As I have said I have not experienced the X1 just yet only the X3 but according to the rags its all wheel drive system is rear biased. The Yeti has a front bias but the Haldex 4 system is so superior the suspension well sorted that it remains neutral. Perhaps if I had it longer I may have been able to make it display other trends but it was remarkably composed on very difficult back roads. Roads that I know very well , that cause problems for other vehicles, rear, front or all wheel drive what ever. The Yeti would inspire confidence in most people I feel, just like Lotus with compliant handling. If some one had told me that Lotus had a hand in it I would not be surprised. Ultimately a BMW might handle better I can not say specifically about the X1. Understeer is a pain and shows its self in the majority of FWD cars. Oversteer can be fun but both over steer and understeer can reduce velocity and times by scrubbing off speed. you know it is easily possible to change the characteristics of under or over steer by playing around with suspension and geometry. Even BMW will push on understeer, when driven hard enough anyway. A Yeti with 200 bhp would be nice its acceleration times with 177 bhp are respectable when compared to the BMW & Audi equivalents but for far less money. A bit of mild tuning would bring that up to 200 with more important increased torque also. The Audi is a non starter anyway because its ergonomics are so very poor. Who wants to develop back problems? The Audi forces divers of manual change to sit skewed because of the asymmetric peddle arrangements a bit like some very cheap and nasty cars from the 1970's. the rest of the car is very well made it is such a shame. If your an auto lover then all would be fine. However I would be looking at the X3 35d if I had that sort of money but what a shame that is a slush box too.

The Jaguar XF, much heralded for its interior, is a distracting nightmare for me, I would hate that Christmas tree instrument binnacle. I prefer the BMW red glow. Red being the best colour for interior lighting as it does not compromise night vision.

I have to disagree, although I too like the red BMW lighting, the XF's "phosphor blue" is not in the least distracting if set to a reasonable level, and the ambient lighting is very subtle too - even on the darkest of country roads. I think the night-vision thing is a red herring - it might be valid if you are a pilot or driving around on sidelights, but behind a pair of HIDs you won't have any worthwhile night vision anyway.

The XF's off-touchscreen controls are easy to use as well, good-sized buttons and well placed - I find the Yeti's climate control too fiddly if you are trying to find the rear window or defrost buttons. The XF also inherits the Ford feature of switching on the heated glass both when the temperature is low and when DEF is selected. The one problem is in certain conditions, the backlighting gets lost on the silver background - the captions/numbers need a black outline. And I really wish the XF had the excellent "curve projector" lights from the Yeti/Superb, especially as the XF's lights are Czech-made!

I absolutely agree that the Yeti has a superbly-judged suspension setup and is a pleasure to drive over all types of road, remaining superbly composed over surfaces where I know a 320d (at least the one I drove) would be all over the place. Interesting that BMW have abandoned standard run-flats on the X1.

Now a Laurin & Klement version of the Yeti with VW's active suspension really would be interesting!

Mark

Just for the record, BMW have NOT abandoned run flats, rather they have dropped them from entry and mid range X1 models. I hope they will eventually drop the bloody things and fit a space saver, but I can’t see it happening anytime soon :(

Any car can be made to understeer, regardless of where it drives it’s wheels, but a decent RWD with enough poke is a lot of fun, even without a LSD. I would definitely consider a Tiguan though, if I decided to get a more sensible car (I like the looks of it more than the Yeti............sorry), but I can not believe that either of the VAG cars will avoid feeling like a FWD model. As for A4 pedals being offset, I had a test in a 3.0 Quattro version recently and the offset pedals are not as bad as the press led me to believe.

Autobild recently tested the Yeti, Tiguan, X1 and a couple of others in a group test. I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you who won though.

Oh and just to let you Yeti owners feel superior, I went out in my 123D today. I nearly got stuck on a flat road covered with ice. 2nd gear using idling was making the wheels spin!

Sorry when I meant offset peddles, I meant Audi Q5.

I've seen a few X1's in Cheshire recently, there are a lot of non-footballers wives wannabes who can't afford an X5.

That aside, the X1 is hideously ugly... from every angle (i spent 10 mins following one in a traffic jam today on the M56). X3's were the worst car that BMW made, but i think they brought out the X1 just to make the X3 look good!!!

Don't get me wrong Lady Elanore - i love 1 Series BMW. I had a 120d a few years ago, and it was the most fun (and inpractical) car i have ever owned. It is rare BMW have brought out a vehicle that is worse than most of its competitors - but they've done it style this time.

Sorry when I meant offset peddles, I meant Audi Q5.

The A4 does have slightly offset pedals too, but I didn’t think they were as bad as a couple of reviews have said.

I've seen a few X1's in Cheshire recently, there are a lot of non-footballers wives wannabes who can't afford an X5.

That aside, the X1 is hideously ugly... from every angle (i spent 10 mins following one in a traffic jam today on the M56). X3's were the worst car that BMW made, but i think they brought out the X1 just to make the X3 look good!!!

Don't get me wrong Lady Elanore - i love 1 Series BMW. I had a 120d a few years ago, and it was the most fun (and inpractical) car i have ever owned. It is rare BMW have brought out a vehicle that is worse than most of its competitors - but they've done it style this time.

It’s true the 1 series is seriously impractical, hence my next car will have to be a bit bigger. But I like the X1 styling. The side angle is a little odd because of the flared arches and body though, but there again, I think the front of the Yeti makes it look like a squashed off road hearse. It wouldn’t put me off buying either car though.

As for the X1 is for ‘non-footballers wives, wannabes who can’t afford an X5’, that is like saying a Yeti owner is a wannabe Footballer who can’t afford a Range Rover Sport The X1 is a direct competitor to the Tiguan and possibly the Yeti and Autobild reckoned it is the best car of it’s type. From what I have seen and read, the X1 seems to be the best drivers car, but has the worst ride quality (in X23 guise, but it is good on lesser spec models) and it is rather pricey, although it is cheaper than the 3 series touring on which it is based (and you get the 4x4 bit thrown in). Also the Yeti interior plastics are pretty much a match for the X1’s which is part of the reason the X1 is cheaper than a 3 series touring.

[Lady Elanore - if you've got that sort of cash to buy an X1, then buy a Q5 or Tiguan instead.

[Lady Elanore - if you've got that sort of cash to buy an X1, then buy a Q5 or Tiguan instead.

I like the Q5 but I couldn’t afford to spec it up if I went for the 3.0tdi and I have looked at the Tiguan too. There are some great deals on it and some serious discount to be haggled off as well Audi have revamped the 3.0tdi in the Q7 and it now has over 400lb/fts of those pesky torx thingies. Now a an A4 S-Line specced up with that engine would be nice, but sadly I think Audi have just had a price rise on top of the 2.5% VAT increase The Q3 sounds interesting, but won’t come with the 3.0TDi at least at launch so I have read.

What Diesel just put the X1 against the Q5 and it came out tops, but I still don’t know about the refinement/Quality issue with the BMW. Plus it has an auto box. Perhaps I should get a Yeti and a Caterham

Edited 25 December, 200916 yr by Lady Elanore