2012 Montes Urban
Performance - ★★★★
The 2.0-litre 4-cylinder engine pushes out 159 bhp @ 7500 rpm and 144 lb-ft @ 4400 rpm. The power delivery isn't as good as you would hope it to be looking at the figures as the torque curve isn't the flattest and there is a definite increase as revs rise and then it reduces slowly after peak torque, but it still does perform quite nicely. It just doesn't perform very smoothly. Otherwise, the car is very rapid indeed. The cruising ability this has is brilliant and it doesn't even require a downshift for overtaking as it has more than enough power to pull it along. The engine is also reasonably responsive. The 0-62 mph sprint is done in a rather quick 7.8 seconds and the top speed is a very rapid 149 mph, faster than a lot of more powerful cars.
Ride Comfort - ★★★
The Urban doesn't ride particularly well. The suspension set-up, front and back is rather firm. At low speeds, as expected, it jiggles and fidgets about quite a lot and can become rather uncomfortable for those who do a lot of town driving. Out on the open road however, the car begins to settle down a lot and manages to soak up the bumps reasonably well. The car can still feel a bit too firm over poorer surfaces but at these speeds it is never tiring nor uncomfortable. The car's suspension does do a good job at keeping the car sturdy though. It doesn't bounce around at all after going over larger bumps (however it does jolt a bit) and the body roll is kept very well under control,
Handling - ★★★
The handling, considering that it has a firm suspension set-up, isn't as good as we hoped. The steering is nice and precise, quick to react, well weighted and has enough feedback and, as we already know, it keeps body roll under control, but apart from that it isn't exactly brilliant. The grip is alright, but it is no more than that. It manages to get up to the point where you are just about to go around a corner reasonably quickly and it will run out of grip and understeer. If you put your foot to the floor, you may think that as it is RWD it would spin up its rear wheels somewhat and give you the ability to have some tail-end happiness fun, but because there are so many traction aids on this car it is next to impossible.
Refinement - ★★
The Urban is rather disappointing is this category for a simple mistake. The engine is very quiet at idle and when cruising and only makes a bit of noise under acceleration, but Montes seem to have forgot to work on sound insulation. Road noise and wind noise can be heard at considerably low speeds and it doesn't even need to be over rough surfaces, and once you get the car up to higher cruising speeds the road noise and wind noise becomes really rather vocal. The wind noise is almost so bad that it makes you wonder if a window is open slightly. On poor surfaces it can become really rather annoying and requires you to raise your voice to have a conversation or turn up the radio in order to be able to enjoy listening to music.
Equipment - ★★★
The Urban only comes with a rather standard level of equipment and not much more than that. Although it comes with every traction aid under the sun and the amount of safety tech is reasonable, the car fails to come with the equipment you would expect from a top of the range hatchback. What you expect to find in any hatchback is there however it misses out on some options we are beginning to find more and more often in hatchbacks such as cruise control and touch screen systems for the controls. It is reasonable, but could be better.
Quality - ★★★
The interior of the Montes Urban is only reasonable as well. There are some nice soft-touch plastics in the upper areas of the cabin and the rest of the materials in the visible areas do feel reasonably nice and very well put togther, however when you get into the back of the car and look in the less visible areas of the cabin, you discover that the plastics start to become rather scratchy and rough feeling. These poorer plastics do remain to feel nice and solid and it looks like it will be able to support plenty of rough treatment. This sounds alright, but in a 160 bhp hatchback that isn't what is to be expected.
Reliability - ★★★★
The Montes Urban impresses a lot more in this area and almost scraped itself a 5-star rating, but it didn't quite get there. The engine is very reliable and should be able to undergo 40000 miles of driving without running into a single issue, however this is no better than what we expect an engine to do nowadays. It is still good. Thanks to the fact that the interior feels sturdy and well built enough to withstand poor treatment and the fact that there are not many gadgets to go wrong, we reckon you shouldn't be facing bills any time soon after buying it and even then it won't come to much.
Running Costs - ★★★
This is another only reasonable area for the Montes Urban. Most 160 bhp engines nowadays are turbocharged and smaller than the 2.0-litre engine that is seen in this car which makes them more fuel efficient, however even then the 42 mpg claimed by the 2.0-litre engine doesn't sound that great. The MkVI Volkswagen Golf GTI has 60 more bhp than this car yet that is claimed to achieve 47 mpg. This, therefore just isn't good enough. Another downside is the fact the servicing prices Montes are asking for aren't exactly cheap either. On a good note, insurance shouldn't cost much and may be cheaper than rivals due to the fact there isn't much tech to go wrong and there is no expensive turbocharged engine inside.
Safety - ★★★★
The Montes Urban comes very well equipped in the safety area. All the safety equipment you would need is in the car, including multiple airbags and pretensioning seatbelts. It doesn't have anything super special like pedestrian detection or automatic brakes, but these aren't really necessary. The traction aids are all there, inculding ones that aren't even really needed such as launch control (more of a performance thing, but still). In the event you do crash it into something then, you are more than likely to walk out unscathed, unless of course it was a hard crash.
OVERALL - ★★★
For: Good safety equipment, decent reliability, wonderful engine
Against: Many mediocre areas such as driving, refinement, quality and equipment.
