peteblue
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Didn’t you drive submarines.....
AndyC's car guide...
- Thread starter AndyC
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Didn’t you drive submarines.....
How does it compare to the BMW i8 ?
I struggled to get out of those when I drove them as they were so low (and me being a porker didn't help much either)
AndyC
Player Valuation: £70m
I’ve not tried an i8 yet but, a client who owns an i8 wants out of it for a Tesla Model 3 Performance so I take that as a favourable comparison to the Beemer.
For me the real plus point of the Tesla is it’s a saloon car with extraordinary get up and go
I’ve not tried an i8 yet but, a client who owns an i8 wants out of it for a Tesla Model 3 Performance so I take that as a favourable comparison to the Beemer.
For me the real plus point of the Tesla is it’s a saloon car with extraordinary get up and go
Can you review the Mercedes E220 Convertible, cheers
Have you driven a Ferrari California? If so what was it like.
AndyC
Player Valuation: £70m
Certainly mate.
I've driven lots of this model and speaking purely personally, £ for £ it's one of the nicest cars around to drive, and as you might read later with today's review of a BMW 420i, the E220 is - in my opinion - the far superior two-door coupe.
All the E-Class range are extremely well engineered - as you would expect from Mercedes-Benz - and build quality is superb The E220 is very comfortable to drive and has excellent performance... and for a convertible doesn't suffer any undue wind noise from having a soft top.
Steering is precise and the suspension makes for a really smooth drive.
Acceleration, even from the diesels, and the brakes - when needed - are both excellent.
The diesel models are as quiet as the petrol versions and return excellent miles per gallon, and as I will repeatedly say, if you drive to within 10% excess of the legal speed limits, most cars deliver their best mpg figures - the E220d easily 50+ and on a long motorway run 60+ is more than achievable.
Next time I drive one, I'll get a couple of photos to add to this brief review
AndyC
Player Valuation: £70m
Disappointingly no mate. I have sat in one and it felt every bit as nice as the Portofino that I reviewed first in this thread but, I've not driven one...
I think I'm right in saying that the California was replaced by the Portofino.
AndyC
Player Valuation: £70m
Today's review is of the BMW420i Coupe
I'll begin this review by stating that I'm not a big fan of BMW, possibly because I spent 30 years working for Mercedes-Benz but, I'll do my best to put that slight bias to one side.
The first thing I have to say about the 420i cars I've driven is that the interior finish badly lets the car down. The dash and interior door panels etc have a very plastic feel to them, the kind of panels you would expect in a car of a considerably lower purchase price than a Beemer and the steering wheels controls for cruise control and the telephone usage feel a bit cheap and nasty too. Other than these disappointing aspects, the rest of the build quality as you would expect from a German manufacturer is excellent and the paint finish exemplary.
To the plus points and like all BMW models, the car is quick off the mark and it's probably why the marque is as popular as it is with todays 'boy racers.'
I find the steering to feel somewhat on the light side and not quite as precise as rivals like Audi A5/A6 or Mercedes E-Class. Brakes are good and the suspension feels a tad softer than the Audi A5/A6.
Unlike the equivalent Audi/Mercedes models, the BMW has a conventional handbrake which again, I find a tad disappointing for a car in its price range from new but, each to their own as some people seem to prefer the traditional set-up to that of auto-release parking brakes.
Seating is comfortable but again, manually adjusting seats is a disappointment for a car in this price bracket; storage space in the boot is very good for a coupe and the heating system is very good on a cold day.
It's not really fair to compare a petrol engine car to a diesel in terms of fuel economy but, the 420i did surprise me the first time I drove one - I was expecting it to be something of a gas guzzler and it wasn't - high 40+ mpg being easily attainable and if you take things a tad easier, very high 40s and even low 50 mpg can be squeezed from it.
