettable, apart from the headlights, which did a good impression of a Ford Capri.

That was 1982 and how times have changed. Hyundai Motor Group (which incorporates Kia) is now the world’s fourth largest car manufacturer. It operates the world’s largest car plant too. The Ulsan site can produce a staggering 1.6 million cars every year and employs 35,000 people.

Our third generation Santa Fe must be one of the best Hyundai models ever produced. In long wheelbase, seven-seat form it really is a masterclass of an SUV – a fact confirmed by huge sales in the USA, where they know their SUVs. You’re not getting German design standards on the inside but in terms of looks, value-for-money and equipment levels, I think you would be hard pushed to find a better option.

Fortunately, CarCouture has escaped the worst of the weekend snow so we can’t report on its 4×4 abilities. We have the Santa Fe for another couple of days, so you never know…

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Friday – Fashion Wagon Or Get Away Car?

Jessica Imagine shopping on a budget and finding a piece of furniture that looks well designed, has good lines and appeals to the expensive side of your nature, for a modest price.609648_santafe_050

That’s what this car feels like…………from the outside!

Once you get inside you realise you have been shopping in IKEA, everything is basic, utilitarian and clunky although the drivers seat feels like a guilty pleasure as it is like siting in a battered old arm chair.

This week the car and I have sat in London traffic visiting a London, back to its fashion roots ( it is used by models for London Fashion Week) where it was easy to handle, a good height for keeping an eye on cyclists, ignoring irate taxi drivers and avoiding buses.  We have covered the motorways, from the South West to Newmarket the home of British horse racing.

The car goes well enough, however you would not use it as a get away car and I don’t feel confident overtaking on a main roads as we are not talking throughbred under the bonnet here.  Once you are up to speed it is relatively responsive and there is some power there.

I wonder if, being basic inside it would be a good country car, mud no problem, space for dogs, lambs, children (their friends) and the paraphernalia of pony clubbers.

How it would manage pulling a trailer I don’t  know but it would be worth finding out.With the coming snow I am looking forward to seeing how it manages en route back to the South West!

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Thursday – Screen Test

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Jeremy Poor old Jeremy Clarkson. He had such a terrible time trying to switch off the ‘voice’ on his Santa Fe’s satellite navigation that he Tweeted for help in frustration. With 870,000 followers, it wasn’t long before the Hyundai press office got back to him with simple instructions.

Our Santa Fe Premium has sat nav built in to the dashboard. A couple of the touchscreen buttons are  small and fiddly but it’s still better than many BMW systems I’ve battled with.

What I’ve discovered this week is that Jessica and I have a different approach to switching on sat ‘nag’ in the first place. Whilst I tend to drive around with the map permanently on, she only uses it when she has to. As soon as we swap places at the steering wheel, the screen is turned off.

For Jessica – and Jeremy Clarkson – this is very straightforward in the Hyundai. Click one button on the centre console and the job’s done. I’ve even managed to set up the voice-operated Bluetooth and operate the rear, fold-in-the-floor seats without losing a finger.

Car manufacturers have a tendency to over-complicate these days but operating the controls of the Santa Fe is intuitive, no-nonsense common sense. Next time to sit in a new car for the first time, see if you think the same.

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Wednesday – An Alternative BMW X5

Jeremy It took me a couple of days but I’ve finally worked out what the latest  Hyundai Santa Fe looks like – a  cheap version of the BMW X5. I say ‘cheap’ because even this top spec Santa Fe costs some £13,000 less than the entry model X5.

Yes, of course, this isn’t a luxury brand German vehicle but a Korean pretender. Yet look at the stylish lines of the Santa Fe and you can understand why it’s a hugely popular SUV in the UK. I wasn’t a fan of the previous model, especially the rather naff rear end. However, the 2013 version is massive leap forward.

I’ve clocked up another 80 miles in the big Hyundai and, while I accept the interior may not have the same quality or refinement as a BMW, it is excellent value for money. The Premium version really wants for nothing and the seats are among the best I’ve sat in for months.

Today I’m heading in to London with the Santa Fe for the opening of the David Bowie costume exhibition at the V&A. Follow our tweets and pictures through the day at Twitter.

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Tuesday – Cool in the Cotswolds?

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Jeremy After a week driving the sublime Jaguar XJ, it would be easy to assume the arrival of a Korean SUV might leave CarCouture a little flat. However, first impressions of the new Santa Fe are extremely favourable. On the outside, it cuts a thoroughly modern look, with more aggressive styling, lower front bumper and a stylish hexagonal grille.

Inside, it’s pretty sorted too, although there’s a good deal of plastic trim and a centre console that may not be to everybody’s taste. The console packs in a lot equipment on the Premium model but even the infotainment system is common-sense straightforward and easy to use.

Fitted with a 2.2-litre diesel engine, modifications to the new model mean it is 120kg lighter. The Santa Fe is certainly no slouch with smooth power delivery from the automatic gearbox and low noise levels inside the cabin.

