New Owner

[cartwright.mj]

Hi All,

I've looked at these cars for over 7 months, and although a few other cars matched my criteria (50+mpg, AWD, SUV), this won on looks. My last car was the Mistsubishi Outlander, which I loved, but mpg was 22-25 :( so it had to go. After i month of overship, I have to be honest, I haven't really fallen in love with it like I hoped. Here is my summary;

Pros:

Looks great, AWD, brilliant MPG

Cons:

Much smaller than my Mitsubishi, by a long shot. My main gripe is that the back end feels really soft. Driving up the M6 from purchase, I was doing 70 when I went over an uneven patch and the back end felt as if it shifted sideways, like it wasn't gripping. On a day to day basis, it moves far more than I'd like. It sounds crap but imagine if the back tyres were replaced by 2 of those gym/swiss balls things. It feels so soft. On sweeping corners, it feels like it's drifting, but it's not. It's been on a ramp and suspension/bushes are good. Any ideas? I so want to love this car...

 

Thanks

[marcothio]

Hi,

welcome to the forum and XV owners :). I know exactly how you feel, at first the xv felt light in the corners and not so grippy. However, after >30K I got used to trusting the car to be planted on the road. If you were losing grip btw, the VDC would surely flash up letting you know. I assume it did not. Trust me, it takes time to get used to your XV. I can't compare it to an Outlander but if the weather turns bad, the XV is one of the safest cars I have ever driven.

[Swayze88]

Welcome!

Sorry to hear you don't love your XV, I agree with you and marcothio, the do feel a bit soft at the back, but they definitely do grip.
I wonder if it is set up a bit like a pick-up with the expectation that you will always have 100kg of stuff in the boot to firm up the ride?
I'm sure they did some suspension tweeks between facelifts, I cant remember if they made it softer or firmer though...

Comparing apples for apples the Outlander is surely a closer match in size to the newer era Foresters? While the XV is essentially a tall Impreza.

Hopefully the back end isn't anything stupid like cheap tyres, or over/under inflation, and I hope that you can get to a happy place where you are confident in the ride.
(I'm sure one snowy day will shake any feelings of doubt!)

[cartwright.mj]

Thanks for the replies.
marcothio: >30k? That will take me 4 years and I generally swap cars after 3. Pease tell me it was a typo and you meant 3k? Does the VDC flash in any of the screen settings? I am looking forward to winter.

Swayze88: The tyres are the factory Yokos, may I ask your PSIs front and back? My last 3 cars have been 4WD, just so I can be smug on the 2 days of the year we get snow ;)  Seriously, where I live, there are more than a couple of busy T junctions on an incline and not at 90 degrees. As soon as it gets wet, most cars pulling out will spin. I always engaged my 4WD and felt safe. Now I won't even have to engage the 4WD :) Yep that's right, in 1 month of owner ship it's not rained. I haven't given up on the happy place just yet.

 

 

[marcothio]

LOL, yep did nearly 30K in 1 year, long commute to blame. Other than an initial clutch problem, the XV beast performed great. VDC comes on when I take a speed bump a wee bit too fast :-) or during passing a flooded street section (leaving those X3 beamers stranded by the way).

[Dogconker]

The VDC will definitely light up if you lose the slightest amount of traction or slide. It's very obvious as I've driven mine in heavy snow but to be fair even then it was only occasionally. The XV is very stable and planted. I have not managed to lose traction in mine and I'm very comfortable that if I throw it in a corner it will stay planted. I've not been wrong yet. The XV is an odd car having both the highest ground clearance yet lowest centre of gravity of cars in its clsss. I have the 2014 model, although it was registered late 2013 and although initially I thought it could be a little skittish, this was most likely due to tyre roll due to the tyre wall height. I haven't felt a situation where it has had me concerned.

The XV is also much lighter than most 4x4 and that will always make it feel a little more lively. But as others have said here, it does handle well, it does stay planted but it may take a little while to get that confidence. 

The 2014 model had suspension tweaks to make if firmer as I recall, that will make it a little more likely to skip on rough roads, but if it did, skip, you would see the vdc light up.

[Dogconker]

So things that I can think of that might cause the sensations your feeling that are mechanical and not user. (I mean that tongue in cheek rather than insulting etc) and I'm no expert so some of these may not help you, just me doing a brain dump.

Over inflated tyres

under inflated tyres 

wrong tyres (Yokohama geolander G95)

worn/bald tyres 

tyres not rotated (front and back tyres wear at different rates)

Suspension bushes

shock absorbers

something bent in the suspension

badly balanced wheel

tracking out badly

Beyond that all I can suggest I'd see if you can borrow a dealer car for the day and see if that's the same.

[Swayze88]

I was driving the XV down some pretty windy roads the other day, and this soft rear end question popped into my head.

Coming from an Outlander which I assume? is 4x4, but FWD when driven normally? Could it be just a feeling of coasting through the corner?
I certainly feel that if you are on the throttle in the corner the back end grips and stays firm, but if you lift off and coast, it becomes bouncier.