Stop/start: on my X1, which is the same in this regard as the X2, there are three ways to deal with it. The first, as mentioned, is to dig into the menu system and turn it off (each time you get into the car). You can put this into a short-cut menu, however, and then there always is a highlighted hyphen at the top of the screen you can touch to bring up the deactivate icon for stop/start. That is a quick two-step turn-off approach. There are two other ways to do it: put the car in Sport mode, or when you shift into drive push the lever to the left and that engages Low mode instead of Drive. Going into Sport mode or Low mode disengages stop/start, but also changes the shift points for gearing to make a zippier vehicle. That affects mileage a little.
The 2018 Ford Focus ST-3 has auxiliary cornering lights with adaptive (HID) headlamps. They only work when the light switch is turned to the "Automatic" headlights position. I believe the ST-2 has them, too, but I am sure the ST-1 does not. They are effective, and you only notice them when you really need them. They activate when you are in gear. As soon as you turn the wheel, they work in concert; the headlights turn, and it will turn on the auxiliary light for the direction you are turning. Cool, additional fact; when your wipers for the windshield are active, regardless of the setting, you shift into reverse, and the rear hatch wiper activates automatically on the intermittent setting. P.S. The Focus ST (& RS) have one of the best anti-theft systems in the world... it is called a "6 speed MANUAL transmission".
Tucker - they did it in 1948. Also, Upton Touring Cars in 1905. They both had those lights not mentioned here. CR is known for facts, not so much for history.
In theory, I like the idea of stop-start, but as you discussed, the execution of that technology can be a limiting factor. For example, my 2020 Outback XT (with the turbocharged engine), has stop start but not only does it not stay stopped for very long (10-30 seconds on average only; even with climate control off and my foot firmly on the pedal), but the re-start is what I would describe as "violent." The car will buck/lurch forward. It makes me especially wary of using it when I'm first to the crosswalk and I have pedestrians in front of me. In contrast, the same Outback with the normally aspirated engine, had a much more seamless re-engagement. That said, I still do use it sometimes and over the last 2000 miles (there's a gauge that tracks this) I've saved roughly one tenth of a gallon of fuel, from having stopped for about 40 minutes total.
We own a 2021 Outback with the naturally aspirated engine and we still turn it off. Personally don’t find the savings to be worth the wear and tear on the alternator and potentially the engine. I do agree though that Subaru needs to improve this because it does shack and even move forward a little bit which is concerning.
Just curious, how do you decide when a car is worthy of an entire episode like this? This is great analysis, but picking an X2 seemed a bit odd. Fantastic work nonetheless.
For GM start/stop, it uses a newer battery technology called AGM, as mentioned by Alex. It stands for Absorbent Glass Mat battery. They last a lot longer than traditional batteries. I have a just over 6 year old Buick that has this technology, and the original battery died at exactly at 6 years - but it did not die. It started the car, but the stop/start functionality stopped operating so I would not get stranded. I replaced the battery in April of this year with the identical battery and had the computer reprogramed for a new battery. Now it works well again. Nothing wrong with the car, and it adds about 1 mpg in city driving. In fact, approaching 90,000 miles and have just done maintenance up to now.
You all bring up a great point about auto start-stop paired with a dual-clutch transmission. When paired together they tend to be unpredictable and jerky at times. I drive an Audi Q5 which is a mild hybrid and the auto start-stop is flawless, but as soon as the transmission catches after starting up again it becomes very unsettled most times. It’s sort of a shame because I do see really impressive improvements in fuel economy when I have auto start-stop on. In my short 10 minute commute I see about 4-6 mpg better than if I have it off.
The battery they talk about buying from a long term car is pretty expensive if you replace the battery and don't do it yourself. A new battery from Toyota is $6000 in a hybrid, not including fees and taxes. I also keep my cars a long time (owned a 2006 Saab 9-3 until 2018, and put 195,000 on it - still running today with second owner with 270,000). To avoid this known cost, went with a Mazda CX-5 which will last another 200,000 with little to no problem and avoided the hybrid like the plague.
