WDB
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Wafting
Sept 18, 2016 19:12:10 GMT
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Post by WDB on Sept 18, 2016 19:12:10 GMT
Had some unwelcome tasks to take care of today at what remains of the family seat on the Sussex coast. Three-and-a-half hours in the car to get there and back, and last time I took the chariot for some mid-life-crisis man-and-machine action, at least on the bendy bit from Basingstoke to Alton.
This time, though, there'd be a load to carry, so it had to be the bus. So I took the sedate, dual carriageway route, found some good stuff to play on the iPlayer, and wafted.
And it was great. I probably cruised barely 5mph slower than I might have normally, and my door-to-door time was still about par, but it was just so easy. Remind me, why am I thinking of replacing this car?
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Post by Humph on Sept 18, 2016 19:21:02 GMT
It's like the highest level of motoring karma. Drove the Qashqai today. Perfectly pleasant thing. Nothing to criticise really, but then I later used the E, serene is the only word I can think of. Waft away.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 21:26:29 GMT
As a fellow E-class driver, wafting is the only way to describe the sheer effortlessness of the E at cruise.
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Post by Hofmeister on Sept 18, 2016 22:07:20 GMT
Had some unwelcome tasks to take care of today at what remains of the family seat on the Sussex coast. Three-and-a-half hours in the car to get there and back, and last time I took the chariot for some mid-life-crisis man-and-machine action, at least on the bendy bit from Basingstoke to Alton. This time, though, there'd be a load to carry, so it had to be the bus. So I took the sedate, dual carriageway route, found some good stuff to play on the iPlayer, and wafted. And it was great. I probably cruised barely 5mph slower than I might have normally, and my door-to-door time was still about par, but it was just so easy. Remind me, why am I thinking of replacing this car?Because you are currently obsessed
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Avant
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Post by Avant on Sept 18, 2016 23:29:53 GMT
We all have our own idea of what'wafting' means, but personally I'd want at least six cylinders (I think, Espada, you're the only one of the three taxi-drivers above to have an E350). My V60, like a four-cylinder Mercedes, is a good, relaxed place to be on a long run: but for me at least it's not quite wafting.
I did have a GLA on my shortlist earlier this year - just not a lot of fun to drive, and the diesel I test-drove was still too noisy, although not nearly as bad as the truly awful bag of nails that powered the B200 CDI that I had ten years ago.
WDB - whats the betting that when you come to replace your E-class, it'll be with another one? Possibly the sixes depreciate faster than the fours, so that a newish 350 might not be much more to buy than a 250?
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Post by Hofmeister on Sept 19, 2016 6:47:58 GMT
Funny how its the more, errr - Senior, members who are waxing lyrical about wafting.
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WDB
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Wafting
Sept 19, 2016 7:39:19 GMT
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Post by WDB on Sept 19, 2016 7:39:19 GMT
The six-cylinder effect is less clear-cut than you might imagine. I rode in an S211 E280 (yes, a taxi) in Germany last week, and while it was very smooth and refined (especially considering it had covered 400,000km) I didn't feel it had a huge advantage over my 220.
So yes, six-cylinders can waft, but their advantage - in sound and feel rather than outright power - is most pronounced at idle and low speeds. Well mounted and insulated, a four-cylinder can waft very capably. The 320d GT I tried the other week had excellent waftability, with a bit of snarl in reserve.
The installation point is important. The same 220 engine in a C - I've driven several over familiar routes as loaners - is simply horrible at any speed. The same may well apply to the B and GLA Avant mentioned; MB seems not to take the same care with its smaller cars. In the E, the rattling din and vibration that make the C so unpleasant simply disappear. And as the speed picks up, so does the occasional hesitancy that results from the high bias of the 5G's lower gears. (I imagine the E350's seven speeds and the 320d's eight help with this too.) Trust me, you don't need six cylinders to waft.
Ideally, of course, you don't need cylinders at all. An air-sprung Tesla will out-waft anything any of us could afford. And, incidentally, I saw a Model S in cream taxi livery outside Frankfurt's Terminal 1 last Thursday.
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WDB
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Wafting
Sept 19, 2016 7:41:07 GMT
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Post by WDB on Sept 19, 2016 7:41:07 GMT
Funny how its the more, errr - Senior, members who are waxing lyrical about wafting. Let's be clear, Z: are you younger than all - or any - of Humph, Esp and me?
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WDB
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Wafting
Sept 19, 2016 7:48:01 GMT
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Post by WDB on Sept 19, 2016 7:48:01 GMT
WDB - whats the betting that when you come to replace your E-class, it'll be with another one? Possibly the sixes depreciate faster than the fours, so that a newish 350 might not be much more to buy than a 250? Very unlikely, I'd say, unless we find that the new E213 estate has significantly more rear legroom than my S211. The old one shows no signs of wearing out at a mere 84,000 miles, so the only thing driving a change would be passenger space. A new one might use less fuel (computer was showing 42 yesterday but 36 is more typical) but that wouldn't offset the cost of changing. I can ride comfortably behind Mrs B, so perhaps the money would be better spent sending her on a chauffeur course. 🤔
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Post by Hofmeister on Sept 19, 2016 7:48:45 GMT
Funny how its the more, errr - Senior, members who are waxing lyrical about wafting. Let's be clear, Z: are you younger than all - or any - of Humph, Esp and me? In outlook? Clearly.
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Post by Humph on Sept 19, 2016 7:48:54 GMT
He's already, ( and indeed for some years now ) well into budget Japanese petrol territory. Only move on from there is the flat cap and motability scooter...😉
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Post by Hofmeister on Sept 19, 2016 7:50:24 GMT
At least I am not test driving my hearse already.
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Post by Hofmeister on Sept 19, 2016 7:52:05 GMT
He's already, ( and indeed for some years now ) well into budget Japanese petrol territory. Only move on from there is the flat cap and motability scooter...😉 I'll have you know, I am in the much more active "Bangernomics" category.
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WDB
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Wafting
Sept 19, 2016 7:52:29 GMT
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Post by WDB on Sept 19, 2016 7:52:29 GMT
S'pose there might be a Jazz or a little Hyundai in between.
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Post by Humph on Sept 19, 2016 7:58:07 GMT
S'pose there might be a Jazz or a little Hyundai in between. Beige or burgundy though? That would be the dilemma I suppose? 🤔
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