Going for a test drive in an Audi A3 1.8TFSI in a few weeks.

purely for fun and to see what it's like as my cousin may be looking to buy.

Has any one driven the C4? I have walked past a Citroen dealer many times on my way into town and it does look interesting even though the cabin looks a little low rent.

C4 is typical French...

I'm surprised the Sh*troen dealer in Newport sells any cars with the attitude they have to test drives...

Has any one driven the C4? I have walked past a Citroen dealer many times on my way into town and it does look interesting even though the cabin looks a little low rent.

I drove the VTs but that was a year ago or so

It was fully loaded but was way over priced from the dealer and not that much to rave about :thumbdwn:

They are probably 1K - 2K cheaper now though

A neighbour has a C4 , he's had it a few years now , it hasnt broke down and nothing has fallen off so far! He has the 5 door , whereas I much prefer the 3 door. Actually the C6 (big £30K luxo barge) is probably one of the nicest looking 4 door saloons out , and the new C5 thats coming out looks like a smaller version of it , Citroen are actually making really nice looking cars just now.

It seems car makers are returning their unique traits.

Skoda with their new in house superb

Citroen with this new C5 reading the mag article again and citroen have had to work a lot harder to get the VW Passat rival right.

Might leave the C4 and see what the C5 is like.

Seems like the mondeo sector will be where the fight is in 2008

yes... and the Mondeo is a nice car!

Yes the new Mondeo is a very nice car , as is the recently facelifted Mk2 Focus , but Fords generally havent excited me since the XR3/RS Turbo/Sierra Xr4i/Capri2.8i/Sierra 3 door Cosworth era , in fact very few cars nowadays are desireable AND affordable in the way that the XR Fords were in the 80s. I guess the Fabia vRS is a modern XR2!

tbh, the current crop of hot hatches are no more expensive - in real terms - than the ones of times past

a Mk1 Golf GTI was circa £5,500 in 1978 when they were released... £5,500 allowing for inflation is £23,540, or the price of a new Mk5 GTI with sat-nav and some other toys! Or a Focus ST-3, or an fully loaded Octavia vRS

(source: Historic inflation calculator)

I only wish my pay had gone up in the same way as the price of cars! lol! I guess im an 80s kind of guy because , for example , id rather have a nice clean mk2 XR2 than a brand new Fiesta ST or Zetec S , and I'd rather have a S2 RS Turbo instead of a Focus ST.

I only wish my pay had gone up in the same way as the price of cars! lol! I guess im an 80s kind of guy because , for example , id rather have a nice clean mk2 XR2 than a brand new Fiesta ST or Zetec S , and I'd rather have a S2 RS Turbo instead of a Focus ST.

Me too!

I've chopped and changed cars around non stop for the last few years looking for a sort of VAG warm-hatch utopia in the way the the mk2 Golf GTI 8V was but none has really done it for me. Rose tinted spectacles and all that but I really don't think cars have improved as drivers tools at all in the last 20 years, yes for safety, rust proofing, luxuries etc but not driving enjoyment no matter how many horsepower they shove through the front wheels now.

You wont believe how hard it is finding good examples of mk1 and 2 GTI's

Found a few on Ebay though.

Skoda have wrote to me so I should be able to arrange a 48h test drive in a Superb soon

Rather it be a new shape Fabia estate though

the c4 is a very good car to drive. i used to sell citroens and apart from some techno troubles when they first came out, in a year i only had one issue from all that i sold. ive had everything from a 1.6i (quiet, has to be pushed to get the best out of it) to the vts 2.0i (disapointing, shoudl have been a turbo) and ive had the 1.6hdi (quieter than tdi and combined with the egs gearbox 70mpg is easy!) and the 2.0hdi vtr+ and exclusive models. the build is better than allot of people expect. i drove the vtr+ to york and back again without issue, felt comfy and got a very good mpg, and even had fun with some with some cars on the way home!

