Ioniq 3 test drive thoughts
Discussion
Our Renault Scenic eTech lease ends soon so looking for a replacement - doesn’t need to be as big as the Scenic. Had a test drive of the Ioniq 3 in Ultimate trim level today. I thought it would be very cramped in the rear but it’s actually surprisingly good given how small the car is. Boot is quite small but with a huge underfloor compartment although not sure if the Bose sub-woofer will take some of that space if you specify the optional £2500 comfort pack. This pack also gives you electric seats, chilled and heated (as standard they’re just heated), Digital key and other bits and bobs. You’ll need to spend a further £1250 for V2L and a heat pump and another £1500 for the Vision roof. But disappointingly none of those packs include electric tailgate.
The Ultimate trim has a small slim display on top of the dashboard in front of the driver. It’s very good and I think I prefer that to a head up display. With the lower trim levels you have to make do looking at the centre screen to see your speed, and it’s not a particularly big speed display. They’ve pretty much copied Tesla on its placement. Proper controls for climate control, volume adjustment and media selection. Gear selector is right hand stalk like Tesla, Mercedes, Renault.
It drove very well although I’d switch the steering to Sport mode to give it a bit more heft. Acceleration was fine and my one hour drive returned 4.5 miles/kwh - a mix of motorway and back roads.
Standard audio sound quality actually wasn’t too bad and the Bose upgrade SHOULD make it better still although I’ve had cars with other so-called premium audio system which have sounded worse than the standard one.
The view through the rear mirror isn’t too bad; I was expecting worse. But if a car behind has its lights on, as it varies its distance, it does give the effect that it’s flashing as its lights vanish behind the spoiler thing then reappear again. Speaking of flashing, the right stalk is very shiny and reflects whatever is outside the passenger rear window - trees, clouds, so bad at times that it looks like something is flashing in your peripheral vision,
Not sure if it will stay on our shortlist though because, for me, the seat bases felt very firm and I was in a bit of discomfort when I got out. But this is subjective and we’re all built differently!
In the showroom they also had an N Line spec. Looked good on the outside but very gloomy on the inside because aswell as black seats, the headlining was also dark. The Ultimate gives you the option of a light coloured interior, this isn’t available on the N Line although you do get a slightly bigger centre screen on the latter.
If you find it more comfortable than I did then I genuinely think it’s pretty much perfect.
The Ultimate trim has a small slim display on top of the dashboard in front of the driver. It’s very good and I think I prefer that to a head up display. With the lower trim levels you have to make do looking at the centre screen to see your speed, and it’s not a particularly big speed display. They’ve pretty much copied Tesla on its placement. Proper controls for climate control, volume adjustment and media selection. Gear selector is right hand stalk like Tesla, Mercedes, Renault.
It drove very well although I’d switch the steering to Sport mode to give it a bit more heft. Acceleration was fine and my one hour drive returned 4.5 miles/kwh - a mix of motorway and back roads.
Standard audio sound quality actually wasn’t too bad and the Bose upgrade SHOULD make it better still although I’ve had cars with other so-called premium audio system which have sounded worse than the standard one.
The view through the rear mirror isn’t too bad; I was expecting worse. But if a car behind has its lights on, as it varies its distance, it does give the effect that it’s flashing as its lights vanish behind the spoiler thing then reappear again. Speaking of flashing, the right stalk is very shiny and reflects whatever is outside the passenger rear window - trees, clouds, so bad at times that it looks like something is flashing in your peripheral vision,
Not sure if it will stay on our shortlist though because, for me, the seat bases felt very firm and I was in a bit of discomfort when I got out. But this is subjective and we’re all built differently!
In the showroom they also had an N Line spec. Looked good on the outside but very gloomy on the inside because aswell as black seats, the headlining was also dark. The Ultimate gives you the option of a light coloured interior, this isn’t available on the N Line although you do get a slightly bigger centre screen on the latter.
If you find it more comfortable than I did then I genuinely think it’s pretty much perfect.
