Long Road Trip planned

[Fazer321]

Hi,

I take delivery of a new GX4H next weekend and have a holiday planned in May to the very far north of Scotland.

For those of you familiar with this route, (A9 through Sterling / Perth / Aviemore / Inverness and beyond), there are some quite challenging stretches - I am particularly thinking about the Slochdt Summit, (A very long but relatively shallow incline), and the Berriedale Braes, (very steep and punctuated with tight hairpin bends - typically 1st gear in a conventional vehicle).

The route is approx. 600 miles door to door and roughly 12 hours driving time

Having read some of the posts about lack of power, engine screaming etc - do you consider I will have any problems with the PHEV ?

I would appreciate any owners experiences.

Many thanks

 

[jaapv]

Don't worry - and don't fall for the sometimes rather hysterical Internet Forum social mechanisms.
A car that does excellently in the Alps and other major mountain ranges will be more than fine in Scotland. It is fun to see the car behind shrinking in your rear mirror when accelerating out of a hairpin

When running in the hills make sure that "Charge' is engaged all the time, to keep as much electrical reserve as possible. And use the paddles for running downhill without touching the brakes. That is all you need to know.

The car has plenty of power to get you up the steepest hill smoothly. As for "screaming engine" , this impression is caused by the car being very silent in regular running. When pushed, for instance up a hill, the engine will come in at high revs to supply extra power to the electrical motors, sounding the same as any other standard automatic car, or any normal gearboxed one with low gear engaged for uphill. Some people seem to think that the car is fully electrical and should remain silent at full power - it doesn't. That's all.

I'm sure you will be in for a pleasant and unproblematic trip.

 

[Pancake]

Don't worry, especially if there aren't any "add ons" to the car, like for instance a caravan, big roof box or flattened deer in your front grille.

Sometimes, if I am in a hurry (no better: when I'm abroad ), the car is able to maintain 100 mph for as long as I prefer. It has enough power to hit about 110 mph / 170 kph and make the speed limiter feel like a brake. Just doing the miles should be no problem at all, especially when air resistance (low speeds) is low: in that case it's just a powerfull 4wd car. Have fun with the hearpins; I hope it rains.

 

[Bladevane]

The drive will be fantastic. I find the PHEV more rewarding to drive than my Jaguar XJ. The seating is higher and there is more leg room. If you can find charging points along your route then so much the better. Enjoy your trip.

 

[Carnut]

And please let us all know your overall MPG when you get back. Also how many E charges you managed.
Have a fantastic trip.

 

[ClasseClas]

Every year I go for hunting up north in Sweden and drive 1100 km more or less in one go. I only stop for combined petrol/food fill-ups. I'd say there is nothing to worry about driving longer ranges. The only annoying thing in my view is the short petrol range + the over anxious low petrol warning "system".

Good luck with your trip!

 

[lg1726]

I do a regular Edinburgh to Elgin journey to visit family and since getting the PHEV have done the return journey twice. I usually go up the A9 to Cartridge (then onto the A938 to A940) coming into Forres and onto Elgin via the A96. No issues with it at all, not on the A9, including the Slochdt, nor over the the steep inclines and twisting stretched of the A940.

On one occasion I went via the A95 and there is a cracking incline with a hairpin just at the junction with the B9008 to Tomintoul where there are always trucks, lorries and caravans struggling, but not the PHEV and no screaming engine either. It tackled this route and the my other preferred one as well as my previous SAAB turbo did! No issue with lack of power, which I fully expected moving from the turbo and it cornered very well, much better than a previous Freelander did. For a higher car it holds the road very well, perhaps the low battery weight keeps it well grounded, but I felt it had great road hold! Just my opinion mind!

 

[Fazer321]

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies, very interesting and humerous !

I'll let you know how I get on, including the MPG for the trip and I'll update with my first impressions in a couple of weeks, when I have covered a few miles.

Thanks again

 

[Carnut]

Not only your opinion (your last sentence) Mine as well. Goes round (dry) corners like a train. Haven't tried booting it round a wet one yet.

 

[ChrisMiller]

Goes round (dry) corners like a train. Haven't tried booting it round a wet one yet.