Thank you for talking about visibility. When I think back to the BMW 2002 and it's tall side widows and thin pillars, I had to wonder why designs these days have such small windows and huge blindspots, especially in the back. When I mention visibility with my car friends all I hear back is that there are cameras now so visibility out the windows is not important.
Start-stop systems have evolved a lot since they were first introduced and reliabiility concers are mostly unfounded. My 2018 Passat BiTDI has done 230k kms and never had issues with the start-stop. I usually keep it active, but do turn it off occasionally during heavy city traffic. I did replace the car's battery a bit sooner than expected, but that's had a hard life from other sources too (parking heater, Dynaudio sound system).
I don't expect many manufacturers to dedicate much effort and expense to create lighting systems specifically for the U.S. since the U.S. NHTSA has dug in its heals and refused to follow EU lighting standards which have become the default for the rest of the world including Canada. After I had the LED-matrix headlights of my U.S. market German car reprogrammed, perhaps illegally, to function as if the vehicle was located in German, I now have curve adaptive headlights, a super wide beam pattern at lower speeds (far greater than 180 degrees) that functions as corning lights, the high beam headlights are on most of the time over 18.6 mph with oncoming and preceding vehicles "shadowed" by turning off and on individual LED's in the matrices to keep from blinding and irritating other vehicle occupants, pedestrians on or near the roadway are now targeted with concentrated beams of light (3 flashes) to warn both the them and me. Toyota and other manufacturers began lobbying the NHTSA to allow these adaptive beam headlights in around 2014 and here we are 10 years later with the NHTSA having done nothing except needlessly studying technology that the rest of the world adopted years ago.
The engine start-stop feature is intended to reduce emissions as much as (perhaps more than) improve MPG. Imagine a busy intersection where 50% of the stopped vehicles are NOT idling and emitting noxious fumes. Then multiply that by the thousands of intersections in this country. Start-stop can be definitely a pain to adjust to, but it does serve a purpose. It could make a real difference if enough vehicles had the feature and if people would stop disabling it.
I’m fine with it as long as my car stays running. I see it as a safety issue. What if the battery fails? You could be stopped on a freeway and the engine fails to start. It’s not worth compromising safety for the environment or money.
I have a new X2, replacing an older X1 and it is not sportier than the X1, except for having larger standard wheels and tires. The only real difference is that the X2 body looks more like a hatchback than a SUV. I preferred it to getting a new X1 literally because the roof is lower and the sun visors work better when you’re driving into the sun. The horizontal plane cargo and passenger space is the same. Luckily I bought the premium package with all the surround cameras because looking out the back is like trying to watch the TV in your living room by sitting on your porch and looking through the mail slot in the front door.😂
The idea larger wheels and tyres make vehicles "sportier" is a magnificent marketong campaign. Suspension tuning for "small" wheels and larger sidewalls makes handling very much the same as the Optional or Luxury Pack larger diameters.
1:08 and by "sportier" these days it means in the smallest possible unit of measurement "more sporty" that it can be. what would a "unit of sportiness" be?
"There is a legitimate savings in fuel there" sitting in traffic? Not really. Idling for an hour will use one litre of petrol. Making a Starter and Battery suitable for the repeative load does come at engineering cost, aka cost to make. Then use have the fun of A/C during the Stop then creating a Start. Finally the accelration from a Stop condition, which is not funny at all unless getting through intersections needs more Fun levels of risk.
iDrive9… Do BMW execs want us to drive a car or an iPad? I challenge them to drive in Los Angeles or Houston traffic and change the temp on the a/c or change channels on the radio.
I'm sorry, the BMW doesn't seem worth buying to review. It's not that different than the X1, and not at all an improvement, from what you say. I was impressed by the third question. As I recall, 2005 was the first year of the Tucson, and if it's lasted 19 years, that's remarkable. We've owned a lot of Hyundai products, and always gotten good service from them.