This seven-seat version has two fold-flat seats in the boot. It looks a little tight for adult headroom in the back row but folded down, there’s a huge boot area. The dog loves it – whether adult passengers will feel the same in Row 3 remains to be seen. So far though, the Santa Fe is holding its own in the Cotswolds…

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Monday – A Thoroughly Modern Jaguar

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Jeremy I’ve taken to parking the XJ front-end on to my office window. The white paint job doesn’t offend me any more – even if the bling grille looks as ostentatious as a Breitling Superocean watch. Parking it nose first also means I can ignore the back-end – the only blemish on an otherwise sublime executive saloon.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but the high, box-like bottom of the XJ makes me wince each time it peeps into view. It reminds me a lot of the brilliant BMW 6 Series – a car only flawed by a rear-end of equally disproportionate proportions. I love the rear lights of the XJ but the metal bits inbetween are a letdown.

The XJ cockpit is near faultless. A heady mix of high quality leather, discreet chrome and a low-slung dashboard, it has buttons and dials in all the right places too. The massaging front seats are the height of opulence but once you’ve used them for a week, you wonder how you are going to survive a long journey ever again.

It’s just as luxurious in the rear and every bit as upmarket as the best of Mercedes or Audi. The boot space is a little lacking – perhaps another reason why they should redesign that rear-end asap.

XJ is a fantastic, high quality machine that in 3.0 V6 guise is as good to drive as anything on the market. Sort out that heavyweight bottom and it would be difficult to match.

 

 

 

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Sunday-Huffkins Challenge

JessicaThe Jag has passed a girl challenge today……
Once the many seat buttons have been pressed, in house massage parlour engaged, music selected, mirror adjusted (yes the Chanel nude lipstick works for a weekend) , it is time for the car park challenge.

The prize for negotiating the spiral entry ramp and numerous pillars of the Cheltenham multi-storey with no scratches or dents, is a delicious cup of exquisite loose leaf Lapsang Souchong with cakes (mine an award winning fruit cake) from Huffkins.

The car was immaculate, it is a pleasure to drive, responsive, fast and smooth. There is a sense of power that is easy to manage with the fun of paddle gear shift and an excellent braking system.

……….arriving at the challenge point……. yes we made it onto the car park (slowly) around the very tight, long, narrow spiral car park ramp, then easily manoeuvred into a tight space beside a pillar. There was much bleeping and flashing from the car which clearly did not believe I could negotiate such a testing space.

All in all a lovely afternoon, cake all round and a spin home across country in the spring sunshine.

I will be sad to see this car go as it is a luxurious experience to drive, though I still don’t understand why the rear end of this lovely car looks like an old Ford Sierra!

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Saturday – Tara Fitzgerald In Our XJ

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Jeremy You might imagine an actress who has starred in films like Brassed Off, Sirens and Hear My Song would be used to climbing in to luxurious limos like CarCouture’s XJ. However, Tara Fitzgerald loves her old Volvo estate and admits to us that she hasn’t been in anything quite as swanky as the Jaguar in years.

“I walk as much as I can around London but when I go down to my house in Cornwall, we cram everything in to the Volvo.”

I collected Tara from Milton Keynes, where she is currently staring in an RSC production of The Winter’s Tale. We are supposed to be walking and talking in the countryside near Silverstone, for a feature in the Financial Times. Then it started raining and didn’t stop.

By the time we return to the Jaguar, the Waking the Dead actress has boots caked in mud, a sodden coat and is drenched. “That’s the trouble with a car as posh as this – you feel bad about making the seats muddy and spoiling the leather.”

I show her the XJ’s massaging heated seat button and ask if she likes the car. “It’s incredibly plush but when I think of a Jaguar, I have a certain image in my mind and it isn’t shaped like this car.

“Maybe Jaguar wanted to move on from the classic design but this model doesn’t stand out in the crowd. I wouldn’t have known it was a Jaguar until you told me.”

Tara is about to star in the third series of Game of Thrones on Sky. “It’s the biggest production I have ever worked on. There were about 100 people on set and it has been filmed in incredibly exotic locations all over the world. However, they shot my scenes in Northern Ireland!”

Would she buy an XJ? “It’s not really my sort of car. I love the interior and the gadgets but I’m used to something slightly more practical.”

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Friday – Supercharged Smooth

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Jeremy Something strange has been happening in the XJ. When I pull away from a junction, big cars in the rear-view mirror become small very quickly. What’s odd about this is that I’ve not really been trying that hard – the ZF eight-speed gearbox has remained in ‘Drive’ and so far, I’ve only slipped into ‘Sport’ once.

What’s even more impressive is that the new V6 engine is so smooth. It feels totally unflustered and glides away at pace without a hint of strain. Jaguar has a long history of building performance cars but the XJ encapsulates the company ethos in one slick machine.

There will be purists who bemoan the loss of the 5.0-litre V8 engine in the XJ but the 3.0 makes the saloon a much more sensible prospect in the current age of austerity. Besides, it still produces 335bhp and CO2 emissions have been cut to a more respectable 224g/km.

The XJ is also so very easy to drive. There’s minimum fuss whether you are bumper to bumper in town, or opening up the throttle on a A-road. The sound from the exhaust isn’t quite the rumble of the old V8 but an 825W Meridian sound system more than makes up for that.

Right, I’m off to Milton Keynes to perform chauffeur duties for CarCouture’s celebrity guest. CarCouture will reveal her verdict on the XJ over the weekend.