Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Power insanity

I was looking at replacing the ML63s ballistic sofa (on stilts) this week and went in to a JLR showroom. Thinking of the usual "£50k two year old depreciated like a stone" option. Roughly the price of a basic BEV quality hatchback today?

Velar V8 500hp, interior was naff. Rotten plastics and cheap leather-a-like.
RRS V8 - warranty list was seven pages deep but the car was four years old.
F-Pace R nicer handling, more space than the LR's and better price/package but again try and find one with no warranty claims a foot thick.

None of them felt like they had a luxury element alongside the grunt of the ML63. All failed the first pass. None of them held a candle to the CL600, I eve started to look at S-Coupe 63/65 on Autotrader!

In the showroom next to the F-TypeR was an XF-R estate PHEV - best of the lot of them. Sadly nothing like the quality of the MB lump I live in now. 10-15k cheaper than the other stuff on the lot. Looked really good.

On the Alfa front it is interesting to watch the Stellantis petri dish in action. As much as each brand makes noises they will all be feeding from the same engineering trough but competing for the central investment pool to take it to market. Each brand needs to put forward a case for a model based on prospective volume and profits so the volume is going to increase. Same toolkit being used to put multiple brands into direct competition to the benefit of the overall brand. So Alfa will need to make as much PR noise as possible to attract the interest and investment that follows. Only the strongest will survive which is smart but harsh?

As much as I look at the general fashion process in the car market (BEV< PHEV< SUV) I want an ICE, estate, beast. I respect your comment around what you should (should) be able to use on any given day but do like to have more to allow greater choice. I may only use it once in every 1000 miles but choice is good?

I figure I will be looking at a late, low mileage CLS63s shooting brake or E63s 4WD estate. The only other option is an Alpina estate?

I do understand your lack of "desire" around something special that springs directly to mind.

It was a nice car to drive (fully independent suspension front and rear, 50:50 weight distribution)gadget packed quite quirky

Overall an enjoyable car with a couple of caveats, expensive although it was £9k cheaper when I bought it, by design it has a very small battery and was deliberately designed as a city car (including it's crazy small turning circle) so after 3 years I felt I needed a little more range so we could go further afield without the need for charging.

I'll miss it's exterior and interior design

Switching cars makes you realise how richly feature packed it was as standard.

I have gone a little left field again replacing it with a smart #1 (what the hell were they smoking when they come up with that name!) I can only wait and see if I like this car as much as I liked the Honda time will tell, I've had it 2 days!

The main reason some OEMs offer crazy amounts of HP is simply because they can. Compared to an ICE, fitting a larger battery and stronger electric motor is relatively easy thus allowing for a wide spread of trim levels and power. Add to the fact that entry level EVs are running around with 200-400 hp and more, a premium brand then needs something to differentiate itself powertrain wise.

The same was/is happening in the ICE world. A top spec Alfa will undoubtedly be faster, more powerful and a more sophisticated engine than a non-premium/luxury brand.

I think it's also down to how hard one push a car to get going. For example, I was speaking to a Bentley GT Speed owner and asked how often do they utilise the full potential of the W12 to which they said 'not often at all'. They went on to explain that it's a much more pleasant driving experience not having to strain the engine and it just wafts down the road but knowing what lurks and what can be had when needed is also a draw. Perhaps it's a mindset...

Alistair, the Bentley W12 coupe was thought to have just about everything that a "British" GT should have, by way of incorporating history/heritage, the highest of engineering standards, coachwork and trim...Though unfortunately by the time they became affordable as a pre owned machine in terms of purchase price, the thought of the complexity of any modern ICE machine, parts cost/availability and of course maintenance repair costs, would seem to be scary stuff... even more so than my 991..! At least Porsche dealerships can provide an extended warranty insurance policy to cover aspects of failings for vehicles up to 15 years old...

While there is no way my Tesla can compare with a W12 in terms of "desire," as in my mind it works well as a practical and efficient transportation device. I suspect my Tesla can accelerate from a standing start even quicker than the W12 and may even be smoother by some measure... Bottom line.... It just works for ME, and will do as long as it just keeps keeping on.

I agree on choice is good... (-: Though might have chosen the phrase.. Variety is the spice of life..(-: And with two additional metal mistresses in the garage, I feel indeed blessed to have such a wide spread of vehicular variety spanning from basic vintage design right up to the minute technological advance to sample at will..... Never in my life did I ever imagine to have such options available..

Alistair, may I suggest you have a look at a second hand Bentley Bentayga diesel, more than enough luxury and grunt from the engine to satisfy most people. Although a relatively short production run the diesel was more highly rated than the petrol version by motoring journalists. They still command high prices, but relatively more economical to own and run by Bentley norms of ownership costs.

Thanks Mark, I had two different spec i3's over a 4 1/2 year period and eventually went back to an ICE mild hybrid

I was seriously considering a Volvo V60 PHEV as the Honda replacement but then Volvo decided to stop selling RHD estates! I wanted to get the Volvo EX30 the smarts half brother, but they went all tesla sacrificing driver display for single central screen (Smart has central display driver display and HUD)

I am amazed. Our family car is a C300 estate - the one with AMG badges etc but not the performance. The insurance has just gone up on renewal by 28% and on searching round the comparison sites and some others I could not get a quote within £250 of even the renewal. In other words everyone else was wanting double last years actual.

No specific reason, clean record, no claims, live in the sticks.

Why? For the life of me I cant see a reason.

Probably for the same reason we have all taken a hit. The towrags who nick the BMs to outrun thecops and the thieving b*****s who export LRs by the hundreds. It seems modern security isn't as good as they tell us.