Your Questions Answered: Can a Chinese hybrid SUV cope with off-road caravanning across Australia?

I have read your reports on the VW Tayron and the Toyota RAV4. What would your recommendation be between the two? - Elan

Answer: Hey Elan, while not worlds apart in size, the RAV4 is classed as a medium SUV; the Tayron plays in the large SUV category. The VW Tiguan is closer to RAV4 as a competitor, in case you hadn’t considered it.

As far as RAV4 vs Tayron is concerned, it is also a question of which variant of each you’re talking about, because you can choose from petrol (Tayron), hybrid (RAV4) or plug-in hybrid (both), all with the option of front- or all-wheel-drive.

Like-for-like, you’ll pay more for the Tayron but will also get seven seats (in all but the base Life variant) and have more features and space than the RAV4. The Tayron also has a slight dynamic edge over the RAV4 and (depending on the variant), the potential of a more powerful engine and better acceleration.

The RAV4’s advantages come down to better resale value, cheaper servicing and wider dealer representation. It is also more efficient than the Tayron across the board, although the gap closes when comparing the PHEVs – the Tayron has a slightly longer battery-only range.

I have a 2022 Subaru Outback and am shopping around for a comprehensive insurance renewal. I haven’t had a broken windscreen for a long time, but a friend told me recently that they are expensive to replace on newer cars because of the cameras? Is it worth getting the extra-cost windscreen insurance cover? - Joy

Answer: Hello Joy, newer cars with windscreen-mounted rain sensors, ADAS cameras and HUD displays are generally more expensive for windscreen replacement than those cars without.

So it’s not a bad idea to have glass insurance cover for a car like your Subaru (that has some of these features) so that if the worst happens and a windscreen is cracked you are not up for a large expense come replacement.

These types of windscreens can cost $1000 or more (up to around $5000, depending on the car) to be replaced.

Not only is the windscreen more specialised and expensive to make to accomodate this technology (particularly the HUD glass) but the ADAS system needs to be recalibrated after the glass replacement to function properly.

However, be aware that the glass insurance cover might not expressly cover what you think it does. While the offer of an excess-free, one glass claim a year sounds great, check the product disclosure statement.

You may find glass cover insurance policies stipulate that they only cover the cost of (often much cheaper) aftermarket glass, which can be of variable quality.

While insurance companies may claim that the aftermarket windscreen is ADR-compliant, that does not mean that the screen is identical in HUD/ADAS performance as glass approved by the vehicle manufacturer.

It just means it complies with basic visual and glass safety requirements set out in the ADRs. The dilemma facing owners is, are the complex safety features in part embedded into the windscreen compromised if not using the screen tested and approved by the vehicle manufacturer?

Aftermarket safety items, especially those so specialised as this, may consist a risk if the aftermarket replacement does not meet the same operational performance standard.

You’d want to sight such testing and have a guarantee that the replacement screen will measure up to the same standard as the original screen.

As a side note, there have been reports (mainly from the US) of Subaru Outback windscreens cracking due to a fault in the screen.

Given your car is still in warranty, if there is no obvious damage (from a stone impact or similar) it may be worth enquiring with a Subaru dealer to see if there may be the opportunity for a goodwill repair or replacement.

Will a Denza B8 handle a lap? 

I’m looking at a Denza B8 for my next car. I am planning to tow a tandem axle off-road caravan with it. Is the B8 any good for towing and travelling for a year on the big lap? - Joseph

Answer: Hey Joseph, we haven’t tow-tested the Denza B8 as yet, but so far there are some promising things about it for towing heavy trailers long distances and some things – rather significant ones – that aren’t so great.

First, a 3500kg braked towing capacity, with 350kg maximum tow ball down weight, are great numbers – as good as any other large SUV.

Even better (for towing something heavy, if not vehicle dynamics) is that the B8 weighs 3.3 tonnes on its own; towing a trailer heavier than the tow vehicle is always an unequal partnership, where the heavier mass wins. Which you don’t want if trailer sway occurs.

So most trailers will likely weigh less than the B8, which is a good thing. The payload, about 700kg, isn’t great, but typical. Most SUVs and utes don’t have much payload. The GCM, just a tick over 7000kg, is again, not exceptionally good but industry-typical.

Like almost any other large SUV towing heavy stuff, you can’t carry everything and some and be legal. You have to keep an eye on the scales. With 425kW/700Nm to play with, even with its big kerb weight, the B8’s towing performance is very promising.

The plug-in hybrid B8 also has a 91-litre fuel tank, so that is theoretically a good thing (for fuel range). However, initial reports suggest that the Denza B8 is quite thirsty towing a heavy (3000kg-plus) trailer, supposedly returning a range of barely 350km.

Even though it can run on cheaper 91RON unleaded, it would likely consume a lot on a big lap, and its range is somewhat limited. That gets to front-of-mind when you have a 400-500km distance between towns and fuel stops.

Lastly, because the Denza brand is quite new to Australia, getting parts and servicing in more remote regions might be more difficult than with an established legacy brand.

I’d suggest a Denza B8 would be potentially a far better proposition for recreational weekend towing where you’re not doing massive kilometres, and can benefit from the far more efficient electric-only operation the B8 affords when running around town without a trailer.

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