Cupra Born

Author
Discussion

BertBert

Original Poster:

19,699 posts

218 months

Thursday 22nd December 2022
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Going to look at these to get Mrs Bert more range than she gets in her 2017 Zoe.

Looks great to me. Any views to the contrary or supporting?

Cheers
Bert

phil4

1,322 posts

245 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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If you can get past the infotainment I think you'll be very happy.

I've experience of an ID3 rather than the cupra, and it all seemed spacious, comfortable etc. Likewise driving seemed fine too, pokey enough etc.

The achilles heel was that I couldn't quite fathom the infotainment, even just the Nav seemed to be a pain. But if you're more a "get in and drive" rather than using the nav etc... it'll be easy to ignore that flaw.

the-norseman

13,405 posts

178 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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One of the best looking Ev's out there IMHO, have you also looked at the new MG? I saw it on the late brake show the other week looked good.

plfrench

2,915 posts

275 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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We've had one on order since March. It's a good allrounder, not too big, decent boot and cabin space. Drives well and should have a solid 180-200 mile range most of the year round which is plenty for my wife (we've gone for the smaller 58 KWh battery). We preferred the look and cabin to the ID3. The other car we considered seriously was the MG ZS EV due to it being a fair chunk cheaper, but a test drive quickly dismissed that idea due to it being a thoroughly unresolved product which felt like it was several months of development away from being ready to bring to market plus being very obviously designed and built down to a price. Cheaper, but worse value in our opinion than the Born. Not looked at the MG4 as we already had the Born order in before that was launched, but they'd have had to have changed their ethos of what was an acceptable product in a very short space of time, which I suspect is asking too much.

The only snag we've got is zero confidence it will ever turn up due to it being on salary sacrifice and ordered at a decent price, so I have the feeling we're bottom of the barrel when it comes to delivery priority. It was due to be here mid Nov until early Nov when the lease company suddenly changed to Early Feb estimate. Speaking to the supplying dealer it has an estimated build of week 4 '23, but as of yesterday, this was still not confirmed. Make of that what you will, but we're not holding our breath.

A shame as we are looking forward to getting back into an EV frown

BertBert

Original Poster:

19,699 posts

218 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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Thanks for the thoughts so far. We've got the MG in the list and although it seems to be liked and obviously lower price, reviews do keep mentioning it being a bit cheap and unfinished.

Sounds like the Born is good (we might consider the ID3, but you can't get any new ones for a lifetime). The infotainment could be a problem. Mrs Bert is er rather haphazard and inept with tech and touch screens in particular. So that could be a problem, although it's a problem with all new electric cars for her!!

Also looking to get a pre-ordered one if there is a colour spec available that suits.

We are test driving next Thirsday, so we'll see how we get on.

Bert

plfrench

2,915 posts

275 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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BertBert said:
Thanks for the thoughts so far. We've got the MG in the list and although it seems to be liked and obviously lower price, reviews do keep mentioning it being a bit cheap and unfinished.

Sounds like the Born is good (we might consider the ID3, but you can't get any new ones for a lifetime). The infotainment could be a problem. Mrs Bert is er rather haphazard and inept with tech and touch screens in particular. So that could be a problem, although it's a problem with all new electric cars for her!!

Also looking to get a pre-ordered one if there is a colour spec available that suits.

We are test driving next Thirsday, so we'll see how we get on.

Bert
Supposedly the best way round the infotainment system is to operate it via voice command. I must admit we didn't actually try this on the test drive, but I've been trying it in my own car more recently instead of using buttons to see how viable it might be. Climate control, interior lighting, heated seats, navigation, radio, etc all just one click of a button on the steering wheel and speak away. Admittedly, my car is a completely different manufacturer (Mercedes E Class), but it works flawlessly, first time every time with all the things I've come up with.

