Driving Advice: How to road test a car

So, you’ve identified the car you fancy buying and you want to work out whether it is in fact the car for you, or maybe you are a budding road tester and want to understand how to assess a vehicle…but how do you do it?

It is all too tempting, and I have to hold myself back, to jump into the car and drive it fast from the get-go. It may seem obvious as you sit and read this but this is not the way to acclimatize yourself to a vehicle. There are a number of reasons for this: Firstly, that is not how you will drive the vehicle most of the time. Secondly, on the basis you don’t know it yet and how it responds it can be dangerous. Finally, it can give you a false impression about its talents.

The first two are self explanatory, but the final one…what do I mean? Well, not all cars are about ultimate dynamic capability, take the new Range RoverLand Rover Range Rover (modern) Gen.3 [L405]United Kingdom, 2012 > present13 versions
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for instance: It actually does not feel as ultimately sharp as a Porsche Cayenne GTSPorsche Cayenne GTSGermany, 2013 > present6 photos
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but that does not mean that it might not be a better car. It may well be better to live with and drive at normal speeds, on this basis you could dismiss it by chucking it down a country lane and never realize its real talents. Not everybody wants a racing car all of the time, despite what you may think when you’re all pumped up about the shiny new metal that has been thrust in front of you.

No, get in the car and understand its architecture first, get comfortable and make sure you understand how the controls work. Then, and only once you have got comfortable spend 20 minutes driving the car slowly…or normally – imagine you are on your way to your day job. This’ll give you a good idea whether you actually would want to live with the car, what the visibility is like out of it and even an indication of how economical the car is.

I would also make a special effort to drive the car through a few bits of broken road surface, not the kind of pot holes that would damage the wheels, but drain covers and things like that. You’d be amazed how much that flashy sports suspension and 20” wheels begin to annoy you after 20,000 miles. That goes for road testers and car buyers alike. Big slides and minimal body roll is great but only 1% of the time. The rest of the time you will want to be comfortable and have working Bluetooth.

Of course, you (as you are reading this) may also be a keen driver and that means that you will want the car to handle well. Now, a bugbear of mine, assess the ride quality. Stiff suspension does not necessarily equate to a sporty drive – at least not in my book. A good example of this is a comparison between the much vaunted E39 5 SeriesBMW 5 Series Gen.4Germany, 1995 > 200364 versions
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and its replacement: the E60BMW 5 Series Gen.5Germany, 2003 > 2010203 versions
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. The E39 was beautifully damped in sports spec and would smooth out ruts in the road while retaining body control like nothing else in its time, meanwhile the E60 would try and chuck you off the road at the merest hint of adverse camber. Big wheel and sports suspension can do this so make sure they work as you want before specifying those options or advising others that they are a ‘must have option.’

Then it comes the balance of the car. You’ll hear Formula 1 drivers talking about this all the time. It is all about how the car responds – does it feel like the front and the rear of the car are working in unison? Ideally you want the front and the rear of the car to break adhesion at roughly the same time, maybe with a hint of understeer for the road if anything. If you read my review of the SLK55 you will hear me saying that both ends work in a completely different way, and that is not what you want in any world, the M135i on the other hand? Now that was delicious.

Finally you need to make sure that the car has the space and packaging that is needed. How does it compare to its competition? Do the seats fold cleverly? And are the cubby holes the right size and positioned in the right places? You’ll learn this with time but it is worth thinking about. Why not try and get those golf clubs in the boot? It matters.

Obviously it goes as wrote that this is imperative to spend as much time as possible in the car, as a passenger in the car, in the back seat of the car while being driven and even gazing at the car from the outside. Only then will you really understand if it is the car for you or your readers.

Good luck and do your research!