WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 1, 2018 17:39:36 GMT
Popped over the border yesterday into Germany and did the short northward leg of our return route on the A5. It was teatime, and so busy, and mostly speed-restricted, so not much opportunity to stretch the car’s leg - although I did briefly see 147 km/h, which is more than I’d have attempted in the UK or Macron’s new go-slow France.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was no drama, no feeling of ears pinned back or the car working hard. I have a longer trip planned in which we use the A5 to get to Strasbourg, and earlier in the day, so perhaps I might get to wind it up a little further then.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2018 18:48:10 GMT
147kmh is a doddle for cars with engines like ours. Staying at that speed for a while gives the impression of the car clearing its lungs and getting ready for the sprint at the end of the 10,000m.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Aug 1, 2018 22:26:56 GMT
That's only 91mph. I could go faster than that in a 1996 2.0 GLS Vectra :-)
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Post by lygonos on Aug 1, 2018 22:41:01 GMT
Managed in excess of 200kph at 2am in my Forester 10 years ago when the gaffer was in labour with our second.
40mins from first twinge to baby arriving.
In retrospect should've called an ambulance but wasn't expecting proceedings to advance as quickly.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 2, 2018 6:12:15 GMT
That's only 91mph. I could go faster than that in a 1996 2.0 GLS Vectra :-) Quite, but that would have been as limited by the traffic as anything else. There was a white i3 like ours that we didn’t outrun - and that’s restricted to 150 / 93. 40mins from first twinge to baby arriving. 40-minute deliveries are the stuff of TV soaps - and possibly The Archers, although I missed the recent one there. I suppose the model would be Dr Finlay’s Casebook where you are. 😜 |
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Post by tyrednexited on Aug 2, 2018 8:54:41 GMT
....aye; It's hardly "Trans-Europa Express" territory......  |
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Post by lygonos on Aug 2, 2018 13:34:32 GMT
40mins from first twinge to baby arriving. 40-minute deliveries are the stuff of TV soaps - and possibly The Archers, although I missed the recent one there. I suppose the model would be Dr Finlay’s Casebook where you are. 😜
1.10am - "I think it's starting, call your mother"
1.35am - mother arrives in taxi having travelled nearly 20 miles from Edinburgh to look after my then 2yo daughter
1.36am - in Subaru, labour evolving quite quickly
1.50am - arrive at Stirling Royal with missus virtually on all-fours in the carpark
1.51am - midwife+missus in a wheelchair ripping into maternity
1.52am - having parked the very hot smelling Forester I go into maternity to hear the boss asking "Is it too late for an epidural?"
Response: "Yes dear, the head is coming out"
Plop!
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 6, 2018 20:56:55 GMT
Today’s excursion took us to the edge of the Black Forest, and a little more of the A5. (We decided we couldn’t face Freiburg at 37°C.) Again there was traffic, and only short sections unrestricted, but I managed to raise the PB to 157 km/h without anyone else in the car noticing. All right, that’s still only 97mph, so not enough to impress Rob in his Cavalier, but I suspect his car didn’t feel nearly as composed as mine did.
Boy 1 is now talking excitedly about the idea of doing part of his engineering studies in Germany, or even looking for a job there. It would be rather fun to have a regular reason for visiting — in a car with spare boot space for beer to take home.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Aug 7, 2018 0:28:38 GMT
Freiberg seems an appropriate name if you Anglicise it. :-) 37 degree C and all that.
No 97mph is not that much I guess. The Vectra I had at the time will have been showing more than that.... Got points and a fine.
Boy 1 can only hope it's possible.
Even my lowly 1.4TSI Skoda can do over 140mph.... You're letting us all down here with your car.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 7, 2018 20:42:00 GMT
I suppose there’s ‘can do’ and ‘feels comfortable doing’. Not that I’ve any intention of getting near 140 to find out. Might manage 110 though if I get another go and a clear run.
