Renault formally announces entry into Pakistan

[Basel]

Duster isnt an SUV... Its a cross over at best.

RAV4 failed in Pak ... was in the same class as Duster.

RAV4 was way expensive, any good crossover in 1 million range can get good market share in Pakistan.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Im afraid the mafia will continue to come till there is going to be stabilization in the country and continuation of economic policies


Duster and Nissan Juke are cross overs
RAV 4 is urban SUV or smaller SUV

SUV = Sports utility vehicle.. can RAV4 do any offroading ... off paved asphalt? nope.. it will break down... ive seen it.

RAV4 was way expensive, any good crossover in 1 million range can get good market share in Pakistan.

1 million?

Can you even get a decent compact car? even a shitty xli costs 1.8.. with those paddle mirrors etc.

 

[volatile]

SUV = Sports utility vehicle.. can RAV4 do any offroading ... off paved asphalt? nope.. it will break down... ive seen it.

Its AWD with little off road capability look at the price tag 68,000 SAR starting

 

[Basel]

SUV = Sports utility vehicle.. can RAV4 do any offroading ... off paved asphalt? nope.. it will break down... ive seen it.


1 million?

Can you even get a decent compact car? even a shitty xli costs 1.8.. with those paddle mirrors etc.

If government take necessary action then it's possible, and Chinese SUVs are still cheaper then other ones available in Pakistan.

 

[ziaulislam]

Assembly and distribution.



So it assembly, or manufacturing?



And whatever it is, it is not finalized or even approved yet.

Per autopolicy pure Assembly is not accepted ...there is i think 50-60% indeginous requirement

 

[ziaulislam]

RAV4 is an insult to SUVs... its a car bro.. even 2 door suzuki vitara is better.

I own rav4 and i thunk its best compact suv
Definitively better than any competition and one of the market leader in USA

 

[ziaulislam]

I have done quiet bit off road
Its a 4WD

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

I own rav4 and i thunk its best compact suv
Definitively better than any competition and one of the market leader in USA

Take it offroad and see what i mean.. its a good car for roads but not an SUV in true sense... its a car with a lil more road clearance.

I have done quiet bit off road
Its a 4WD

Its a cross over.

 

[VCheng]

Per autopolicy pure Assembly is not accepted ...there is i think 50-60% indeginous requirement

So how many units is Renault expecting to sell annually to make the investment in an actual manufacturing plant worth their while?

 

[fitpOsitive]

Welcome.

 

[Tps43]

RAV4 is an insult to SUVs... its a car bro.. even 2 door suzuki vitara is better.

u mean this is an insult?



And yeah have a look at this also

Comparo: 2013 Toyota RAV4 vs Honda CR-V vs Hyundai Santa Fe vs VW Tiguan
BY MASHFIQUE HUSSAIN CHOWDHURY. MARCH 13, 2013.

• ASIAN CAR NEWS
• EUROPEAN CAR NEWS
• FEATURE STORIES

A comparo is the best way for an automotive publication to lose advertisers. That’s why you never see a clear winner in so-called comparos by local magazines, with lots of pretty photos to sell copies, no figures to back up any conclusions and three-way ties to make everybody happy. We’ve rarely picked a winner in our previous comparos either, but that’s because most of them were not proper straight-up comparos. We decided to do a serious comparison test this time though, if only to answer certain recurring questions once and for all. And the category we decided to tackle is the hotly-contested compact crossover segment. So we roped in four of the most popular compact crossovers in the UAE — the 2013 Toyota RAV4, the 2013 Honda CR-V, the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe and the 2013 Volkswagen Tiguan. They’ll battle it out in the same ring. And there will be no four-way tie.

A Word About The Contenders

We poured over sales data for crossovers in the UAE to pick potential candidates that people actually care about. We deliberately left out the top-selling Hyundai Tucson & Kia Sportage twins on account that they’re much cheaper than the price brackets of the other cars in this category, and would’ve lost anyway on account of their poor interior packaging alone, so only get one of those if you can’t afford anything better. So we went for the Hyundai Santa Fe instead, in 2.4-litre 4×4 form, which is still the cheapest car in our group and also pushing the boundaries of how large a “compact” should be. The Toyota RAV4 AWD and the Honda CR-V were default choices. The VW Tiguan is the wild card here, with a 2.0-litre turbo engine and the R-Line kit bumping up the price to daft levels, but cheaper versions fall nicely in line with the other contenders, with that same engine.

