This is not a crazy car comparison

 

 

Over on Chevy Reviews I’ve published a comparison between the Renault Clio and Chevrolet Matiz. You might think it’s like comparing chalk with cheese. There’s no comparison. But there has to be because they’re both either called small cars or minis. However the Matiz is only 3.50m long whilst the Clio is 3.99m long.

 

Over the years small cars have grown. We could go back to the original British Mini in the late 50s but its Fiat and Renault who’ve been the most consistent assemblers of small cars. The history of these cars is interesting.

 

The Renault 5 was introduced in 1973. It was 3.48m long, 1.54m wide and 1.41m high. Previously small Renault cars were near 4m long, apart from the Renault R3 and R4 which were near 3.7m long. Incidentally, although the Renault 5 embraced front-wheel drive, the 5 did not follow BMC by mounting the engine transversely to save space. The engine was inline, longitudinal. They later changed over to transverse engines in second generation 5s.

 

In 1971 Renault launched the Clio. The Clio was 3.71m long, 1.61m wide and 1.39m high. This larger Clio was called a super-mini.

 

In 1993 Renault announced the Renault Twingo. The Twingo was 3.43m long, 1.63m wide and 1.42m high. A car magazine said the Twingo was, ‘the best car to not be sold in the UK.’

 

The Renault Clio was re-launched in 1998 with a new body, more space and safety. It measured about the same as the original Clio.

 

The all-new 2005 Renault Clio is what I think of as a super-sized mini. The new Clio is 3.99m long and 1.93m wide. In a Euro NCAP crash test the Clio was awarded 5-stars. And I suppose the growth in small cars is all about safety. Having said that the new Fiat 500 has 5-stars and is only 3.55m long.

 

There are other benefits to super-sizing a mini. You get more space and stability.

 

I suppose comparing a Clio with a Matiz is like comparing a hamburger sandwich with a Big Mac meal.

 

Comparing the new 2007 Twingo with the Matiz is more like it. The Twingo is based on the old 1998 Clio which is the same year the Matiz was launched as an all-new car. However the Chevrolet Matiz is only one of two 5-door cars you an buy for less than £7,000 with low CO2s meaning you only pay £35 per year vehicle excise duty, making the Matiz more affordable to buy, cheaper to run and just as good to drive.

 

Regards

Ralph

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What absolutely everybody needs to know about golf, skiing, cookbooks, cars and the internet

 

Back in 76 I met Mrs Spence. Boy was it hot – the weather. But I owned enough motorbikes to keep the girl cool. We had a great time on the bikes for a couple of years and loved ‘em until I got side swiped by a car in 78.

 

Life wasn’t all roses. I got a lot of flack about vanishing for half, maybe a whole day, sometimes plus evenings to play golf and drink port.

 

Anyway, her indoors decided we were going skiing in 78. We’ve been ever since. Before we – she – had kids, we’d go 5 weeks in a year. We got good.

 

The reason I’m relating this to you is because if you’ve ever played golf or been skiing you know or can remember you thinking to yourself ‘this is all I ever want to do for the rest of my life.’

 

I didn’t get to do the golf thing for long because Mrs Spence couldn’t bear to be without me for a second. But we did a lot of skiing.

 

OK, we’ve talked about bikes, golf and skiing. Where do the cookbooks come in? Yeah, cookbooks are such a thing your word processor won’t flag them as two words. Cookbooks are one thing. I’m the cook in our house. I learnt to cook for hundreds in military school. I obey orders and do just like it tells me in my books. As for Mrs Spence, she’s the only girl I know who can burn water.

 

Here’s the connection. I’m reading the Sunday Times magazine and a couple are sat in ski resort compiling pop books. What are pop books? They are books compiled from secondary sources. In other words they didn’t go out and do the original basic research. They copied from numerous books and compiled it in their own book. They simply make a few edits to make it appear original material.

 

It’s true, people do this. Check out your bike, golf, skiing, cookbook books – same shit – right! They’ve even got the same photos.

 

Let’s finish with cars. I somehow got into this car comparison thing. So I check out the big four or five magazines. Now I know cars because I’ve been selling them since May 66. And I delivered my last on Saturday. Back to the mags’. Guess what – same shit. You find one mistake in a car mag’ and you find the same in them all. They’re all copying one another and repeating mistakes. It’s why I’ve the audacity and arrogance to publish my own car comparisons. I make them by hand. I make mistakes – so tell me.

 

Now it gets even more interesting – if the above has been. I don’t actually create each page of my car comparison pages. I copy paste and edit. I’m like a manufacturing machine. I’m my own little pop publisher.