Firm and sporty were adjectives that always used to describe BMWs. With subsequent redesigns, that gets less true. If I wanted a cushy, soft German car, I’d buy a Benz. Now I don’t buy either.
Stockburger is that irritating person next to you on a plane who doesn’t shut up and eats Pringles, apple slices, and Raisin Bran from baggies she packed the day before.
Joe’s voice is annoying as hell to listen to. The affectation in his voice of “not giving a sh*t” really pisses me off. If he sounds like he doesn’t even care about his job, why put him on the show? Get someone else who is similar or the same as Alex who actually cares. Definitely way more enjoyable to listen to.
They sell every car after they test it. They also test literally every Toyota and Honda on the market, what do you want them to do, test them twice? I'd think a subscriber wouldn't be this stupid.
I looked at a(nother) Toyota and the Crown (tested by CR) was step-function more expensive than the “luxury” brand I ended up with - because of longer warranty and lower price and better driving feel. $50k range has tons of overlap so great to see options. And no, I don’t have a BMW. Liked the prior X2, don’t care for the design inside or outside on this one. Yet cool to learn about the tech as that will be in all BMW.
Stop/start: on my X1, which is the same in this regard as the X2, there are three ways to deal with it. The first, as mentioned, is to dig into the menu system and turn it off (each time you get into the car). You can put this into a short-cut menu, however, and then there always is a highlighted hyphen at the top of the screen you can touch to bring up the deactivate icon for stop/start. That is a quick two-step turn-off approach. There are two other ways to do it: put the car in Sport mode, or when you shift into drive push the lever to the left and that engages Low mode instead of Drive. Going into Sport mode or Low mode disengages stop/start, but also changes the shift points for gearing to make a zippier vehicle. That affects mileage a little.
The 2018 Ford Focus ST-3 has auxiliary cornering lights with adaptive (HID) headlamps. They only work when the light switch is turned to the "Automatic" headlights position. I believe the ST-2 has them, too, but I am sure the ST-1 does not. They are effective, and you only notice them when you really need them.
They activate when you are in gear. As soon as you turn the wheel, they work in concert; the headlights turn, and it will turn on the auxiliary light for the direction you are turning.
Cool, additional fact; when your wipers for the windshield are active, regardless of the setting, you shift into reverse, and the rear hatch wiper activates automatically on the intermittent setting.
P.S. The Focus ST (& RS) have one of the best anti-theft systems in the world... it is called a "6 speed MANUAL transmission".
Jen, in the 1920’s there was a luxury car that had secondary mechanical headlights that turned with the steering wheel.
Tucker - they did it in 1948. Also, Upton Touring Cars in 1905. They both had those lights not mentioned here. CR is known for facts, not so much for history.
In theory, I like the idea of stop-start, but as you discussed, the execution of that technology can be a limiting factor. For example, my 2020 Outback XT (with the turbocharged engine), has stop start but not only does it not stay stopped for very long (10-30 seconds on average only; even with climate control off and my foot firmly on the pedal), but the re-start is what I would describe as "violent." The car will buck/lurch forward. It makes me especially wary of using it when I'm first to the crosswalk and I have pedestrians in front of me. In contrast, the same Outback with the normally aspirated engine, had a much more seamless re-engagement. That said, I still do use it sometimes and over the last 2000 miles (there's a gauge that tracks this) I've saved roughly one tenth of a gallon of fuel, from having stopped for about 40 minutes total.
We own a 2021 Outback with the naturally aspirated engine and we still turn it off. Personally don’t find the savings to be worth the wear and tear on the alternator and potentially the engine. I do agree though that Subaru needs to improve this because it does shack and even move forward a little bit which is concerning.
Just curious, how do you decide when a car is worthy of an entire episode like this? This is great analysis, but picking an X2 seemed a bit odd. Fantastic work nonetheless.