We also asked for a Kia Sorento, a Ford Escape and a Renault Koleos. All of their dealers refused to provide a car, but they’re no big loss. The Kia Sorento is just a rebodied Santa Fe, the Escape is front-wheel-drive and would’ve lost anyway, while the Koleos nobody actually asks about. We skipped the Mazda CX-5 2.0 because they don’t offer the right engine choice yet to directly go up against this group, while we couldn’t get the slow-selling Chevy Captiva because GM banned us, although we believe it would’ve done pretty well in our test. We also skipped the Mitsubishi Outlander because it’s about to get replaced, while the Nissan X-Trail is just an aging fleet-special now, and no reader ever implored us to review the Jeep Compass or the Skoda Yeti. A Suzuki Grand Vitara would’ve been nice, but we have no contact with the dealer. That about covers every notable car in this specific segment, so don’t ask us daft questions like why the midsize Ford Edge or the sub-compact Nissan Qashqai is not in here. Now on with the comparo!

Interior size & cargo room

1st: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Hyundai is among the best in rear legroom, and also has great headroom, even with the optional panoramic glass roof. It is the only one here with a third-row seat. It also has the longest and widest boot area with the third-row seats folded down, and somehow matching in cargo-area height with most of the other contenders as well, by moving the full-size spare tyre underneath the car. It helps that the Santa Fe has a sliding second-row seat, although the third row is only fit for small kids. There is no cargo cover, unlike the other three, but you do get a power socket in the boot.

2nd: Honda CR-V
The Honda has great headroom and good rear legroom as well. It also has the second-longest and second-widest boot as well as the tallest, with a low opening to ease loading.

3rd: Toyota RAV4
The Toyota has the best headroom, and ties the Santa Fe for best rear legroom in this group. But only has the third-longest boot, and second in terms of width and height. It has a low tailgate opening, but the cargo floor bulges up to fit the spare wheel. We liked the adjustable cargo-net feature though.

4th: Volkswagen Tiguan
The little VW has good headroom and rear legroom, though not as much as the other three. The boot area is also the shortest and narrowest in this group, although matches most of them in height. Aside from the Santa Fe, the Tiguan is also the only other one with a sliding rear bench, to potentially increase either legroom or cargo space. It is also the only other car with a power socket in the boot, to run your cooler-box or coffee-maker.

Interior quality & features

1st: Volkswagen Tiguan
The Tiguan’s an original German car at an original German price, a league above those cheaper non-European sedans that VW sells nowadays. And this is reflected in the cabin materials, with a soft-touch dash and front-door sills, and swaths of leather on all door panels. Our car was fully-loaded, with touchscreen navigation, Bluetooth, smart keyless entry and start, dual-zone a/c with rear vents, panoramic glass roof, rear camera, power driver’s seat, all possible safety features such as standard front-side airbags, standard ESP, standard ABS, HID headlights and a general feeling that you’re driving something that has a luxury badge.

2nd: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Santa Fe has a very detailed interior, and while it does not all look too expensive, the sheer amount of soft-touch padding on the dash and all the doors is what won us over. We weren’t even driving the top-spec V6 version, but our well-endowed 2.4-litre tester still came with a panoramic glass roof, manual front a/c with rear vents as well as fan controls for the third row, Bluetooth, CD/MP3 stereo, cruise control, basic keyless entry, standard ABS, rear parking sensors and all the basic necessities. Things were missing, such as side airbags, ESP, power driver’s seat, HIDs, rear camera and navigation, but considering our tester’s price and the fact that all those features are offered in the V6 version at a price that matches all the top-spec contenders here, we were not complaining.

3rd: Toyota RAV4
The RAV4 actually has better interior materials for the door-panel inserts, armrests and that sliver of stitched leatherette on the dash, but it falls below the Korean because the rest of the cabin is made up of hard plastics. Our top-spec car is well-equipped though, with a power driver’s seat, navigation, rear camera, dual-zone a/c, Bluetooth, front airbags with optional side airbags, standard ESP and ABS, cruise control, sunroof and smart keyless entry with starter button. However, a big omission is the lack of rear a/c vents, while there are no HIDs either.

4th: Honda CR-V
The CR-V falls further below the Korean because, aside from the seats and armrests, every inch of the dash as well as door panels are composed of hard plastics. It’d feel like a Yaris-grade car were it not for the LCD colour screen on the dash that holds the stereo display and rear camera. Being the top model, other features include cruise control, power driver’s seat, basic keyless entry, sunroof, standard front airbags with optional side airbags, standard ESP and ABS, dual-zone a/c with rear vents and even HID headlights. Omissions here include navigation and smart key with starter button, in a car that costs as much as the RAV4.

Ride comfort & noise

1st: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Santa Fe has the smoothest ride by far, and also the quietest. We measured the interior noise at 67-68 dB while doing 120 kph, which is the same as the pricier VW. The engine is also decently muffled.

