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My C4 2.0 HDi Exclusive |
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JamieAllmond
 
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  Member No: #16826
Joined: Dec 13 2010Location: Dorset |
OK. A bit of blowing my own trumpet here! It's a new C4, Exclusive, 2 litre HDi, with vision pack, eMyWay, and leather, in Nera Black. I picked it up new on 1st March, and it's absolutlely stunning. I haven't seen another new shape C4 on the road yet other than my local dealer's demonstrator, but they have sold a few. Mine was the first to drive out the door. I had a C5 from new for 7 years, Exclusive, SatNav, leather, etc etc, and it was a beautiful car to sit in, but pretty ugly from the outside! Nevertheless, a lovely car, and I was sad to see it go. It was a bit too big for my needs to be honest, and the new C5 isn't available in a hatchback, so as I always do, I looked at everything from Skoda to Jaguar. I had been watching the new C4 with interest, but when I saw it in the flesh (my dealer let me have a preview and a test drive WAY before they should have done) I was pretty well sold. How can people say the styling is bland? Then they unwrapped it for Mrs A who has never shown interest in cars in her life. She fell in love with it at first sight. Anyway, long story cut short, bells and whistles were added, and the order was placed. First diesel I have ever owned, so I chose the 2 litre, because I wanted some get up and go again, and the road tax and economy figures are both very good. As I say, picked it up on 1st March (eleven days ago) and have driven it at every opportunity. I usually motorbike to work (Yamaha FJR 1300) but have driven the car solidly for a week. I am soooo impressed! It is sooo quick, quiet, comfortable, refined and economical. (Bearing in mind it's only done 250 miles so far.) Any drawbacks? The nearside door mirror doesn't come in far enough. The dealer's response was, "Mine's like that too!" On my insistence they have referred it to Citroen UK as a safety issue. The boot needs a good slam, or the central locking won't lock, but I'm waiting to let it bed in. ....... to be continued..... Jamie |
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Ham
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    Member No: #69
Joined: Jan 10 2007Location: Derby, England |
Welcome to the forum, from another Jamie! hope you enjoy your new car and we will be waiting some photos |
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JamieAllmond
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Member No: #16826
Joined: Dec 13 2010Location: Dorset |
A bit busy doing daughter's kitchen, but this will be continued. 250 miles so far, off to France at the end of the week, so mileage will quickly climb. Only issue I have had so far is geeting all my music on a USB stick so I can play it in the car, but I think it's a computer problem, not a car problem. Meanwhile - here's a quick picture. Jamie 
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mooresey
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  Member No: #18464
Joined: Feb 27 2011Location: Church Gresley, Derbyshire |
Very nice | ||||
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rorsters
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Like the rims. Cars gorgeous. | ||||
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bluehdi
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 Member No: #2617
Joined: Mar 02 2008Location: Essex |
Welcome, The car looks great - The alloys and black paintwork make the car look really good! Some interior shots would be excellent if you could at some point. I think the Exclusive has the massaging seats as standard - do you also get this feature on the passenger seat and does it make for a more relaxing drive? The vision pack has the blind spot monitoring - do you find this also works well? Also I wonder if they've made any improvements with the eMyway over the previous Myway sat nav. |
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Stubblechops
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  Member No: #14554
Joined: Jul 11 2010Location: Royal Forest of Dean |
Hello and welcome. I think black suits the Exclusive pretty well, and the styling is growing on me with time. What sort of fuel economy are you getting Jamie? |
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JamieAllmond
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Member No: #16826
Joined: Dec 13 2010Location: Dorset |