For GM start/stop, it uses a newer battery technology called AGM, as mentioned by Alex. It stands for Absorbent Glass Mat battery. They last a lot longer than traditional batteries. I have a just over 6 year old Buick that has this technology, and the original battery died at exactly at 6 years - but it did not die. It started the car, but the stop/start functionality stopped operating so I would not get stranded. I replaced the battery in April of this year with the identical battery and had the computer reprogramed for a new battery. Now it works well again. Nothing wrong with the car, and it adds about 1 mpg in city driving. In fact, approaching 90,000 miles and have just done maintenance up to now.
You all bring up a great point about auto start-stop paired with a dual-clutch transmission. When paired together they tend to be unpredictable and jerky at times. I drive an Audi Q5 which is a mild hybrid and the auto start-stop is flawless, but as soon as the transmission catches after starting up again it becomes very unsettled most times. It’s sort of a shame because I do see really impressive improvements in fuel economy when I have auto start-stop on. In my short 10 minute commute I see about 4-6 mpg better than if I have it off.
The battery they talk about buying from a long term car is pretty expensive if you replace the battery and don't do it yourself. A new battery from Toyota is $6000 in a hybrid, not including fees and taxes. I also keep my cars a long time (owned a 2006 Saab 9-3 until 2018, and put 195,000 on it - still running today with second owner with 270,000). To avoid this known cost, went with a Mazda CX-5 which will last another 200,000 with little to no problem and avoided the hybrid like the plague.
Jen's back! X2 looks good stuck in traffic.
Thank you for talking about visibility. When I think back to the BMW 2002 and it's tall side widows and thin pillars, I had to wonder why designs these days have such small windows and huge blindspots, especially in the back. When I mention visibility with my car friends all I hear back is that there are cameras now so visibility out the windows is not important.
The harsh ride and road noise are attributed to the run-flat tires. They’re stiff and loud. The start/stop can be disabled when the car is started.
Run flat tires don’t help, but on a washboard you’ll feel like there is an earthquake regardless of tires.
Start-stop systems have evolved a lot since they were first introduced and reliabiility concers are mostly unfounded. My 2018 Passat BiTDI has done 230k kms and never had issues with the start-stop. I usually keep it active, but do turn it off occasionally during heavy city traffic. I did replace the car's battery a bit sooner than expected, but that's had a hard life from other sources too (parking heater, Dynaudio sound system).
S/S is turned off regularly....explore that condition.
BMWs used to look pretty cool. Not sure what this monstrosity is.
My thoughts exactly. I don't know what they're up to.
I don't expect many manufacturers to dedicate much effort and expense to create lighting systems specifically for the U.S. since the U.S. NHTSA has dug in its heals and refused to follow EU lighting standards which have become the default for the rest of the world including Canada. After I had the LED-matrix headlights of my U.S. market German car reprogrammed, perhaps illegally, to function as if the vehicle was located in German, I now have curve adaptive headlights, a super wide beam pattern at lower speeds (far greater than 180 degrees) that functions as corning lights, the high beam headlights are on most of the time over 18.6 mph with oncoming and preceding vehicles "shadowed" by turning off and on individual LED's in the matrices to keep from blinding and irritating other vehicle occupants, pedestrians on or near the roadway are now targeted with concentrated beams of light (3 flashes) to warn both the them and me. Toyota and other manufacturers began lobbying the NHTSA to allow these adaptive beam headlights in around 2014 and here we are 10 years later with the NHTSA having done nothing except needlessly studying technology that the rest of the world adopted years ago.
The engine start-stop feature is intended to reduce emissions as much as (perhaps more than) improve MPG. Imagine a busy intersection where 50% of the stopped vehicles are NOT idling and emitting noxious fumes. Then multiply that by the thousands of intersections in this country. Start-stop can be definitely a pain to adjust to, but it does serve a purpose. It could make a real difference if enough vehicles had the feature and if people would stop disabling it.
I’m fine with it as long as my car stays running. I see it as a safety issue. What if the battery fails? You could be stopped on a freeway and the engine fails to start. It’s not worth compromising safety for the environment or money.
You guys have such cool jobs.
