Hey everyone. First time posting in here.
I wanted to know which of these 3 cars is safer, more durable, best on the road, etc. Per month payment isn’t an issue, so I’m mostly concerned with the above.
I live in NYC/NJ area and I’m looking into these 3 options. I’ve researched videos, but they all say all 3 are great, so I was hoping someone had some personal experience with these.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Any recommendation by a user here on car safety would be purely subjective. Consider Consumer Reports, JD Power, national safety research/ratings etc. Some models come with a lot of standard safety features, some require them as additions. I would guess the F pace and Q5 require more packages for safety items vs. Volvo but that is anecdotal.
I’ve tested all of the above.
I think all 3 cars are equally “safe.”
The F-pace:
was the most fun.
It’s likely the least reliable.
…but the top range engines are a blast.
The Volvo:
The drive is okay, but unremarkable.
The Q5
The Q5 is a solid mix if the interior appeals to you. Good performance and decent driving dynamics. If you can spring for more, the SQ5 would be the likely category winner here in all three.
…well, unless you want the SVR Fpace. Vroom vroom.
XC60 is safest, followed by Alfa Romeo Stelvio, according to euro ncap. Q5 and F Pace didn’t fare so well.
Stelvio is by far the most fun to drive, most interesting, and can be had for the best deals.
The Jag is a dumpster fire, I would avoid that entirely due to reliability issues. I had a RR Velar which is the same platform and technology and it was bought back in 8 months after spending two in the shop.
As for durability, watch top gear season 25, episode 6. You’ll see 2 XC60s get killed while the stelvio wins in a race pushing the cars to the limit. Available to stream on Amazon for $3.
It really depends on what you are looking for. The biggest category is sport vs lux/quietness/isolation as this is pretty much a trade-off as one usually takes some away from the other. There is also appearance/styling and size in addition to reliability that you mentioned.
Regarding sport: F-Pace wins by a significant margin here. Q5 is solid but is designed to fit in the middle of the sport vs lux tradeoff and the XC60 is more on the lux side of things. They all are going to be nice (IMO the XC60 needs a bit more power thought) but the F-Pace is the best handling/fun SUV, apart from a Porsche or a Maserati, by far - I have one and I drove all of the others. The qrowl of the F-Pace is also quite intoxicating while not being over the top. If you want quiet though the XC60 might be more to your taste. I did not drive a Stelvio but I can’t stand how they look so it wasn’t on my list. Oh, and by the way the F-Pace S > is better than an SQ5 any day in my book.
Appearance: Interior this is a tough one as the Q5 and the XC60 are both excellent. I would give the edge to the Audi. The F-Pace is nice as well but has more of a minimalist design and the leather dash on the S model adds a lot. This is a matter of taste and you’ll have to drive them to really get the feel. Exterior goes to the F-Pace hands down. Again IMO the best looking SUV out there. I like the XC60 above the Audi which I consider a bit plain on the outside. Again this is all subjective so get up close and don’t just judge by what you see in pictures.
Size wise is a bit different. The F-Pace appears to have been placed in the middle of the small vs medium SUV class. It is a bigger than a XC60 but smaller than an XC90 kind of thing. I believe that the Q5 did a great job with the 2nd row sizing so it is pretty spacious back there for a car in this class, I can’t remember how the XC60 felt. Cargo area: FP 33.5 cu ft, Q5 25.1 and XC60 17.8 all with the back seats up.
Reliability: The F-Pace had some real issues with the infotainment system that comes with the tech package. It was simply released too early. From what I have seen on the blogs it has been fixed but the 2017s were a pain up until a few months ago. I don’t see issues reported with the 2018s/19s. I have had 0 issues with mine. Volvo had some issues with theirs as well but they were supposedly mostly fixed with the XC90 which came out earlier. They use a different technology for their touch screens. The Audi’s infotainment is one of the best out there. Mechanically, as I said, my F-Pace has had no issues, the Audi’s reputation is very good and I don’t know about the Volvo. Regardless, its a lease so the costs in $ will be the same.
Sorry for the length.
Wow. Thank you for taking your time and writing all of this!
So since you own the F-Pace, I’ll ask you this. How is it on the road? Is it bumpy, smooth? Also, how is it in the snow (if you happen to have driven it in snow already).
Yea, after test driving, I feel like the Volvo was a little ehhh. But it offers a beautiful interior.
So since you own the F-Pace, I’ll ask you this. How is it on the road? Is it bumpy, smooth? Also, how is it in the snow (if you happen to have driven it in snow already).
It is very smooth, in dynamic mode you can feel the road. Pretty good tradeoff IMO - not as firm as my 2011 335d but still very responsive. It can’t be beat in the corners especially considering its size (a Macan is quite small by comparison) but still is not rough on crappy roads. It is difficult to really describe… you really need to drive them (preferably all 3 in the same day) to get a good comparison. Some people prefer a soft ride and don’t mind the body roll. These same people often prefer take off ramps at the posted speed limit. If that is you, then you don’t really need one of the areas that the F-Pace is designed to optimize. The issue for me is: in an SUV, the ride height amplifies things in the cabin. If you go soft you get a lot of head bobbing but feel it less in your butt.
Torque vectoring is standard I believe across the board on the F-Pace so that helps in the corners as well - it is available on the Q5, but not sure on the Volvo.
The traction control works great in the snow but It is also great on the Audi. I don’t know about the Volvo but I am sure it is great as well. I had her in a big parking lot in a few inches of snow and it quelled sliding very quickly. Frustrating actually as I was trying to whip her around. Turned it off and then had some fun. The only question for any of these vehicles in the snow will be the tires. They vary by the trim level and wheel size so take a look before you leap.