OK Continuation number 1 Interior shots will follow - all I have at the moment is a shot of the mileometer showing 8 miles. I too love the wheels. The demo at the dealers had the optional 18 inch, which are similar but have straighter spokes. To be honest, I prefer the standard 17 inch which I've got and the spokes kind of swirl over each other. The massaging seats come on both seats in the front. We've only done short journeys so far, but off to France at the end of the week. 250 miles in one hit should give them a good test. My opinion so far is good though. They aren't over vigorous, and just move gently. Very nice. The blind spot monitoring is very good. I specified it mostly because I do a lot of French motorway motoring, but it's proving invaluable around the roads in Dorset when filtering. Can't really comment on e MyWay versus the old MyWay, but its a major improvement on the unnamed SatNav in the old C5. It's little things really like the easy zoom, the perspective view, and the way the volume of the music dims when the SatNav talks, rather than just cutting sharply out. Setting VIA points will, I'm sure, be very useful. The same is true of the parking sensors. In the C5, if the music was loud, you couldn't hear them. In the C4 the music dims but doesn't cut out so you can hear the beeps. You also get a nice picture on the SatNav screen. Economy at the moment is about 40 mpg in town, and over 48 on an 11 mile run to work. I'll report back after a longer run. I just know that I am so impressed with the refinement. I drove a diesel Focus Estate for 250 miles today. Not a bad workhorse, but a totally different and noisy beast! Turbo lag was pretty poor. The C4 drives like a non-turbo car, the power is simply always there. Swivelling headlamps are spooky, but once you get used to it, they are really not a gimmick - they are actually really good. Still getting used to the automatic handbrake. If I had been given a choice, I think I would have asked for a conventional one. Now I'm getting used to it, it's growing on me. I seem to have worked out the music on USB problems. Good old Windows 7 always corrupting the music library. I think I now have my entire library on one USB stick and available in the car. The bluetooth link to the phone works very well, and if you have contact addresses on your phone, the SatNav will read it, so you can just drive to a phone contact. My favourite feature? Probably at the moment the speed limiter with its 5 memories. I've always loved cruise control, but I think speed limiter is taking over as more versatile. OK, time to go for a quick pint or two with workmates. To be continued....... Jamie |
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Dave_Retired.
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 Member No: #1
Joined: Aug 07 2006Location: Northumberland |
Speed limiter has always been my favourite as well and if it has 5 memories now, will be invaluable | ||||
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PentlandC4
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 Member No: #13613
Joined: May 08 2010Location: Deepest Wiltshire |
The speed limiter is an underrated bit of kit. About 10 miles each way of my daily commute is along a 40mph average speed camera stretch, and the speed limiter is great for that. The only downside is that if you forget that it's on and then accelerate from 30mph... |
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JamieAllmond
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Member No: #16826
Joined: Dec 13 2010Location: Dorset |
Here we go with another continuation after a week in France, a busy week back at work catching up with having a week off, and a trip to Wootton Bassett today for the Ride of Respect......thousands of bikes, about half of what there were last year, but still an awesome sight. OK. Trip through France. 250 miles each way, plus the mileage once there. On the way down, travelling at the speed limit all the way, we got about 48 mpg. On the way back, again on the speed limit, 53 mpg. Just clicked 1000 miles when we got back. No doubt fuel consumption will improve, but after a petrol 2 litre automatic, I'm verypleased. A slight moan here, the only way to see your speed in kilometres per hour is to switch the entire car to metric, and then devote the readout in the centre of the speedo to your speed. That means you lose your metric speed if you want to look at your mileage computer, your music track, etc etc - you get the idea. Then you look at your mileage computer, and it's all metric. I spent the entire trip multiplying litres per 100 kilomoteres to mpg in my head. X times 4.55 divided by 8, multiplied by 5 - those 250 miles (400 kilometres) went so quickly! How did I get my 48 mpg? Did I do all the sums in my head? No. I waited 'till we got there, turned the car to imperial, noted the result, turned it back to metric, then went in to face the wrath of Mrs A who accused me of being pathetic. The very idea! Speed limiter - I love it! I really really love it! Normally I'm in cruise control, and constantly adjusting it, flicking it off, flicking it back on, etc etc. Sat in the queue coming off the ferry I set the five memories to the five speed limits in France (having first set the car to metric.) OK, maybe not the exact speed limits, but pinching a bit, so 52 73 94 114 135....you get the idea. Bliss! Select a speed and just sit there! Your foot is on the throttle, so in a natural position should you need to brake. You adjust your speed for the traffic, but it cuts in when speed picks up again. I used cruise control for about 20 miles, on an empty 130 kph motorway, on the entire trip. Cruise control