Originally posted by The Vanishing Boy
And it is more stable than the X3 on road. For all SUV junkies out there I'll get the Toyota 4Runner than the comparably priced X3. Just think, the X3 is almost the same size as the CR-V with twice the price, theres no point of having the X3.
And there is a point to the 4Runner, the most outclassed SUV Toyota has ever manufactured? (maybe excepting the Sequoia) The X3 has 65bhp more than the CR-V, not to mention a host more features and is more of a status symbol -
PLUS IT HAS A FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE SYSTEM THAT ACTUALLY WORKS. Honda makes a weak SUV in the CR-V, except in high-level EX form.
I'd still rather have a Mazda Tribute ES AWD, which is an actual competitor to the BMW X3 - in fact, it renders the X3 2.5i completely useless.
This is interesting, that you class the Allroad and XC70 in the same bracket as a Jeep Grand Cherokee, or M-Class (to name but two of the list).
I think in the UK, these two are viewed as being jacked-up regular cars, like the Outback and Forester, rather than full-on SUVs, like X5, M-Class et al.
In my opinion - and most people's, I guess - they are jacked up wagons/estates, but I think they're appealing to exactly the same buyer as luxury SUVs. If you're looking at the X5 4.4i and not the Allroad 4.2, you aren't shopping sensibly.
I would think that BMW are aiming the X3 at people who think that the badge on the RAV4 is a little too common for their tastes.
I don't understand why everybody's comparing the X3 to the RAV4 and CR-V. The former has 161bhp, and the latter has 160 - the X3 in top-spec has 225. Perhaps it's a fair comparison in Britain, but here, we've got a host of
GOOD six-cylinder small SUVs, many of which have similar spec and a much lower price than the X3. Everybody who's out to prove the X3 has no point should look there first.
The Bravada is the most luxurious of the GM triplets (and now the Buick Rainier since it replaces the Bravada), so it would be in class with the X5, closer then the Envoy.
No - the Envoy appeals to a younger, more active buyer than either the Bravada or the Rainier. Oldsmobile doesn't sell Bravadas on the coasts, a trend which will carry to Buick's Rainier, whereas California and New York are BMW's primary aim for the X5 and X3. Since it came out in 1990, the only people buying Bravadas are those who want to buy American and still get luxury. Unfortunately, they've never been very good, and now they're completely pointless with much, much better competiton from domestic makes Mercury (Mountaineer) and Chrysler (Pacifica) plus many foreign makes.
I'm excited about Rainier's 5.3L V8, but it hasn't got a chance of being as popular as class leaders without a lower base price, several more standard features, more sportiness (which won't and can't happen on the platform), and two new engines - one around three litres and the other a V8 with much more power. Brand prestige is another issue - buyers in this class could have BMW, Audi, Acura, Cadillac, Lexus, or Land Rover for around the same price, not to mention the better-looking, cheaper GMC with the same engine - so who'd choose Buick?
Who [Language edited by Moderator] are you to tell me what I can and cannot comment on? And how the hell do you know what I can and cannot afford? I sure as hell better not hear you commenting on any styling from Ferrari or Aston Martin then...
That actually wasn't a reference to you but rather to the tens of thousands of pre-teens who come here and say stuff like "the new 7-series is ugly that bangel he shuld be shot". We've heard it a thousand times, but nobody actually cares.
They're the ones who should be shot. Gir.
Incidentally, Ferrari's styling sucks and Aston Martin's styling sucks. And you're telling
me that I'm the one who shouldn't make assumptions about what others can afford...
), if I had to have one, I would probably be focusing my attention on the Jeep - one has to presume that the X3 will need to do so also. In the Uk, Hyundai still have a reputation as a maker of cheap cars, rather than as a maker of cars which offer good value for money. I would have difficulty justifying looking at the Grand Vitara, which has such a "Soft-Roader" image, that it has almost no credibility. You should see the commercials for them: one's tearing through "woodland", except it looks like a paved road with a few leaves thrown on it.
