Since I promised you more test drives, here is three more cars I had a deeper look into at the show.
MONTES T60 MRP
The T60 is using a construction similar to the X90. Glued aluminium chassis, aluminium panels, and a double wishbone/multilink suspension setup. And the first impression you get when looking at the car is stunning. It really looks like an impressive driving machine. On the other hand, that also means that the car has to fulfill really high expectations to not be a disappointment, so let’s find out what it’s good for.
Under the bonnet we find a magnesium V10 with 607 hp. In a time of turbocharging it’s a surprise that it is naturally aspirated, and despite a high output per litre for a N/A engine, the torque curve is almost flat. Throttle response is impressive, as is the roar the unit gives when the accelerator is floored. However, it requires expensive 98 octane fuel to run, but we doubt that this will be a problem for the buyer in this price class.
Driveline wise it is old school manual RWD goodness with an electrical LSD to keep the wheelspin down, also surprising and at the same time wonderful when AWD is taking over in powerful cars like this one more and more. Maybe a closer ratio gearbox would be preferrable though. The speed limiter is set at 330 km/h ant the car only keeps accelerating and accelerating until that. 100 km/h is done in 4.4 seconds but it has of course very much to give after that.
When seated in the deeply contoured bucket seat, I’m looking out over one of the best cockpits I’ve ever seen in a long while, if you could combine a bank vault with a touring car, it would probably look like this. Except for one thing, the infotainment system is better than in both of them, even if there is better ones available on the market. But with a roaring V10 like this, who cares anyway?
Of course, the driving experience is even better, but surprisingly enough even this Montes model is a bit on the understeering side. A more neutral behaviour would have been preferrable, even if it of course corners great. More impressive is the ceramic brakes. 32.1 metres to stop from 100 means that the face is almost planted in the windshield when the pedal is pressed. With the suspension being set this firm, it means that rough roads will be a bit bumpy, and it’s a price you often have to pay in cars like this. That by no means is the same as the T60 being uncomfortable to ride in though.
So it won’t break your back. It won’t break apart either, with the Montes build quality being on top. So what will it break? Your bank account. A fuel consumtion of 10.2 litres per 100 km, astronomical servicing costs and a price of $55111 means that it remains a car for the chosen few.
But do they get a driving machine that is up to what the outside suggests? Despite some minor flaws, I would say yes!
TSR X-CROSS
We somehow doubted that there would be anything interesting in the TSR monter this year, the Taikan tested earlier was not anything impressive even if it had its points, and now it’s time to test the XCross, which is a crossover as the name suggests. That makes the construction of the body and chassis a bit weird, aluminium semi space frame with a partial aluminium body is really overkill on a car like this, especially since the rest of the car is very conventional. McPherson struts up front, multilink in the rear, and a transversely mounted 300 hp turbo V6 with a displacement of 3.7 litres.
When looking at the car, I wonder if buyers will find it very attractive. On the chubby body, there is something that looks like a try to make a front end inspired by a low and sleek sports car, and to be honest it doesn’t work at all. The headlights are old-fashioned sealed beam types hidden inside DRL LED strips forming a strange triangular shape. The low grille would have been hot stuff 25 years ago but looks out of date today, and all of the sharp edges doesn’t match the rounded shape of the body lines at all. But I must say that the fighter jet shaped side indicators is a lovely touch that shows that TSR at least allows their designers to have fun at work. Going to the back of the car, we once again find busy lines that are a bit mismatching with the overall body shape. Of course, taste is always different, but to be fair, I think that the odd styling of the XCross will scare away some buyers.
Stepping inside, the first thing I notice is that the car is a 4-seater which is a bit odd considering that the car doesn’t really have any sporty ambitions. This vehicle type is supposed to be practical and the XCross are falling short there with such a strange decision. Otherwise, the interior is not a bad place to be in, albeit a bit bland, looking like most cars in the price class, nice materials, a fair level of equipment without being extravagant and a good infotainment system with a built in GPS.
When letting the V6 come alive, the overall impression is that it is a good unit. It runs quite smooth, it has a nice amount of torque (maybe because of its HUGE stroke of 111.6 mm!), there is some turbo lag but at least it’s kept at an acceptable level, and it runs on cheap regular fuel. However, the fuel consumtion is on the higher side, breaking the 10 litre/100 km barrier, which is far from acceptable today. It gives lively performance with a 0-100 time of 7 seconds and a top speed limited to 250 km/h, but is that really the right priority? You don’t buy a crossover to drive fast and we think that giving practicality and economy a higher priority would have been more in the favour of the buyers.