We really like the look of the 3, it reminds us of our old Civic that we loved for it's compactness but also massive space inside. I think at present the vision roof doesn't come with a light interior so we'll wait and see. Petrol Ped seems to like it, we are also waiting for delivery of a 9, the end of video review is bit Cringe.....but at least Hyundai seems to be making some interesting EVs at present.
https://youtu.be/4jPx2KcAuWA?is=64lDlpcUkdSdmG1o
https://youtu.be/4jPx2KcAuWA?is=64lDlpcUkdSdmG1o
For me this is one of the few cars that looks worse in the flesh than in the pictures. I was quite hopeful that MrsBigM would like one, she has a liking for quirky coupes. Went to poke over it at the stealers this week.
Jesus its a munter in real life. The plastic bits of which there lots look really crap. Especially the wheels OMG there are little plastic bits between the spokes which are dire and will fall off with gay abandon. It's just not proportionally right either. The rising belt line just doesn't look right.
It was a resounding no from Mrs BigM we didn't even get as far as opening the door
Jesus its a munter in real life. The plastic bits of which there lots look really crap. Especially the wheels OMG there are little plastic bits between the spokes which are dire and will fall off with gay abandon. It's just not proportionally right either. The rising belt line just doesn't look right.
It was a resounding no from Mrs BigM we didn't even get as far as opening the door
bigmowley said:
For me this is one of the few cars that looks worse in the flesh than in the pictures. I was quite hopeful that MrsBigM would like one, she has a liking for quirky coupes. Went to poke over it at the stealers this week.
Jesus its a munter in real life. The plastic bits of which there lots look really crap. Especially the wheels OMG there are little plastic bits between the spokes which are dire and will fall off with gay abandon. It's just not proportionally right either. The rising belt line just doesn't look right.
It was a resounding no from Mrs BigM we didn't even get as far as opening the door
So what you’re saying is - you’re going to think about it! 😀Jesus its a munter in real life. The plastic bits of which there lots look really crap. Especially the wheels OMG there are little plastic bits between the spokes which are dire and will fall off with gay abandon. It's just not proportionally right either. The rising belt line just doesn't look right.
It was a resounding no from Mrs BigM we didn't even get as far as opening the door
bigmowley said:
For me this is one of the few cars that looks worse in the flesh than in the pictures. I was quite hopeful that MrsBigM would like one, she has a liking for quirky coupes. Went to poke over it at the stealers this week.
Jesus its a munter in real life. The plastic bits of which there lots look really crap. Especially the wheels OMG there are little plastic bits between the spokes which are dire and will fall off with gay abandon. It's just not proportionally right either. The rising belt line just doesn't look right.
It was a resounding no from Mrs BigM we didn't even get as far as opening the door
I can't get past the words gay abandon.Jesus its a munter in real life. The plastic bits of which there lots look really crap. Especially the wheels OMG there are little plastic bits between the spokes which are dire and will fall off with gay abandon. It's just not proportionally right either. The rising belt line just doesn't look right.
It was a resounding no from Mrs BigM we didn't even get as far as opening the door
I thought the Ioniq3 looked quite good in the pictures, but less so in person.
It was on my shortlist for our next car, so booked a test drive last week. Took it for a 20 min ride over various A/B roads and a 70mph DC.
TBH wasn t impressed. The ride was OK but it felt cheap on the inside. Seats were sat on, rather than in, with little support on the sides and thin cushion tops. Dasboard and centre console was sparse and plasticky.
The car was the (not so) ultimate trim. I also sat in the NLine which had slightly better seats, but still way off similar priced / sized cars from other manufacturers.
It was an easy no, and removed from our possible list.
It was on my shortlist for our next car, so booked a test drive last week. Took it for a 20 min ride over various A/B roads and a 70mph DC.
TBH wasn t impressed. The ride was OK but it felt cheap on the inside. Seats were sat on, rather than in, with little support on the sides and thin cushion tops. Dasboard and centre console was sparse and plasticky.
The car was the (not so) ultimate trim. I also sat in the NLine which had slightly better seats, but still way off similar priced / sized cars from other manufacturers.
It was an easy no, and removed from our possible list.
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