2nd: Toyota RAV4
It’s amazing how alike the RAV4 and the CR-V are. They’re both noisier than the other two, measuring in at 69-70 dB doing 120 kph. They both also ride a wee bit firmer than the Santa Fe, though not by much. Engine noise at full throttle also causes a ruckus, but both rev-happy motors sound good.

3rd: Honda CR-V
As we said, the CR-V is very similar to the RAV4 in terms of ride comfort. It only comes in third here by the slimmest of margins, with a slightly-firmer ride than the RAV4 on some road surfaces, which paid dividends in our handling loop later on.

4th: Volkswagen Tiguan
The Tiguan rides the firmest, but only because it has 19-inch alloys in top-spec trim. For a car with such thin-profiled tyres, the bump-absorption is actually pretty commendable, though the harshest road imperfections become readily apparent. Lower-spec models actually come with smaller wheels, so they might be more comfortable. It is also as quiet as the Hyundai, with a reading of 67-68 dB at 120 kph.

Engine power & acceleration

1st: Volkswagen Tiguan
The Tiguan’s 200 hp 2.0-litre turbo 4-cylinder, mated to a 6-speed automatic, murders the rest of the field here, with an as-tested 0-100 kph time of 9.0 seconds. It actually feels a whole lot faster thanks to its instant torque that makes overtaking and junction-jumping a breeze. And if you can live without navigation, leather and big alloys, you can get a well-equipped base model for only a little more than the base price of an all-wheel-drive RAV4.

2nd: Toyota RAV4
The real surprise of the day is the second-place finish of the RAV4’s 176 hp 2.5-litre 4-cylinder, mated to a 6-speed auto. It managed a time of 9.8 seconds, largely thanks to its well-spaced gearing.

3rd: Honda CR-V
We expected the CR-V’s 188 hp 2.4-litre 4-cylinder to do better here, but it fell behind the RAV4 with a time 10.3 seconds, no doubt due to the lack of gears on the 5-speed automatic. It doesn’t feel particularly slow though, with its shorter-ratio initial gears.

4th: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Santa Fe is the snail of the group. The 174 hp 2.4-litre 4-cylinder powertrain is so lacking that we were wondering if the factory forgot to put an engine in the car. It is maybe about 200 kg heavier than the other crossovers, so our test car only managed a time of 12.2 seconds. It doesn’t help that the 6-speed automatic has some seriously-tall ratios, even in first gear.

Fuel economy

1st: Honda CR-V
Honda retains their leadership in matters of thriftiness when it comes to fuel, as our tester’s trip computer showed 9.7 litres/100 km on our mostly-highway test loop. Trip computers are pretty accurate nowadays, based on our experience. It does 2200 rpm at 120 kph.

2nd: Toyota RAV4
The Toyota managed 10.5 litres/100 km on the same loop, not as good as the Honda, but still pretty good. It does 2200 rpm at 120 kph.

3rd: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Hyundai is way behind, even with its tall gearing, clocking in 11.7 litres/100 km. It didn’t help that the engine has to be worked harder to make it gain speed. It does 2700 rpm at 120 kph.

4th: Volkswagen Tiguan
The powerful VW managed 11.9 litres/100 km, although admittedly, our daft photographer ran away with it for a brief while in the middle of our test loop, and probably drove it like a moron. It does 2200 rpm at 120 kph.

Handling & driving dynamics

1st: Volkswagen Tiguan
The Tiguan R-Line is a Golf GTI on stilts. Again, it murders the other cars with its handling. It has excellent body control and endless grip from its 255/40-19 tyres. It actually seems to cleanly rotate the rear the harder you turn. The steering offers a little feel, but is sharper than any of the others, with a nice weight to it as well. Sudden lane changes are accomplished with hot-hatch precision. The only weak point are the brakes, which offer nothing on initial tip-in, but stop the car well on full press, with a tiny bit of wiggle.

2nd: Honda CR-V
The CR-V is a good handler in its own right, although it is limited by its 225/60-18 tyres and less-direct controls. The steering offers a little bit of feel, but is on the light side. Body control is good, with no untoward motions in emergency lane changes. Understeer creeps in very linearly and predictably. The only weak point are the average brakes, which don’t do much if not pressed hard, and seemed to have slightly-longer stopping distances than the others.

3rd: Toyota RAV4
The RAV4 is a good handler as well, again limited by its 225/65-17 tyres in terms of grip, so it understeers cleanly at the limit. The steering offers as little feel as the others, but it is also light and a bit more vague than the CR-V. Body control is good, and it handled lane-change moves well in our changing-elevation handling loop. It has decent brakes are well, at least as good as the Tiguan, but with a more linear action.

