iCAUR 03 iWD Review: Nice to Drive… But Annoying To Live With

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The retro aesthetic of the iCAUR 03 is unfortunately spoiled by the most modern of problems…

There’s a rather well-known saying about never meeting your heroes, because you’ll almost always end up disappointed. And in the case of the iCAUR 03, this unfortunately feels like one of those situations.

Now to be fair here, while this writer hadn’t exactly harboured devoted adoration for this all-electric 4×4, there was nevertheless a genuine desire to like it. But after spending a few days with it, the unfortunate takeaway though is that it is not something that could be wholeheartedly recommended…

Just before diving into why this Defender clone doesn’t quite float this writer’s boat though, it is perhaps only fair to start off on a gentler note with some of its positives first. And it goes without saying that one of its biggest draws to the iCAUR 03 is the way it looks.

Boxy is well and truly back in vogue, and this thing leans fully into that trend. It is unapologetically “mini Defender”, and especially in British Racing Green, it looks cooler than the proverbial cucumber.

Another big plus worth highlighting with the iCAUR 03 is also how it drives. This twin-motor variant on test here in particular is surprisingly spritely, with that instant EV shove helping this brick hustle to 100 km/h in just 6.5 seconds. Pair that with its upright proportions and compact footprint, and you get excellent visibility all around, which thusly makes it ridiculously easy to place on the road.

And speaking of placing it on the road, this Chinese electric 4×4 even handles better than expected. The steering has a decent weight and feel to it, and while this might be a bit childish, there’s still a bit of a giggle to be had throwing this tall and narrow thing into corners.

But… getting to the negatives already, there are three reasons not to really push this iCAUR to its limits:

The Chao Yang tyres fitted as standard are simply not the grippiest things around, and they do very little to inspire confidence when pushing on
The 69.8 kWh battery has to fight against a shape that is about as aerodynamic as a fridge, so the claimed 418 km range does disappear quicker than expected (especially when enjoying its nippiness)
Worst of all though, there is this incessant buzzing noise from the front right (of this test car at least) once you push past 120 km/h. It is not the speed warning alarm, nor lane departure alert, but something that sounds like a broken electronic buzzer, and is just annoying enough to make this writer either slow down… or speed up just to make the noise end sooner.

In any case, things do improve again when driving it at a more sensible pace. The ride is surprisingly cushy given the rugged aesthetic, and NVH is generally well sorted. Annoying high speed buzzing noise aside, the iCAUR 03 is really the kind of car where you can cruise along without really noticing how fast you’re going.

Incidentally, the interior of this iCAUR could also be said to exceed initial expectations. The chunky design is nicely contrasted by good material quality and equally decent fit and finish. There are even a few nice “civilian car” touches thrown in too: a decent Infinity sound system, not to mention seats that come with airplane-style wings on the headrests, extendable leg rests, and ventilation.

And although space is at an expected premium (the boot will struggle to fit large luggage), for what is not a very long or very wide vehicle, the boxy shape does nevertheless mean four lanky lads could still get quite comfortable in it.

But… and this is where the rant really begins, what is not so nice about the interior is actually living with it.

Starting with the user interface, there is unfortunately no other way to describe it than borderline unlivable. Why? Because someone, somewhere must have decided, likely in the sake of modernity (read: cost cutting), that it is best to have no buttons anywhere at all!

One might reasonably expect that, especially from an off-road ready car, to have all the buttons in the world so that drivers can use it easily when bouncing around off-road. But nope, everything is on the bloody screen. In fact, this iCAUR 03 has as many as nine driving modes… which is more modes than there are buttons on the whole dashboard.

And just for a clear case in point on how annoying it is in the real world to have everything on the screen, adjusting the mirrors requires a full stop-car proper dive into the confusing menu systems. The user interface is also so minimalist that this writer couldn’t actually figure out how to see what speed or following distance the adaptive cruise control is set to (…which is compounded by the lack of a dedicated driver’s display).

The only saving grace is the rather neat scroll wheel toggle on the left of the steering wheel, which can be programmed to adjust fan speed (left right toggle) and temperature (up down scroll wheel). Then again, it does feel like an innovative solution to a redundant problem of not having any physical buttons.

And speaking of livability quirks, the lack of buttons is really just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s the rest of the long — but still non-exhaustive — list:

The self-centring indicator stalk is a pain. Seriously, why have it default back to centre every time? The whole point of the stalk staying up or down while indicating is so there’s a tactile reminder that it’s still active.
The sunroof switch retracts half the sunshade, and then tilts the actual sunroof up slightly as well, which is a pain when most other cars do it in stages: sunshade first, then sunroof on a second press of the switch.
Although there aren’t many physical buttons up front, each door does contain a physical button for bringing up the in-car voice assist. Because clearly you really want your rear passengers to be able to disrupt the music while driving…

The glovebox opens from the screen, because a simple latch is apparently too expensive. Though they did find the money for four electronic switches as door poppers instead.
Being a typical Chinese car, the active safety systems are on hyper alert. It loves to flash the hazards when a motorcycle is lane-splitting in traffic, and even triggered autonomous emergency braking when a motorcycle cut across into another lane. Luckily there was no car ahead.
There is no rear tonneau cover.

So in summing this up, all those little foibles just leave the overall impression of this iCAUR a tad lacking. It may certainly be easy to enjoy the looks and the initial test drive impression in the showroom, but driving it day to day is where things start to feel a bit more frustrating.

Just to be clear here, it is not to say not to go for this iCAUR, because the positives are there. But what is really ironic is that despite its throwback looks, it is pretty much plagued by many of the same issues affecting most modern cars.

Odds and Ends

The iCAUR 03 features a motorised charging flap, which is cool, but is it really necessary for something that is supposed to be a rugged off-roader?

The windows of the iCAUR 03 doesn’t actually go fully down on the first press of the button, leaving a small section visible, which only drops fully after pressing the switch a second time.

While the iCAUR 03 may not have a frunk, there is nevertheless a lockable rear box that can hold up to 10 kg. No real idea what you’d actually put in there (the charging cable, maybe?), but it’s there.