I had a 'moment' a couple of weeks ago. Doing about 50 on a two-track country lane one chilly, damp morning, I came round a sharpish bend to find a couple of horses about 30 yards in front of me (they'd been hidden by high hedges). I instinctively hit the brakes and the back stepped out in (what felt like) quite a big way - the S-AWC caught it well, I thought, and no harm was done.

 

[maby]

Goes round (dry) corners like a train. Haven't tried booting it round a wet one yet.

I had a 'moment' a couple of weeks ago. Doing about 50 on a two-track country lane one chilly, damp morning, I came round a sharpish bend to find a couple of horses about 30 yards in front of me (they'd been hidden by high hedges). I instinctively hit the brakes and the back stepped out in (what felt like) quite a big way - the S-AWC caught it well, I thought, and no harm was done.

I'm tempted to ask why on earth you were doing 50 on a narrow country road...

 

[lg1726]

If you want to charge on route there is a rapid charger at Pitlochry and there is a nice coffee place and a great fish and chip restaurant nearby to take a break and refuel you and the battery. There is also a rapid in the car park at Aviemore and again there is places to eat etc nearby (Cobbs coffee is our fav).

 

[ChrisMiller]

I'm tempted to ask why on earth you were doing 50 on a narrow country road...

It's not particularly narrow, it's two lanes with a 'dashed' white line. I expect I was doing rather less than 50, having slowed a bit for the bend.

 

[Fazer321]

Hi,

Another query please:

I understand about using Charge Mode, in good time to ensure there is Battery Power available during the "challenging sections", (Climbs), however during the descents - is it possible to use the Paddles for regeneration whilst still leaving the Charge mode switched on ?

Thanks again.

 

[jaapv]

Of course. However, the regeneration is a byproduct of you controlling the car's descent by the paddles, which is their primary purpose.
Forget about the guessometer in the hills, though. Its severely limited intelligence will only display a believable figure in flat conditions and at a constant speed.

 

[Carnut]

Goes round (dry) corners like a train. Haven't tried booting it round a wet one yet.

I had a 'moment' a couple of weeks ago. Doing about 50 on a two-track country lane one chilly, damp morning, I came round a sharpish bend to find a couple of horses about 30 yards in front of me (they'd been hidden by high hedges). I instinctively hit the brakes and the back stepped out in (what felt like) quite a big way - the S-AWC caught it well, I thought, and no harm was done.

I'm tempted to ask why on earth you were doing 50 on a narrow country road...

I hope you realize it wasn't ME!.
I often have to drive in narrow country lanes and I will pass no comment on some of the morons I meet coming the other way. Usually tractors who obviously think themselves invincible. When I lived near Taunton I was put into a hedge and had my OSF wig ripped off by----you guessed it a 'White van'.
I also was pushed right into a 4 foot ditch by a woman in a hatchback.
Luckily both times I was in my Discovery so it just walked out of the ditch and the wing unbolted.

 

[maby]

.....

I hope you realize it wasn't ME!.
I often have to drive in narrow country lanes and I will pass no comment on some of the morons I meet coming the other way. Usually tractors who obviously think themselves invincible. When I lived near Taunton I was put into a hedge and had my OSF wig ripped off by----you guessed it a 'White van'.
I also was pushed right into a 4 foot ditch by a woman in a hatchback.
Luckily both times I was in my Discovery so it just walked out of the ditch and the wing unbolted.

Glad to hear it! The way people drive on country roads is so irresponsible. You should never be driving so fast that you cannot stop safely within the range that you can see - and on many country roads that implies a speed limit of less than 30mph - often as low as 20mph. You need to be constantly assuming that round the next corner you are going to find children on horseback, or a herd of cattle crossing the road - if you could not stop without hitting them, you are going too fast!

 

[jaapv]

That must have been a bare experience :lol:

my OSF wig ripped off

 

[anko]

..., however during the descents - is it possible to use the Paddles for regeneration whilst still leaving the Charge mode switched on ?

You can and it will work. But keep in mind, the engine will keep spinning and burn fuel in order to overcome its own internal resistance, even though it may not contribute to raising the SOC. So, whether it is smart to leave Charge mode on while on a descent is doubtful.

 

[jaapv]

In my experience it does not harm, and sitting there and remembering to push buttons depending on the inclination of the road is not conductive to relaxed driving.