or speed limiter? Which is best? There's only one way to find out....FIGHT! (This only means something if you watch a certain British TV Programme.) Seriously I love both, but if I could have only one, it would be the speed limiter. Right, what about the SatNav? It's very good....but.... The handbook makes a big thing about speed cameras, black spots, etc. It's not active in the UK....Nor is it available in France. My dealer says that Citroen UK say that the dealer says that Citroen UK says that... you get the idea. Anyway, it looks like when it does come on song I'll have to pay to get my system upgraded. I'll keep you informed. Ongoing issues? Just very rarely it doesn't start first time, and then it needs a bit of gas to start. The boot still needs a firm shut, but it is certainly bedding in and getting better. The nearside door mrror is now JUST showing me what I need to see, but I could still do with it coming inwards a bit. I haven't heard from Citroen UK....... The music on the USB stick has improved, and to be fair, I am trying to get ALL my music collection on it. Suffice to say I've sent the USB stick back because I think it's faulty. It takes about 30 seconds starting the car from cold for the car to read all the content before the music starts. A small price to pay to be able to have your entire music collection on board. Now we've got over the novelty of the massaging seats, they are definitlely a good thing on a long journey. They just gently go for 6 minutes, off for 4, then switch off after an hour. Definitely good. The blind spot monitoring worked really well in France and is well worth it. The HID headlamps are good and use HID for main as well as dipped beam. Never seen this before. They also use HID for headlamp flash. I always thought that they didn't use HID for main beam because of the delay firing them up. Maybe Citroen have improved things......or are there "constant firing up" problems being stored up for the future? Really love being able to set different intensities on the AirCon. Don't like the step when the rear seats are folded down, but to be fair, it's not a C5, it's a C4. In the end, I love the car, and I'm trying to be objective with the review. Hopefully some interior shots next time. To be continued...... |
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JamieAllmond
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Member No: #16826
Joined: Dec 13 2010Location: Dorset |
Time for an update methinks...... First of all, fuel economy. 250 miles to Lincolnshire (are all my journeys 250 miles?) gave a fuel consumption of 49.5 mpg on the way up. I zeroed the computer, and on the way back it was, .... 49.5 mpg again. I left the computer without resetting it and it dropped quite quickly on local trips to 48.6 mpg and sat there up to about 700 miles, then after about 40 miles of rural but quite (very - after all it's getting on for 2000 miles now) rapid motoring it dropped to 47 mpg. Still pretty good for a pokey 2 litre with so few miles on the clock. I'm starting to drive it a bit more enthusiatically now. The new C4 has been criticised in the motoring press as not being as sharp as the Focus, Golf etc. If sharp means a hard ride, the C4 is firm enough for me thank you very much, especially after years of hydro-pneumatic comfort. I'm finding it firm enough to be reassuring, but not wallowing, ploughing straight on etc. Not that the C5 did, to be fair, when the firmer setting cut in. Someone asked for more pictures, especially the interior, but I'm not sure what you want, so requests please! Also, I'm very aware of bandwidth, hosting costs etc, so any guidance as to max picture size, how many etc would be appreciated. Meanwhile a few pictures are attached: OK, they're all at the bottom. Can anyone tell me how to put them in the middle of a message? Now for a few more niggles; and be aware I'm being REALLY critical now. The windscreen wipers are hinged on the outside, more like a people carrier. I think the basic idea is that they are symmetrical, so don't need to be altered for left or right hand drive. Not quite true! Because the left hand one wipes after the right hand one, the left one flicks water across the driver's field of view as it comes to rest or parks. Then you have to do a flick wipe.....then another.....etc. The economy mode is very intelligent......too intelligent. When I washed, hoovered, polished, cleaned, etc, the old C5, I could work for 30 minutes listening to music, then it would go into economy mode. All I had to do was start the engine for a few seconds and I would win another 30 minutes. The new C4 is much more clever. Once the music stops, if you start the engine, economy mode (quite rightly I suppose) says, "Hang on, you just started the engine for 30 seconds, I haven't restored that drain back into the battery, so I'm going straight back into economy mode!" I know it makes sense, but it's a bit annoying. I think I've sorted the USB music issue. There was an issue with the memory stick. That having been said, when you put the stick in, the car builds a temporary play list. There seems to