Family car

[Polyal]

I have alot of fun driving a manual mk5 golf tdi thats in the family...the shove it gives down low is addictive even if you are shifting often.

[ute83]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Indeed but some people such as myself love that fat midrange torque wave, makes the car feel so much quicker than what it is lol.

That is the reason why I like diesel cars, whats the point of having your peak torque around 4000 RPM when you can have all of it between 2000-3000 where you spend 95% of your time?

Makes a lot of sense for a daily driver.

Correct. But you get all that and more from a small capacity 4 cyl turbo petrol. Plus the torque lasts higher up the revs.

[EB#]

Originally Posted by ute83

Correct. But you get all that and more from a small capacity 4 cyl turbo petrol. Plus the torque lasts higher up the revs.

Perhaps not with 7 occupied seats and gear in the boot too?
The 7 seater market is usually a V6 petrol or a diesel as far as I know?

[Polyal]

The Honda's and Tarago's use a petrol 4 pot...seriously horrible. They do the job but why the Japanese dont put diesels into these cars when they do for Hilux/Prado/Cruiser I dont know.

[mik]

Originally Posted by Polyal

The Honda's and Tarago's use a petrol 4 pot...seriously horrible. They do the job but why the Japanese dont put diesels into these cars when they do for Hilux/Prado/Cruiser I dont know.

I think your exaggerating a tad ☺, agreed they are not power houses , but they are pretty bullet proof, and if something does pear shaped down the track your not going to be down 5k for a diesel head, and I'm not up on the prices but I'm guessing on these unleaded models your not paying a premium for a diesel to start with.

[Polyal]

Man go check out a price for a new Tarago..its mental. Mind you I saw a LC Cruiser ute in a Toyota yard the other day for $65k drive away...WHAT! The return on investment on that car must be massive.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by ute83

Correct. But you get all that and more from a small capacity 4 cyl turbo petrol. Plus the torque lasts higher up the revs.

Yeah but you get half as much torque, so far the only Ford petrol DI turbo engine that matches mine with torque is the Focus ST engine (albiet with an extra 80KW too).

Honda Odyssey is a nice car but its a slug, NA Honda 4 with a 5sp auto in that thing? GTFO.

That Sorrento has 436NM, which is 4 less than the Territory diesel (which is a V6).

When you're talking people mover/SUV usually the choice is petrol V6 or diesel 4.

[ute83]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

When you're talking people mover/SUV usually the choice is petrol V6 or diesel 4.

But you weren't in your last post, you were talking cars. In my opinion you don't need to go down the TD road in small cars when small capacity turbo petrol engines are so efficient. People movers is a different scenario. You wouldn't catch me in a NA V6 people mover, that's why we have a CM - R Santa Fe with 436 Nm of torque and averaging 8.0 litres.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Polyal

The Honda's and Tarago's use a petrol 4 pot...seriously horrible. They do the job but why the Japanese dont put diesels into these cars when they do for Hilux/Prado/Cruiser I dont know.

Both of those cars are aimed at the American/US market where diesel passenger cars are not accepted very well.

[SumoDog68]

Originally Posted by Polyal

The Honda's and Tarago's use a petrol 4 pot...seriously horrible. They do the job but why the Japanese dont put diesels into these cars when they do for Hilux/Prado/Cruiser I dont know.

Tarago can be had with 3.5l V6 - 200 kW and 15 sec quarter...

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by ute83

But you weren't in your last post, you were talking cars. In my opinion you don't need to go down the TD road in small cars when small capacity turbo petrol engines are so efficient. People movers is a different scenario. You wouldn't catch me in a NA V6 people mover, that's why we have a CM - R Santa Fe with 436 Nm of torque and averaging 8.0 litres.

When I bought my Focus new the choice was between a NA 2L petrol engine or a 2L turbo diesel and I believe its the same deal now for the regular models.

The other contender was the Mazda 3 which had the same choice, except with a bigger diesel engine (2.2L)

What one would you pick?

The extra few thousand $$$ for the diesel was certainly worth it.

[mik]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Man go check out a price for a new Tarago..its mental. Mind you I saw a LC Cruiser ute in a Toyota yard the other day for $65k drive away...WHAT! The return on investment on that car must be massive.

ok i did check out prices, agreed , they are not cheap, but having driven probably half a dozen of them over the years, even the older 2nd generation models, i still think they are a pretty good bit of kit for the type of vehicle, despite looking like a soccer mums device, it is probably one of the few vehicles of this type ive actually driven and thought ,

bloody hell this thing is not bad to drive, i could drive this thing all the time, maybe im getting demented in my old age.

.

[AndyXR6T]

Good points on the diesel guys. I should add that the majority of the driving will be the school drop off (15 min round trip) and when my wife goes to work which is also a short distance. Weekend driving isn't too far off and when we go on longer trips I find most cars (even my beloved turbo) are pretty good on the highways, so it's becoming a hard choice.

I had a chance to check out the new CX9 (again no test drive) but I actually really like the exterior, but the interior is mildly bland

[DFB FGXR6]

[QUOTE=AndyXR6T
I had a chance to check out the new CX9 (again no test drive) but I actually really like the exterior, but the interior is mildly bland[/QUOTE]

A Ford made V6 too

[1TUFFUTE]

Originally Posted by trublu

A guy I work with went from a territory to santa fe, he stated he will never go back to the territory ever, he bought the top range model which was cheaper than the terry, he is one happy man.

In his eyes he reckons the sante fe walks all over the terry.

I have an uncle that has a sante fe and a cousin that has a terry diesel. In BOTH their eyes the terry is farrr better. But they Both sway to performance and Aussie cars a bit more! Maybe that says abit....

[AndyXR6T]

Just an update, after a few months researching, test driving and price haggling I did end up going with the Santa Fe. It's a 2013 Highlander with all the bells and whistles and was a great price with 3 years Hyundai warranty still.

After test driving a demo territory I was very bored. It was a comfy ride and felt big but that's all it had going for it. Felt like the FG inside too.

Mazda CX-9 felt uncomfortable and the interior felt cheap. I didn't even drive it, just sat in it at the dealer.

Kluger was nice, but very pricey for what it was. They are still fairly bland and on the test drive i literally watched the fuel gauge go down. Not a bad ride though. Is fairly big also though which I wasn't a huge fan of.

Finally I took Santa Fe Elite for a drive, and although not as refined as the territory it wowed me with acceleration and gear changes. Down gearing in the auto is a little harsh compared to the ZF but not enough to make you not want one.
After finding my Santa Fe highlander I was wowed with features. It has so many small gimmicks that it's actually fairly exciting. The extra 2 seats are pretty small but they aren't going to be used that often and it will mainly be the kids in there anyway. Such a practical car and ticked all the boxes. It was an instant hit with the kids and wife which also helped.

So far so good and I'm hoping it serves us well over the next few years. Thanks for everyone's help I'll keep you posted on ang future developments. Cheers

[duaned]

You done well. Could have been worse, you could have purchased a Captiva!

[AndyXR6T]

Not a chance! Lol

I am very happy so far. I'm still in disbelief as to how much Hyundai have improved over the last 10 years, so I was fairly sceptical about them before researching them. I'm still a little embarrassed about the badge as I think too many people hear the name shudder. Every car manufacturer has had duds or problems at some point, it's just a matter of doing some research I think