4th: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Santa Fe fails to impress yet again in the driving department. It suffers from noticeably more body roll than the Japanese “twins” and understeers heavily as speeds increase on curves. Heck, it even understeers on sudden lane changes, and can get a little out of shape, but thankfully comes back in line without serious drama, that too without stability control. The steering offers as little feel as the others, but is artificially heavy and rubbery. The brakes are pretty good though, with linear feel and straight stops on hard application.

Offroad abilities

1st: Toyota RAV4
The RAV4 is easily the best offroader here, as much as you can expect a crossover to do on mild sand dunes. It has a 4×4 50:50 “lock” mode, the smallest alloys at 17-inches, and the meatiest tyres in this group. Our resident offroad psycho Vivek “Pajero” Menon managed some small inclines without even deflating the tyres. Of course, none of these crossovers have low-range gearing, but at least you can cross minor desert terrain without fear.

2nd: Volkswagen Tiguan
We actually expected the Tiguan to be the worst, but it turned out to be one of the better ones. It can actually keep up with the RAV4 on the dunes using sheer power and turbo torque alone, even with those gangsta 19-inch wheels. The tyres are extra-wide though, while a proactive all-wheel-drive system with roots to the VW Golf R helps a lot, even without a 50:50 “lock” option. The ground clearance is a bit limited by the R-Line kit, but VW actually offers a cheaper model with an “offroad” front bumper and an optional “offroad” mode that does things with electronics to help things along. Vivek “Pajero” Menon became a fan of the Tiguan by the end of our sandy jaunt.

3rd: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Santa Fe actually did fairly fine in our mild offroad excursion, because it was armed with a 4×4 50:50 “lock” option and no interfering ESP. Even the wider-than-average tyres helped offset the disadvantage of 18-inch alloys. But it was hampered by low ground clearance, a lazy engine with poor transmission gearing and more weight. Only take this offroad if you know what you’re doing, because Vivek “Pajero” Menon kept digging that front bumper into the sand on several occasions.

4th: Honda CR-V
The CR-V loses out here due to its less-than-the-others ground clearance and an all-wheel-drive system that is slow to react in loose sand if you don’t keep the speed up. Combined with the fact that there is no 50:50 “lock” mode and its 18-inch alloys, the CR-V needs to be abused more to get the most out of it. It can take the abuse even, because it has a better approach angle than most, with its pointy front bumper. Vivek “Pajero” Menon still never got it stuck either, which is always a good thing.





If you’re buying a two-wheel-drive SUV, you might as well buy a car instead. Because you’ll miss the traction of all-wheel-drive as soon as you get your “jeep” stuck on the beach in front of everyone. An all-wheel-drive crossover isn’t ever going to be a sturdy dune-basher, but you can drive one with confidence on camping trips, wadi gravel trails and even rainy weather.

Overall value

1st: Hyundai Santa Fe
Hands down, the Korean offers the best value in the group, with an as-tested price of Dhs 92,900. A fully-optioned V6 version costs Dhs 123,900, with as many gadgets as the Volkswagen, though not necessarily the same Germanic quality of trim.

2nd: Toyota RAV4
This Japanese-built softroader is nowhere near as value-packed as the Korean, but it offers more compared to the CR-V, such as navigation, offroad lock and nicer leather upholstery than either of the Asians. Our fully-specced version rings up the register at Dhs 124,900. A basic AWD model starts at Dhs 110,000.

3rd: Honda CR-V
The American-built CR-V falls behind the RAV4 because of its bargain-basement interior and lack of options such as navigation and offroad extras, even though it costs about the same as the RAV4, at Dhs 126,000. You do get bigger alloys, HIDs and rear a/c vents though, and it still is the top choice when it comes to fuel economy. Go for the base model with fewer luxuries, and the starting price is a palatable Dhs 99,000.

4th: Volkswagen Tiguan
The German-built Tiguan R-Line is the most premium offering in this group, with a price to match, at Dhs 151,000. Losing the body kit and gaining an offroad bumper lowers the price down to Dhs 144,000. Cut out more of the luxuries, such as navigation, glass roof and leather, and you have a base price of Dhs 109,000, about the same as the RAV4! But despite that awesome engine, suspension and interior, you still get a smaller vehicle than the others at this price-point, and space counts for a lot in this segment.

Final rankings

1st: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Santa Fe offers the worst driving performance in this group, but is also the most comfortable, practical, spacious and stylish, and that matters more to crossover buyers than driving pleasure. This value-packed runner got a huge head-start based on price alone, whether it’s this 2.4-litre version or the top-spec 3.3-litre V6 version.

2nd: Toyota RAV4
The top-spec RAV4 is a nice enough car that edges out the Honda with a nicer interior, slightly more features, and slightly better acceleration. It also retains a certain degree of offroad credibility, which sealed its second-place finish.

