Rav4 Vs X-Trail

[bluevortex]

Hi All,

Did anybody on this board consider a Nissan x-trail over the Rav4? A work friend just bought an 09 tekna 173bhp and is all he talks about says it's excellent and keeps running down my rav4 indirectly in the by telling me what a good choice of car it is and that's it's a proper off roader and not s Chelsea tractor blah blah blah...!

Anyway, I do think it's quite smartl but do think the body shape is better on the Rav. It has nice panoramic roof and lights in the Roofrack are very smart. The 4x4 aspect is reportedly better than the rav from most reviews I have come across? I just wondered if anybody had owned one of these or considered buying one? Thoughts /comments ??

Blue

[Big Kev]

Blueboy,

Having spent all my life in the cardboard box industry, I would never have considered driving such a boring, mundane, boxy looking vehicle. Furramore, and it is only by hearsay rather than experience, it reaches my ears that the suspension lets you know if it's heads or tails if you run over a fifty pence piece. IMO, it is one of the most soulless vehicular vehicles on the road today. Offroad it must be akin to driving a brick on wheels

As for 173bhp, sell wee wife and wean and get a chip kit from Kingo and get yourself 218bhp (opening that can of worms again, quoting the reputed bhp...sorry Kingo.)Funnily enough, I have mainly seen the fairer sex driving these Nissans......maybe they are all in "X-Rated Movers....?"

All done in the best POSSIBLE taste,

Big Kev.

[NMaria]

Friend of mine has one of these X-Trails. She's over the moon with it - or rather was, until all sorts of things started to go wrong with it, in an expensive sort of way. My smugness at having a 'reliable' Toyota began to fade when the usual list of faults started to occur on my RAV4: warped discs, faulty injectors, hiccups, creaking suspension. Now the additional interior space of the X-trail is looking rather attractive, although I do agree it's a boring, boxy-looking thing, perhaps even verging on the ugly, and I seem to recall that the interior is rather agricultural.

[shcm]

Blue,

Using the quote almost in its correct sense, your friend "doth protest too much, methinks".

I reckon if he is going on about the X-T that much, he is really quite jealous of your RAV!

Result!

[bluevortex]

Blue,

Using the quote almost in its correct sense, your friend "doth protest too much, methinks".

I reckon if he is going on about the X-T that much, he is really quite jealous of your RAV!

Result!

Maybe a little ha ha... I am getting a bit fedup with the soft roader/chelsea tractor comments though. I just hope that it proves itself this winter! I have just had delivered my vredestein wintrac 4's so can't wait for the white stuff to test them out!!

Blue

[local hero]

Hi All,

Did anybody on this board consider a Nissan x-trail over the Rav4? A work friend just bought an 09 tekna 173bhp and is all he talks about says it's excellent and keeps running down my rav4 indirectly in the by telling me what a good choice of car it is and that's it's a proper off roader and not s Chelsea tractor blah blah blah...!

Anyway, I do think it's quite smartl but do think the body shape is better on the Rav. It has nice panoramic roof and lights in the roofrack are very smart. The 4x4 aspect is reportedly better than the rav from most reviews I have come across? I just wondered if anybody had owned one of these or considered buying one? Thoughts /comments ??

Blue

Just a minute aren't Nissan + Renault bed mates Well heres Nissan/Renaults idea of an off road vehicle, if ever there was a namby pamby piece of C**P pretending to be an off roader then this is it

[Plutus]

I've sat in one (at a show) and found it to be comfortable - decent seats and lots of headroom.

Who cares if it looks boxy - does it do the job?

As an automatic fan I would be very wary of any gearbox from the Renault stable.

Most importantly, does it have a spare wheel?

[Parts-King]

Why not throw a Euro NCAP quote at him about the safety aspects of his box on wheels

Front impact

The passenger compartment remained stable during the impact. Protection of the driver's neck was rated as 'weak' because of the extent to which it was bent backwards in the test. Structures in the dashboard presented a risk of injury to the knees and femurs of the driver and passenger.

