Vanguard, CRV, CX-5, Outlander or Subaru Forester XT, which would you recommend?

Asante

Hello,

Now, I have addressed all these crossovers (not SUVs) before, and the winner here is... wait for it... not the Vanguard. Your problem seems to be clearance, and we will use this clearance to create a deciding vote.

In the interest of balance, we will make a few assumptions; that, one: we are referring to used imports; two, these used imports should be legally acquired, meaning they should be less than eight years old, and three, despite them being as recent as possible, they should also be as affordable as possible, meaning that we are looking at Methuselah’s side of the table as far as legally importing a motor vehicle goes.

This means we are looking at 2014 models. This also means the Vanguard is out of the race immediately, since it went out of production in 2012, unless you want to buy a locally used unit which may not always be a good idea. That said, here are the rest of the figures for you to digest...

Honda CRV: 6.7 inches

Mazda CX5: 8.5 inches

Mitsubishi Outlander: 8.5 inches

Subaru Forester: 8.7 inches

In the interest of full disclosure, I will add the Vanguard, whose ground clearance weighs in at 7.5 inches because this may affect what I want to say next.

When facts and figures speak for themselves, coming after the purveyor of said facts and figures with shady leveling of discrimination based on brand will not wash. Not today, not ever.

Once again a Subaru wins a comparison based on requirements (the Forester has the best ground clearance as you can see up there), this in no way means or implies that I am biased towards Subaru.

I don’t build these vehicles and I don’t even own one anymore. If they’re good at what they’re made for - better than others - then, as one of my films is titled, all I can say is “It is what it is”. Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.

All about the Subaru Legacy 2.0 2008, the Suburu Levorg and the VW Golf GTI

Hi Baraza,

I’m a big fan of your column. Last week, there was a discussion on why you always side with Subaru all the time. I had raised the same matter a few years back, but you explained why the car takes a trophy, changing my mind on how I perceive the model. Thanks to your advice, I have decided to buy the cutest Subaru ever made, the Subaru Legacy 2.0 2008, but I am conflicted between the Legacy and the Levorg.

I have a friend selling it, it is well maintained but non-turbo, however, a close friend has advised me against me buying a used one locally and advises me to buy the new Subaru Levorg 2014. Have you tested the car, if so, what’s your view of it? Is it 1.6cc or 2.0cc all turbo? How is the

1. 6cc compared to the 2.0cc? Will it behave like the VW Golf 1.4cc and audi A3 1.4cc always blowing up the turbo and pistons? 
2. What’s the difference between 4WD and AWD? is a AWD vehicle by default a 4WD? I am asking this because they say the Levorg is a full 4WD - does that mean there are AWDs which are not 4WDs or full time 4WDs (in reference to Subaru mostly.)
3. There is this small beast on the roads that you tend to ignore, the VW Golf GTI. The car drives like thunder and is same price as a C-klasse. It is my dream future car. Kindly review this beast in detailed one day. The car gets praises from all over the world. I have a feeling there must be something about it you don’t like and want to know what that is before I get myself in hot soup.

Thank you and the same way you vote for the car of the year, I vote you the car enthusiast of the year. 

cheers man.

Hello,

I hope you have read the first question and the answer I have given to fully grasp why Subaru tends to dominate these Q&A sessions. You are right, as always I come out the winner because I know my facts and I accept them as they are, devoid of emotional attachment.

About the Levorg... there is an interesting anecdote about how a lady bought the driver’s door for Sh150,000 after it got dinged in a traffic incident. Well, El Turbo once got rear ended in an impact hard enough to dislodge the exhaust at the downpipe level, stall the engine and leave the back half of the car looking like a used box of yogurt, and yet the repair costs never crossed into six figures (I know people). How is that for a start?

I haven’t driven the Levorg, in fact, I haven’t even seen one in the metal, but I do know a thing or two about the car. I know I secretly want one, for starters, if I was so inclined to get a modern vehicle, however, it looks funny and does not come with a manual transmission, so perhaps the lust is not so much lust as it is beer goggles.

The 1.6 and the 2.0 liter are both direct injection engines which I am not a fan of either, and despite the abilities of car manufacturers to draw big horsepowers from small displacements, I do not trust that method since it always comes at the expense of engine life, and seeing how majority of us thrive on hand-me-downs, it leaves us with the short end of the stick.

