Thought I would post a little update after taking delivery of the car on the 17th of May and more specifically in comparison to my Leon Cupra 290 that went back on the same day. Car was delivered by D M Keith through a broker and the service from both was fantastic I have to say.
First impressions were that the interior is a massive step up in terms of fit, feel and quality. It feels a lot more 'special' to sit in than the Leon did as nice as that was. The seats are fantastic with a huge amount of adjustment available, no headroom complaints at all, and I’m 6ft just for reference. It does feel very different and whilst there is only so much that you can do with the same base VW parts it really does feel out there on its own.
Next big impression is obviously the infotainment and lack of any physical buttons! anyone who is used to a VW group car will have a fair bit of familiarity to how everything works but it does take a bit of setting up and getting used to. I love technology so do really appreciate the amount of customisation that’s available but i would think could be a little daunting on first run through if someone is not massively tech savvy.
Took quite a bit of setting up but given that the car is used regularly by both me and my Fiancée love the fact that the keys can take the memory of the seat an mirrors, is a strong feeling opening the door and the seat moving itself already into the position for me!
So far so good in that fingers crossed I have not had any of the bugs that a few people on here have had, car is a recent build and has the latest software so am hoping that they are now getting on top of those issues that seemed to of plagued most of the new iteration of VW group cars.
Next onto the actual drive, immediately it feels a lot smoother and quieter that my old Leon. In comfort mode it really does ride the same bumps and holes in the road a lot better. Not sure if it’s the bigger tyre sidewalls the higher ride height or just a better tuned set up but the difference is really noticeable an a lot more relaxing to drive. That's a big plus for me as i really enjoy the fact that the car can be a bit Jekyll and Hyde in terms of how it drives.
In terms of pace, it doesn’t feel quite as instant an electric as the old car, although I will reserve some judgement on that as it took at least 2,000 miles for the engine to loosen up an give up better performance. One thing that is a big improvement is traction, in the Leon I would at certain junctions always switch into manual mode so that I could change up early to stop the wheels slipping, the Formentor has no such issues you really can just leave it to its own devices and it hasn’t broken traction at all. The steering feels a lot livelier as well so again they have obviously been pretty busy tuning the suspension set up.
I do think though that because everything feels that bit better put together you don’t notice the car building speed in the same way as you did in the Leon, will check that out once the engine is run in fully as have a Dragy box and some data from my old car to compare against. I do think though that the feeling of speed feels quite a bit different, in that because it’s that bit better put together and better insulated you don’t feel it quite the same.
All in all though am really impressed with it so far, feels a lot more grown up than the Leon did
First impressions were that the interior is a massive step up in terms of fit, feel and quality. It feels a lot more 'special' to sit in than the Leon did as nice as that was. The seats are fantastic with a huge amount of adjustment available, no headroom complaints at all, and I’m 6ft just for reference. It does feel very different and whilst there is only so much that you can do with the same base VW parts it really does feel out there on its own.
Next big impression is obviously the infotainment and lack of any physical buttons! anyone who is used to a VW group car will have a fair bit of familiarity to how everything works but it does take a bit of setting up and getting used to. I love technology so do really appreciate the amount of customisation that’s available but i would think could be a little daunting on first run through if someone is not massively tech savvy.
Took quite a bit of setting up but given that the car is used regularly by both me and my Fiancée love the fact that the keys can take the memory of the seat an mirrors, is a strong feeling opening the door and the seat moving itself already into the position for me!
So far so good in that fingers crossed I have not had any of the bugs that a few people on here have had, car is a recent build and has the latest software so am hoping that they are now getting on top of those issues that seemed to of plagued most of the new iteration of VW group cars.
Next onto the actual drive, immediately it feels a lot smoother and quieter that my old Leon. In comfort mode it really does ride the same bumps and holes in the road a lot better. Not sure if it’s the bigger tyre sidewalls the higher ride height or just a better tuned set up but the difference is really noticeable an a lot more relaxing to drive. That's a big plus for me as i really enjoy the fact that the car can be a bit Jekyll and Hyde in terms of how it drives.
In terms of pace, it doesn’t feel quite as instant an electric as the old car, although I will reserve some judgement on that as it took at least 2,000 miles for the engine to loosen up an give up better performance. One thing that is a big improvement is traction, in the Leon I would at certain junctions always switch into manual mode so that I could change up early to stop the wheels slipping, the Formentor has no such issues you really can just leave it to its own devices and it hasn’t broken traction at all. The steering feels a lot livelier as well so again they have obviously been pretty busy tuning the suspension set up.
I do think though that because everything feels that bit better put together you don’t notice the car building speed in the same way as you did in the Leon, will check that out once the engine is run in fully as have a Dragy box and some data from my old car to compare against. I do think though that the feeling of speed feels quite a bit different, in that because it’s that bit better put together and better insulated you don’t feel it quite the same.
All in all though am really impressed with it so far, feels a lot more grown up than the Leon did
Only considering the latter in case the car is delivered without mats etc and some of the infotainment isn’t functioning properly on collection. But hoping the car works as it should.