get a nearly new vtr+ or exclusive and go hdi to get the best out of the car. the vtr has all the spec of the elegance (minus the RPS) remember the hdi engines are used in quite a few other brands now, including jag, ford, mini and mitsubushi!

also if you want a test drive, i wouldnt go in and say you arent actually buying. at the end of the day sales people are paid to sell. if your not actually buying all your doing is wasting their time and taking money out of their pockets as they could be dealing with a customer who is going to buy. if someone told me they werent going to be buying and were looking for a family member or friend i would ask that they bring them in so you both can test drive at the same time

the best thing about ciroens is the discounts,they will chop unreal amounts off there cars just to sell them,trouble is they are then worth nothing come trade in time,the are going up in all the reliability and customer service surveys so they must be doing somthing right,and they are making some really individual cars at the moment:thumbup:

Thanks for the opinions

I'll give it a proper examination again.

What is it with the french and interiors?

Do they employ blind people to design them?

i used to have a C4 had it for about 18-19 months i found i nice to drive (prefer my vrs tho) it was a bit french like very comfy, it had loads of gadgets and i think qvite a cool looking car not wanting to scare you but the dif on mine blew up making a nice hole in the side of the gearbox and i managed to drive the car over 100miles with no oil in the gearbox :eek: b4 i realised it was empty (no oil warning light for gearbox)

heer is mine RIP

the best thing about ciroens is the discounts,they will chop unreal amounts off there cars just to sell them,trouble is they are then worth nothing come trade in time,the are going up in all the reliability and customer service surveys so they must be doing somthing right,and they are making some really individual cars at the moment:thumbup:

dont trade them in do what i did. LOOK UP

There are some stunning deals on New TDi Mondeos at the moment. Pre reg 125bhp models with good spec for under £14K. It’s seems a lot of car for the money. I had a drive of one last week and the clutch is incredible, it doesn’t matter what you do with it, you can’t feel the gear changes. Abrupt as you like and the change is seamless……..spooky. Well built, comfy and the interior space puts Doctors Who’s daily smoker to shame. The steering is a bit woolly though and didn’t feel anything like as good as the old style one. Love some of the new colours Ford are doing too:)

There are some stunning deals on New TDi Mondeos at the moment. Pre reg 125bhp models with good spec for under £14K. It’s seems a lot of car for the money. I had a drive of one last week and the clutch is incredible, it doesn’t matter what you do with it, you can’t feel the gear changes. Abrupt as you like and the change is seamless……..spooky. Well built, comfy and the interior space puts Doctors Who’s daily smoker to shame. The steering is a bit woolly though and didn’t feel anything like as good as the old style one. Love some of the new colours Ford are doing too:)

Are the seats any better (comfy) though? I find the Mk3 works machine horrible, and love any chance to drive my Mk2 Octy!

Are the seats any better (comfy) though? I find the Mk3 works machine horrible, and love any chance to drive my Mk2 Octy!

I didn’t think they were as good as my Octy’s seats.

I didn’t think they were as good as my Octy’s seats.

LOL. Then I know which box will be ticked when the mondy gets replaced in 2008

LOL. Then I know which box will be ticked when the mondy gets replaced in 2008

My Favourite seats over the years were (on cars I have owned and in order of preference) Abarth 130TC, BMW Sport seats, Clio 16V then the Octy II’s. There are many others below the Octys and some of them belong to alleged sporting cars. The original Scooby’s seats that I had were like sitting on a squidgy park bench. So I am very impressed with the standard Octys seats.

I loved the seats I had in my Vento (late-spec Mk3 Golf VR6 ones)

The original Scooby’s seats that I had were like sitting on a squidgy park bench.

Yeah I can't believe how rotten the interiors of the early UK Scoobies were compared to their Japanese counterparts. Now they had proper seats

Chris

Yeah I can't believe how rotten the interiors of the early UK Scoobies were compared to their Japanese counterparts. Now they had proper seats

Chris

At least Scoobys had zip off seat covers, very useful for ‘nervous’ pasengers:D