be a memory issue here. I think, but haven't proved, that it's the number of tracks that is the issue, not the amount of memory used on the memory stick. Can anyone else help? It seems that if you had several hundred of music tracks each 10 seconds long, the car would only recognise the first half, but if you had several hundred, each an hour long each track, it may not have the same problem. The car is only recognising the first approx 17 Mb of a 32 Mb USB stick, but I believe it's the number of tracks, not the physical memory. On the subject of music, if you have music on your phone, and media player is in pause, the car will recognise your phone, but also recognise your phone is in pause. I thought you then had to take the phone out of your pocket and press play. NO!If you cycle through the music sources and come back to the phone, it will start playing. It works for an HTC 620 anyway! I still love the refinement. My son has a Mondeo diesel and can't believe how quiet the C4 is - even from outside, never mind inside! Speed limiter combined with the speed memories is still terrific. Cruise control has almost gone out the window. The automatic handbrake continues to grow on me. If I'm being picky, I'm in a torquey diesel car. I can pull away on tickover no problem. However, the car says, "You aren't accelerating, so I'm not going to let the handbrake off." Minor I know, but I want to present all the good and bad points. I love the dipping mirror when you engage reverse, and it had become a major factor in my new car choice. The C4 allows you to select left or right hand door mirror - how cool is that? Absolutely brilliant! Every car should have it. Running out of time and things to say, so until the next post............. AH! Just remembered something else. I asked my local dealer about driving the car in France. Did I need corrective stickers for left dipping headlamps? They said that I didn't need them as the headlamps dipped straight down, not to the left. During my drive through France, I got flashed 4 times, which is about average for the C5 with the stickers on. However, the pattern looks like I need them. Any views from anyone else? Jamie PS. Is there a spell checker before I post this....OR OA, ua rgwew ] aowkk xgwxjwe vwdie U oiar rgua?   
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Dave_Retired.
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Member No: #1
Joined: Aug 07 2006Location: Northumberland |
A bit off topic but as you asked: so any guidance as to max picture size, how many etc would be appreciated. Meanwhile a few pictures are attached: OK, they're all at the bottom. Can anyone tell me how to put them in the middle of a message? There's no point in them being more than 1024X wide pre upload as that's large enough for most monitors (they will get auto resized to 680x wide and be click-able to the original) which also keeps the file size down so they open far faster on screen One way to add images in the middle is to use the 'preview option' after you add some text and an image, then you can add more text and another image etc. till your happy then click 'reply to thread' If you forget you can go back and edit your post and move things around using the edit button  (only appears on your posts after committing)Spell check, use Chrome as your browser as it spell checks as you type and highlights dubious words, right click one and it offers alternatives, you can add the same functionality in Firefox as well 
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Cra1g
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Great write up, really liking the car. All the best with it. ~And of course, welcome to the C4Owners! |
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JamieAllmond
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Member No: #16826
Joined: Dec 13 2010Location: Dorset |
OK. Some more time has passed, and another trip to France, so time for another update. I do intend this to be a long-term road test after all. This time, instead of going down dual carriageways and autoroutes, we meandered down routes nationales. Although this meant speeds were lower, it also meant loads of braking and accelerating for roundabouts, junctions, bars, restaurants, etc. None too good for fuel economy! After something like 350 miles of mixed motoring, we achieved 52.5 mpg. I wasn't driving for economy, just "normal" driving, cruising mostly at the speed limit. The car has done approximately 3000 miles now, and normal run around driving returns 48 to 49 mpg, with the overall figure from when the car was new being 47.5 mpg. These are all figures taken from the on-board computer by the way. Other than that, how is the car doing? For me - excellently! For people reading this post - really boringly. There have been no issues, no problems, nothing. It just gets on and does the job. Reading back through my previous posts, I must chase up the Citroen dealer to find out about speed cameras etc on the SatNav. Once I get an answer, I'll update this post. Until then......... Jamie |
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