We spent quite a bit of time today test driving a Long Range Raven and a Performance MX. We have a 2018MX 75D with 44K miles on it so far so we have a decent amount of experience with it. Wanted to share some feedback from myself, and my wife who drives our X most of the time.
1. The Raven has what seems to be better suspension when traveling on side streets with lots of bumps, cracks, etc. It soaks them up with less noise and intrusion versus the 18. However on the interstate most of which was newly paved, we both noticed that you can feel most of the imperfections in the surface much more on the Raven. Some may call this feedback, it makes the body "tremor" while driving. Placed a half full small water bottle on the dash, and yes the water was vibrating quite a bit. Not as smooth as the 18 on the highway. It is possible something was up with tires or something else but this was a brand new car.
2. Motor whine, the Raven has significantly more motor whine or gear whine, not sure exactly where it was coming from, but driving a steady speed with little forward force on the power train caused noticeable whining, actually almost annoying.
3. Another thing we both noticed the front seating was different, I could not get the seat to be a high as our car, I felt lower almost car like compared to what I am used to. Not sure what was different but it was there.
These were the 3 notable differences that we encountered, I was excited before getting there with some high hopes of placing an order today for the Raven, but it left us both disappointed so we are keeping the 18 for a while and will see what happens in the future.
One other note, I would have to test with a sound meter but we both believe the 18 MX was quieter overall compared to the Raven, and we purposely drove on the same route with both cars and paid very close attention hoping the 2020 would be enough to squeeze the trigger, sadly it just wasn't there.
I know in the past it help us when other people share their observations and opinions, just wanted to share our drive today.
1. The Raven has what seems to be better suspension when traveling on side streets with lots of bumps, cracks, etc. It soaks them up with less noise and intrusion versus the 18. However on the interstate most of which was newly paved, we both noticed that you can feel most of the imperfections in the surface much more on the Raven. Some may call this feedback, it makes the body "tremor" while driving. Placed a half full small water bottle on the dash, and yes the water was vibrating quite a bit. Not as smooth as the 18 on the highway. It is possible something was up with tires or something else but this was a brand new car.
2. Motor whine, the Raven has significantly more motor whine or gear whine, not sure exactly where it was coming from, but driving a steady speed with little forward force on the power train caused noticeable whining, actually almost annoying.
3. Another thing we both noticed the front seating was different, I could not get the seat to be a high as our car, I felt lower almost car like compared to what I am used to. Not sure what was different but it was there.
These were the 3 notable differences that we encountered, I was excited before getting there with some high hopes of placing an order today for the Raven, but it left us both disappointed so we are keeping the 18 for a while and will see what happens in the future.
One other note, I would have to test with a sound meter but we both believe the 18 MX was quieter overall compared to the Raven, and we purposely drove on the same route with both cars and paid very close attention hoping the 2020 would be enough to squeeze the trigger, sadly it just wasn't there.
I know in the past it help us when other people share their observations and opinions, just wanted to share our drive today.