 

Now it gets really interesting. Here’s what happened. I copy my Fiat Grande Punto vs Chevrolet Matiz page and paste it to edit it into my Ford Fiesta vs Chevrolet Matiz page. How many edits did I have to make? They tell me the new Ford Ka is a Fiat 500 in a new skin and the 500 itself is a Panda in a different envelope, but what’s going on with the Fiat Grande Punto Ford Fiesta thing? I think it’s all good by the way.

 

Ralph

Your Popular Pop Publisher

 

 P.S. what I’m hoping is my pop published car comparisons will become so popular I can sit on top of a ski resort and publish them. Then me and Mrs Spence will really have a thing going on.

Is this the most historic car comparison ever made?

 

 

Man made the motor car. And in the beginning he made the: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Fiat, Ford, Mercedes, Peugeot, Renault and others, some who are no longer with us.

 

Other joined but most fell to the side. Hitler later launched his combatants as did the Far East.

 

The founders of what are now known as brands, once marques, were the ‘magnificent men in their flying machines’ who you ‘couldn’t see for dust.’

 

Two of the most magnificent were – not to for a moment to forget others and their memory – Fiat and Chevrolet.

 

Here we have the Chevrolet Matiz vs Fiat 500. Which is the better? It’s not to say who will win. This is not 1908. It’s 2008.

 

There’s some sort of irony here.

 

Chevrolet is the largest manufacturer and seller of vehicles in history. Today they lead the way in many countries and continents. Fiat is confined to Italy and Europe. In other words Chevrolet has the market.

 

However Fiat has the product. It also has the promotion. Whilst both manufactures rest on their historic laurels and seem to have forgotten how to brand and promote themselves – the Italians seem to have a passion to recreate the Fiat 500.

 

But Chevrolet has the price. And they have the world-wide network to distribute their products. So Chevy will win because they have price and distribution. Promotion can’t get Fiat in front. It’s more than any can afford. It’s not possible to promote an idea over the fact of price and availability. And although the product differences are significant to Europeans they’re not globally where the last penny matters.

 

But here’s the funny thing with the 500 and Matiz. There are real differences but the idea s are so the same. The size and style are so similar. The interiors are utilitarian but funky. Economy is important. See what I mean with my comparison chart- http://www.chevroletreviewsandprices.co.uk/car%20comparisons%20Fiat%20500%20vs%20Chevrolet%20Matiz.htm

 

Regards
Ralph

How-To Size-Up A Small Car

 

 

This is quite important because a wide range of cars are classified as small. The other thing is every inch counts. And it’s confusing. So I’ll try to be clear.

 

Let’s first look at larger cars.

 

Medium-small – Astra, Focus, Golf – start at about 4.25m in length.

 

When they go over 4.50m in length – Vectra – they become medium size cars.

 

Any car over 4.75m long is called upper-middle or executive. The Audi A6, BMW 5-Series and Mercedes E-Class are typical. The Passat, new Mondeo and now Insignia have grown into this class. The Chevrolet Epica is a new entrant. Large luxury cars are down-sizing to fit in less than 5m.

 

So somewhere between 500 and 750mm defines 3 if not 4 classes of car size. About 250mm – 10inches – defines each class.

 

A small car is anything between 3400 and 4000mm in length. That’s 600mm – 24inches/2foot – defining one class of car. This is too loose when every inch counts.

 

So let’s draw lines to refine our definition of small car. We can determine 3 sizes:

 

1. Small cars under 3.6m. They’re called tiny or city cars. They’re actually the size all small cars used to be. The cars in this class are the Chevrolet Matiz, Citroen C1, Fiat Panda, Fiat 500, Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto, Peugeot 107,  Toyota Aygo,
2. Cars 3.6 to 3.8m. These cars are a development of the small car and referred to as super-minis. Here we have the Citroen C2, Daihatsu Sirion, Mini, Nissan Micra, Peugeot 1007, Renault Twingo, Suzuki Swift, Suzuki Splash, Toyota Yaris, Vauxhall Agila.
3. Small cars over 3.8m. These are the new size minis – what I call super-size minis. They include the Chevrolet Aveo, Citroen C3, Fiat Grand Punto, Ford Fiesta, Honda Jazz, Hyundai Getz, Mazda2, Mitsubishi Colt, Peugeot 206, Peugeot 207, Renault Clio, Renault Modus, Seat Ibiza, Skoda Fabia, Vauxhall Corsa, Vauxhall Meriva, Volkswagen Fox and Volkswagen Polo.

 

What difference does it make? You only have to compare a Chevrolet Aveo with a Chevrolet Matiz or a Citroen C1 with a C3 or a Fiat 500 with a Grand Punto or a 107 with a 207.

 

So what? We’ll see in my next posts.

