A compact station wagon, but jacked way up in the air so it's slower, clumsier, gets worse gas mileage, and still can't go off-road.
On the topic of Compact Crossovers, its looking like my Mum might be getting one rather soon. Nothing is set in stone yet (so its possible that it may not be out the dor yet), but it looks like this weekend might be the one where her current I10 may be going in favour of a Seat Arona. (Not her car, but same spec) It must be said that I am going to miss the i10. Obviously the i10 isn't some special car, its actually pretty damn basic. But because of that they are very cheap to run and easy to fix. Its quite a humble and endearing vehicle in many ways. That said, I am also looking forward to the Arona. Its much more comfortable and refined, and better for long motorway journeys. A hatchback would have been preferable. But the Arona isn't all that different from a hatchback, its not even that tall (5cm taller than the i10, but also 12cm wider). Unlike many crossovers, it also makes good use of its size by giving a deeper boot space and more rear legroom. So for what it is and what it needs to do, its a good fit. I did get to give the Arona a brief test drive and it felt absolutely fine. Its got 95hp and puts it to good use, when cruising it is quiet and smooth, its a 3cyl engine so it sounds a little bit fruity under hard throttle. Its not a powerful car, but when you put your foot down it responds quickly, there is barely any turbo lag. Obviously when approaching higher speeds the power output will be more apparent, but under 30mph its powerful enough to accelerate considerably quicker than it needs to for daily life.
It comes down to the engine refinement really. It was looking like a Hyundai i20 was likely for a long while since it ticks all the boxes. The difference really didn't bother me, but Hyundai/Kia's 1l 3cyl engine is just plain louder than VAG's, and that was the deal breaker.* As for the Juke, lets just say its quite polarising *With that said, Hyundai mainline dealers really need to up their efforts too. Our local dealer put us in the 1.5l 4cyl (75hp) i20 and told us it was the 100hp model. I think it was because my mum was test driving it, so they gave her the very smooth and quiet engine rather than the louder 3cyl engine. We also had another Hyundai dealer phone our house every week day for 2 weeks running.
When buying an EV, choose a vehicle with high efficiency, not range (cheap brands nearly always fake their range more than 40%). Most cheap brands have their efficiency well below the BYD e6. Some of them sounds like 1980's mains hum(not using power MOSFET in the motor driver). --- Post updated --- A classic American boat is better than a modern crossover in terms of off-roading.
Other brands that came to my mind are Volkswagen, Volvo, and Audi. For something that came from Russia, it sure does look like it came from either the US or European countries like Germany or Sweden. Other versions of it though look more like what I'd expect from a Russian car. IMO, Russia has their own unique way of designing automobiles. Even though I'm an American, I honestly hate turning right on red. Whenever I do, a part of me feels likes its breaking the law. If left up entirely to me, I'd wait to the light turns green. EDIT: I think I better described my feelings about this just a few posts under this one.
Ehhhhhh. Driven a few. Had one as a courtesy car. Disagree with everything there. Barely any more headroom than a hatchback. Exit/entry may be raised, for some people that's actually harder, for me bundling young siblings in the car that always made it harder except when they were babies, my partner is short (5'0"/152cm) basically getting in the courtesy car was not hard per se, but definitely more a case of climbing in and even me at 5'10" (178cm) found it was definitely a case of stepping up. Then the blind spots were *huge*, far worse than a regular car. Visibility of the road? Better in irrelevant ways, gives you more visibility that you just frankly don't need. Visibility of what's around the car, like pedestrians as you reverse out of a parking space? Basically 0. We checked. Again I'm a 5'10" adult. Partner sat in drivers seat. Watched his mirrors as I walked from neighbors gate to the only exit from the closed area behind our house along a route where if the vehicle was reversing out of the space I'd get hit. I spent 70% of the time invisible. Visibility of anything further back than the driver is basically non existent. Also those honking huge A pillars that seem even more exaggerated in size than even hatches, and those are getting bad enough
Why? It's a good time saver when there isn't much traffic and you don't have to wait for the light to change and stop two directions of travel. I'm also a big fan of the lights that flash a yellow left turn arrow when oncoming has a green.
Better sight for the driver, much worse for anyone next to one at an intersection. Drives me nuts when I'm trying to turn out of a side street (especially left across traffic) and then some big fat pickup truck or SUV pulls up next to me and blocks my view of cars coming from the side. Basically, I can't go until they do.
What it is, is that part of me I mentioned that makes me feel like I'm breaking the law or something. If it could speak, I'd translate it as saying, "hey, you know how when we we're taught how to drive, that one crucial thing we're supposed do is to stop at red lights? Well, doesn't turning right on red seem contradictory of that?" To make a long story short, I'd compare it to that thing with angels and demons on your shoulder, the angel representing the side of me that knows that I can turn right on red as long as there is no sign posted that says otherwise, while the demon represents the side that's probably looking into it way too much, and just makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong. Does that make sense?
Just drive a commercial semi truck, you can see for miles. But actually though I try to be conscious of of that when I'm in my pickup or driving truck, sometimes it's impossible to avoid though. And sometimes I just don't care since most car drivers are never conscious of my stopping distances or blind spots, but mostly I try to be nice. Yeah I guess I get that. But my driving instructor also taught me to never left foot brake (actually he yelled at me for left foot braking) or to always have your hands at 10 and 2, so I generally just do what I'm comfortable with and I know is safe. Turning right on red is essentially just treating the light as a stop sign, it's not that big of a deal.
I guess your driving instructor would've gotten on me for that too, because using my left foot for braking is what I do. I prefer to use my left foot for braking, a reason being I feel like I can get my left foot to the brake pedal quicker than my right foot, and I feel like a lot of times my left foot is the closest to the brake pedal. And when I would use my right foot on the brake, something about it would feel off. I do wonder if it could have anything to do with the fact that I'm left handed. And, I don't disagree with you about turning right on red. Saying I hate doing it was probably not 100% the best way to say it. I think the shoulder angel and demon comparison is a much better description of how I feel about it.
I had a Ford Escape (Kuga overseas) as a courtesy vehicle once. Hated it. Couldn't see out the fucking thing. Thank God it had a backup camera and blind spot monitoring else I'd have hit absolutely everything backing up or changing lanes. My Jeep Grand Cherokee (a 90's "crossover") is easily 100x easier to not only drive, but see out of. It also has real SUV head room and my 5'2" sister can get in it with zero problem. Had a Kia Soul once as a loaner. Not only is it somehow considered a Crossover, it's also horrendously awful to see out of. By contrast, I've had a Hyundai Elantra and a Ford Fusion (Mondeo overseas) as loaners and they were very easy to see out of, get in and out of, and drive. Literal 4-door sedans were a better crossover than a crossover is. Stupid vehicles for stupid people, I say.
I'm right handed, I honestly didn't know that left foot braking was something you weren't supposed to do. I think it's mainly to prevent the average driver from hovering their foot over the pedal and dragging the brakes. Anybody who actually knows how to drive can do it just fine, and in some cases it's a necessity.
I think its because it is better practice for driving a manual vehicle. In a manual you are supposed to keep your left foot permanently on the clutch pedal. It allows you to decelerate and change down the gears at the same time (without the need for racing driver techniques). As you also mentioned, it also stops you from braking and accelerating at the same time.
I think that they don’t teach left foot braking in driving school because sometimes, when trail braking, the car will drift on you. 90% of people can’t handle them, so it’s just not taught. But, if you do learn it, it will help you on track.