3rd: Honda CR-V
The CR-V is so similar to the RAV4 in drive that we’re starting to wonder if Toyota benchmarked this Honda to create their own car. It may be third behind the RAV4 here due to its crummy interior, but the feature set generally goes for what crossover buyers prefer, ditching the navigation in favour of rear a/c vents, HIDs, bigger alloys and class-leading fuel economy.

4th: Volkswagen Tiguan
The Tiguan was never going to win this race, with its small size and high price. But it was insanely better to drive than any of the others. If our rankings were based on driving pleasure alone, this list would be upside-down, with the Tiguan R-Line at the top. While it sort of competes in this plebeian segment, it is really a legitimate alternative to the overpriced Audi Q5. Even while coming in last, it went home as the favourite crossover in all our minds.

Photos by Faisal Khatib and some by Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury. Additional evaluation drivers included Vivek “Pajero” Menon, Marouf Hussain Chowdhury, Rahul Jones and Saifur Rahman.

We’d like to thank Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen for providing the vehicles for the purpose of this test.

 

[El Sidd]

Kaha se araha ha itna paisa?

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

u mean this is an insult?



And yeah have a look at this also

Comparo: 2013 Toyota RAV4 vs Honda CR-V vs Hyundai Santa Fe vs VW Tiguan
BY MASHFIQUE HUSSAIN CHOWDHURY. MARCH 13, 2013.

• ASIAN CAR NEWS
• EUROPEAN CAR NEWS
• FEATURE STORIES

A comparo is the best way for an automotive publication to lose advertisers. That’s why you never see a clear winner in so-called comparos by local magazines, with lots of pretty photos to sell copies, no figures to back up any conclusions and three-way ties to make everybody happy. We’ve rarely picked a winner in our previous comparos either, but that’s because most of them were not proper straight-up comparos. We decided to do a serious comparison test this time though, if only to answer certain recurring questions once and for all. And the category we decided to tackle is the hotly-contested compact crossover segment. So we roped in four of the most popular compact crossovers in the UAE — the 2013 Toyota RAV4, the 2013 Honda CR-V, the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe and the 2013 Volkswagen Tiguan. They’ll battle it out in the same ring. And there will be no four-way tie.

A Word About The Contenders

We poured over sales data for crossovers in the UAE to pick potential candidates that people actually care about. We deliberately left out the top-selling Hyundai Tucson & Kia Sportage twins on account that they’re much cheaper than the price brackets of the other cars in this category, and would’ve lost anyway on account of their poor interior packaging alone, so only get one of those if you can’t afford anything better. So we went for the Hyundai Santa Fe instead, in 2.4-litre 4×4 form, which is still the cheapest car in our group and also pushing the boundaries of how large a “compact” should be. The Toyota RAV4 AWD and the Honda CR-V were default choices. The VW Tiguan is the wild card here, with a 2.0-litre turbo engine and the R-Line kit bumping up the price to daft levels, but cheaper versions fall nicely in line with the other contenders, with that same engine.

We also asked for a Kia Sorento, a Ford Escape and a Renault Koleos. All of their dealers refused to provide a car, but they’re no big loss. The Kia Sorento is just a rebodied Santa Fe, the Escape is front-wheel-drive and would’ve lost anyway, while the Koleos nobody actually asks about. We skipped the Mazda CX-5 2.0 because they don’t offer the right engine choice yet to directly go up against this group, while we couldn’t get the slow-selling Chevy Captiva because GM banned us, although we believe it would’ve done pretty well in our test. We also skipped the Mitsubishi Outlander because it’s about to get replaced, while the Nissan X-Trail is just an aging fleet-special now, and no reader ever implored us to review the Jeep Compass or the Skoda Yeti. A Suzuki Grand Vitara would’ve been nice, but we have no contact with the dealer. That about covers every notable car in this specific segment, so don’t ask us daft questions like why the midsize Ford Edge or the sub-compact Nissan Qashqai is not in here. Now on with the comparo!

Interior size & cargo room

1st: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Hyundai is among the best in rear legroom, and also has great headroom, even with the optional panoramic glass roof. It is the only one here with a third-row seat. It also has the longest and widest boot area with the third-row seats folded down, and somehow matching in cargo-area height with most of the other contenders as well, by moving the full-size spare tyre underneath the car. It helps that the Santa Fe has a sliding second-row seat, although the third row is only fit for small kids. There is no cargo cover, unlike the other three, but you do get a power socket in the boot.

2nd: Honda CR-V
The Honda has great headroom and good rear legroom as well. It also has the second-longest and second-widest boot as well as the tallest, with a low opening to ease loading.