 

Regards

Ralph

 

P.S. We could make it simpler by removing the Panda, 1007, Splash, Agila, Jazz, Modus, and Meriva as they are recognised as mono-cabs – mini MPVs. Which means the Sirion, i10, Colt, Micra, Yaris and Fox can also be pulled on the basis of height – they just don’t look tall.

 http://www.chevroletreviewsandprices.co.uk/Comparing%20Small%20Car%20Measurements.htm

About Buying The Right Small Car

 

I’ve just published a webpage comparing the fuel economy for 38 small cars sold in the UK. I’ve selected the smallest petrol engine options. All have 5-speed manual transmission.

You’ll find comparisons for urban mpg, extra-urban mpg and combined mpg. Plus CO2 emissions and the cost of petrol over 12,000 miles.

The Chevrolet Matiz 0.8S, Citroen C, Daihatsu Charade and Sirion, Fiat 500, Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto, Peugeot 107 and Toyota Aygo are the most economical – cost £1,000 or less over 12,000 miles. They also qualify for the low £35.00 vehicle excise duty.

The Vauvhall Meriva – the biggest small car – costs about £1,300 over 12k.

As for the rest, they all cost around £1,100 to £1,200 over 12k.

The point is there’s no significant difference. This is important when you bear in mind www.vca.gov.uk guidelines for use of their data tables.

They say, ‘It is important to note that figures shown … are for the comparison of different models and will not necessarily be the same as the fuel consumption, emission levels … achieved on the road. For this reason it is not advisable to rank a number of vehicles for which very similar figures are quoted.’

It seems to me the VCA figures on my webpage are very similar.

The VCA go on to say, ‘there are infinite differences in driving styles and in road, car and weather conditions, all of which have a bearing on the results achieved. For these reasons the fuel consumption achieved on the road is unlikely to be the same as the official test results.’

I suppose my real point is all the cars listed on my webpage are economical and it may not be wise to chose one over another on the basis of very similar fuel consumption results.

Equally important is exact size, style, comfort, convenience and safety features.

Most of the cars in my list are fun to drive. They’re all reliable and durable.

It’s a case of finding a small car size to exactly suit your lifestyle.

Regards
Ralph
http://www.chevroletreviewsandprices.co.uk/comparing_small_car_mpg.htm

Comparing SUVs mpg

I’ve published a webpage with the title ‘Comparing SUVs mpg.’ It’s a table of 22 diesel engine SUVs with manual transmission/gearbox – ‘stick-shift’ as they say across the pond.

You’ll find engine size, urban mpg, extra-urban mpg and a combined figure for fuel consumption. Plus emissions figures and cost per 12,000 miles.

Note the importance of a sixth gear and what it does for the extra-urban fuel economy and in turn the combined figure on which the cost per 12k is based.

My tip would be to go on the lower urban figure because I hop in and out of cars all day long and if they’ve an on-board computer they all – yes all – show drivers are on average lucky to return the lower urban figure in real on the road driving.

I would say that because the Captiva only has 5 gears.

Needless to say if a SUV is only available with a petrol engine or only automatic it’s not included in my list.

You’ll have make allowances for size. My list includes compacts, medium size and one or two old-fashioned truck-like SUVS.

Another tip is if there’s no more than a 10% difference in mpg ignore it because it may not realise itself in real-life. My revelation is SUVs are not that expensive on fuel. A small car costs about a grand per 12,000 miles.

Think about the important things like style and space to suit your lifestyle and an elevated view of the world. Check it out for yourself at http://www.chevroletreviewsandprices.co.uk/comparing_suvs_mpg.htm

I’ll be comparing small cars next. My car comparisons for SUVs have proven very popular. So THANK YOU to all visitors. I’m hoping small car comparisons will be even more popular.

Regards
Ralph
http://www.chevroletreviewsandprices.co.uk/comparing_suvs_mpg.htm

VOLKSWAGEN TIGUAN S 2.0 TDI vs CHEVROLET CAPTIVA LT 2.0 VCDi

 

 

My intention was to compare every popular ‘fun & fashion’ SUV. I will in time. For now I’ve made comparisons with the best selling Toyota Rav4, Honda CRV, Freelander and now VW Tiguan. I’m now losing the will to live.

 

I’m not really finding really big differences. There are no revelations. I suppose that’s right because the vehicle with the most advantageous difference would outsell every other SUV.

 

The VW Tiguan is not significantly different from the Rav4, CRV, Freelander or Captiva. The Tiguan is different in that it just doesn’t look like a SUV. It looks more like an MPV. But the cars compared are more MPV than they are SUV. So we might say the VW looks more politically correct.

 

Let’s make some sort of summary.

 

Size: The Chevrolet Captiva is the largest of all the above vehicles with the most space for the same price so it’s the best value for money.

