RAV4 a better bet than Honda CRV

A RAV4 is reliable, stable and not too difficult to maintain. Its prettiness will depend on the looker’s affinity for crossovers and Toyotas. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Did I advise against buying a 1.5 litre Impreza specifically, or did I just say that it is pointless buying a Subaru without a turbo? There is a difference, you know.
  • If you travel a lot, then take your pick between the RAV4 and the CRV; preferably the Random Access Vehicle.
  • If the accelerator pedal is stiff or resistant, then grease the pedal mechanism. Older cars would require a slight cable/pulley adjustment somewhere in the engine but these newfangled 21st Century wheels from the Noughties and Tweens come with fly-by-wire technology.
  • First, learn to use the correct terminology. Displacement does not mean what you think it does here, so stop using it until such a time as you are sure of where to apply the term.

Hi Sir,

I admire your expertise in car matters.

I have a budget Sh1.5 million and I don’t know exactly which make of car I want, but I want an SUV so please advise on one that is reliable, stable, pretty and easy to maintain. There was a time I was in love with the Honda CRV, and the new model looks better. I can also import a Land Rover for about Sh1.7m million but when I hear that it is diesel powered, it freaks me out. Plus I don’t know much about its reliability. The new version RAV4 is also not bad. 

I travel a lot so space matters a great deal.

Alex Maso

Hello sir,

If you don’t know which kind of car you want, then take your time until you reach a decision. Car Clinic is not getting shut down any time soon.
A CRV is reliable (mostly), stable, pretty (in the right light and to the right eyes) and not too difficult to maintain if you don’t bang it up too much.
A Land Rover (Freelander?) is stable and pretty. Reliability is not a surefire bet and maintenance can get pricey for modern models. They are not all diesel-powered; petrol engines are available as well.

A RAV4 is reliable, stable and not too difficult to maintain. Its prettiness will depend on the looker’s affinity for crossovers and Toyotas.
If you travel a lot, then take your pick between the RAV4 and the CRV; preferably the Random Access Vehicle. It is just that much sturdier than the Cute Revvy Vehicle, and while there are differences in available space, it is nothing that a little clever arrangement cannot cure. I am assuming you don't pack the car right to the threshold of overloading; you must allow yourself a little wiggle room.

A CRV is reliable (mostly), stable, pretty (in the right light and to the right eyes) and not too difficult to maintain if you don’t bang it up too much. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

Hi,

I have been following your articles in Car Clinic. I have noticed a problem with the DMAX new model;  the front tyre   wears out more on the inside than on the the outside. What could be the problem?

The camber is off on that wheel. Alignment will cure the symptom but make sure there isn’t any underlying problem such as broken or bent suspension/steering gubbins.

Hello Baraza,
I have two questions, which you might have answered already. There is this sticker that is mostly found on second-hand imported Japanesecars. Some people say that it indicates the car grade, is this true?

My second question: I recently acquired a 2011 1.5l Subaru Impreza (against your advice). It is consuming a litre of petrol for every 10kms in light traffic, which is far from impressive for a 1.5l engine. Could there be a problem with the engine. What is the ideal fuel consumption for such a car.

Maish

1. Yes, this is true

2 . Did I advise against buying a 1.5 litre Impreza specifically, or did I just say that it is pointless buying a Subaru without a turbo? There is a difference, you know.
Ten km/l is pretty poor for a 1.5 litre car but it dawned on me a long time ago that we have pretty poor drivers on our roads as a compounding factor. I can’t really speak against the car without first knowing what you do to it/with it for it to return such figures. The ideal consumption would be half as much as what you are doing right now, if the conditions are right.

Hello,

I have been reading your advice on motor vehicles and find it useful, even just for information.

I would like to know whether my car, a Toyota Fielder new model, has a problem: I find the accelerator pedal hard before the car starts moving and after it starts moving and I brake, the car comes almost to a standstill so I have to step hard on the accelerator pedal again for it to start moving. In addition, the car does not brake evenly on a rough road or in bad terrain.

Could there be a problem with the accelerator pedal and the braking system?

Abedie

The first half of your communication sounds like exactly the kind of thing I’d expect when I’m... err... driving a car? Press the accelerator pedal, the car goes. Press the brake pedal, the car stops. That’s how cars work. Where is the problem, sir?

If the accelerator pedal is stiff or resistant, then grease the pedal mechanism. Older cars would require a slight cable/pulley adjustment somewhere in the engine but these newfangled 21st Century wheels from the Noughties and Tweens come with fly-by-wire technology, so the jamming must be occurring right there at the pedal itself since there is no mechanical connection between your foot and the butterfly valve in the throttle body.

If, however, you mean that you need large pedal movements for a small corresponding throttle opening, first make sure that this is not a trait peculiar to this brand of car and then have the throttle position sensor looked at. Different cars have different reaction rates to a depressed accelerator pedal, more so with contemporary electronic linkages.

As for the braking, perhaps you are expecting too much from a cheap, second-hand car, which was also cheap when new. ABS systems, now ubiquitous in almost all cars regardless of price point, prevent wheel lockup under hard braking, ABS does not guarantee even braking, less so on a rough road or bad terrain as you allege. For that you need a wider suite of acronyms: you need EBD (Electronic Brake Force Distribution) and Brake Assist and Stability Control, technologies that are found either in costlier vehicles of your Fielder’s vintage or in much newer vehicles; newer to the point that the technology is standard rather than an optional extra in a high-spec line.

That being said, it won’t hurt to check the following: start with your tyres (quality and pressures), then your brakes, more so if you have drum brakes at the back.

Dear Sir,

I appreciate your knowledge of vehicles.

