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Our new C4 Hatchback 1.6 HDi 110 w/ EGS, etc.

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MurrayHenson   
Fri Oct 10 2008, 01:17pm
Member No: #1827
Joined: Dec 31 2007
Location: Krakow, Poland
Just to clarify: I am talking about daytime lights. We'll see the dealer sometime soonish and get those sorted. And I had done the prt thing... Gotta look at it again tho.
MurrayHenson   
Mon Oct 13 2008, 07:25am
Member No: #1827
Joined: Dec 31 2007
Location: Krakow, Poland
Thoughts after 3200km.

It's been a week and 3200km, so I figured I'd update this post with my thoughts and opinions again.

My wife and I are back from Italy, to where we'd driven our C4 immediately after taking possession. On the way to Monselice, Italy from Belchatow, Poland, we crossed through southern Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria and northern Italy. There've been a variety of terrains and road conditions.

To remind everyone: we ordered a C4 1.6 HDi w/ EGS and the "SX Pack" plus a bunch of extras. The "SX Pack" isn't the standard UK "SX" stuff, it's sort of a mix of things AND we ordered a bunch of extras on top of it. Panoramic roof, bluetooth, fancy wheels (can't remember what they're called), parking radar front/rear, heated mirrors, anti-theft/breakin package, alarm, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, USB Box, roof racks, mud flaps, etc.

As of right now, there are three issues, all fairly small: I'm still working on getting MP3 titles from my iPhone 3G to show up on the car's radio display. Going through the manual hasn't helped but I need to sit down and spend a bit more time with it. I also need the dealership to turn the lights, when on the Auto setting, so that they're always on and automatically turn off when we stop the car and remove the key or open the door. Lastly, the alignment seems to be off slightly - it drifts a bit to the right. It's not horrible but I checked several times.

Everything else is Really Good.

- EGS transmission: awesome. I wonder if I will ever go back to a manual. The variety of ways to shift (or to have it auto-shift) is amazing and amazingly thorough. Occasionally when going through a roundabout at low speeds and needing to VERY quickly accelerate (stomping on the gas) it will agonizingly hesitate when in full-auto mode. I prefer to use the paddles to shift down and then stomp. Otherwise, it's great.

- Cruise control: the best cruise I've ever used. The ability to fine-tune the speed coupled with the digital display is so powerful. There have been long stretches of time and road where I never touched the accelerator - I just adjusted the speed via cruise control up or down a bit in order to pass someone or to adjust to the flow of traffic.

- Headlights: The stock headlights are more than adequate. Slovakia, where street lighting is but a fabled myth, really lets them show off a bit. Here again I liked the ability to adjust the headlights up or down a bit depending on road conditions. This is probably not exactly how this setting was intended to be used but it's nice that it's there. When the headlights are on non-dipped ("bright" setting is what I'd call it) they are very bright.

- Steering wheel controls: Nice to have everything all in one place. Fairly easy to use, though a few times I adjusted my speed or volume when meaning to do the opposite.

- Bluetooth stuff: I don't get a lot of calls on my phone so we just tested this out with my iPhone 3G and my wife's Nokia 6230. Fairly simple to set up and use. This is not something we'll probably use a lot but it is cool nonetheless.

- Fuel usage: We've had, as I said earlier, a variety of terrains (crossed the Alps and the Tatras) and driving situations (urban, metro-area, highway/autostrada)... so far we've averaged 5.2l/100km aka 54.3 MPG (UK). Monique, our car, is currently telling us that we've got 800km left after 560km traveled @ 4.8l/100 aka 58.9 MPG. Quite good considering we were in a 6km long, 80 minute tailback not too long after we entered Poland (a poor welcome-home reception). Before we bought the car I figured we'd end up with 5.2l/100 or 15% off the combined 4.5l/100 cycle and so far I've been exactly right. On this last tank of fuel @ 4.8l/100km we were running the A/C almost the entire time, a GPS (12v socket), headlights, stereo and phone charger (12v socket to 75w converter to phone charger transformer plug). The only time we didn't run the A/C was in the traffic jam.

