What Cars Do You Drive?

[kchika]

Congrats, KeithMEL. A great choice!

[bryan_sq]

you should take it to the NT to go on the open hwy to see if it gets to 240 kmh

[N_Architect]

Lovely to see it with only 16km on the clock... brand new... Congrats. Interior looks great.

[9V-JKL]

Congrats KeithMEL for the new ride. You may want to blank out your registration.

[HUGE AL]

Congrats, KeithMEL! Glad to see my ride when I'm in MEL.

[KeithMEL]

[Lobster]

Hello my friend...

This may have been true till recently but IMO this rule is now changed. The "new" dual-clutch transmissions (DCTs) have levelled the playing field. If anything the DCT technology from VW/Audi is now the most advanced.

Just my 2 cents.

I used to have a DCT Audi A3 and absolutely loved it, by far the best transmission either manual or automatic I have ever used. Unfortunately I had to sell it when I got posted overseas.

Now I drive a motely collection of work vehicles. One of which is an automatic Subaru Impreza which is the most horrible transmission/engine combination I have ever had the misfortune to drive. Trying to drive along and the thing is just constantly changing gears.

[N_Architect]

... However, things have changed quite a bit in the last few years...

... this rule is now changed...

Oh well, I agree here with you guys, times and technology change, I guess. Seems I'm still too much with past memories in my mind...

N_Architect - So, after all that, why the A170 over the 1-series?

1. BMW would have to be 116 in the price tag I had allocated for that purchase, and I wanted the 1 series with either 1.8L or 2.0L engine, so that was the first reason. I believe a 1.6L engine is not strong enough for that chassis. Also, when you get a 2.0L car in Greece (I was in Greece at the time), you are taxed more and have to show higher minimum annual income, a criteria which I could not meet back then.

2. BMW is a bit low height-wise for me, mainly with respect to entering/exiting the car; I'm not used to that (yet). Low VCG as well (Vertical Center of Gravity, as we say in ships) is great for cornering, but I'm used to a higher driving position.

3. BMW ride was hard for me, and mind you I was coming from a German car (had been in Greece with a new 3-door Golf IV since 1999). Perhaps now if I test drive it again I may think & decide differently, but at the time I wanted something a tad 'softer'.

4. The 3-door Mercedes A170 won me on looks, practicality, interior, options (extras), exterior dimensions (easier to park), auto gearbox (which I was going to try for first time in one of my cars), sunroof, driving position (quite high), and payment terms. Engine torque and performance was ok, so no problems there (of course nothing exciting either...)

The result: Ordered the Merc, paid Eur 1,500 deposit, vehicle with my specs had 3 month delivery waiting. Two months after I placed the order, I was offered to go to South Korea as site manager in the shipyards, representing a Greek shipowner and supervising the site team and construction of two oil/chemical tankers. In two months after that I was on the EK plane (in Y, naturally) on a o/w seaman's ticket (40 kg check-in baggage allowance) heading to Seoul and then on KE to Pusan...

Enquiry of cancelling my car order to Mercedes dealer was placed so to get my $$$ deposit back. Dealer replied that car is ready to go out of production line and as it is a 'specially configured car' they may have had difficulty to sell upon arrival in Greece, so they withheld the deposit till they had someone who would actually agree to buy the car. I had a friend who knew the manager in that dealership, pushed the right button, got my Eur 1.5k back after another 3 months.

Perhaps things are better this way. My mother has my pacific blue (metallic) Golf now back in Greece (it has 158k on the clock and running as smoothly as ever) while I'm going round the world on a never-ending journey, driving company cars which do the job fine... (in countries where speeding is severely chased and punished )

[milehighj]

No doubt about that but they're actually designed/developed by Borg Warner.

Duly noted. As are many commonly used transmissions developed by specialists - Borg-Warner, ZF...?

Maybe with the recent takeover of Porsche by VW, we will see PDK-equipped Audis, Lamborghinis, VWs...?

[9V-JKL]

If anything the DCT technology from VW/Audi is now the most advanced.

No doubt about that but they're actually designed/developed by Borg Warner.