The 2.0-litre 4-cylinder engine pushes out 159 bhp @ 7500 rpm and 144 lb-ft @ 4400 rpm. The power delivery isn't as good as you would hope it to be looking at the figures as the torque curve isn't the flattest and there is a definite increase as revs rise and then it reduces slowly after peak torque, but it still does perform quite nicely. It just doesn't perform very smoothly. Otherwise, the car is very rapid indeed. The cruising ability this has is brilliant and it doesn't even require a downshift for overtaking as it has more than enough power to pull it along. The engine is also reasonably responsive. The 0-62 mph sprint is done in a rather quick 7.8 seconds and the top speed is a very rapid 149 mph, faster than a lot of more powerful cars.
Ride Comfort - ★★★
The Urban doesn't ride particularly well. The suspension set-up, front and back is rather firm. At low speeds, as expected, it jiggles and fidgets about quite a lot and can become rather uncomfortable for those who do a lot of town driving. Out on the open road however, the car begins to settle down a lot and manages to soak up the bumps reasonably well. The car can still feel a bit too firm over poorer surfaces but at these speeds it is never tiring nor uncomfortable. The car's suspension does do a good job at keeping the car sturdy though. It doesn't bounce around at all after going over larger bumps (however it does jolt a bit) and the body roll is kept very well under control,
Handling - ★★★
The handling, considering that it has a firm suspension set-up, isn't as good as we hoped. The steering is nice and precise, quick to react, well weighted and has enough feedback and, as we already know, it keeps body roll under control, but apart from that it isn't exactly brilliant. The grip is alright, but it is no more than that. It manages to get up to the point where you are just about to go around a corner reasonably quickly and it will run out of grip and understeer. If you put your foot to the floor, you may think that as it is RWD it would spin up its rear wheels somewhat and give you the ability to have some tail-end happiness fun, but because there are so many traction aids on this car it is next to impossible.
Refinement - ★★
The Urban is rather disappointing is this category for a simple mistake. The engine is very quiet at idle and when cruising and only makes a bit of noise under acceleration, but Montes seem to have forgot to work on sound insulation. Road noise and wind noise can be heard at considerably low speeds and it doesn't even need to be over rough surfaces, and once you get the car up to higher cruising speeds the road noise and wind noise becomes really rather vocal. The wind noise is almost so bad that it makes you wonder if a window is open slightly. On poor surfaces it can become really rather annoying and requires you to raise your voice to have a conversation or turn up the radio in order to be able to enjoy listening to music.
Equipment - ★★★
The Urban only comes with a rather standard level of equipment and not much more than that. Although it comes with every traction aid under the sun and the amount of safety tech is reasonable, the car fails to come with the equipment you would expect from a top of the range hatchback. What you expect to find in any hatchback is there however it misses out on some options we are beginning to find more and more often in hatchbacks such as cruise control and touch screen systems for the controls. It is reasonable, but could be better.
Quality - ★★★
The interior of the Montes Urban is only reasonable as well. There are some nice soft-touch plastics in the upper areas of the cabin and the rest of the materials in the visible areas do feel reasonably nice and very well put togther, however when you get into the back of the car and look in the less visible areas of the cabin, you discover that the plastics start to become rather scratchy and rough feeling. These poorer plastics do remain to feel nice and solid and it looks like it will be able to support plenty of rough treatment. This sounds alright, but in a 160 bhp hatchback that isn't what is to be expected.
Reliability - ★★★★
The Montes Urban impresses a lot more in this area and almost scraped itself a 5-star rating, but it didn't quite get there. The engine is very reliable and should be able to undergo 40000 miles of driving without running into a single issue, however this is no better than what we expect an engine to do nowadays. It is still good. Thanks to the fact that the interior feels sturdy and well built enough to withstand poor treatment and the fact that there are not many gadgets to go wrong, we reckon you shouldn't be facing bills any time soon after buying it and even then it won't come to much.
Running Costs - ★★★
This is another only reasonable area for the Montes Urban. Most 160 bhp engines nowadays are turbocharged and smaller than the 2.0-litre engine that is seen in this car which makes them more fuel efficient, however even then the 42 mpg claimed by the 2.0-litre engine doesn't sound that great. The MkVI Volkswagen Golf GTI has 60 more bhp than this car yet that is claimed to achieve 47 mpg. This, therefore just isn't good enough. Another downside is the fact the servicing prices Montes are asking for aren't exactly cheap either. On a good note, insurance shouldn't cost much and may be cheaper than rivals due to the fact there isn't much tech to go wrong and there is no expensive turbocharged engine inside.
Safety - ★★★★
The Montes Urban comes very well equipped in the safety area. All the safety equipment you would need is in the car, including multiple airbags and pretensioning seatbelts. It doesn't have anything super special like pedestrian detection or automatic brakes, but these aren't really necessary. The traction aids are all there, inculding ones that aren't even really needed such as launch control (more of a performance thing, but still). In the event you do crash it into something then, you are more than likely to walk out unscathed, unless of course it was a hard crash.
OVERALL - ★★★
For: Good safety equipment, decent reliability, wonderful engine
Against: Many mediocre areas such as driving, refinement, quality and equipment.