My new Born

[Blackeunos]

Picked my new Born V1 up this morning, and very pleased so far with it

Had a few problems getting connected with the app, but didn't take too long.

First thoughts...

Exterior...
This is the part I'm still not 100% sure of... I know it's a modified iD.3 design, you can see it. I liked the iD.3 design, that's how the car was originally designed, and I think you can tell when looking at them both. Don't get me wrong, I like the look of the Born, but it looks like it's trying too hard in some places.

Interior...
Much better! A nice place to be.
- I prefer the layout of the centre console to the iD.3's, and think it will be more useful for me.
- The light switches to the right are much better placed too.
- The 12" screen, yes it's bigger, but I wouldn't say noticeably so, however, the removal of the 'switches/buttons' below the sliders works, as does having more functions always accessible and visible on the screen.
- The layout of the screen is different, but I think I prefer it.
- The main touchscreen also appears to be more of a matt finish and hasn't left lots of finger print smudges on it.
- Much prefer the darker fabrics over the Life spec.
- Finally, the gloss black plastic... hmm, I liked the look, but hated the way it attracted smudges and marks, and I was always concerned with it getting scratched, so I thought I would look forward to it being gone, and in a way I am, however, it did seem to give an impression of 'high quality'... but yes, think I'm glad it's gone!

Suspension/wheels...
- An obvious point, but... alloys are much better than steels! Looks wise anyway, now I just need to try to not get too worried when my other half is driving it, and hope it they don't get kerbed!
- Seems firmer, although I do still need to check the transport pucks have been removed.
- I was pleased to see it came with Goodyear EfficientGrips, although a bit surprised, as most of the 19" Typhoons I've heard of have come with Continentals.
- it does feel sportier overall.

Equipment...
Both cars have been the entry level models, so as a comparison:
- Gained: alloys, bucket seats, dual zone climate control, reversing camera, keyless entry, park assist (last two an extra as part of the L tech pack)
- Lost: heated seats, iD light (I really liked this! )

Motor...
A definite improvement over the lower power iD.3 I had, nice to have, but nothing to write home about.


Going to find time this week to give it a proper wash this week, as the valet before delivery was rubbish! I could complain, but what's the point in getting someone who doesn't five a toss to wash it again, plus it gives me the chance to check it over more closely.

Also, I'm finding a bit of a vibration/whine/hum from the motor(?) at certain speeds, so going to give that a couple of days to settle down, before I make enquires with the dealer, as could be the roads I was on today, or possibly the new tyres/wheels that I'm not used to.

Have fitted the rear rubber mats and boot liner I had from the iD.3, and will put the animated mirror indicators on in the next week or so.

Pictures to follow once it's cleaned.

[monkeyhanger]

Exterior...
This is the part I'm still not 100% sure of... I know it's a modified iD.3 design, you can see it. I liked the iD.3 design, that's how the car was originally designed, and I think you can tell when looking at them both. Don't get me wrong, I like the look of the Born, but it looks like it's trying too hard in some places.

What is it about the exterior you don't like? I much prefer the Born's front end - the black hump between the bonnet and the windscreen on the ID3 always seemed like a sticking plaster fix to a design cock up (without the hump, the front end of the ID3 was fine for me), and I could take either tailgate, I do worry about the kids scratching the painted sill extensions on their exit. The fake grille dimples on the ID3 front end were an absolute bugger to clean - glad they're gone!

Internally, the Born improves on everything I disliked about the ID3s interior:-

1. Smudgy black piano plastic all over hand contact points - Gone.
2. Crappy looking and impractical skinny Ryanair armrests - Gone
3. Central console a little bit lower than i'd like and a bit too minimalist - Gone

The Sports seats are a nice to have, but I can see why the ID3 doesn't have them - it's not trying to be sporty,

There wasn't a lot with the interior that was wrong. However, I do wish that for the sake of saving just 1 button, they'd have 4 window buttons rather than 2 plus a rear switch out button - seems like an unnecessary complication to operate the rear windows (or all windows) for the sake of saving 1 button. Window toggle buttons that forget their previous setting are another ID3 design I hoped would be fixed with a software update (why can't you leave it in L for wing mirror drop in reverse?).