3rd: Toyota RAV4
The Toyota has the best headroom, and ties the Santa Fe for best rear legroom in this group. But only has the third-longest boot, and second in terms of width and height. It has a low tailgate opening, but the cargo floor bulges up to fit the spare wheel. We liked the adjustable cargo-net feature though.

4th: Volkswagen Tiguan
The little VW has good headroom and rear legroom, though not as much as the other three. The boot area is also the shortest and narrowest in this group, although matches most of them in height. Aside from the Santa Fe, the Tiguan is also the only other one with a sliding rear bench, to potentially increase either legroom or cargo space. It is also the only other car with a power socket in the boot, to run your cooler-box or coffee-maker.

Interior quality & features

1st: Volkswagen Tiguan
The Tiguan’s an original German car at an original German price, a league above those cheaper non-European sedans that VW sells nowadays. And this is reflected in the cabin materials, with a soft-touch dash and front-door sills, and swaths of leather on all door panels. Our car was fully-loaded, with touchscreen navigation, Bluetooth, smart keyless entry and start, dual-zone a/c with rear vents, panoramic glass roof, rear camera, power driver’s seat, all possible safety features such as standard front-side airbags, standard ESP, standard ABS, HID headlights and a general feeling that you’re driving something that has a luxury badge.

2nd: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Santa Fe has a very detailed interior, and while it does not all look too expensive, the sheer amount of soft-touch padding on the dash and all the doors is what won us over. We weren’t even driving the top-spec V6 version, but our well-endowed 2.4-litre tester still came with a panoramic glass roof, manual front a/c with rear vents as well as fan controls for the third row, Bluetooth, CD/MP3 stereo, cruise control, basic keyless entry, standard ABS, rear parking sensors and all the basic necessities. Things were missing, such as side airbags, ESP, power driver’s seat, HIDs, rear camera and navigation, but considering our tester’s price and the fact that all those features are offered in the V6 version at a price that matches all the top-spec contenders here, we were not complaining.

3rd: Toyota RAV4
The RAV4 actually has better interior materials for the door-panel inserts, armrests and that sliver of stitched leatherette on the dash, but it falls below the Korean because the rest of the cabin is made up of hard plastics. Our top-spec car is well-equipped though, with a power driver’s seat, navigation, rear camera, dual-zone a/c, Bluetooth, front airbags with optional side airbags, standard ESP and ABS, cruise control, sunroof and smart keyless entry with starter button. However, a big omission is the lack of rear a/c vents, while there are no HIDs either.

4th: Honda CR-V
The CR-V falls further below the Korean because, aside from the seats and armrests, every inch of the dash as well as door panels are composed of hard plastics. It’d feel like a Yaris-grade car were it not for the LCD colour screen on the dash that holds the stereo display and rear camera. Being the top model, other features include cruise control, power driver’s seat, basic keyless entry, sunroof, standard front airbags with optional side airbags, standard ESP and ABS, dual-zone a/c with rear vents and even HID headlights. Omissions here include navigation and smart key with starter button, in a car that costs as much as the RAV4.

Ride comfort & noise

1st: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Santa Fe has the smoothest ride by far, and also the quietest. We measured the interior noise at 67-68 dB while doing 120 kph, which is the same as the pricier VW. The engine is also decently muffled.

2nd: Toyota RAV4
It’s amazing how alike the RAV4 and the CR-V are. They’re both noisier than the other two, measuring in at 69-70 dB doing 120 kph. They both also ride a wee bit firmer than the Santa Fe, though not by much. Engine noise at full throttle also causes a ruckus, but both rev-happy motors sound good.

3rd: Honda CR-V
As we said, the CR-V is very similar to the RAV4 in terms of ride comfort. It only comes in third here by the slimmest of margins, with a slightly-firmer ride than the RAV4 on some road surfaces, which paid dividends in our handling loop later on.

4th: Volkswagen Tiguan
The Tiguan rides the firmest, but only because it has 19-inch alloys in top-spec trim. For a car with such thin-profiled tyres, the bump-absorption is actually pretty commendable, though the harshest road imperfections become readily apparent. Lower-spec models actually come with smaller wheels, so they might be more comfortable. It is also as quiet as the Hyundai, with a reading of 67-68 dB at 120 kph.

Engine power & acceleration

1st: Volkswagen Tiguan
The Tiguan’s 200 hp 2.0-litre turbo 4-cylinder, mated to a 6-speed automatic, murders the rest of the field here, with an as-tested 0-100 kph time of 9.0 seconds. It actually feels a whole lot faster thanks to its instant torque that makes overtaking and junction-jumping a breeze. And if you can live without navigation, leather and big alloys, you can get a well-equipped base model for only a little more than the base price of an all-wheel-drive RAV4.

