Test drive.

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Nacaduct
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2021 7:32 pm

Post by Nacaduct »

Have now had the chance(s) to drive this vehicle 3 times.
First impression was good, second one better, and the third one just drove it home… Last test drive lasted a weekend as the dealer rep offered me a borrow.
Comfortable, quiet ride on 19” wheels, nice and uncluttered interior, pretty good consumption (around 177Wh/km), and I’m generally happy as I ordered one a long time ago:)
The seats are really comfortable, the sound system better than current car, and I find all the YouTube reviewer nag about touch controls on the steering wheel to be a non-issue. ACC worked a charm an was very smooth, both when coming to a stop and when starting.
Coming from a Seat Ibiza, acceleration is more than adequate for daily driving (Born: 7.3s vs. Ibiza 9.6s). Did a couple of overtakes on country roads and they went plenty fast.
For me, happily, this is exactly what I expected, and I am very happy with what I experienced.
Cupra Born since ‘22

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KEV1L
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2022 4:30 pm
Location: Leeds

Post by KEV1L »

Good to know. I only got about 40 minutes in the car, (also after ordering as I managed to hit the pre-order window) and although all the important 'car stuff' felt really good, I still had/have concerns regarding the touch buttons, purely because of the volume of reviews that mention it.
Cupra Born V2 | Tech-M | Aurora Blue
pws7482
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2022 6:57 am

Post by pws7482 »

My Golf has the touch sensitive sliders for the temperature and volume and I really don’t have an issue with them. They don’t even really need getting used to even in the dark, as the screen lights them up.
Cupra Born Geyser Silver
V2 58kw Tech Pack L
Collection date 18/07/22
davmatjo
Posts: 66
Joined: Thu May 05, 2022 2:08 pm

Post by davmatjo »

What did you think of the brakes on your test drive? I only had about 40 minutes with the car but it felt like they weren't too responsive. Is that just something to get used to?
alanscoachdriver
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Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2022 8:06 am

Post by alanscoachdriver »

Also felt the same on a test drive. I put the car in Sport mode I think and then they felt much better. In the normal mode I thought the car wouldn’t stop in time
davmatjo
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Joined: Thu May 05, 2022 2:08 pm

Post by davmatjo »

Seems to me like the car is trying to prioritise regen braking as much as possible maybe? In sport mode I would guess it uses the actual brakes much more eagerly as performance is preferred over range. Perhaps the brakes need to be pushed much harder in the other modes to achieve the same effect (though slowing down more gradually in most cases is better for efficiency).
Nacaduct
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2021 7:32 pm

Post by Nacaduct »

I found no issues with the brakes on my drives. Granted, they might feel a bit ”squishier” than I’m used to, but there are no issues stopping at all.

Regen is heavier than I expected, watching a ton of reviews complaining about the lack of one-pedal-driving. Perhaps it’s a downside if coming from a car that has that, but for me coming from a ”normal” car, I find it fully adequate.

I know many people here seem to be concerned about the rear drum brakes. Seeing as how Formula E is getting rid of rear brakes altogether and using regen only at the rear from 2023 season, I expect road cars will go a similar way.
Cupra Born since ‘22
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KEV1L
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Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2022 4:30 pm
Location: Leeds

Post by KEV1L »

I agree on the brakes, the one time I arrived at a junction quickly, they were almost scarily soft, but the car was <50 miles old at that point too, so may be just a bedding in issue. Others (ID.3 and born) have said that its just different and something you get used to.
Cupra Born V2 | Tech-M | Aurora Blue
davmatjo
Posts: 66
Joined: Thu May 05, 2022 2:08 pm

Post by davmatjo »

It took me by surprise as well and led to arriving at a junction more quickly than I'd have liked, but it still just about managed to make the turn. The salesperson with me told me that someone the previous day managed to completely miss and run the car onto the oncoming side of the road at that very same junction!
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