Perhaps shout "Break a leg" at him next time he sets foot in the car

BIG Kev, how much do I owe you now for your marketing serviceisation? must be millions I reckon

Kingo

[webleymk3]

Never owned a x-t however my dad did and sure enough it was good to drive and had oodles of space. So why then did I buy a Rav?

1. Looks million times better (ie it's not a box)

2. Made by Toyota not so should last past 80,000 miles

3. Excellent 4WD. On that note, drove down a ditch yesterday and couldnt get out. Clicked on the diff lock and out she popped. I did get some smoke from the clutch (how torquey is that engine??!!) buy came out no bother.

4. Toyota offer a 1 year Toyota (ie not just the garage bought from) on any second hand Toyota bought from a Toyota garage! That's what I did!

The Rav is not a Chelsea tractor. That'd be a BMW X5!!!

Excellent car with excellent space and track record that's second to none!!

There's my tuppence worth!

Dave

[rangermastiffs]

Of course the opinions on here are going to be 'bias' towards the Rav4 it's a Rav4 forum.

Ask the same question on the Xtrail site and what do you think the answer would be?

All I will say is I have owned both from new in the last 4 years and I would choose the Xtrail over the Rav tomorrow.

Having said that, I have just bought a new car and I choose the Subaru Forester(diesel) over both of them having owned a forester(petrol) before also.

[Big Kev]

Why not throw a Euro NCAP quote at him about the safety aspects of his box on wheels

Front impact

The passenger compartment remained stable during the impact. Protection of the driver's neck was rated as 'weak' because of the extent to which it was bent backwards in the test. Structures in the dashboard presented a risk of injury to the knees and femurs of the driver and passenger.

Perhaps shout "Break a leg" at him next time he sets foot in the car

BIG Kev, how much do I owe you now for your marketing serviceisation? must be millions I reckon

Kingo

.....3 quid and a bottla Buckfast does the trick, Kingo.

[Parts-King]

I don't mind the 3 quid but Buckfast!!! :eek: Blood from the Devil that is Kevalino ;)

[MarsKy]

I have just had delivered my vredestein wintrac 4's so can't wait for the white stuff to test them out!!

Snow between Cockbridge and Tomintoul. Are you going to try the Wintracs out? Really interested to hear what a proper set of snow tyres will do on the T180. Let us all know.

Edit: are they studless snow, or winter, tyres? Is the tyre compound soft, or are they like the Dueler's M+S tyres?

[*srjp*]

I looked at an X-Trail and was put off by the boxy nature of what is essentially a car not a 4x4. Both it and the Rav4 suffer from low slung exhaust back boxes (and the Rav's centre section is also vulnerable) reducing ground clearance and exit angles, so why make it look like something it isn't? The X-Trail's aerodynamics must be compromised by the chunky design. It seems the only benefit is internal loadspace, for which a large estate is no doubt better.

I also considered my 14 year old Mitsubishi Challenger to be a more attractive design than a modern day X-Trail but accept that's only a matter of taste.

That exhaust:

[anchorman]

The design doesn't offend me but I know somebody that had endless turbo problems and Nissan kept fitting recons to his brand new car. It also had the front calipers seize solid after he had been charged £60 for a brake inspection. It melted the piston seals and bggrd the discs but when he complained to Nissan they said the inspection was visual without taking the wheels off.

I get the sneaky suspicion that that 2.0 litre 173 engine comes with a Renault Badge and that does it for me.

[local hero]

The design doesn't offend me but I know somebody that had endless turbo problems and Nissan kept fitting recons to his brand new car. It also had the front calipers seize solid after he had been charged £60 for a brake inspection. It melted the piston seals and bggrd the discs but when he complained to Nissan they said the inspection was visual without taking the wheels off.

I get the sneaky suspicion that that 2.0 litre 173 engine comes with a Renault badge and that does it for me.

Correct once again Anchs Its a renault engine Read HERE.. Stew

[Big Kev]

Ah can imagine Big Blueboy "JUST BRINGING UP IN CONVERSATION" with his workmate......

"Is your Nissan the one with the Renault engine, or were you aware who made its engine.....?"

Ah.....peace perfect peace.....

Big Kev

[bluevortex]

Ah can imagine Big Blueboy "JUST BRINGING UP IN CONVERSATION" with his workmate......