2nd: Toyota RAV4
The real surprise of the day is the second-place finish of the RAV4’s 176 hp 2.5-litre 4-cylinder, mated to a 6-speed auto. It managed a time of 9.8 seconds, largely thanks to its well-spaced gearing.

3rd: Honda CR-V
We expected the CR-V’s 188 hp 2.4-litre 4-cylinder to do better here, but it fell behind the RAV4 with a time 10.3 seconds, no doubt due to the lack of gears on the 5-speed automatic. It doesn’t feel particularly slow though, with its shorter-ratio initial gears.

4th: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Santa Fe is the snail of the group. The 174 hp 2.4-litre 4-cylinder powertrain is so lacking that we were wondering if the factory forgot to put an engine in the car. It is maybe about 200 kg heavier than the other crossovers, so our test car only managed a time of 12.2 seconds. It doesn’t help that the 6-speed automatic has some seriously-tall ratios, even in first gear.

Fuel economy

1st: Honda CR-V
Honda retains their leadership in matters of thriftiness when it comes to fuel, as our tester’s trip computer showed 9.7 litres/100 km on our mostly-highway test loop. Trip computers are pretty accurate nowadays, based on our experience. It does 2200 rpm at 120 kph.

2nd: Toyota RAV4
The Toyota managed 10.5 litres/100 km on the same loop, not as good as the Honda, but still pretty good. It does 2200 rpm at 120 kph.

3rd: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Hyundai is way behind, even with its tall gearing, clocking in 11.7 litres/100 km. It didn’t help that the engine has to be worked harder to make it gain speed. It does 2700 rpm at 120 kph.

4th: Volkswagen Tiguan
The powerful VW managed 11.9 litres/100 km, although admittedly, our daft photographer ran away with it for a brief while in the middle of our test loop, and probably drove it like a moron. It does 2200 rpm at 120 kph.

Handling & driving dynamics

1st: Volkswagen Tiguan
The Tiguan R-Line is a Golf GTI on stilts. Again, it murders the other cars with its handling. It has excellent body control and endless grip from its 255/40-19 tyres. It actually seems to cleanly rotate the rear the harder you turn. The steering offers a little feel, but is sharper than any of the others, with a nice weight to it as well. Sudden lane changes are accomplished with hot-hatch precision. The only weak point are the brakes, which offer nothing on initial tip-in, but stop the car well on full press, with a tiny bit of wiggle.

2nd: Honda CR-V
The CR-V is a good handler in its own right, although it is limited by its 225/60-18 tyres and less-direct controls. The steering offers a little bit of feel, but is on the light side. Body control is good, with no untoward motions in emergency lane changes. Understeer creeps in very linearly and predictably. The only weak point are the average brakes, which don’t do much if not pressed hard, and seemed to have slightly-longer stopping distances than the others.

3rd: Toyota RAV4
The RAV4 is a good handler as well, again limited by its 225/65-17 tyres in terms of grip, so it understeers cleanly at the limit. The steering offers as little feel as the others, but it is also light and a bit more vague than the CR-V. Body control is good, and it handled lane-change moves well in our changing-elevation handling loop. It has decent brakes are well, at least as good as the Tiguan, but with a more linear action.

4th: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Santa Fe fails to impress yet again in the driving department. It suffers from noticeably more body roll than the Japanese “twins” and understeers heavily as speeds increase on curves. Heck, it even understeers on sudden lane changes, and can get a little out of shape, but thankfully comes back in line without serious drama, that too without stability control. The steering offers as little feel as the others, but is artificially heavy and rubbery. The brakes are pretty good though, with linear feel and straight stops on hard application.

Offroad abilities

1st: Toyota RAV4
The RAV4 is easily the best offroader here, as much as you can expect a crossover to do on mild sand dunes. It has a 4×4 50:50 “lock” mode, the smallest alloys at 17-inches, and the meatiest tyres in this group. Our resident offroad psycho Vivek “Pajero” Menon managed some small inclines without even deflating the tyres. Of course, none of these crossovers have low-range gearing, but at least you can cross minor desert terrain without fear.

2nd: Volkswagen Tiguan
We actually expected the Tiguan to be the worst, but it turned out to be one of the better ones. It can actually keep up with the RAV4 on the dunes using sheer power and turbo torque alone, even with those gangsta 19-inch wheels. The tyres are extra-wide though, while a proactive all-wheel-drive system with roots to the VW Golf R helps a lot, even without a 50:50 “lock” option. The ground clearance is a bit limited by the R-Line kit, but VW actually offers a cheaper model with an “offroad” front bumper and an optional “offroad” mode that does things with electronics to help things along. Vivek “Pajero” Menon became a fan of the Tiguan by the end of our sandy jaunt.