It's a nice car to drive, better than I anticipated but, it's let down by the plastic feeling and looking interior, steering wheel controls and the old fashioned handbrake... and given the choice between the 420i and a Mercedes E220d, I'd take the Merc every day of the week but, I might be a tad biased
Marks out of ten...
Comfort 7
Fuel Economy 7
Performance 8
Reliability 8
Practicality 7
And contrary to public opinion of many Beemers from other road users... the car is fitted with indicators front and rear and they do work
I'll begin this review by stating that I'm not a big fan of BMW, possibly because I spent 30 years working for Mercedes-Benz but, I'll do my best to put that slight bias to one side.
The first thing I have to say about the 420i cars I've driven is that the interior finish badly lets the car down. The dash and interior door panels etc have a very plastic feel to them, the kind of panels you would expect in a car of a considerably lower purchase price than a Beemer and the steering wheels controls for cruise control and the telephone usage feel a bit cheap and nasty too. Other than these disappointing aspects, the rest of the build quality as you would expect from a German manufacturer is excellent and the paint finish exemplary.
To the plus points and like all BMW models, the car is quick off the mark and it's probably why the marque is as popular as it is with todays 'boy racers.'
I find the steering to feel somewhat on the light side and not quite as precise as rivals like Audi A5/A6 or Mercedes E-Class. Brakes are good and the suspension feels a tad softer than the Audi A5/A6.
Unlike the equivalent Audi/Mercedes models, the BMW has a conventional handbrake which again, I find a tad disappointing for a car in its price range from new but, each to their own as some people seem to prefer the traditional set-up to that of auto-release parking brakes.
Seating is comfortable but again, manually adjusting seats is a disappointment for a car in this price bracket; storage space in the boot is very good for a coupe and the heating system is very good on a cold day.
It's not really fair to compare a petrol engine car to a diesel in terms of fuel economy but, the 420i did surprise me the first time I drove one - I was expecting it to be something of a gas guzzler and it wasn't - high 40+ mpg being easily attainable and if you take things a tad easier, very high 40s and even low 50 mpg can be squeezed from it.
It's a nice car to drive, better than I anticipated but, it's let down by the plastic feeling and looking interior, steering wheel controls and the old fashioned handbrake... and given the choice between the 420i and a Mercedes E220d, I'd take the Merc every day of the week but, I might be a tad biased
Marks out of ten...
Comfort 7
Fuel Economy 7
Performance 8
Reliability 8
Practicality 7
And contrary to public opinion of many Beemers from other road users... the car is fitted with indicators front and rear and they do work
Attachments
Very positive review... but that photo is something that I simply can't get past. The model 3 (and every other Tesla I've ever seen) just looks SO ugly.
The recharge times still seem slow to me, at least in comparison to an ICE. I can put 400 miles' worth of diesel in Mrs. Tree's RRS in five minutes, but an EV takes six times longer to get 150 miles of juice on board. Day to day it's obviously no big deal, but when we drive down to Provence (family down there) it would be a ball ache to have to stop every 150 miles.
Plus that interior... nope. Not a fan of a bare cabin with an iPad welded to the middle of the dashboard.
What's the best Cordless Hover Mower for someone to pop down the shops on if they have been banned for 12 months.Asking for a mate.
McBain
Player Valuation: £80m
The Victa Non Licencio is top of the range something more budget is the John Deere Footpath Fondler.
AndyC
Player Valuation: £70m
200-250 miles per recharge would be morelike, depending on which model and the conditions.
Rain at night obviously puts more drain on the battery pack with lights and wipers on etc, hence always best if in a Tesla trying to stick to the Tesla Supercharger network for the quickest recharge times
I’ve said for a number of years that the first manufacturer - and it’s likely to be Tesla as their battery technology is far ahead of the rest - who can produce a car that’ll do 500 miles on a full charge, that manufacturer will clean up.
lol Crying at this lol
AndyC
Player Valuation: £70m
Todays offering is another mid-range saloon - Audi A6 4.0 TDI
Hot on the heels of the BMW 420i review, pleased to offer my thoughts on this Audi saloon car by way of a sort of comparison.