 

Style is a matter of personal taste. Here’s mine. The Rav4 is getting bland. The CRV misses the mark. The Tiguan doesn’t even look like a SUV. The Freelander is a perfect example of a classic slab side vehicle and looks classy. The Captiva is an exemplar of the sporty style.

 

Standing in the market is weird. Chevrolet is the best selling brand in history, ranking number 3 in the world today. In the UK Toyota, Honda and VW are well known with excellent reputations. None are a match for the Land Rover brand in the UK.

 

Inside these SUVs you’ll find little difference in comfort and convenience features. The Chevrolet probably has the most appropriate styled interior with quality tight-fitting materials.

 

Driving these SUVs demonstrates no real difference in performance in the hands of a real on-the-road driver. The Captiva is the most car-like to drive.

 

Economy figures reveal those SUVs with a 6^th gear get better mpg on a run. But can you get a free run on the M25, M3 M4, M1, or M6? Because I can’t get a free run on the M23.

 

If the above is too close to call it might remind us taking a test drive is all important and data like this on the internet might be more confusing than helpful.

 

Regards

Ralph

Maybe Prestige Does Sell Cars

Before we look at the Land Rover Freelander, in my two previous posts we compared the Toyota Rav4 and Honda CRV with the Chevrolet Captiva.

 

The Chevrolet Captiva is slightly bigger and more spacious than both the Rav4 and CRV making the Captiva better value for money if you want a big family car.

 

Both the Toyota Rav4 and Honda CRV have a sixth gear making them more economical on a run. Otherwise there doesn’t appear to be too much difference between the three cars.

 

The Toyota and Honda have the advantage of being well known brands in the UK. The Rav4 and CRV both have a good following and solid reputation. Chevrolet suffers from low awareness in the UK despite being the world’s third best selling brand.

 

However when we go onto my next car comparison with the Land Rover Freelander it seems reputation may not count so much. It’s not difficult to find a magazine warning of problems with Freelanders. But they’re still a best seller.

 

If you go to my comparison charts you can see there’s no real difference between the four cars. The Land Rover is too wide for UK roads and car parking spaces – in my opinion.

 

What makes the Land Rover sell despite its reputation is its prestigious brand. As an ex-Land Rover salesman friend of mine once said, “they just buy into the brand, they know what to expect and they accept it.”

 

Land Rover is a powerful brand and the more prestigious Discovery and Range Rover support the Freelander. It makes me wonder why Chevrolet doesn’t sell their famous Chevrolet Corvette in the same showroom as the Captiva.

 

Regards
Ralph

Car Comparison Chart 2 – Honda CRV vs Chevrolet Captiva

 

Even after only two car comparison charts it’s fairly clear cars of the same type and size are similar in almost all other respects. So if we take two SUVs – CRV and Captiva – that are the same size with similar engines then other aspects will be pretty much the same.

It’s difficult to understand where the real differences are and figure out why car buyers choose one car in preference to another.

A closer look at the Honda CRV and Chevrolet Captiva shows there is no real difference in interior space or comfort and convenience features. Engine performance is very similar and not different enough to make a real difference when in the hands of a real driver. The same goes for fuel economy/consumption.

You could say the CRV with its 6th gear is more economical on a run. The Captiva is slightly more spacious and versatile. But the differences are not huge. Not big enough to be a deciding factor.

So we are left with subjective aspects such as style, brand equity and prestige.

Personally I think the Captiva is a more handsome looking car both inside and out. It looks just like a SUV should look.

Honda is better known in the UK and they have a great reputation. People in the UK aren’t very aware of Chevrolet. Most wouldn’t know Chevrolet is the number one domestic brand in the USA. Chevrolet is also a best selling car in North America, South America, Eastern Europe, the Far East and China.

If you judge the Chevrolet Captiva against what it promises to be – a BIG family car – then it’s a winner.

Regards
Ralph
Compare the data at Honda Crv vs Chevrolet Captiva

Car Comparison Chart – Toyota Rav4 vs Chevrolet Captiva

I’ve compared the ubiquitous Rav4 with the little known Captiva.

As expected I found little difference. The Captiva is bigger than the Rav and has more interior space. Space is an advantage if you want a big family car. Having said that some people may prefer a more compact car with enough versatility when needs must.

Comparing interior features, performance and economy reveals no material difference. The figures are too close to make a real difference.

The Toyota does have a 6th gear making it more economical on the open road. You’d have thought GM could have found a 6-speed gearbox in the GM parts bin. Vauxhall have such a box.

Anyway, have a look for yourself. I’ve written a page about car comparisons similar to my previous post and a page about SUVs drawing on previous posts about the Chevrolet Captiva.

Please accept there may be errors and certainly omissions. You can always post comments to this blog or email me.

Regards
Ralph
See the data at Toyota RAV4 vs Chevrolet Captiva