3rd: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Santa Fe actually did fairly fine in our mild offroad excursion, because it was armed with a 4×4 50:50 “lock” option and no interfering ESP. Even the wider-than-average tyres helped offset the disadvantage of 18-inch alloys. But it was hampered by low ground clearance, a lazy engine with poor transmission gearing and more weight. Only take this offroad if you know what you’re doing, because Vivek “Pajero” Menon kept digging that front bumper into the sand on several occasions.

4th: Honda CR-V
The CR-V loses out here due to its less-than-the-others ground clearance and an all-wheel-drive system that is slow to react in loose sand if you don’t keep the speed up. Combined with the fact that there is no 50:50 “lock” mode and its 18-inch alloys, the CR-V needs to be abused more to get the most out of it. It can take the abuse even, because it has a better approach angle than most, with its pointy front bumper. Vivek “Pajero” Menon still never got it stuck either, which is always a good thing.





If you’re buying a two-wheel-drive SUV, you might as well buy a car instead. Because you’ll miss the traction of all-wheel-drive as soon as you get your “jeep” stuck on the beach in front of everyone. An all-wheel-drive crossover isn’t ever going to be a sturdy dune-basher, but you can drive one with confidence on camping trips, wadi gravel trails and even rainy weather.

Overall value

1st: Hyundai Santa Fe
Hands down, the Korean offers the best value in the group, with an as-tested price of Dhs 92,900. A fully-optioned V6 version costs Dhs 123,900, with as many gadgets as the Volkswagen, though not necessarily the same Germanic quality of trim.

2nd: Toyota RAV4
This Japanese-built softroader is nowhere near as value-packed as the Korean, but it offers more compared to the CR-V, such as navigation, offroad lock and nicer leather upholstery than either of the Asians. Our fully-specced version rings up the register at Dhs 124,900. A basic AWD model starts at Dhs 110,000.

3rd: Honda CR-V
The American-built CR-V falls behind the RAV4 because of its bargain-basement interior and lack of options such as navigation and offroad extras, even though it costs about the same as the RAV4, at Dhs 126,000. You do get bigger alloys, HIDs and rear a/c vents though, and it still is the top choice when it comes to fuel economy. Go for the base model with fewer luxuries, and the starting price is a palatable Dhs 99,000.

4th: Volkswagen Tiguan
The German-built Tiguan R-Line is the most premium offering in this group, with a price to match, at Dhs 151,000. Losing the body kit and gaining an offroad bumper lowers the price down to Dhs 144,000. Cut out more of the luxuries, such as navigation, glass roof and leather, and you have a base price of Dhs 109,000, about the same as the RAV4! But despite that awesome engine, suspension and interior, you still get a smaller vehicle than the others at this price-point, and space counts for a lot in this segment.

Final rankings

1st: Hyundai Santa Fe
The Santa Fe offers the worst driving performance in this group, but is also the most comfortable, practical, spacious and stylish, and that matters more to crossover buyers than driving pleasure. This value-packed runner got a huge head-start based on price alone, whether it’s this 2.4-litre version or the top-spec 3.3-litre V6 version.

2nd: Toyota RAV4
The top-spec RAV4 is a nice enough car that edges out the Honda with a nicer interior, slightly more features, and slightly better acceleration. It also retains a certain degree of offroad credibility, which sealed its second-place finish.

3rd: Honda CR-V
The CR-V is so similar to the RAV4 in drive that we’re starting to wonder if Toyota benchmarked this Honda to create their own car. It may be third behind the RAV4 here due to its crummy interior, but the feature set generally goes for what crossover buyers prefer, ditching the navigation in favour of rear a/c vents, HIDs, bigger alloys and class-leading fuel economy.

4th: Volkswagen Tiguan
The Tiguan was never going to win this race, with its small size and high price. But it was insanely better to drive than any of the others. If our rankings were based on driving pleasure alone, this list would be upside-down, with the Tiguan R-Line at the top. While it sort of competes in this plebeian segment, it is really a legitimate alternative to the overpriced Audi Q5. Even while coming in last, it went home as the favourite crossover in all our minds.

Photos by Faisal Khatib and some by Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury. Additional evaluation drivers included Vivek “Pajero” Menon, Marouf Hussain Chowdhury, Rahul Jones and Saifur Rahman.

We’d like to thank Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen for providing the vehicles for the purpose of this test.

CROSS OVERS

 

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I'd wanna buy Honda Civic x Generation

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

And, somebody please tell me BD's economy >> Pak's!!!!!! Financial structural and tax reforms along with GDP revisions have become a must for Pak!!! At the least to shut up some Na-Pak mouths!!!!