Brilliant Hire Car - Focus Hybrid EcoBoost

[Londonscottish]

I think those outside the motor industry would find it hard to believe how many man hours, head scratching, detail testing and summit meetings goes into those sorts of calibrations....

My career has been in tech/data/analytics and it doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

As ever, though, whoever sees the programme through has to have a clear idea of the ideal end result and, obviously, the support and budget to get there.

In mass produced cars this must be very rare in terms of chassis set up.

I went to the airport in an ID4. The ride in the back was like sitting over the rear axle of a 1976 Cortina. Abysmal. Really pissed me off because I'd payed extra for an Uber "comfort". Utterly shit. Who signed that off?

 

[Mactech]

My career has been in tech/data/analytics and it doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

As ever, though, whoever sees the programme through has to have a clear idea of the ideal end result and, obviously, the support and budget to get there.

In mass produced cars this must be very rare in terms of chassis set up.

I went to the airport in an ID4. The ride in the back was like sitting over the rear axle of a 1976 Cortina. Abysmal. Really pissed me off because I'd payed extra for an Uber "comfort". Utterly shit. Who signed that off?

I have never been in an ID4, but I'm reasonably sure that manufacturers are universally struggling with EV vehicles, mainly trying control the additional mass of the required batteries.
Personal experience has shown that BMW didn't really get it right with the i3, but it can be improved dramatically. However, my car has never carried more than a couple of people and the odd barker or two. The manufacturers have to make them safe for full rated mass in motion and I think that's where the issues start. Too stiff enough!

 

[st13phil]

I have never been in an ID4, but I'm reasonably sure that manufacturers are universally struggling with EV vehicles, mainly trying control the additional mass of the required batteries.

Funny you mention the struggle manufacturers have controlling the mass of EV’s.

Other than the blistering straight line acceleration, the very obviously huge mass was the first thing that I noticed about the dynamics of the Tesla Model 3.

 

[Dryce]

I have never been in an ID4, but I'm reasonably sure that manufacturers are universally struggling with EV vehicles, mainly trying control the additional mass of the required batteries.

PHEVs are in the same boat. Compare a Volvo XC60 PHEV with the non-PHEV sibling and the non-PHEV is a nicer car to ride in (IMO) on roads that cause any sort of body movement.

 

[st13phil]

I just looked up the weight of the UK Model 3 and its listed as 1765kg - 1851kg, depending on spec.

Interestingly the W212 E63 Biturbo that I owned had a kerb weight of 1765kg, so the same as the lightest Model 3, yet judging by the driving dynamics it felt at least 250kg lighter than the Tesla, and had superior ride quality too.

Maybe it’s a function of the mass distribution?

 

[ALFAitalia]

I have never been in an ID4, but I'm reasonably sure that manufacturers are universally struggling with EV vehicles, mainly trying control the additional mass of the required batteries.
Personal experience has shown that BMW didn't really get it right with the i3, but it can be improved dramatically. However, my car has never carried more than a couple of people and the odd barker or two. The manufacturers have to make them safe for full rated mass in motion and I think that's where the issues start. Too stiff enough!

I think that should help ride quality not hinder it......although the extra mass wont help the handling at all of course. Having a heavy car full of batteries means it has a great sprung to unsprung weight ratio......always a key to a great ride....think of all the heavy bodied Rollers, S Class, 7 Series, Range Rover etc......all have that magic carpet ride....due in some respect to a good sprung to unsprung. I think the issue is that they also want them to handle like a sports car....which they wont without overly hard suspension or severe (in some cases) weight loss.

 

[Mactech]

I think that should help ride quality not hinder it......although the extra mass wont help the handling at all of course. Having a heavy car full of batteries means it has a great sprung to unsprung weight ratio......always a key to a great ride....think of all the heavy bodied Rollers, S Class, 7 Series, Range Rover etc......all have that magic carpet ride....due in some respect to a good sprung to unsprung. I think the issue is that they also want them to handle like a sports car....which they wont without overly hard suspension or severe (in some cases) weight loss.

Agreed, cars with more mass tend to pummel road imperfections into submission using sheer mass.
The problem lies with the fact the manufactures are persuaded by the press (and ourselves?) that we still want agile and responsive cars with sporting aspirations, so tend to go heavy in the spring rates to control all that mass. That is then the start of hard ride. The Germans have some excuse because their roads are better than ours and the ride / handling balance is often ok or tolerable on German billiard table roads, but not on our rutted and underfunded surfaces.
We will no longer tolerate cars which wallow about like a 60's yank tank, but we want all the heavy safety kit and still want the car to handle like a Lotus even with more than half a ton of EV battery on board.
It can be done using elaborate systems as in the Bentayga, but you can only cheat physics so far. Most now just cheap out and fit stiff springs.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Agreed..and when all car makers started to worry about its time around the 'Ring....rather than the local ring road the ride quality to handling ratio got a bit to skewed towards handling for the average street driver, especially in any car with even vaguely sporting credentials

 

[Londonscottish]

Two weeks in and still loving driving the Focus. But it really isn't an oil painting. And now it turns out VW do a MHEV Golf. With a 1.5 not a 1.0. Hmm.....more tempting.

Even better, in the article I read, they are also bringing out a 200 bhp 2.0 next year. In that case, I'll skip the MHEV stuff and get something relatively simple with normal driving characteristics instead. With adaptive dampers, DSG and ACC please