WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 30, 2016 22:51:36 GMT
Day off today with Bmin and Bmaj, so we took up a longstanding invitation to try out a GT on the mean streets of the Berks-Bucks border.
The car was the facelifted model, not that I'd have known without being told. LED headlights, apparently - hardly a key feature when it's sunny and 28°C. And a USB input on the dashboard as well as under the armrest. 190hp diesel, 8-speed auto, sports seats with crumb catchers but manual adjusters.
With four six-foot-plus bodies aboard it felt comfortable and went very well. A touch more headroom in the back would help but there were no complaints from behind. The same applied to the ride, which is firmer than the LEC's but more compliant than the 325's; I liked it very much, as once we got on to a half-familiar B-road, I felt able to press it into corners much as I would the coupé, with none of the undignified scrabbling and swaying I'd get from the E.
It's quiet on the motorway - would be quieter still on wheels smaller than 19 inches - and manages to conceal the presence of a four-cylinder diesel engine enough to keep me from buying a 330d instead.
Very civilized and capable, I thought. It gives away a little to the E in luggage capacity, of course, but less than you might think: about 100mm of length behind the seats, which is about what the passengers get in extra legroom. And it can come with a powered, self-deploying towbar for the all-important bike rack.
I suppose I should investigate the new Skoda Superb too, and see whether the new S213 E estate has more passenger space than the old one. But I think a GT could be a good bet for us. I liked it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2016 0:06:44 GMT
I like BMWs, a lot. Mind you, I like Mercs a lot also. Personally I narrowed it down to this; if its a car that I'd like an automatic box in, I should get a Merc. If its a car I fancy a manual box in, I should get a BMW.
My choice between auto and manual says so much about how I will drive it, what it will be used for, what I want from the car, etc. etc. that I find its a shortcut which works very well for me.
However, buying a diesel is something I would do if I had run out of red hot needles to poke myself in the eye with. Awful, awful bloody things.
I think the Skoda is a good car. I think the Mondeo is also. But I wouldn't pay my own money for either.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 31, 2016 6:13:58 GMT
Well, yes - and I have a manual BMW and an automatic MB to support your argument. But today's BMW automatic is just so good that it makes a manual seem rather last-century. In my five-speed MB auto, I quite often find myself thinking if I should help it out with a manual adjustment; in the four eight-speed BMWs - except for a bit of gratuitous what-does-this-do playing - I've scarcely given it a thought. The car just goes.
Didn't realize you were an oleophobe. I'm ambivalent about diesel but a good one is still a very pleasing machine to drive. The Volvo was good, the 325d is very good. I see the arguments against but in truth I think the next move is onward to electricity rather than back to petrol.
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Post by tyrednexited on Aug 31, 2016 7:51:47 GMT
...my new X1 (have I mentioned it) is an 8-speed auto (and petrol of course). I've always quite enjoyed using a gear-stirrer, but can't say I'm missing it (though I have an occasional play with the flappy-paddles).
The petrol choice is(so far) proving OK for me, with an overall average to date of around 40mpg, including a lot of urban driving, and absolutely no problems with the mid-40s on longer, mixed runs (using the performance and and no longer resorting to Eco-mode). I think making the switch from manual to auto at the same time as the switch from disel to petrol has made the change more "seamless".
The response in kick-down is "adequate" (a RR term, I believe) and she certainly picks up her skirts and runs.
The 3-series, however, has (I understand) a ZF box, whereas the X1 is an Aisin.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 31, 2016 8:09:37 GMT
I suppose that means the 220i Gran Tourer also had the Aisin box, since it's mechanically much the same as the X1. I wouldn't have known; it seemed to work just as well as the eight-speeders in the RWD cars (220i coupé, 520d saloon, now 320d GT).
I probably ought to mention that yesterday's GT was actually 4WD, at least if the X-Drive badge on the tail is to be trusted. I honestly wouldn't have noticed - and on a warm, dry day on generally good roads, why would I? - but I can't really see the point of 4WD in a road car, especially one like this that's likely to live a fairly sedate life. Both 320d and 330d are available without it, and that's what I'd choose.
Funny you should mention kickdown. It's my least favourite feature of most autos. My MB does it, of course, but it's one of only two things that really upset its composure. Provoking it feels like a failure on my part as a driver; I'd far rather nudge the selector left as I prepare to overtake, and know that the car will simply take off as required. Kickdown seems rather undignified by comparison, as if I've caught the car napping and embarrassed it.
Didn't get to overtake anything yesterday, so can't really comment on kickdown BMW style.
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Post by Humph on Aug 31, 2016 8:19:52 GMT
Sounds good. Only observation from my side would be that you might miss having one big car sometimes? We've had at least one large estate on the drive for decades. Not always premium models but large load luggers nonetheless. Then for a period of about 11 months we had two Qashqais. Ample enough cars for most purposes but no substitute for a big shifter. It seemed that every other week during that period ( quite apart from my work needs ) we missed the versatility of a large estate car. Holidays, bike trips, fetching diy kit, moving a lawnmower, buying an emergency fence panel, taking the dog with us, tip runs, etc etc.
I think once you've had something as useful as that you'd miss not having one.
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Post by Humph on Aug 31, 2016 8:23:55 GMT
Further to above, a neighbour has recently replaced his Volvo V70 with a 320GT. He loves the new car but is saying much as mentioned above about lack of day to day versatility versus the old one.
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Post by tyrednexited on Aug 31, 2016 8:34:29 GMT
I suppose that means the 220i Gran Tourer also had the Aisin box, since it's mechanically much the same as the X1. ...luckily, as the Active Tourer seems to have been hit with the ugly stick, the bodywork on the X1 is somewhat different. (The Active Tourer looks just so wrong, in a strangely undefinable way). |
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Post by Alanović on Aug 31, 2016 10:42:15 GMT
What makes the GT superior to the 3-Series estate?
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 31, 2016 11:23:12 GMT
Space. The 3GT is based on the 5, and outdoes even a 5 estate for passenger space by being taller. The 3 estate, like the A4, C and V60, isn't a family car for people our size.
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Post by Alanović on Aug 31, 2016 11:27:40 GMT
The 3GT is based on the 5? Doesn't look that big. I was just looking at one in the petrol station with this thread in mind, and it just looks like a 3 Series in size terms to me. Is the 5GT based on the 7? I like the 5GT.
How bizarre.
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Post by Humph on Aug 31, 2016 11:45:09 GMT
Yeah, but they're both coupes. Middle aged men in coupes? Not right is it? All a bit medallions and slightly too tight shirts with too many buttons left open...lounge lizardy things. Grey slip on shoes next, mark my words. Best stick with an estate. Gentlemens cars, estates.
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Post by Alanović on Aug 31, 2016 12:04:30 GMT
Coupes? Nah. Just big hatches, like the old Rover SD1. Girls' shopping cars, hatchbacks.
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Post by Humph on Aug 31, 2016 12:34:26 GMT
...and, saloons are for accountants and masons and 4x4s are for footballer's wives unless they're real ones and the owner is a farmer.
Estates are in truth, the only sensible choice. Not really worth discussing in any more depth to be honest. It'd just be repeating the obvious.
😋
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2016 13:01:00 GMT
So I have to decide if I am a footballer's wife or a Farmer?
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