For me, the V2 Typhoon wheels are the best looking wheels of the whole ID3/ID4/Born ranges - seems quite stroke of luck you got a V1 with those. Getting Goodyears rather than the usual Contis seems ok, i'd buy either with my own money when mine wear out, although i'd probably favour Michelin over both, just because they're likely to last a bit longer but be just as good. Be thankful that you didn't get Bridgestones!

If the transport pucks were still in, or even 1 each side were still in, you'd be facing a bone shatteringly hard and crashy ride. No harm having a feel around the shock gaiters, but I think you'd know if something was that wrong with the ride.

[Blackeunos]

What is it about the exterior you don't like?

Don't get me wrong, I do like it, otherwise I wouldn't have switched, however, there are some things which aren't quite right, IMO.

One of the over-riding feelings I get is that there are compromises in the design, as it was designed to be an iD.3 and modified to be a Born.

There are some parts which are a bit too 'fussy' for me, such as the patterned plastic on the C-pillar trim. I can see where some people are of the opinion that it's an iD.3 that's crashed through a Halfords store (which I don't agree with TBH).

I agree about the worries of the gloss plastic parts on the exterior too, they will get scratched/scuffed.

One other thing, I wasn't sure about the copper accents, but they are growing on me and definitely lift the interior.

[monkeyhanger]

What is it about the exterior you don't like?

Don't get me wrong, I do like it, otherwise I wouldn't have switched, however, there are some things which aren't quite right, IMO.

One of the over-riding feelings I get is that there are compromises in the design, as it was designed to be an iD.3 and modified to be a Born.

There are some parts which are a bit too 'fussy' for me, such as the patterned plastic on the C-pillar trim. I can see where some people are of the opinion that it's an iD.3 that's crashed through a Halfords store (which I don't agree with TBH).

I agree about the worries of the gloss plastic parts on the exterior too, they will get scratched/scuffed.

One other thing, I wasn't sure about the copper accents, but they are growing on me and definitely lift the interior.

The plastic C-Pillar trim is something I could easily live without, but I don't mind it being there - seems to be quite a common design detail on a lot of cars recently - especially Peugeots and Vauxhalls. I was less than sure about the copper accents, I really thought they were something I would have to live with, but I don't mind them at all. VAGs have been getting quite heavy with the detailing lately - the amount of black plastic mini panels and embellishments on the current A1 and A3 seem a bit excessive - they look to have borrowed a few design cues from the Honda Civic.

The bonnet area looks a lot more like it was meant to be that way than the ID3's bonnet hump IMO. Overall, I do prefer the exterior looks of the Born to the ID3's, but mainly for the front end. I do think that the Born has avoided overdoing the sporty looks, as VW usually manages to avoid too.

[Blackeunos]

A quick pic.

Had to take it sneakily or else my other half would start having a go!

[Daveion]

Looks good. What is the interior like compared with a V2?

[Blackeunos]

Looks good. What is the interior like compared with a V2?

As far as I'm aware it's exactly the same, except no heated seats or HUD, and the window tints if you class those as interior.

[Betty b]

Looks fantastic

[Daveion]

Looks good. What is the interior like compared with a V2?

As far as I'm aware it's exactly the same, except no heated seats or HUD, and the window tints if you class those as interior.

[Blackeunos]

Just been playing with the sat nav and it's so much better than the iD.3! Now this could be because it's on 3.0, rather than 2.3, but I don't know.

In the iD.3 it would rarely find places searched by name, for example a specific shop, or restaurant, but the Born doesn't seem to have a problem. For example we're staying at a Premier Inn soon, so I searched for it and it came up first time, the iD.3 always seemed to find somewhere in Europe in the search responses.