Usage: 550 km
Got the car few days ago and managed to put some road behind my back, so these are my first impressions.
Overall
Overall I'm really impressed with the car. I've spent some good hours in the car before buying it (different dealers / test drives ... etc) so I knew what I got myself into, but despite that, the first contact with the car from the "owner" perspective was overwhelming. I had some doubts about the color, as it was my wife's choice, but these are now all gone - it is indeed a looker, and the MagRed/black/chrome combo is simply amazing.
I now find all kind of stupid excuses to get out of the house and drive the car ... I'm completely charmed ...
Positives
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Ride quality. Simply amazing. Steering is very precise, minimal body roll when turning and smooth suspensions (even on the 19' wheels). I'm used to the "
soft" and "
easy" type of steering wheel, so I don't get the negative comments about its lack of "
feedback"....
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Comfortable seats. Opted for mixed leather/textile due to heated seats and also personal preference. Textile part is surprisingly nice and pleasant on touch, and the chair shape will get you sink in pretty fast. The pretty unusual shape and inclination of the head-rest proved to be good ergonomic experience as well.
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Interior layout and sound insulation. Everything you need seems to be in the right place. I was initially concerned about the inability to slide the central arm-rest, but there's no need to. Only complaint is that I cannot rest both my elbows at the same time (on the door's arm rest and the central one) ... Also, it is a very quiet car!!!! Even a couple of experienced drivers and friends of mine have noticed this right away. At 120 km/h I was literally having a conversation with my wife ..... below whispering level ...
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Engine elasticity and performance. The engine is perfect for my taste. Between 1500-2800 rpms it has quite decent acceleration, even when going on steep up-hill. After 2800 rpms it becomes a
beast and can perform way beyond the car's purpose, easy comparable with other 2.0 / 2.2 l Diesel engines I've driven in the past.
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Consumption. Dividing 500 km into 60% motorway, 20% national roads, 10% city roads and 10% country roads, and I got
6.1l/100km as average. And this with a normal driving style (decent accelerations and 130km/h average speed on motorway). Personally I'm happy. I believe I can reach 5.0 if I'm careful enough, so I will try this in the future.
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Navigation. The system performed much better than expected. It also seems to be very precise in regards to your current position, and the maps seem ok (still need to check their version). I normally use Google maps as I have unlimited data on my mobile, but overall this was a pleasant experience. Also, it also carries my wife's approval
No issues with it so far.
Negatives
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Paint. Oh boy ... Overall paint quality is poor, and can probably be compared to my 10 years old car in this regard (despite the age difference) .... The activities of washing and waxing the car highlighted some paint related issues, otherwise invisible. There are 2 small areas where the paint seems to be diluted, like a drop of petrol has touched the car during the paint procedure. Both trapped under the protective coating, therefore clearly a paint procedure failure. In the engine compartment there are also few areas which are poorly painted (savings ??). As long as the "
inside metal" is not exposed or the paint is not chipped - I'm ok with it .... but still ... grrrr
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Rain sensor. Need to play a bit more with the settings ... but it seems to trigger the wipers a little bit too late for my taste sometimes.
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Cameras. All around cameras are great!!!!! but once you get used to them ... you start observing the low image quality they provide. Not a real issue to be honest, but just a fuss ... really. Better to have them low quality then not at all I guess
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Sound quality. Not truly negative but just plain average. My MP3 collection sounds good, however most radio stations sound like crap. I usually use my music so the sound quality of the 6 output points provided is decent with some minor tweaks. Again, not a real issue for me.
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Trunk lock. Not sure if this is me, but I have moments when I try 3-4 times until I succeed to open the trunk. I believe its something like pull the door + push the unlock button at the same time, so I suspect an
idiot here rather than a technical issue .... will keep an eye opened in the future.
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No windows closing on lock. Seriously? No auto window closing at lock ? So disappointing ... Even the manual states something like ... "
close windows first, then lock car".
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Start/Stop system. Well, it works pretty well to be honest, only that I personally hate it, and for my usage is pointless. Not having a permanent on/off switch is annoying. Have to do it every time you start the engine
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Automatic door lock. I know there are some safety concerns, but I would like to have my doors locked automatically as I drive away (like in my old car). Just another "thing to do" after I start my car .... along with deactivating the Start/Stop system (soon I'll need a check up list, like when the plane takes off ...)
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Gearbox (manual). Overall good, apart from few comments. Sometimes I find it difficult to get in to the 4th from 5th or 6th. It could be just the position and the way I'm used to. There is a friction sound when getting into 5th gear as the leather around the gear-shift folds and touches itself (
). Don't like the transition between 1st and 2nd gear, but I suspect it is me to blame here again. Although a good gear box it feels a bit "slow" and I would have preferred something else paired to this elastic engine ... even for higher price . I'm sure I'll get used to it in time ...
Other notes
The car looks well engineered as a whole, and managed to impress me at times. However the execution is lacking in some parts and this takes a bit away from what could be a truly amazing car.
Am I disappointed in my choice? NO! And I knew what I was getting into. Given the opportunity, I would have taken the same decision today.
Cheers!