Will it blow up the turbo and the pistons? It will, if you do silly things with it such as feeding it low grade fuel or try “modding” it before first finding out what is what, but this will happen with almost any other engine, so there’s nothing special there. How does it compare against the VAG compact pair? I honestly have no idea as far as performance and drivability goes, but I do know it is a 5-door wagon (practical) and it is a Subaru (stability and robust build) so it would be the direction in which the smart money heads should it ever come down to the wire.

4WD, or four-wheel drive in full and AWD, or all-wheel drive in full, are two terms that when analysed closely, can bring a lot of confusion, but we’ll start with the most obvious separation: both refer to a drivetrain setup that can or does supply power/torque to more than one axle at a time simultaneously, however, 4WD means four wheels are driven. So it could be a 4x4 (vehicle has four wheels and all are driven), or it could even be a 6X4 (six wheels, four driven) like a lot of prime movers or better yet, an 8X4 (eight wheels, four driven) like a missile launcher.

AWD means all wheels are driven. That makes a 4x4 an AWD, technically. That prime mover is AWD if it is 6X6, and the missile launcher is 8X8 again if all axles are powered. This is all technically speaking, but there is such a thing as marketing blurb that tends to ruin things such as selling a coupe as a two-door saloon for more than 50 years then introducing a “four-door coupe” which creates a lot of confusion (I will be addressing this in a later article).

So, marketing stunts have made it such that 4WD become synonymous with off-road ability and has to incorporate selectability (one axle can be engaged or disengaged at will) and the use of ancilliary equipment. A typical 4WD is an off-roader, perhaps selectable but not compulsorily so, but preferably with diff locks and manually operated transfer cases with range selection (low and high). AWD means all wheels powered, sometimes all the time (Subaru) or sometimes some of the time (everybody else) but they lack diff locks and transfer cases and instead use center diffs to shift torque from one axle to the other based on where it is needed most.

So, basically, 4WD distributes torque evenly at all times. AWD distributes torque based on demand (Subaru may disagree, but whatever). Rather than getting lost in marketing parlance, wherever you see any such system being named, find out how that particular system works (4Matic, 4Motion, quattor, S-AWD etc) rather than depending on the name for your edification.

I don’t ignore the Golf, I only answer questions readers ask, so if nobody asks about a Golf then I’m unlikely to bring it up in conversation. If you mean “quick like lightning”, not “driving like thunder”, then you’ll probably run out of vocabulary when describing the Golf R, which is thunder.

The GTI is the WRX to the R’s STi - quite literally actually, since the GTI plays in the 200-odd horsepower class while the WRX dabbles in 230-odd drays (which has since climbed to 265 in recent models), while the R does 300hp... exactly the same as an STi. These two sets of cars may share looks, engines, sounds and whatnot, but put them all in a line, set their behinds on fire and you’ll find out why one set (STi, R) costs more than the other (WRX, GTI).

The GTI is a good car. A very good one. But it will not be cross-shopped against a C-Class despite the similarity in pricing: one is a premium compact saloon, one is a hot hatchback. One is a beginner’s Mercedes, the other is a poor man’s wrong-wheel drive Porsche 911. One is aimed at the aspirational, class-conscious yuppie, the other is aimed at the thrill-seeking, not-quite-management-pay-grade yuppie.

I have never said the GTI is a bad car, and I’m not about to start now. The praises you hear are well deserved, it is the yardstick against which all other hatchbacks are measured, even hot ones like the R. There’s nothing to “not like” about the GTI, the only weak point in its entire history was the Mk. IV which was pathetic, which was but one bad entry in a list of impeccable tradition.

However, I’m not sure referring to the GTI as a “monster” is quite accurate. You are talking to someone who has driven GTIs of all kinds, including modified ones. But this someone has also driven GTRs, AMGs and SVRs, so this someone can tell a monster from a threat. A GTI at 100 percent throttle is a threat. An AMG at 70 percent throttle is a monster. That’s the difference.

Thanks for the vote, I will be sure to add the accolade to my trophy cabinet...

Yes, get rid of the skirting on your Toyota Rumion…

Dear JM,

Thank you so much for responding to my question on the Toyota Rumion, published last week. You requested for further information on the skirting - I have enclosed several photos of the said vehicle before it was registered. I hope you now have a clearer picture of the sample for further advice on how to raise it.

Thanks,
Ndegwa. 

Hi Ndegwa,

Yes, that skirting is definitely aftermarket, and is therefore removable, which will assist with your clearance issues. You are welcome.