[milehighj]

- One more 'rule': If you want auto gearbox, get a Merc (E- or S-class), they have traditionally been excellent in auto boxes; if you want a manual, get a BMW (the 5- or 7-series should ideally not be paired with automatic transmissions). Of course in these days every car in this league hardly comes with a 5 or 6 speed purely manual box, but this is what had been happening in history till we reached today...

Hello my friend...

This may have been true till recently but IMO this rule is now changed. The "new" dual-clutch transmissions (DCTs) have levelled the playing field. If anything the DCT technology from VW/Audi is now the most advanced.

Just my 2 cents.

[Kyo]

N_Architect - So, after all that, why the A170 over the 1-series?

To be honest, I hardly dabble in the auto realm - but I do have a few pieces of general knowledge and there are *some* things that I do pay attention to. And yes, I have watched every episode of Top Gear also, hehe, oddly enough! I hear them praise the Golf far more than the 1-series, but once again, I am not an expert. This is one field I am more happy 'being a consumer'. Love Porsches, though...

[up and away]

If you want auto gearbox, get a Merc (E- or S-class), they have traditionally been excellent in auto boxes; if you want a manual, get a BMW (the 5- or 7-series should ideally not be paired with automatic transmissions).

Well, that indeed used to be the case. However, things have changed quite a bit in the last few years(at least for the Merc-E and the BMW5): The Merc-Automatic of the '08 E320 that I know is much worse than the one on the old '03 E320 (see the comments in my first post of this thread).
At the same time the Automatics for the BMW5-series have gotten better- although I'd still say: buy a manual!

[N_Architect]

BTW has anyone checked out the new Audi Q5? It looks v nice and has v comfy interiors.

From a consumer's perspective, looking to get a new car, the Q5 (or the X3 type of vehicle, etc.) appears to be a worthwhile proposal.

From a automobile lover's point of view, though, all these 'new' market segments and products don't really mean much. For the people who love the idea of the automobile (an idea which is at the moment in the intensive care room) and still believe strongly in it, the cars designed and produced with sheer driving pleasure, conceptual smartness and practicality as a primary priority/mission are those that are worth much more being desired for. And they need not be expensive.

The Q7, X5 are simply huge cars. For whom? Then we get a Q5 and the X3. Is the X3 a 'real' BMW? Does it reflect the principles and ideals of the people that gave us the 2002, the M1 and the M5 (286 bhp), the 323i ??? No.

But we live in a world in which if you don't expand, you'll eventually die... If a company wants to stay viable and profitable, it has to grow, it has to capture that new market segment, period.

I like the new Fiat 500 much more than the Q5 or the X3. And the Ford Focus because it is designed to go through corners like a real car, even though it has fwd. Yes, there are more fancy cars out there, but the car makers know well which of their models have got the basics right and which are out in the market for 'revenue generating' purposes only...

[N_Architect]

S-class in FRA was awesome, though.

With cars, there are some fundamental rules (as with everything in life, I guess...). Car lovers know their existence, and respect every car manufacturer for what they have historically contributed to the evolution of the automobile.

Few of the rules relate to (who else?) Mercedes and BMW:

- In the E-series / 5-series category, the fiver has traditionally over the years been the leader of the market, the better car overall by comparison. Individual opinions may differ, of course.

- However, when you move one category up, the opposite applies. The S-class was always the leader, compared to the 7-series. Some even say that the S-class is possibly the best and most technologically advanced car in the world today. [Of course you also have up and away who says that you can't park the thing unless you have Neverland in the list of properties under your ownership, and we can't really argue much against that, can we? )

- One more 'rule': If you want auto gearbox, get a Merc (E- or S-class), they have traditionally been excellent in auto boxes; if you want a manual, get a BMW (the 5- or 7-series should ideally not be paired with automatic transmissions). Of course in these days every car in this league hardly comes with a 5 or 6 speed purely manual box, but this is what had been happening in history till we reached today...

- Final rule (for today): One of the very best car engines ever made was the infamous BMW 6-cylinder petrol engine, 2.0L straight was a typical version. It was an engine that was essentially a 'reference' point by which all other engines in the same category were judged by.