Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[Zelandeth]

The actual boot space is about a foot and a half tall, the same deep and thanks to the wheel arches about 2/3rds of the width of the car.

It's also only a 1.4 yet still has suspension which makes that on my old Suzuki Cappuccino - which actually did handle like a go kart - feel luxurious. In conjunction with the lack of any padding on the seats it just makes it bloody uncomfortable.

While it's worth it for the weekend ahead...still wishing I'd just taken the Lada!

If I were looking at a new car, I can safely say it wouldn't be anything German - they all seem as bad as each other as far as comfort is concerned...granted that seems to be much of the industry these days...29" wheels and girders for suspension springs are not necessarily people!

[CitroJim]

The last German I rode in was a small Audi - an A3? Just the same. Hard as a rock. Cheap interior fittings, poor visibility, no comfort and generally horrid..

Not as bad as a VW Sirocco (?) I rode in. That seemed to be totally devoid of any suspension at all, had zero refinement, was noisy and had gun-slits for windows...

The joke was, a few weeks later it failed it's first MOT on failed dampers. Rusted up I guess - from lack of use

They're rubbish. No wonder the average driver of a German car is so angry all the time and drives like a prat; it all makes sense when you actually drive one of the abhorrent things...

Another thing I notice about moderns, when they pass me on my bike, just how incredibly noisy they are. Part of it is down to their tractor tyres but a lot of it is purely mechanical. Its is not pleasant... They make bags of spanners appear quiet!

[Zelandeth]

Does just make me laugh that I'm complaining about lack of refinement - and I'm a Lada driver! Think it shows a lot about how things have gone...

Just had to make an unscheduled stop at a services in the pouring rain because the tyre pressure warning system went off...all tyres at exactly the same pressure...none of which were anywhere near what they should have been. This is a 3 week old car.

[myglaren]

I get a lot of positive comments on the spaciousness and comfort of the C5 and I don't think it is in any way in the same league as the CX, XM or even the BX or Xantia.
Compared to most more recent stuff it certainly has its advantages.

I mentioned to the bloke who does most of the fixing that there was a whistling noise - thought it may have been the turbo and was keeping my fingers crossed.
He found nothing so just carried on.

Discovered what it was last night when I turned the CD player off.
Noise from the alternator feeding back through the multiplayer (that only plays in the nearside speakers anyway).
Action may need to be taken within the next couple of years.

[Zelandeth]

Yaaaaaay...made it to the hotel. Never been so glad to get somewhere in my life.

Early night I think...how six hours of being a passenger can drain you so much I never would have believed!

[daviemck2006]

German cars have a totally undeserved good reputation in my opinion. Maybe 40 years ago could have been justified but certainly not now. When I had my first c5, which was a 2003 sx my ex had her 60 plate mini. One of the times it broke she got a 61 plate bmw 320d auto for a courtesy car. I'd never driven a bmw until then, and I thought it was horrid compared to the 8 year older 100k c5. It squeaked and rattled, was hard seats, hard ride and the interior plastics felt like bakelite! Not what I expected from a "quality" car with 3000 miles covered!

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[CitroJim]

the interior plastics felt like bakelite!

That's an insult to Bakelite Davie

But I do know what you mean, exactly

Zel, good to hear you got there despite all... Have a lovely weekend

[Zelandeth]

Oh we'll have a good weekend no doubt, madness mayhem and general silliness will now ensue.

The exception I make to my general dislike for German motors is any Mercedes made in the mid 80s or earlier...in fact they are very much on my wish list one day. Still rate their vans too.

[CitroJim]

I have no time for Merc. vans at all. Drove a Sprinter to Alicante and back in 2006...

Horrid biscuit tin of a thing... The humble Tranny was far better. The best vans I ever drove were the late model LDVs... Excellent vans and a shame the firm folded

From a cyclists point of view Merc. drivers are the very worst of the very worst in general.

[daviemck2006]

You basically agree with me then Zel, 40 years ago maybe German cars were ok lol.

Our of all the different vans I have driven, made into minibusses, the best ones to drive have been transits. And not the newer ones, the mk5 I think which were the middle to late 90's ones, commonly called the smiley ones. Then the mk6 which still had the gear lever on the floor. The newer ones with the gearhandle on the cash weren't so nice and less reliable. I have no experience of the newest ones. I just never got on with mercs, whether Vito or sprinter, and found iveco extremely uncomfortable. No experience of relay or her sisters, smaller ones give me a dispatch or her sisters.

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[mickeymoon]

You basically agree with me then Zel, 40 years ago maybe German cars were ok lol.

The cars are still OK, I think it is British roads that are the problem! I recently spent time over the channel, and nearly all the roads I drove on were superb - smooth, silent, and allowed high-speed cruising in a car with a bit of a harsh ride in a way impossible over here. I suspect German cars are built more for such roads than our potholed messes.

Got back to the UK, got on the M23, then M25, thought my car was falling apart! Noise, bumps, vibration. Horrible roads! I also have a French car as well as the German designed Spanish built one I was over in Europe in, and the ride is smoother but still noisy and bumpy here compared to over in Europe.


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[CitroJim]

Mickey, good points well made....

Years ago French roads were utterly dreadful and hence why French cars were always so comfy and rode the rough surfaces so well...

They really come into their own again on 21st Century UK roads...

[Hell Razor5543]

There are some roads in Reading that have been re-surfaced, and are a delight to drive, and others that are so rough sailing a dinghy in a force 10 storm would be less uncomfortable.

[Hell Razor5543]

Strange thing, but the aftermath of WWII was a good thing for Citroen. The roads were in such a mess it could take 4 hours to travel 100 miles (my Mum remembers travelling through France when she was a child). Even 10 years afterwards the road system was still a mess. When the DS (with full hydro pneumatic suspension) was launched they could halve the journey time (or better), as they could handle the pot holes and craters better.

[Zelandeth]

Have to confess that the best van I drove was a Mercedes...but before the Sprinter name...old 308D. Had somewhere around half a million miles on before the odometer broke and that was well before I got it...back when it was still a giant Meccanno set and had the dashboard with the giant square warning lights on it.

Loved that old thing. It was perpetually milliseconds from flying apart at the seams...yet somehow still exuded an aura which let you know that it was simply going to go forever. Really regret selling it! Still going now as far as I know.

The gear change however was something which was an art form to operate rather than a skill...there were five forward gears in there, but if you didn't know exactly how to get to them, you'd had it!

Have never driven a Transit from the same era, but would love a chance to so I could compare...do remember thinking as a five year old though that the little light up stripes on the dash next to the warning lights on the dash though we're very cool...reckon that was where a fascination with instrument panel design that continues to this day started...