Your views
Has the fuel cell lost the tech war?
Hump back frail
Due to a dodgy back, I have developed the habit of approaching full-width speed humps at an angle. This method is definitely more comfortable for myself and the car’s suspension. I suspect this approach may well alleviate possible damage to vehicles. JP Lewis Neath
Signs of the times
In the way that your editor was tickled when he noticed your longterm BMW 320d xdrive’s speed limit display change to the wet road limit in France when the wipers were activated (Our Cars, 16 August), I was impressed when the same sort of thing happened in my Jaguar F-pace.
I was towing on a motorway when I noticed the speed limit display had updated to the towing limit of 60mph. I wonder if the BMW does what the Jag does in the UK, and vice versa. Does anyone know? Richard Chandler Comberbach, Cheshire
Safe to the touch
In the road test of the Volkswagen Arteon (Autocar, 27 September), your testers claimed “the touchscreen is safer to use than the previous iteration”. Is a ‘safer’ system then safe to use when driving at speed on a crowded motorway in torrential rain? J Mcgarry Via email
Posing the question
As a reader of Motor/autocar for more than 60 years, I have seen many road tests of obviously overpriced and underpowered rubbish, but none more so than that of the Range Rover Velar (Autocar, 30 August).
Why pay £70,000 for a van with windows and permanent four-wheel drive you don’t need? For between a third and a half of that amount you can buy a Honda CR-V, which gives you two-wheel drive normally or four-wheel drive when you need it, plus legendary Honda reliability.
In my view, Land Rovers and
Range Rovers are unreliable posing wagons that not one in 100 buyers actually needs. Apart from Honda, there are good alternatives from Kia, Hyundai, Nissan and so on. RA Harris Worcester Park, Surrey
Blame it on the Brexit
The Skoda Karoq’s online brochure and spec/price list are now available and the vehicle can be ordered, but the virtual cockpit isn’t available on Uk-spec vehicles. An online chat with Skoda revealed it isn’t available at launch and no date is set for its inclusion as standard or as an option. Who did we upset at Skoda, or is this another knock-on effect of Brexit? Jon Rose Via email Fit the best… As someone of an age that saw many of the improvements to cars from the early 1960s, I found your article on cars that did it first most interesting (‘Ground breakers: the cars that did it first’, 27 September). I did, however, think of one that was not included: double-glazed windows.
If I recall it was either Mercedesbenz or BMW that first introduced them, on the S-class or 7 Series, but no doubt it had been tried before. I can’t see it as an option on my next RS Clio Trophy yet, but probably one day! Gary Feger Ealing, London
More BMW for less money
I took delivery of my BMW 330d M Sport at the same time as you added your 320d xdrive to your long-term fleet, namely August 2016. The difference was, however, that the price of mine was £85 shy of £40,000 (I too have the M Sport Plus pack), compared with the price of yours, with all the options, of £45,000.
No, I don’t have four-wheel drive, but then nothing I read or no-one I speak to seems to think that it is necessary in a BMW and, to my mind anyway, it defeats the purpose of the fine rear-drive chassis. I don’t have electric seats, an Interior Comfort Pack or Surround View (whatever that is) and can’t say I’m particularly conscious of their absence.
What I do have, though, is that seamless wall of torque and extra 80bhp that comes from the meaty sixcylinder engine. My average economy over the past year and 20,000 miles sits at 46mpg to your 48mpg.
The 3 Series is an undoubtedly fine car in most guises but, given a straight choice between the two, I’d take my 330d and keep the extra £5k in the bank every time. David Glen Alva, Clackmannanshire
Ecstatic about the XJ
I would be so happy if Jaguar made a new XJ that’s as beautiful as Autocar’s imagined car (News, 4
October). I have a lot of respect for Ian Callum, but the XE and XF are way too dumpy and frumpy to be included in the long list of beautiful saloons produced by Jaguar. Ian, please give us an XJ that, in true Jaguar tradition, looks as good as it goes! Patrick Perez-lopez Via email
Rover revived
Is it just me, or does the Jaguar E-pace look like a pumped-up Rover 200 from the side? The front has a whiff of the BRM edition (it just needs orange edging). Not that I dislike it, and I wish Jaguar every success. Ian Rampton Via email
Elk and safety
Steve Cropley wrote about the original Mercedes A-class failing the ‘elk test’ (My Week in Cars, 4 October) and how testers couldn’t replicate the Swedish test without having “forearms like hydraulic rams”.
My recollection is that the car was simply not up to the task of avoiding an upcoming object, like a child, without flipping over. Something other cars at the time didn’t do. Mercedes’ solution involved giving the model slow and numb steering. Olof Neergaard Malmö, Sweden
The eyes have it
The latest Tesla doesn’t have a speedo or wiper speed control. Both are on the 15in screen. I find it amazing that you can be fined with points for using a phone, yet car makers are forcing drivers to take their eyes of the road to complete basic control tasks. I believe there should be an NCAP minimum standard for car controls. Bob Bull Alliance of British Drivers
First impressions last
If Land Rover should decide to build a vehicle anything close to your artist’s impression of the Road Rover (News, 20 September), then my name would be at the top of the order book. Tom Madden Via email