So what about the middle 1/2

Nice one PaulF / Wifey, good to see people opting for other brands other than German or a Mini

 

its a nissan gtr and a mini welded together...badly. ffs.

i think eyesight tests should be made harder to keep these things off the road.


angrycrew out.

 

Soul/Angrycrew,you drive a VAUXHALL ffs, infinitely worse than a Citrus!

 

Girl's car - when u gonna stop driving it and let Sam have a go?

 

When your Gender Reassignment Therapy is finally complete

 

I'm already too much man for you

 

The car has now passed 1100 miles, so I thought I’d give those interested a quick update.

The car is actually turning out to be a really pleasant drive, and is loosening up nicely too. The engine is a little unrefined/harsh at the top 500 RPM, but other than that it’s a very nice unit, with a sporty, yet not too intrusive rasp. It’s got a nice turn of speed (for a modern 1600), pulling well from around 2000 all the way to the 6000 red line. It’s also an incredibly quiet and comfortable motorway cruiser, even at “higher” motorway speeds.

The traction control is the least obtrusive of any system I’ve tried, and seems to rain in the front wheels, rather than just cutting the power dead to get things back on an even keel. Whilst the weather has been appalling, I haven’t really pushed on, but on the occasions I have the car is sure footed, if a little anodyne. I can see why the steering was thought to be too light and numb, as at slow speeds the car assumes it’s in City Mode. Once above about 45-50 mph it weights up nicely, and whilst not the most communicative, it’ll still give you a picture of what’s going on (think Wife in a strop, not full on temper tantrum ). I would suggest that the journos most critical of the steering probably didn't test the car outside of a town environment.

The bits I’m not too keen on; well the seat has the same adjuster as the S and therefore seat back angle is a compromise between too upright, and too laid back, but I think I’ve found an OK position that suits us both. Also, you seem to sit a little too high, but again, that’s both in comparison to the S and a modern car thing.

We have also encountered a problem (as many would expect from a Citroen). The car was taking an age to warm up, which we put down to it being a par for the car. It then started to tell us it was overheating, and then back to cold once more. A quick call to Citroen Assist (nee the AA) diagnosed the problem as a Temp Sensor issue. The car was taken to the local dealer who sorted it with the minimum of fuss. The only other issue we have currently is with the stereo. It seems very fussy as to the CD’s it will play (and no, it’s not got better taste in music than us ), and if there’s even so much as a thumb print on it, it skips and jumps. We had this issue in the Clio and the unit appears to be from the same manufacturer, so it’ll be going back to Citroen in the near future for rectification. Overall, this is no worse than any of the Clios we’ve taken delivery of, or for that matter any Ford/Pug/Toyota I’ve had as new company cars in the past for that matter. Infact, whilst it's had a problem, it's been less fuss to sort it out.

Overall, the first thousand miles or so have been very pleasant, and one niggle aside, the car hasn’t missed a beat, doesn’t rattle, and nothing has fallen off. I’ll keep you posted as we get more miles on.

 

Interesting read Paul - it's a nice looking car for a French one

Who's the stereo manufacturer?

 

Not really sure, it has the same "look/feel" as an old Phillips model, but I don't even know if they still do car systems.

 

No Philips don't. Most come out of just a few factories these days. I'll see some (or a colleague will) over the next couple of days so could try and find out, and see if it's a known issue.