I have a new X2, replacing an older X1 and it is not sportier than the X1, except for having larger standard wheels and tires. The only real difference is that the X2 body looks more like a hatchback than a SUV. I preferred it to getting a new X1 literally because the roof is lower and the sun visors work better when you’re driving into the sun. The horizontal plane cargo and passenger space is the same. Luckily I bought the premium package with all the surround cameras because looking out the back is like trying to watch the TV in your living room by sitting on your porch and looking through the mail slot in the front door.😂
The idea larger wheels and tyres make vehicles "sportier" is a magnificent marketong campaign. Suspension tuning for "small" wheels and larger sidewalls makes handling very much the same as the Optional or Luxury Pack larger diameters.
Subaru offers Steering Responsive Headlights, standard on my Ascent but available on most Subaru models.
1:08 and by "sportier" these days it means in the smallest possible unit of measurement "more sporty" that it can be.
what would a "unit of sportiness" be?
25:05 Paul, just get the new hybrid Camry. It is, by far, the definition of a car that will last forever. Toyota is the best in hybrid design too.
Is this derived from or shared with the Mini Countryman platform, FWD based?
Yes
Why BMW did not bring the X2 electric version I don't understand.
New X2 is a strangely proportioned beast. Kind of ugly to be honest.
BMW charging a subscription for heated seats and people actually buy it? 🤪🤪🤪
"There is a legitimate savings in fuel there" sitting in traffic?
Not really. Idling for an hour will use one litre of petrol.
Making a Starter and Battery suitable for the repeative load does come at engineering cost, aka cost to make.
Then use have the fun of A/C during the Stop then creating a Start.
Finally the accelration from a Stop condition, which is not funny at all unless getting through intersections needs more Fun levels of risk.
iDrive9…
Do BMW execs want us to drive a car or an iPad?
I challenge them to drive in Los Angeles or Houston traffic and change the temp on the a/c or change channels on the radio.
I'm sorry, the BMW doesn't seem worth buying to review. It's not that different than the X1, and not at all an improvement, from what you say.
I was impressed by the third question. As I recall, 2005 was the first year of the Tucson, and if it's lasted 19 years, that's remarkable. We've owned a lot of Hyundai products, and always gotten good service from them.
They don't know what cornering lights were
Firm and sporty were adjectives that always used to describe BMWs. With subsequent redesigns, that gets less true. If I wanted a cushy, soft German car, I’d buy a Benz. Now I don’t buy either.
If the car isn't a Camry, Forrester, or Accord it is crap according to CR.
X1 and 2 are based off the mini platform. Not the best
If I was a causal car person, I would think this is a Mitsubishi! Yikes!
Would , like to see Alex ing the BMW and The STIG in a model Y Dual motor do a few laps!
Stockburger is that irritating person next to you on a plane who doesn’t shut up and eats Pringles, apple slices, and Raisin Bran from baggies she packed the day before.
🚗🚙
What about a more expensive, uglier and less practical X1? -the management at BMW trying to bankrupt the company
Joe’s voice is annoying as hell to listen to. The affectation in his voice of “not giving a sh*t” really pisses me off. If he sounds like he doesn’t even care about his job, why put him on the show? Get someone else who is similar or the same as Alex who actually cares. Definitely way more enjoyable to listen to.
Ugly car design, no harmony of sharp lines!
Yet another expensive luxury car that most can't afford. Is this what our subscription fees go to? How about testing some Hondas and Toyotas?
Speak for yourself. 🤡
They really beat the local manufacturers in their reports.
They sell every car after they test it. They also test literally every Toyota and Honda on the market, what do you want them to do, test them twice? I'd think a subscriber wouldn't be this stupid.
I looked at a(nother) Toyota and the Crown (tested by CR) was step-function more expensive than the “luxury” brand I ended up with - because of longer warranty and lower price and better driving feel. $50k range has tons of overlap so great to see options.
And no, I don’t have a BMW. Liked the prior X2, don’t care for the design inside or outside on this one. Yet cool to learn about the tech as that will be in all BMW.
It’s ugly
1:10 nothing is sportier about them the even numbers just mean coupe