Make sure you both try it out on the test drive - you might be pleasantly surprised at how well it works and it might help your wife by avoiding the need to use the touchscreen / sliders.

kent_phil

315 posts

250 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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Due to take delivery in early Jan so will report back, we also have a Tesla Model Y but wanted something that was a bit smaller for the roads around here in Cornwall but still had decent range.

plfrench - had the same problems with salary sacrifice until I called to cancel the order. Ordered in July with an Oct delivery date, then moved to Jan, then moved to April at which point I called it. Suddenly a stock car has been found but even that has taken 4 weeks to actually get to me - and isn't quite in my hands yet...

Freakuk

3,463 posts

158 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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Late brake show did a review and an overnight trip in one, probably worth a look

BertBert

Original Poster:

19,699 posts

218 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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Freakuk said:
Late brake show did a review and an overnight trip in one, probably worth a look
Thanks, watched it, very interesting. For me that has increased my interest, but now even less sure for Mrs Bert.

She won't have a hope with that touch screen - it's almost certainly a deal-breaker which is very sad as I quite like the car!

Also she won't enjoy pootling in a car that attracts boy-racer type attention!

plfrench

2,915 posts

275 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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BertBert said:
Thanks, watched it, very interesting. For me that has increased my interest, but now even less sure for Mrs Bert.

She won't have a hope with that touch screen - it's almost certainly a deal-breaker which is very sad as I quite like the car!

Also she won't enjoy pootling in a car that attracts boy-racer type attention!
As I mentioned above, give the voice recognition a good try on your test drive next week. It might be good enough to mean you don't need to use the touch screen smile

Shaw Tarse

31,675 posts

210 months

BertBert

Original Poster:

19,699 posts

218 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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Shaw Tarse said:
Thanks makes a good read.

85Carrera

3,503 posts

244 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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Why is it limited to 99 mph?

Pica-Pica

14,468 posts

91 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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85Carrera said:
Why is it limited to 99 mph?
Probably to limit battery drain at high speeds.

BertBert

Original Poster:

19,699 posts

218 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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plfrench said:
As I mentioned above, give the voice recognition a good try on your test drive next week. It might be good enough to mean you don't need to use the touch screen smile
will do!

craigjm

18,479 posts

207 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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BertBert said:
plfrench said:
As I mentioned above, give the voice recognition a good try on your test drive next week. It might be good enough to mean you don't need to use the touch screen smile
will do!
Surely it’s good CarPlay and Auto so you just plug in your phone (or attach wirelessly) and use that as your interface?

BertBert

Original Poster:

19,699 posts

218 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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craigjm said:
Surely it’s good CarPlay and Auto so you just plug in your phone (or attach wirelessly) and use that as your interface?
So we are talking Mrs Bert, who can barely make a phone call on her phone! I love her dearly, but she is a technical retard!

HTP99

23,291 posts

147 months

Friday 23rd December 2022
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Already have a ZOE OP, what about the Megane E-Tech, great reviews and decent infotainment; Google powered, doesn't have those awful touch sensitive buttons which can be activated easily without realising, has physical heater controls and is of a far better quality and build inside.

Edited by HTP99 on Friday 23 December 23:31

annodomini2

6,913 posts

258 months

Saturday 24th December 2022
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Drive it in slow traffic if you can, the first 20% of brake pedal travel is regen only, the mechanical brakes only kick in after this point.

I personally hate this and think it is dangerous as at low speed the regen does not work and it is counter-intuitive that you need to press the brake pedal more to stop at low speeds.

BertBert

Original Poster:

19,699 posts

218 months

Saturday 24th December 2022
quotequote all
annodomini2 said:
Drive it in slow traffic if you can, the first 20% of brake pedal travel is regen only, the mechanical brakes only kick in after this point.

I personally hate this and think it is dangerous as at low speed the regen does not work and it is counter-intuitive that you need to press the brake pedal more to stop at low speeds.
That's a curious feature. So at low speeds the first 20% of the brake pedal travel doesn't do anything?