.
|
More test drives from my Planet Saving Agency car park...First up, one I had last Friday for 15miles.
The Ford S-Max 2.0 TDCI.
Quite simply - a great car. Its esentially a big Ford Focus to drive. Which is a very good thing. Its agile and keeps body roll in check for such a large car when pushing on, without, having an overbearingly firm ride the rest of the time. 50mph down a potholed B-Road and it soaked up the bumps and lumps with ease.
Brakes were firm and not the horrible over-servoed nonsense from VAG products. Gear change was slick and precise with a nicely weighted clutch. TLGP were done with ease on the two occasions I had the chance.
Visibility superb - large mirrors, big rear window and parking sensors made manouvrebility very easy.
Engine - essentially, a very good one. Better than the 2.0TDI in the Seat Leon, which to remind you all, is sh1t. Anyway, the TDCi pulled well in all gears in a nice linear fashion, no peaky power deleivery and was nicely refined at at all speeds. Never felt fast, more nippy I guess - the needle moved around the speedo quickly but you never got the sense of speed from the car. Haven't made my mind up if this is a good thing or bad thing yet.
Interior was good too, comfy seats with all the controls being nicely weighted and to hand. Only criticism were the A/C controls being taken from a MK2 Focus and the centre console plastic trim lookig a bit cheap. The rest of the interior was of good quality and well screwed together.
So the second car...
57 plate Honda Civic i-CTDi.
Mixed feelings on this one and I still haven't made my mind up whether I like this or not. I prefer it over the Seat Leon though.
Engine is a stonker. Better than the TDCi, which is a good engine. The Honda Diesel unit goes like a train in any gear to the point where you don't realise how fast you are actually going - found myself doing 95mph at one point and it felt like 65mph. I think this has alot to do with the sound deadening from the engine bay. Makes a slightly odd noise too - can't really describe it to be honest. Its not a clatter like other diesels i've driven/been in - its not far off BMW's own 2.0d for noise which is quite pleasant IMO.
But; it never felt fast. You put your foot down and the only sense of speed is watching the digital speedo. Nothing from your buttocks or back to indicate the car is moving fast which was the same sensation I had in the 320d Piers has currently got.
The ride is a funny one. Duel carriageway its very comfortable. Along bumpier roads it also very comfortable soaking bumps and ruts well up but then going over speed bumps or sharper intrusions it didn't feel as 'solid' as it had done before. Bodyroll for the most part was kept in check mainly though could be upset slightly with some quick flicks of the wheel on tighter bumpier roads. For me, its overall compuse is still better than the Leon, but still not quite as good as the Focus.
Steering too was a bit funny - not sure if its hydraulic or electric PAS, but it seemed to add weight at staged intervals i.e 20mph would be light, but then 21mph would see it being noticably heavier, rather than some sort of progressive weightiness being added. It was accurate mind but could do with more feedback. Much better than the Leon, but again, no Focus.
Interior. Divides opinion I think is fair to say. I like some of it and other bits let it down.
- Gear lever is very very cheap and nasty - feels horribel and looks nasty and is attached to quite a notchy gearbox too. Changing gear wasn't always a pleasure in that car and I would rather it had paddles - I found myself a few times feeling for them on the steering wheel odly enough. Best gearchange is still found in the Octavia IMVHO.
- Switch gear for climate control on the passenger door feels nasty to touch and is made of cheap scrathy plastic that makes the hairs on the back of neck stand up.
- Cruise Control isn't all that easy to use - had to get the manual out (Well my colleague did)
- Buttons on the radio were to far away where I had my seat positioned.
- Stalks for indicators/lights/wipers were very fussy and confusing with alot of function on them. This car had Auto lights and Wipers.
- Starter button is a nice thing but a bit pointless when you have a convetional key which you still turn all the way round and then turn all the way back to turn off.
There are good points;
- Could find a comfy driving position due to seats good adjustability and wheels good reach/rake.
- Steering wheel was nice size to hold
- The speedo/rev counter bit was brilliant - very clear and looks brilliant and really makes the car interesting.
- It looks good, IMO, even on the small alloys.
- The boot is huge and rear legroom doesn't seem to be compromised too much.
- Stereo system is really good.
- Panoramic glass roof thing is brilliant letting in loads of light.
Another major bug bear is the rear visibility. Its not exsistant with that spoiler cutting out a large proportion of whats on view behind you. For some, this would undoubtedly be enough to put them off.
However, I do still like this car. Not to sure why either as I seemed to have picked fault with alot of things. Just something about it I like. Its not as good as the Focus to drive, but its a nice place to be and nicely refined.
Better than a Seat Leon. 
|
PR
|
Nice write-up.
The S-Max is probably one of the most impressive cars I've driven in recent times, in that it manages to dispel any feeling of its undoubted size and bulk, proving exceptionally well balanced and very precise to drive. The benign and fundamentally extraordinarily well sorted nature of its chassis was underlined when I easily managed to regain control of the non-ESP equipped 2.5T I was driving when it slewed sideways after suddenly hitting a snow-deluged stretch of road (like driving over the line on the weather map)
The thing that struck me most about it was how it managed to deliver a supple, silent ride even wearing 18-inch wheels with 45-profile tyres.
