Makes and Models

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Thursday – Brand Power

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Jessica  The Mitsubishi GX5 is a curious car. On guessing the price I was wildly inaccurate as the drive quality and slightly bizarre choice of trimmings didn’t lead me to believe I was driving a car that sells in the £34,000 price bracket.

Talking about trimmings, there is retro and there is ‘why use old design…’ This car has an old style automatic gear stick which reminds me (vaguely) of the old red Jaguar my Father drove in the 1980s with it’s super 8 casettes. This, however, is a strangely cheap copy and looks out of place among the modern gadgetry.

Looking at cars and prices below is a random selection of seven-seaters which made me wonder where and how this Mitsubshi model competes…

Jeep Grand Cherokee £36,995.00

Volvo XC90 £36,865

Land Rover Discovery GS SDV6 3.0 AUTOMATIC £38,850

My biggest difficulty was the slow responds under acceleration and spongy steering. I would have happily swapped fewer gadgets and alarms for a better driving experience.

That said, the Outlander doesn’t look bad from the outside with its sleek lines. It’s also well considered from all angles.

I must say that after many years of visiting Badminton Horse Trials and seeing the sponsorship logos, I always imagined Mitsubishi was at the utilitarian end of the 4×4 market. It obviously has a healthy approach to country living and moving various types of livestock around the country. Such is the power of marketing!

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Monday – Fare Exchange

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Jeremy Taxi drivers don’t get excited about much in the car department – they’ve seen it all. So parking up at Westbury Railway Station this morning, I was surprised to be engulfed by a group of three cabbies who weren’t quite sure what the noisy blue monster was in their midst.

Not surprisingly, it was the rasp from the four exhaust pipes that caught their attention. The R-S sounds very different to the standard XKR, especially if you rev the engine about 3000rpm and feel the 5.0-litre rocking on its engine mounts. Now that has to be one of the joys of a grumbling V8…

It’s worth remembering that the standard XK pumps out a ‘modest’ 379bhp, while the R model a hefty 503bhp. The R-S is 542bhp and in full roar, you could probably hear it a mile away!

While the taxi guys weren’t that impressed with the in-yer-face blue paintjob, they thought the aerodynamic tweaks to the front and rear in black were what made the difference. Jaguar say it is these enhancements that help keep the R-S on the road at speeds approaching 186mph, which is limited by the way!

Frankly, while they were purring over the long bonnet, none of them fancied picking up a fare in the Jaguar. It’s not the tiny back seats or the lack of luggage space, just that the average of 18mpg would give their accountant a heart attack…

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Thursday – A Big Discovery

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Jessica This car is a big step up from the Discovery of old. It feels solid, sorted and safe. The box shape does not work for me, utilitarian yes, aesthetic  no. Even though the bonnet is chunky and reflects the same look as a Range Rover, it definitely lacks a sense of style at the rear.

It’s easy to fall down when designing a dashboard. However, the retro wood finish ties neatly in with current online graphic trends (examples can be seen on Issuu.com) and will appeal to 70’s furniture enthusiasts. Combine this with lozenges of brushed chrome and you have a potential design classic interior.

Internally, the Discovery is very comfortable. The stitching is not overdone and it’s a pleasure to drive on either long or short journeys. Responsive, powerful with the all-important, armchair-style comfortable seats. It feels a little like sitting in a large comfortable office ( which rarely exist now, perhaps we do more work on the move these days, so it is appropriate!)

I know it has already been mentioned in terms of the current Jaguar range but the automatic  transmission dial is tactile, smoothly glides up when the car starts and feels thoroughly modern. It works just as well  in the Land Rover.

The Discovery is still ideal for pony clubbers and sport lovers alike, even campers – just make sure you do not have long nails as there is no chance of using the touch screen sat nav if you are fond of a well turned out hand!

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Tuesday – Fairy Lights

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Jeremy One of the reasons I like our silver HSE Discovery is that Land Rover has resisted the temptation to turn this particular vehicle into a bling thing.

You know the sort of 4x4s I’m talking about – the ones that never get muddy tyres and have been loaded with chrome wheels, blacked out privacy glass and side steps (if you can’t step up into a 4×4 what are you doing driving it?).

So today I was slightly taken aback to find that I was driving around conservative north Yorkshire sporting fairy lights on the front of the Discovery. That’s right – the Disco has sidelights that look like something you would drape over a council house at Christmas.

No privacy glass, no chrome wheels but headlights that are quite shocking to behold in the Dales or elsewhere. Fortunately, it’s possible to turn them off and still be seen in the daytime…

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Monday – Camera Capers

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Jeremy – It’s Monday and it’s Yorkshire. A wet 190 miles up the M1 to Knaresborough, a pretty town with a wonderful railway viaduct that towers ominously above our guest house. The Discovery is parked underneath the bridge. Any more rain and I will be looking for the button on the dashboard that operates a propeller.

It wouldn’t surprise me if there is one – the HSE has just about everything else. Included in this is  the ‘4×4 info page’ on the sat nav screen. No idea what purpose it really serves, apart from impressing friends who don’t own a Discovery every once in a while.

