otispunkmeyer
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 15, 2006
- Messages
- 4,829
- Location
- Loughborough UK
- Car(s)
- '03 Skoda Superb (farewell :(), '06 Honda Civic ES
ok so technically this isnt my car, and the pictures are stolen from elsewhere...but ive been in the US for the past few weeks and had one of these as a rental.
and i have to say.... it wasnt all that bad.
we got it in white, just like above and it came in SXT trim which from what i could tell, got you electric sliding doors, alloys, fogs and a chrome grill.
it was brand spankin new as well, having only done 17miles when i picked it up.
Looks/interior/general comments on design n quality -
well it looks like a van, but thats just the nature of the beast and in white....it looks a bit "white good". but what you gonna do, its a minivan...most of them are deathly boring.
Inside though.... well, very very pleasant indeed. very light and dark grey plastics create a very nice contrast in the cabin and the dark seats, while firm were at least comfortabe. the Stow n Go seating i thought was just genius. brilliant.
the fake, grey/black walnut trim also suited very well.
the best bit was the lighting though. white and mint green LED's with a mint green strip back lighting the plastic console hanging from the roof. it was very vodka bar and worked very well at night....nice ambience
fit n finish was pretty good in the places you could see and touch, tho there were a couple of wobbly panels here and there lurking around in the back and boot. the dash top was a bit wobbly and the upper glove box lid a bit flimsy...but the main touch points were well covered.
all in all id say it was no worse than any other car of that type and price and was certainly well made enough that i'd live with it. only thing i cant comment on is how well it all holds up in a year or two.
Driving -
it had a 3.8 liter V6 petrol that seemed gutless at first but once your moving it does have good in gear pace. going 50-70 was pretty rapid. whats more it seemed to behave the same whether there was just me or it was fully laden with people. engine made a nice noise and the 6 speed auto seemed well suited. also made a good sound, even if we werent going anywhere fast!
cruise was easy to use as were all the other controls...certainly no qualms there. headlights were very good in the dark.
handling was typical minivan...rubbish. very light steering made it an easy cruiser though. sharp bumps easily exposed the suspensions short comings...making the car feel less secure and transmitting the harsh noise into the cabin. but for the most part on smooth roads the cabin was very relaxing place to be....very refined levels of wind/road/engine noise. impressed.
other note worthy things -
fuel consumption was horrible, even when you tried.
you can feel the wipers moving through the pedals when stationary
the auto kicks down just when you finish accelerating via the cruise controls
the "key" is very mercedes
the ABS is horrible... in the wet, i drove past the drive way for my villa, i didnt slam the brakes on, but i did press firmly and i was greeted with locked wheels and sliding down the road. horrbile vibrations got sent through the steering wheel and the front end felt like it had gone all bendy... very disconcerting.
traction control is also pretty naff, really slow to react. you've often let off the gas before the TC gets you because of the horrific "tramping" the front wheels are doing sounding like theyre shakin the car to bits.
overall it was a very nice car, i was mostly impressed and i could certainly live with one day to day. some of the under floor engineering must be pretty simple though, but then again...it is a cheap minivan