I like the look of the Civic but was never really a fan of my boss's CTDi. It was undoubtedly quiet and quick but the car just possessed zero want-one factor for me.
|
PG
|
Re: More test drives from my Planet Saving Agency car park.. | Torque Junkie wrote: | Switch gear for climate control on the passenger door feels nasty to touch and is made of cheap scrathy plastic that makes the hairs on the back of neck stand up.
......
Another major bug bear is the rear visibility. Its not existent with that spoiler cutting out a large proportion of whats on view behind you. For some, this would undoubtedly be enough to put them off.
However, I do still like this car. Not to sure why either as I seemed to have picked fault with alot of things. Just something about it I like. Its not as good as the Focus to drive, but its a nice place to be and nicely refined.
Better than a Seat Leon. |
Are there really climate control switches on the passenger door? How weird?
So many people slag off the Civic for it's terrible rear visibility that you can't help wondering how that ever got through testing as acceptable?
I often look at the Civic and think that slightly toned down with a "normal" hatch set up, it would far more popular and the off the wall interior could still set it apart.
|
Pkh72
|
My Brother has an S-max 2.0 tdci and he really likes it.
He swapped from an RX-8 so is under no illusions about what he is now driving but for what it is he really rates it.
|
Rodge
|
I had a spin in an S-MAX 2.0TDCi during the summer and found it to be a very acceptable form of transport, it was more fun to drive than I expected.
From what I've heard, the extra capacity makes a big difference to it as the 1.8 diesel struggles a bit. The cabin felt huge and the dashboard was massive.
|
M.
|
Re: More test drives from my Planet Saving Agency car park.. | Torque Junkie wrote: | Another major bug bear is the rear visibility. Its not existent with that spoiler cutting out a large proportion of whats on view behind you. For some, this would undoubtedly be enough to put them off.
|
Would you be able to see, say, an MG?
Interesting write up, Mike. I've never even sat in an S-Max but all those who have seem to rate them.
|
PR
|
Re: More test drives from my Planet Saving Agency car park.. | Michael wrote: | | Would you be able to see, say, an MG? |
It's only estate cars with great big windows that appear to suffer from this anomalous blind spot.
The Focus has a similar problem that prevents owners from seeing dog poo bins while they are reversing.
|
.
|
I think the S-Max would pass the MG test as it had enormous wing mirrors which gave good visibilty of everything behind, whereas the Skoda fails this test due to the rising waistline at the rear, seat height and ride height of the MG combo concealing it resulting in a minor coming together.
|
Dr. Hfuhruhurr
|
Re: More test drives from my Planet Saving Agency car park.. | PR wrote: | | The Focus has a similar problem that prevents owners from seeing dog poo bins while they are reversing. |
Judging by the amount of poo around, the bins are clearly invisible anyway.
|
PR
|
Re: More test drives from my Planet Saving Agency car park.. | Dr. Hfuhruhurr wrote: | | PR wrote: | | The Focus has a similar problem that prevents owners from seeing dog poo bins while they are reversing. |
Judging by the amount of poo around, the bins are clearly invisible anyway. |
Tell me about it - I've just been cleaning a lump off my shoe. 
|
.
|
|
Gooner
|
Having lived with the Civic for a year I found it great to live with and the rear visibility whilst shit, was easy to get used to and also blocked out the glare of morons who forget to switch off their full-beams! The climate on the passenger armrest was annoying more for the fact the wife would use it without notifying me first!
I found the cruise easy to use and the stereo controls are much easier to use on the sat-nav equiped EX that I had although you cannot have nav and a panoramic roof. If buying new I'd have the sunroof and buy a TomTom!
The gearlever in mine was no longer silver when I gave it back on Monday with a lovely white patch covering it. I also wonder who signed off the design though as they decided against proper drainage for the rear hatch and felt it acceptable for a stream of water to poor over the poor sod who had just opened it!
|
DarthBalls
|
| Gooner wrote: | I found the cruise easy to use and the stereo controls are much easier to use on the sat-nav equiped EX that I had although you cannot have nav and a panoramic roof. If buying new I'd have the sunroof and buy a TomTom!
|
The one my sister in law had came with factory fit sat-nav and panoramic roof - don't know if it was an EX but it had leather and all the FG you could think of.
|
Frank Bullitt
|
| DarthBalls wrote: | | Gooner wrote: | I found the cruise easy to use and the stereo controls are much easier to use on the sat-nav equiped EX that I had although you cannot have nav and a panoramic roof. If buying new I'd have the sunroof and buy a TomTom!
|
The one my sister in law had came with factory fit sat-nav and panoramic roof - don't know if it was an EX but it had leather and all the FG you could think of. |
Yip, EX, which has shat-nav can have glass roof fitted as an option although it is standard on the shat-nav free ES.
|
Gooner
|
Maybe they've changed the design of it. The reason the ES got the sunroof and the EX didn't was originally because the GPS receiver was based in the roof panel. Perhaps too many customers were getting shirty at having to compromise. They've also added free leather to the EX recently too. Makes it bloody good value at £17k for the vtec model.
|
