c-hr Driving the dragon

[Surfsideminer]

Calling the C-HR a dragon might be a stretch but it is a stand-out, head turning car, even when parked in the street, there is no doubt it looks aggressive from every angle. The C-HR looks like nothing else on the road and makes the competitors cars look boring and bland. I have been stopped more than once by car enthusiasts wanting to know, how it drives or even just to comment on its unique style.

There is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to the driving features and the "WARNING" notices in the manual are there for a reason, ignore them at your peril.

[Surfsideminer]

Radar Cruise Control:

Radar cruise is pretty good, in fact, I love it and I have found I am a less aggressive driver with this feature activated, I am even getting used to cars jumping into the gap in front without getting upset, most of the time. There is no need to get upset, the car just slows down and opens the gap automatically. 

Some real life warnings:

If a car pulls over or I change lanes to overtake another car, and there is no car in the radar range, and I am traveling below the preset speed limit the car will accelerate. All good so far, except, if there is stopped traffic at traffic lights for example. The car does not seem to lock onto a stopped car as quickly as a moving car and as such, the closing speed is very high. I always chicken out and hit the brakes myself as I am not confident that the car will auto-brake in time, if at all until it is too late. The issue seems to occur in 80k zones, as I have not noticed this in 60k zones. If the radar is locked onto a car or not accelerating all is good and the car slows and stops comfortably with the traffic. The issue seems to be an auto-acceleration v radar lock auto-braking conflict, have others noticed this? 

Western Australian drivers do not seem to understand that turning/slip lanes are designed for sufficient braking to occur. If a car turns into a slip lane and slows before getting all the way over or a car is at maximum radar range and slows quickly to turn a corner where there is no slip lane the C-HR will brake HARD. Be aware or you could be rear-ended.  

I would like to hear other peoples driving examples or warnings.

[campbeam]

8 hours ago, Surfsideminer said:

Radar Cruise Control

This sounds like a worthwhile feature.

8 hours ago, Surfsideminer said:

I am even getting used to cars jumping into the gap in front without getting upset, most of the time.

Most likely driven by impatient tailgating idiots. Good idea not to react and become upset. I think that karma will get them eventually.

8 hours ago, Surfsideminer said:

Western Australian drivers do not seem to understand that turning/slip lanes are designed for sufficient braking to occur.

I have more noticed some Brisbane drivers being a bit slow to enter into the turning lane; probably not making the extra steering effort.

[angoth]

Yeah... The radar cruise control is awesome. I have even used the stop/start function of it in peak hour and it works like a charm. Brings the car to a complete stop and a quick tap on the accelerator gets the car moving again.

I have noticed the heavy breaking when a car turns off the road in front of you. It really does break hard and I will usually disable it when I see someone turning off  because it will bleed 30-40km/h off my speed.

The AEB has activated once when someone cut in front of me. Now that was an experience, the car lit up like Christmas and a fog horn went off!

[Justin70]

On 13/06/2017 at 11:21 PM, angoth said:

.... and a fog horn went off!

Baha - inside the car or outside? Was it the regular horn or different? So looking forward to trying out these features.

Does it have a speed limiter? Read it does somewhere but can't find it in the manual

[Surfsideminer]

Hi Justin,

If you are travelling on Radar Cruise you have a type of speed limiter.

[Justin70]

21 minutes ago, Surfsideminer said:

Hi Justin,

If you are travelling on Radar Cruise you have a type of speed limiter.

True. It doesn't have one though but no biggie as the ACC more than makes up for it! First time letting the car do all the braking was mentally taxing but I've quickly come to trust it. The strange bit for me was increasing or decreasing the speed as I was going by the speedo and not the speed indicator in the info screen. I was holding the stalk up and setting the speed way too fast. Quickly sorted that. 

Loving the LDA and Blind Spot, which is a neck saver and with that fat b-pillar is a must. The steering wheel assist is brilliant - just a beep and nudge to let you know you're straying. Super handy on the tight Tulla freeway lanes at the mo.

The biggest surprise for me has been the engine. This thing has amazing performance which belies it's 1.2 size. It's super smooth, has virtually no turbo lag, sits on 1900rpm at 100k and feels like a 2.0. I am coming from a 1.8 diesel in the Ford Focus - the CHR feels quicker off the mark and accelarates almost as well (with just me in it). For it's size and the size of the car, it's impressive performance.

Enjoying the slightly higher ride, not too high, but just enough to give you a more commanding view.

The cloth seats are also very good - firm lumbar and side supports and nice almost racing seat shape where headrest blends in.

Base model's headlights are pretty bright as are the foggies. Led lights wouldn't go astray for the interior (even my 4.5 year old focus used LEDs).

No grab bars in the back is a pain for this suit wearing driver - need to ebay a hook for the back of the driver seat.

Edited July 21, 2017 by Justin70

[Surfsideminer]

1 hour ago, Justin70 said:

First time letting the car do all the braking was mentally taxing but I've quickly come to trust it. The strange bit for me was increasing or decreasing the speed as I was going by the speedo and not the speed indicator in the info screen. I was holding the stalk up and setting the speed way too fast. Quickly sorted that. 

L

 

Don't get too confident with the braking, I chicken out regularly, it is not perfect, my foot is always close to the brake pedal.