First off, the boot lid badging on Audis can be misleading as whilst this car was badged 4.0 TDI, it's a 2-litre, not 4-litre as some might expect. That out of the way, the car is certainly not underpowered, the Audi engineers have concocted a diesel that provides a very smooth ride, with acceleration that's very good for a diesel and as you'll see from the middle picture, returns excellent fuel consumption on a run up to Warrington from north London.
One thing I would suggest for driving over a couple of hours is make the most of the electric seat adjustment so as to get comfortable as the Audi seats can feel a little hard if you don't adjust to suit yourself. Even with the drivers seat as far back as it will go, there's still room in the rear seat for kids or a smaller adult passenger to squeeze into.
The central screen for radio, sat-nav, handsfree telephone takes a bit of getting used to and with the lower screen being finger responsive, it can be a little distracting when writing in post codes etc for the sat-nav whilst driving... better to tap on the keyboard icon and use the letter/number buttons instead.
Two USB ports under the central armrest allows for mobile phone charging and flash drive usage and of course, the entertainment system allows you to Bluetooth your mobile phone for recorded/downloaded music.
The boot is spacious enough for family holiday luggage and the interior trim is far more appealing than that in the BMW - see earlier review.
Steering (not as light as the BMW), suspension and brakes are excellent, making this an all-round very nice car.
For me the A6 doesn't quite match the Mercedes E-Class but rates higher than the BMW 4 series.
Marks out of ten...
Comfort 7
Fuel Economy 8
Performance 8
Reliability 8
Practicality 8
Hot on the heels of the BMW 420i review, pleased to offer my thoughts on this Audi saloon car by way of a sort of comparison.
First off, the boot lid badging on Audis can be misleading as whilst this car was badged 4.0 TDI, it's a 2-litre, not 4-litre as some might expect. That out of the way, the car is certainly not underpowered, the Audi engineers have concocted a diesel that provides a very smooth ride, with acceleration that's very good for a diesel and as you'll see from the middle picture, returns excellent fuel consumption on a run up to Warrington from north London.
One thing I would suggest for driving over a couple of hours is make the most of the electric seat adjustment so as to get comfortable as the Audi seats can feel a little hard if you don't adjust to suit yourself. Even with the drivers seat as far back as it will go, there's still room in the rear seat for kids or a smaller adult passenger to squeeze into.
The central screen for radio, sat-nav, handsfree telephone takes a bit of getting used to and with the lower screen being finger responsive, it can be a little distracting when writing in post codes etc for the sat-nav whilst driving... better to tap on the keyboard icon and use the letter/number buttons instead.
Two USB ports under the central armrest allows for mobile phone charging and flash drive usage and of course, the entertainment system allows you to Bluetooth your mobile phone for recorded/downloaded music.
The boot is spacious enough for family holiday luggage and the interior trim is far more appealing than that in the BMW - see earlier review.
Steering (not as light as the BMW), suspension and brakes are excellent, making this an all-round very nice car.
For me the A6 doesn't quite match the Mercedes E-Class but rates higher than the BMW 4 series.
Marks out of ten...
Comfort 7
Fuel Economy 8
Performance 8
Reliability 8
Practicality 8
Attachments
hirons11
Player Valuation: £10m
200-250 miles per recharge would be morelike, depending on which model and the conditions.
Rain at night obviously puts more drain on the battery pack with lights and wipers on etc, hence always best if in a Tesla trying to stick to the Tesla Supercharger network for the quickest recharge times
I’ve said for a number of years that the first manufacturer - and it’s likely to be Tesla as their battery technology is far ahead of the rest - who can produce a car that’ll do 500 miles on a full charge, that manufacturer will clean up.
500 miles real world range is my tipping point for going EV
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