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Post by lygonos on Aug 7, 2018 22:01:29 GMT
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 8, 2018 18:24:53 GMT
Another go on the A5 this afternoon, this time southbound from Offenburg to Müllheim. Busy again, but enough unrestricted and untrafficky to stretch the PB to 174 / 108. Not in Lygo-pants-on-fire territory, but enough to satisfy my curiosity. There was just a hint of lightness in the steering, which I’d probably get used to if I did this every week. But I won’t be pushing that hard any more - and not just because I’ll be carrying bikes next time.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 15, 2018 7:58:12 GMT
Quick wrap-up on the CLS’s first full-load continental trip.
The fuel-consumption penalty for the towbar bike carrier on the E was close to negligible. On the CLS it was a little greater, I imagine because the lower-slung shape leaves more of the bikes outside the aerodynamic shadow of the car. Of course, carrying 300kg more people and luggage will have made a difference too, but when it was just me and the car to Brussels in May, the trip average was about 39mpg; here, on the long motorway legs in France and Germany (at speeds similar to the Belgian limit of 120) that dropped to about 35. Still far better than I’d have got with bikes on the roof, and quieter too.
The compensation is the 350 engine. It may burn a shade more fuel but it is so much more relaxing than the E220. Last year, in heavy traffic on the A61, the E needed considerable winding up to get out from behind a convoy of lorries without inconveniencing the black Audi looming in lane 2. No such concerns in the CLS; just press and go. The gearbox drops from 7 to 6 — although you really have to be watching the display to notice — and it’s up to 120 while the Audi is still reassuringly small.
The CLS boot takes a little more care to pack than the E, but everything goes in. And it’s a bonus that the tailgate clears the bike carrier without the need to use the slide. And reviewers who assert that the CLS loses out to the E on passenger space are also wide of the mark (as they were for years in the other direction about the Volvo V70.) Ours has at least as much space in the back as our S211, and more than the S213s I’ve tried in showrooms. More cosseting seats for everyone, too. I was very comfortable behind MrsB1, with ample space for both head and knees, and I'd have had enough even with the driver’s seat set for me. Teenagers grumble, but that’s what teenagers are for. Would a Ford or Mercedes van-bus have more outright space? Yes, but would it be more comfortable? I very much doubt it.
Random notes:
- the extra width helps the cargo capacity but it is noticeable and a little anxiety-inducing in places. There’s not much to spare between the tyre-height side rails in a Le Shuttle compartment, for example. And in Alsace, the favoured device for slowing traffic entering villages is a chicane of kerbstones. The lorries and tractors cope, of course, and so did I; I just didn’t like them.
- I miss the self-lifting load cover in the 211. The CLS has a spring-loaded blind, which seems crude by comparison, nor does it have the retaining net we had in the E.
- Nice to be able to adjust the headlamp pattern in the Shuttle train during the crossing. With the E, that required a workshop visit before and after the trip.
- Télépéage 30 remains a childish delight. No problem with the change of car, despite all the extra hardware around the mirror. There’s still the bill to look forward too, of course.
- Pale leather is definitely nicer to come back to than black when it’s 37°C. Ours could do with a thorough wipe-down now, though.
- Final thought: we saw one (German-registered) CLS SB en route to Folkestone on our way out, a couple on the German motorways — and not a single one in France. The French don’t really go for big or swanky cars, of course, but it was kinda fun having the only one. Curiously, though, there were quite a few of the CLA SB, including one in the village we stayed in.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2018 14:42:12 GMT
Useful to read this.
After almost three years, the E350 is finally being used properly as a family load-lugger. Five up with luggage for three nights, going to the Edinburgh festival - the last time we did this ist was 20 miles to Manchester Airport; 220 miles is a little different. Two young men aged 18 and 20 plus a 14yo daughter who is over 5ft; oh and Espadrille who is my height.
Lets see what economy and complaints I get!
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 15, 2018 15:42:52 GMT
Fifth person is always a challenge in a proper car. The combination of streamlining and crash safety restricts the shoulder width on offer even in cars as wide as ours. And the one in the middle has a transmission tunnel to grumble about too. I think if I regularly carried three in the back, even I might give in and get a van — but of course you’ve already been there with the S-max.
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