For a crossover, it ain’t bad on the skidpad and it’s easy to handle, but it is heavily understeering, safe for Joe Average, but making the focus on performance even more strange. Also, an almost 40 metre braking distance from 100, showing slight tendencies of fading is maybe not completely up to the cars performance. In case something is about to go wrong, there is of course ESC and ABS, and if it still goes horribly wrong, you will be surrounded by air bags popping out from absolutely every corner of the passenger compartment.
The car has an active suspension focused on comfort, and that recipe is working, the ride is fully acceptable. And considering that the car is sporting a very low ground clearance for its class and has a strange choice of tyres with a rubber compound and thread focused on sportiness rather than threadwear and offroad grip, the rough road capabilities are good. Of course, AWD and a viscous differential is part of the success there. The gearbox is a very advanced 9 speed computer controlled automatic, shifting smooth and being very suited to the engine, but with such an advanced choice of transmission, the lack of fuel economy is even less acceptable.
Speaking of economy, a price of $25164 might not look to expensive and the service costs are on a sane level. The question is the second hand value, I have a fear that this will not be too attractive on the second hand market which means that the value will drop quickly.
So is the XCross a good buy for that money then? I would say no. It’s a combination of a lot of strange engineering decisions, a second hand value that might be falling quicker than you think and an unreasonable thirst of fuel. Bad cars hardly exist today, and that also applies to the XCross, it is not horrible in any way but there is so many cars in the class doing everything so much better, and the good performance can’t justify the flaws that became all too appearant even during our short test drive.
WESTWARD EL VERANO ST
If IP was conservative with the Lifestyler, I start to think that the El Verano have beaten it. If it weren’t for the crystal clear headlights, the front end would look like it was straight out of 1990, and nothing else makes it obvious that we are looking at a brand new car either. It’s 90s blandness about everywhere, and it’s safe to say that nobody will buy this car based on its styling. Even inside, it is conservative, the grey fabric upholstery and acres of equally grey rock hard plastic inside the test car wasn’t really impressive, and the tinny sound of the infotainment system makes one think that Westward was shopping at Biltema when it came to installing the speakers. Conservative is also the power output, 183 hp from a 3 litre 5 valve engine is not really impressive considering many 2 valve engines of the same size did the same thing in the 80s. Despite its large volyme, it only has 4 cylinders, which makes the whole feeling of the engine more than only a bit agricultural. A nice and flat torque curve up to 4500 RPM is a strong point though, after that it’s falling quickly. The engine in the front wheel drive car is mated to a 6 speed computer controlled automatic transmission, that is actually working very well, in a time when competitors are putting out 7, 8 and even 9 speed autos, showing that number of gears ain’t everything. And something that many buyers in snowy Sweden will like is probably the standard mounted torsen differential, a nice surprise! The performance is adequate for what it is, 219 km/h top speed and 0-100 in slightly under 9.1 seconds won’t disappoint the buyer looking for a car like this.
The next nice surprise is the handling, the car is not only very easy to control, it holds on well in the sharp corners and you really have a good feeling of what you are doing. Sticky rubber, sofisticated DW/Multilink suspension and adaptive dampers and sway bars are a huge contribution to this, and not what you expect to find in this price class. It means that you don’t have to sacrifice ride comfort either. Also, the brakes are good except for showing a bit of fade, and that really makes one wonder why Westward didn’t put ventilated discs up front, but strangely, in the rear? ESC is standard equipment, and Westward says that they are aiming for a 4 star Euro-NCAP safety rating. It’s missing some of the equipment to gain the fifth and last star.
Fuel economy might not be the greatest at 7.7 litres per 100 km, a bit high for a car like this by todays standards, but the service costs are amazingly low, and a price of $16805 is something you can say the same thing about. It’s something of a bargain for getting a good and honest family car, with great handling and some surprising standard features. That is, if you can stand that it feels a bit old fashioned, bland and agricultural in some ways.
But as an alternative to an used family car, we suggest you to at least have a look at the El Verano. It’s one of the best overall packages we’ve seen among budget cars for a while and there’s a great chance you will be positively surprised.
