went to local Audi showroom today

thomasross20

Axe_meister said:

thomasross20;407303" said:

I'm now seriously interested in Honda Civic 1.6L i-DTECs lol... 70mpg is amazing, they look good, and I hear Honda are reliable (servicing must cost roughly the same as a Focus, right?). Anybody anything to say about these? Just mentioned it to the girlfriend but she hates the size of the rear-view window on Hondas. I can't believe the mpg...!!

Got to say the VW Golf gets mentioned again and again and again in most articles...

I guess I should also take into account the fact that diesel is more expensive than petrol so those high mpg figures definitely look good compared to my 38mpg petrol!

My wife has the civic 1.6D. Great car, very much a tardis, put the back seats down and you have a small van.
But we do not get 70+mpg more around 60 but then most of our driving is in and around London.
I'd go well the Honda over the golf any day, so much more room for the money and it looks cool as well.

I actually prefer the look of the Golf inside, actually! Saw both today and both looked good. The back window of the Honda isn't very big, looks good on the outside. So you'd heartily recommend? I just don't know whether to run my petrol Focus into the ground or get a new car...

What car is £15 to fill up!?

Are diesels more expensive to maintain? 

TTony

musicegbdf said:

Time for this old boy to have some fun.
.

My little old diesel does 0-62 in 6.2secs and with 265bhp and 620nM / 450 lbft, acceleration is pretty impressive from any speed to lots faster.  Easily >50 mpg on a decent run too.  

sinbaadi

I've never really gone along with the negative stereotyping of people who drive certain types of cars.  It's like one person says something, someone else agrees and that's enough for people.

I've seen terrible driving by people in almost every single brand of car you can imagine, we all have if we're honest, and if we're really honest do we actually sit down and look at the sales figures and work out our own accurate twat-per vehicle of that type/brand on the road-percentage?  

"You've seen more idiots in white vans?  Really?  The most popular colour of van?  How surprising!"

Alnico

2005 Ford KA

Original cost in 2007 - £2,500

£100 per month on fuel

£160 per yer road tax

£25 per month to insure

Every MOT since 3 years old has cost no more than a bulb or two and one exhaust tailpipe

Every year a set of part worn tyres - £60

Can get 2 guitarists gear in the back with the seats folded down 

Does exactly the same speed as a Ferrari Enzo in traffic (which is everywhere)

Can park virtually anywhere

Police almost ignore it

Still manage to get everywhere but all monies saved on not driving an expensive car get spent on having a great time living a great life.

Audi drivers can be as smug as they like................

monquixote

My audi cost less than that

Forge

The work pool car is the A6 TDI, I have pretty much inherited it as the staff numbers went down but I prefer the 2007 Jetta I used to have. Great drive, economical and won't get you noticed ever.

ToneControl

ICBM said:

thomasross20 said:

I'd always steer clear of rear-wheel drive as friends with that on BMWs have terrible problems steering in winter. I've only ever driven FWD. Never tried 4WD.

In snow like we had a couple of years ago here, my Renault FWD drove like a barge, my neighbour's RWD BMW was more or less undriveable, and my wife's Suzuki 4WD… drove perfectly normally. (Allowing for the greater stopping distance, which 4WD doesn't negate.) We now don't want to be without one 4WD car in the winter.

If you get proper winter tyres, RWD is no problem at all. I would assume the Suzuki had more wintery tyres
I have driven only RWD for 20 years (incl a couple of 4WDs too on the side), I hate FWD. Never had any trouble with RWD

Check out the youtube videos showing the same car with and without winter tyres

jd0272

Axe_meister said:

Also what is the point of having a a saloon car. The boot is pretty impractical and 90% of the time reps don't have any passengers, driving response is often sluggish, they drink fuel. What's needed is an executive hatch.

Maserati Quattroporte 4.7 GTS answers your query.

And nah, I ain't got one   

:x

jd0272

ICBM said:

thomasross20 said:

4WD aren't usually very economical though, right? I'm looking at 60+mpg…

No, even the modern ones with intelligent 4WD - only engages the rear wheels when it senses loss of traction - don't seem to be quite as economical as standard 2WD. The generally slightly larger engine probably don't help, and they're usually heavier.

Yeah that's my 2.2D Rav 4, but by God, rock solid whatever the weather. At the minute 49 mpg. Still £110 pw in diesel, but I drive a lot of miles because of childcare/school location. Comfy, quick'ish, can get all of my gear in. What's not to like?

monquixote

I used to live next to a farm just off the edge of where the council gritted meaning my road was always icy in winter and then compacted by tractors into a sheet of glass you could barely even walk over. 

Just about everyone on the street drove 4x4s occasionally someone would pull up in a Merc or a BMW and then usually end up doing a 180 with wheels flailing (and occasionally into the hedge) rather than pulling onto the main road.

ThePrettyDamned

I drive a Ford puma.

Poor mpg (about 41-42mpg for me, but it's from 1999)
Old enough to need regular work, ensuring you're constantly poor (luckily my cam belt was already done, but I needed a couple of suspension bushes)
Girly looks


But it's an awesome car handles amazingly, isn't *that* terrible in snow or ice (as in, I can still drive it with great care), has enough on tap for overtakes and is just generally good fun.

Actually really want ford to remake it, with the current fiesta chassis, 1 litre eco boost as standard (same power as my 1.7 zetec, lighter and loads more mpg!), better brakes and stiffer springs and 4 seats/good looks along with the same, decent sized old boot.

I doubt a small coupe has much of a place in the current eco market, sadly, everyone wants chav twuntmobiles.

Sorry, I meant hot hatchbacks.

Hoping my puma lasts for another 2 years till I'm back at uni, then sell it and not need a car for as long as possible.