"Is your Nissan the one with the Renault engine, or were you aware who made its engine.....?"

Ah.....peace perfect peace.....

Big Kev

Ha ha I might just have to mention that to him and see what he says.... I've already suggested he should cut the roof off and it would be a !Removed! good x-trailer

Blue

[bluevortex]

I have just had delivered my vredestein wintrac 4's so can't wait for the white stuff to test them out!!

Snow between Cockbridge and Tomintoul. Are you going to try the Wintracs out? Really interested to hear what a proper set of snow tyres will do on the T180. Let us all know.

Edit: are they studless snow, or winter, tyres? Is the tyre compound soft, or are they like the Dueler's M+S tyres?

Yes there was a dusting of snow in Grantown this morning! Woohoo snow tyre time :D Well not quite... they are currently sat in my office waiting to be fitted :o

I was planning to put them on the Rav late November as I hope to get 2-3 winters out of them and I am considering scrapping Bridgestone runflats of the 18" rims between now and April/May and fitting some Geolanders instead. The 18" T180 rims have signs of corrosion and I would like to get them refurbed or even powder coated at a place in Aberdeen. The tyres would have to be removed for this though so no going back. Decisions

Re: the snow trac 4's - very impressed by the look of these. Good tread depth and pattern, non-studded. Apparently they have a soft tread that adapts quickly to cold temperatures. I'm sure I will tes this before long! I have a set of vredesetin snow trac 3 for my golf and they have been really good in previous years so on the Rav4 these should be superb! I will def get some photos up this winter!

Blue

[MarsKy]

Ah - my 3 year warranty ends at the end of this month, so at the end of last month I took my bubbling alloys in and got 4 new ones fitted for free. But to get the tyres off, they had to break some of the valves and put new tyre pressure sensors on. And then they nicked the sidewall of one tyre, and so got a new tyre. And then they scratched one of the wheel arches fitting the wheels, so went to the bodyshop after all that. So all in, four days in with the dealer. In the 3 years I've also had a new Battery fitted, and had front and rear discs and pads to pay for.

The compound on the winter tyres should feel softer and rubberier (if Big Kev can murder the Queen's English...) - it's suited for temperatures below 7'C. Should be great in the snow.

[Parts-King]

Big Kev can murder most things, including the Queens English, he even murderated a wiper blade of mine once, pah! Blinkin roughtastic geohighlancder he is

I believe the !Removed! Bridge to Tomintoul road had a dollop of snow on it this morning?

Kingo

[Big Kev]

If Blue's workmate was to cut the roof off his car, he would end up with a SKIP.....

"Do ye mind if ah put rubbish in dat son.....?" Think about it....

Big Kev

[dave.m]

Ah can imagine Big Blueboy "JUST BRINGING UP IN CONVERSATION" with his workmate......

"Is your Nissan the one with the Renault engine, or were you aware who made its engine.....?"

Ah.....peace perfect peace.....

Big Kev

Ha ha I might just have to mention that to him and see what he says.... I've already suggested he should cut the roof off and it would be a bloody good x-trailer

Blue

And as if by magic, well nearly (see link)

http://www.autocar.c...AllCars/253536/

[DjRav]

I looked at an X-Trail and was put off by the boxy nature of what is essentially a car not a 4x4. Both it and the Rav4 suffer from low slung exhaust back boxes (and the Rav's centre section is also vulnerable) reducing ground clearance and exit angles, so why make it look like something it isn't? The X-Trail's aerodynamics must be compromised by the chunky design. It seems the only benefit is internal loadspace, for which a large estate is no doubt better.

I also considered my 14 year old Mitsubishi Challenger to be a more attractive design than a modern day X-Trail but accept that's only a matter of taste.

That exhaust:

Nice body roll! That car is ugly, reminds me of the old shape Honda. It's not all about space, I have another much bigger car. I bought the Rav for reliability in a good looking car with one of the best mpg's of the 4x4's. Mines black with the blacked out windows and not only looks smart but corners like a decent car rather than a "too tall to go fast" 4x4!!!

[rangermastiffs]

They are called "Rose Tinted Glasses"