I want to buy my first car and I need a small, fuel-efficient one for commuting to and from work. I have been thinking of the Suzuki Alto and Daihatsu Mira because of their small engine (660cc) and about 20km/l given my small budget. However, I wonder whether these models can go for long distances like 350kms a day — should the need arise — without overheating and knocking. Please advise.

Kibet

Hello Kibet,
These models could go 350km in a day without overheating or knocking — probably by including numerous stops for cooling breaks — but whether or not you can is a whole other discussion. It is an exercise you are unlikely to repeat because it will be one of the most uncomfortable things you will ever attempt. Puny cars with tiny engines are the worst idea when considering long-haul trips; you need a roomy vehicle with a more powerful, unstressed engine to keep your (im)patience from sliding into the red.

Dear JM,
I am an avid reader of your column and thank you for doing such a good job.

I have come into a little money and I wanted advice on the great Landcruiser before I go ahead and buy one. I would like to know which is better between the Amazon and the Cygnus in terms of:
1. Overall performance.
2. Fuel consumption.
3. Tow capability.
4. Off-road displacement.
5. Any other point I might have left out.

Kindly advise as there is a big debate between me and my drinking pals regarding which is the better vehicle.
Muchoki

Thank you for your long and elaborate query because there is no answer here. You are talking about one car, and that is the Toyota Landcruiser. The difference is the same.

Or is it? The Amazon is what they call the 100 Series in the United Kingdom of Great England in Britain, while in the Land of The Rising Sun of sushi and sake in Japan they prefer the Cygnus tag, and these market specifications bring with them some differences.

The Cygnus is the top spec VX V8 with all the imaginable goodies that were available for this model, starting with the 4.7 litre 2UZ-FE 8-cylinder block and ending with body kits and body-colour tack-ons and everything in between. The Amazon is not much different except the specs package is trimmed down a notch and the split rear hatch opens up/down while the Cygnus could either go the same way or open sideways. The biggest difference lies under the engine bay: as opposed to the Cygnus’ 2UZ, the Amazon comes only with the 4.2 litre 1HD-FTE inline six diesel turbo.

Overall performance? The 2UZ is faster (cubic inches, V8 configuration, petrol power) with power (hp)/torque (Nm) figures standing at 232/422, while the more sluggish 1HD makes do with 202/430.

Fuel consumption is a fairly obvious comparison: a leviathan petrol V8 nudging 5 litres versus a mill that (a) is smaller (b) has fewer cylinders (c) is diesel powered and (d) turbocharged and intercooled as well. It doesn’t take an automotive engineer to tell you the 1HD scores a flawless victory here.

Tow capability: this is completely dependent primarily on torque and a bit less so on outright power, and what do you know, we have a surprise winner here. The alternative definition of torque can be summed up by the words “diesel” and “turbo” juxtaposed, but surprisingly, the naturally aspirated petrol engine gives better numbers (what is 8Nm here or there?). Who’d have thought?

Offroad displacement: First, learn to use the correct terminology. Displacement does not mean what you think it does here, so stop using it until such a time as you are sure of where to apply the term. Off-road ability is just the same, given that we are discussing one car with two different engines; however, the ease of off-road use is what matters. While the 1HD might have slightly worse output figures on paper, tackling the gnarly stuff is a less belligerent effort compared to the same stunts in a comparatively higher-revving petrol. The 1HD develops its maximum torque of 430Nm at only 1200rpm, spreading it on a “flat” curve (oxymoron alert!) all the way to 3200rpm, which you won’t need to rev to anyway. The more peaky petrol plant achieves its 422Nm at a headier 3600rpm, so you need revs to get this thing crawling along, and this makes for a noisy and tasking experience, having to tickle the accelerator more and more.

That being said, the petrol car is smoother, a lot smoother. Remember the Cygnus is what they rebadge to create the Lexus LX470. The higher revs might not be as noisy as one might fear, and the noise itself is a muffled V8 rumble. Who doesn’t love a V8 rumble?

Hallo Baraza,

Keep up the good work!

Just curious: How can a layman, who doesn’t know much about cars, tell the Harrier and Lexus cars apart. Of late I have been spotting some which even have both signage/logos, for instance, the steering has a Toyota logo while the logo at the back is the “L” Lexus logo. Or having the down mirror (if that’s what its called), the one on the left side of the bonnet which allows a driver to view the road underneath I hear is a preserve of one model but not the other.

Could you please expound?

Yes, I could expound more, but do I really need to? I, too, have spotted vehicles bearing both logos but the question of differentiation and verification has never been one of any urgency whatsoever to me. You already know it is the same car, only with non-similar logos on certain locations of the motor vehicle within and without. Going by some sketchy sociological inferences I just made up right now, I daresay a Toyota is more likely to masquerade as a Lexus than the reverse happening. So if you spot a vehicle sporting both logos, go with the assumption that it is a Toyota unless otherwise proven... not that I’d bother proving it.
Really, unless you are shopping for one, what is the pressing need here? And if you are shopping for one, a simple VIN check will reveal whether the vehicle was built as a Toyota or as a Lexus.

Hi,
Please offer some advic on a prospective firs- time car owner undecided between the Prius 1500cc & 1800cc. Touch on consumption per litre, stability and all the pros and cons of both units.

Simon

If you are in the market for a Prius then your imagination is telling you that you want to save fuel. So instead of dabbling in nit-picking between two engine sizes of the same vehicle, an exercise that will yield no sensible results whatsoever, why not instead dip our toes into the lake of logic and say this: You want to maximize fuel economy, so just go the whole nine yards and get the smaller engine anyway.

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