2014 Auto Express Driver Power results..

[tt82]

So the 2014 Auto Express Driver Power results are in and the Mklll V70 finished in 99th place. In detail, out of 150 cars included in the final results, it's individual scores were -

• Reliability - 126th
• Build Quality - 8th
• Running cost - 141st
• Performance -107th
• Road Handling - 149th
• Ride Quality - 54th
• Ease of Driving - 69th
• Seat Comfort - 6th
• Practicality - 1st
• In-Car Tech - 98th

Other Volvo's in the top 150 cars were

• 128th Volvo XC90
• 121st Volvo V50 Mkl
• 118th Volvo C30
• 74th Volvo V60
• 66th Volvo XC60
• 64th Volvo V70 Mkll
• 50th Volvo S60 Mkll
• 19th Volvo V40 Mkll

The top 3 cars were

• 3rd - Skoda Superb Mkll
• 2nd - Skoda Citigo
• 1st - Skoda Yeti

Personally I don't pay any attention to this survey as it's based on public opinion, with owners rating their cars, and quite frankly the general public are in the most part, stupid. Hence you get delightful little oddities as the Kia Rio Mklll and Vauxhall Adam coming 2nd and 3rd respectively in the 'In-car Tech' categorey. The 'Road handling was topped by the MG6, beating a Porsche 911 997, and the Skoda Yeti came 3rd! Can you really tell me that an MG6 handles better than a Porsche?

What do you think?

[clivea]

I agree that there may be some inconsistencies but the trends seem to mirror other ownership surveys where Skoda Japanese and Korean makes feature highly. I am personally pleased to see Subaru Forester very well placed for Reliabilty which mirrors Michael Karesh' True Delta findings.

[I-S]

These surveys are ridiculous...

I remember one a few years ago where the top vehicle was the Honda S2000. The bottom was Peugeot 807. Fair enough, I'm prepared to believe that the Peugeot was unreliable and badly built and that the Honda was reliable and drove nicely.

However, the Honda scored 4/5 for practicality while the Peugeot scored 2/5.

Pointless.

[tt82]

What do you say we all fill in one for a Morris Marina next year, giving it 10 in every category!

[I-S]

I'm curious as to the 53 cars that have better ride quality? I'm sure there's some, but I'll bet there's some hard riding hot hatches higher up in the rankings...

[tt82]

Ride quality top 15 were -

1. Land Rover Discovery Mklll
2. Land Rover Discovery MklV
3. MG6
4. Citroen C5 Mkll
5. Jaguar XK/R Mkll
6. Nissan Quashquai Mkll
7. Range Rover Mklll
8. Range Rover Evoque
9. Jaguar S-Type
10. Land Rover Freelander Mkll
11. Jaguar XF
12. Skoda Citigo
13. Renault Captur
14. Audi Q3
15. Nissan X-Trail

[younger06]

I am a lover of Skoda, I drive one. But how could the Skoda Citigo make it so high up this list?!?!?!

[clivea]

If the Citygo is like the VW Up then its alright as a small car but isn't in the same league as the other 14. But a failure rate of 1:15 isn't too bad for a survey but a better approach would have been to place the Ride position against the various categories of vehicle. Ie Urban car, sports car, off-road, etc. then it would be closer to comparing like with like.

I recall the XC70 only ever getting 3 out of 5 in reviews. Noisy engine, sloppy handling, uncomfortable ride etc. But I found it an excellent car and enjoyed my ownership of a car that did everything that was asked of it, without fuss.

[H20 VOLVO]

I'm not surprised by the MG6 for ride quality. It is pretty much noted in the industry that it has (surprisingly) an excellent chassis. Which is good news for the Brits. The rest of the car isn't too shabby either, however I agree it's still got a way to go yet.

The Discos and C5 come high due to air suspension and Hydractive rides. No surprise there. My Dad has a new C5 Tourer with Hydractive suspension, and when you get used to it, it's actually quite brilliant. And apparently, in readiness, not actually that difficult or complex to work on if faulty.

[I-S]

Like I said, I can believe that the likes of the c5 and discovery ride nicely.

The citigo and xtrail? I think not. I'm sure there's plenty of others in the top 53 that will be firmer...