I'd like to get my bike license, much more economical for work runs. And fun if anyone wants to give me tips...

ICBM

ToneControl said:

I would assume the Suzuki had more wintery tyres

No. Standard tyres.

It's the 4WD that makes the most difference. Winter tyres do make a difference too, but a 4WD with winter tyres will still do better than a 2WD with them. Simple physics when you think about what happens when you try to move a vehicle by turning only two of the wheels rather than turning all four of them.

The mistake some 4WD drivers make in the snow is thinking that they will stop better than a 2WD as well. They won't… since all cars have four-wheel braking.

ToneControl

ICBM said:

ToneControl said:

I would assume the Suzuki had more wintery tyres

No. Standard tyres.

It's the 4WD that makes the most difference. Winter tyres do make a difference too, but a 4WD with winter tyres will still do better than a 2WD with them. Simple physics when you think about what happens when you try to move a vehicle by turning only two of the wheels rather than turning all four of them.

The mistake some 4WD drivers make in the snow is thinking that they will stop better than a 2WD as well. They won't… since all cars have four-wheel braking.

are they just normal all-weather car tyres? I wasn't expecting that

Anyway, I'd prefer if my car were 4wd, but nevertheless, winter tyres seem like a no-brainer if winter travel is unavoidable, I've been commuting 120-150 miles a day over the last few years, and winter tyres made that a lot safer and reduced stress.
I would not have believed how much difference they make, and I don't just mean when it's snowing: grip in the wet, cold dry, slush, etc - miles better

Moltisanti

i was taking to German colleague about winter tyres, he was amazed that they are not mandatory in the UK.

In Germany once the temperature hits a certain point it is announced that Winter Tyres are mandatory, if you drive without them from that point your insurance is invalid!

Admittedly they get a lot more snow than us on average but still...

jd0272

I've never used winter tyres. I probably should, but I just try and drive more 'properly' than usual. Never been stuck/caught out/ice skating in the car yet. Mind you, I do make sure the tread levels are all up to scratch on the existing tyres.

I remember the winter we had coupla years back, a proper one. The whole A1 froze at going home time. That was a commute and a half. All sensibly doing 30mph in the left lane when got out of the city catchment and numerous twats in Rangey's zooming past at ridiculous speeds for the conditions. Good luck with the braking and all that.. It's amazing how much faith some people put in a 4x4 quite mistakenly. 

ICBM

The weather simply isn't bad enough here to make them necessary usually. I know they're a good idea too, but I can't really justify spending £500 on a set of tyres that I might need for two months of the year, when I do low mileage anyway. I can see the point if you're commuting distances like ToneControl is, because they do give you more normal handling in less than ideal conditions, but for the limited driving I do they just don't make enough difference in no-snow conditions, and less difference than 4WD (even with non-winter tyres) does for getting moving in snow.

I know this is the muddle-through attitude that makes things grind to a halt in the UK on the rare occasions it does get really bad, but that's the point really...

jd0272

I think a lot of it is down to driver attitude. Same when it rains heavily, people panic and crawl (well they do up 'ere anyway). Probably sensible tho.

ToneControl

ICBM said:

The weather simply isn't bad enough here to make them necessary usually. I know they're a good idea too, but I can't really justify spending £500 on a set of tyres that I might need for two months of the year, when I do low mileage anyway. I can see the point if you're commuting distances like ToneControl is, because they do give you more normal handling in less than ideal conditions, but for the limited driving I do they just don't make enough difference in no-snow conditions, and less difference than 4WD (even with non-winter tyres) does for getting moving in snow.

I know this is the muddle-through attitude that makes things grind to a halt in the UK on the rare occasions it does get really bad, but that's the point really...

I leave them on for 6 months, and some tyre fitters say leaving them on through the summer here is no problem
They do make a big difference in rain and when cold with no snow
they are significantly better under 7C in all conditions, they are a softer compound
at 20C they are slightly softer than you'd want, but only a small lack of performance compared summery tyres, when considering the massive improvement in winter performance

In the cold, driving with winter tyres on is like driving on rails compared to normal tyres, especially if you keep buying torquey cars like me
After a few slips and aquaplanes using normal tyres, I feel they are necessary, certainly not a "nice to have", same logic I applied to getting directional tyres with channels that get rid of water properly for our lovely summers
Last year I tried "premium economy tyres" in the summer. It was like driving on black ice when the road was just damp, I am an advocate on getting the best tyres possible for each season.

Also: when braking these actually work in the snow and ice, and work much better in dry cold too

3 times the stopping distance in snow for normal tyres
a big difference in cold wet too

Blueingreen

I have an Audi A4 but I'm very atypical in that I have an extremely low level of interest in cars. I'm continually caught out by someone assuming that I will have noticed what car a neighbour or someone else drives, and I never know.

It's a 2006 reg so it's now about 7 or 8 years old. It replaced a VW Golf that was around 12-13 years old so I've bought one car in something like 20 years.  

I wouldn't buy the same car again.  For some reason I decided I wanted a spacious saloon, thinking it'd be more comfortable, but I find I don't need the space and it's harder to park.  I'd go for something smaller next time, but it could be years before I'm motivated to change.  I think about it from time to time but can't see the upside to justify the cost.

FX_Munkee

jd0272 said:

Axe_meister said:

Also what is the point of having a a saloon car. The boot is pretty impractical and 90% of the time reps don't have any passengers, driving response is often sluggish, they drink fuel. What's needed is an executive hatch.

Maserati Quattroporte 4.7 GTS answers your query.

And nah, I ain't got one   

:x

I considered a quattroporte as a replacement to my Alfa (stop sniggering).
But 18mpg is a bit much for even me to ignore.