And have I mentioned the cameras? The Land Rover is a moving CCTV station, with six of them dotted around the car in strategic places. Again, just what they do is baffling. One screen allows all the camera images to be displayed on screen at once. It’s like a scene from a drug induced nightmare. You can see this screen while the car is on the move, yet you cannot operate the TV (for good reason – but why then the six camera images!?).

Jessica is still struggling with the rather harsh blower on the air con. Is there a secret setting we don’t know about? 

 

 

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Sunday – Nitpicking

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Jeremy It’s not easy picking holes in an off-roader as good as the Discovery. Some UK car magazines now say the Hyundai Santa Fe (tested on Car Couture earlier this year) is the better machine – it’s certainly more affordable. But when it comes to grunt, secondhand value and all round ability, the Land Rover has the edge.

So what’s not to like about the Discovery? Well, styling is probably the most obvious. I actually think the shape is uncluttered and sharp but parked next to a Hyundai or a BMW X5, it has already started to look a little dated.

Then there is the fuel consumption. The V6 engine produces 255bhp and really gives the Discovery plenty of shove but it also soaks up the diesel. Officially, the Discovery returns 32mpg in the combined cycle but you will have to tread very lightly on the accelerator to get above 30mpg in the real world.

Other faults? Well, both Jessica and I constantly bash the paddle gearshifters on the steering column with our knuckles, which instantly puts the Discovery into manual mode when it is not required. The air con fan is rather harsh for a luxury vehicle and flattening the centre row of seats can be awkward.

Then I start to struggle!  This is a great machine – you pay a lot for the pleasure of owning one but the Discovery is still the one to beat for my money.

 

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Sunday – 7 Up

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Jeremy – Seven people, one large dog. The Discovery has to be one of the largest 4x4s on the road but with all seven passenger seats occupied, today I ended up in the front with a Hungarian Viszla on my lap while Jessica drove us out.

I’m not sure anybody has ever cracked the problem of how to carry seven people in an off-roader AND their luggage. Once the third row of seats are folded out of the floor in the Discovery, there isn’t even enough room for a suitcase in the luggage area.

With three children in our party, at least we know that the Land Rover would survive the test of time and the arms and legs of many little people. The seats may be covered in luxury leather but I’m sure you could put an angry calf in the back without having to worry!

Two of the children decided it would be much more fun to get into the third row of seats from the rear door, rather than via the side ones. No problem. This is a true Land Rover, built to cope with anything and very, very robust.

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Saturday – Square-Cut

cropped-d4_10my_hse_loc_070909_15_lowres.jpg Jeremy As predicted, Jessica isn’t too struck on Discovery styling. Even before the Land Rover arrived, she was recounting how her previous experiences with the Discovery hadn’t been too successful.

For once, I was rather smug when she tootled off to the gym this morning because I know the current version is nothing like the last one she drove in 2002. Having rumbled around Mongolia in a Discovery 3 and owned a V8 petrol model for a mad moment (11mpg anybody?), there is no comparison with the dated original.

So by the time she had returned, the latest Disco was receiving rave reviews for it’s performance, comfort and all round good motoring experience.

The square-cut styling, however, left her cold. Because she was brought up in a world of Range Rovers, I can sort of see her point. The Discovery does look a little utility but at least we both agree that it totally does what is says on the tin.

 

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Friday – There’s Something In The Trees!

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Jeremy – The grass up the lane to Car Couture HQ is about 6ft high at present. Thick, bushy grass that is still waiting for a spot of rain so it can grow some more between the trees. It’s good camouflage for the postman in his red Citroen van but I could see the Discovery coming from about half a mile off when it was delivered this morning.

It’s big, very big. Parked next to the outgoing Peugeot 508, you start to remember why the Land Rover has such a presence on the road. You can’t bloody miss it, that’s why.

However, I fear that there is going to be a split decision when Jessica and I get around to discussing the styling. For me, it’s sharp, uncluttered lines look as good now as when the new model was launched in 2009. Jessica is probably going to compare it’s brick-like shape to, well, a brick.

Two weeks in the Discovery should give us plenty of time to form an opinion. I’m off to read a very weighty manual…

 

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Wednesday – High Flying Mazda

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Jeremy I’m just back from interviewing Declan Clifford – the UK’s top cable wakeboarder. Number two in the last world championships, he could jump over the Mazda2 without a take-off ramp!

The hottest day of the year so far was the perfect moment for me to have a masterclass from the youngster. It was like learning to drive all over again and I went flying every time I was dragged from the bank by the cable pulley.

It’s my last day with the Mazda and I wasn’t really looking forward to the 300-mile round trip in the supermini. Suffice to say, the 2 was a lot better than I expected on a long dustance, high-speed run.

It does lack power from a standing start and can be sluggish uphill but once you have the engine wound up, it fair zips along. Noise levels are pretty low at motorway speeds but I think the next generation 2 would benefit from a sixth gear.

It’s been a fairly uneventful week in the Mazda, which is probably what any prospective buyer wants to hear! I’d say this was the perfect car for urbanites, espeically those who have to make the odd longer distance drive.

The styling still works five years after launch, interior space is excellent and because it’s a Mazda, it’s unlikely to let you down any time soon. Great fun but the Sport we drove just needs a slightly more powerful engine…