- Seats: great! We stopped every 2-3 hours for a quick stretch but after 17.5 hours there and 15 hours back we weren't really sore or in any sort of discomfort. My wife found that her seat belt, the upper bit, was rubbing in an irritating way against her neck. I did not experience that, however. We're considering buying one of those little pads that can be fitting on the seat belt for future long journeys. My wife loves the center box/armrest thingie because both she and I can rest our arms/elbows there. I still find the door rests a little awkward but "ok". I would have preferred them not to mess with the trim so much there because it reduces a single surface area into two with different levels.

- Radio/CD/MP3 player & speakers: besides the titles from the USB box, no complaints. Speakers sound good, plenty of bass for my tastes. I like the volume control knob; it's nice to have that "analogue touch" even if it is probably more digital than analogue.

Other little comments: I'm 6'2". When I sit *upright*, meaning that I am not slouching at all, my head is VERY close to the roof. Not even a finger's worth of space between my noggin and the roof. I usually don't sit quite that vertically though. Getting in/out I've bumped my head against the sun visor or door frame a few times. That is par for the course for me, however. I have the steering wheel as far up as it will go and it's just far enough - just a bit of space between my legs and the bottom of the wheel (so it's ok). Oh and I tried to sit in the back behind the driver's seat when it is all the way back and it's almost impossible to get my size 11 Dr. Martens shoes into the rear passenger space (in or out). Sitting back there was a bit cramped (head hit the roof, no space and can't really slouch). I wouldn't want to be me in the back seat for more than a short journey.

When I asked my wife if there was anything she would like to add she said, simply, "I love it."

We'll be visiting the dealership in a few weeks to get the alignment looked at, headlight auto-thingie done and to pick up some winter tyres.
Dave_Retired.   
Mon Oct 13 2008, 09:48am

Member No: #1
Joined: Aug 07 2006
Location: Northumberland
Does the seat have 'height adjustment' - not sure on the spec you have described but mine doe.

If so you can drop it down which should help with the head clearance

Nice to see you like the Digital speedo and other toys. I really missed the speedo last weekend when we took SWMBO Pug to London. I had to keep looking down to check it but with the C4 it's always there in your periphral vision so you don't have to take your eyes off the road
MurrayHenson   
Mon Oct 13 2008, 03:28pm
Member No: #1827
Joined: Dec 31 2007
Location: Krakow, Poland
That is a really good question, re the seat height adjustment. Our old Xsara did but I hadn't even thought to look on this one.
BigJohnD   
Mon Oct 13 2008, 04:47pm

Member No: #82
Joined: Jan 22 2007
Location: Hoylake
The upper seat belt mount should move up and down too.

Re: iPod track details. Pressing Preset 2 should display the track. Press "<<" to cancel.
MurrayHenson   
Thu Oct 23 2008, 08:44pm
Member No: #1827
Joined: Dec 31 2007
Location: Krakow, Poland
Very quick update: I did find the up/down seat adjustment (yay!) and the Preset 2 button DOES display the track info but I was hoping more to see the track listed or shown, err... well:

Is that possible?

PS: That's not a pic I took, just something I found somewhere. I wanted a close-up of the radio display.
MurrayHenson   
Thu Oct 23 2008, 08:47pm
Member No: #1827
Joined: Dec 31 2007
Location: Krakow, Poland
Oh and one other note: A quick-ish visit to the dealership and they sorted out the auto-setting for the headlights so they auto come on when the car gets turned on and then auto-shut off when turning it off. It's a simple little thing but, honestly, I LOVE IT.
Dave_Retired.   
Fri Oct 24 2008, 02:40am

Member No: #1
Joined: Aug 07 2006
Location: Northumberland
MurrayHenson wrote ...

Oh and one other note: A quick-ish visit to the dealership and they sorted out the auto-setting for the headlights so they auto come on when the car gets turned on and then auto-shut off when turning it off. It's a simple little thing but, honestly, I LOVE IT.

It looks set to become a compulsory feature in new cars across the EU anyway and is available as a dealer setting on the C4. Would have been usefull as a 'driver' setting option when travelling abroad but I'm pleased your dealer knew about it.

Have you got around to adding a review for them yet? - Click Here -
BigJohnD   
Fri Oct 24 2008, 05:57am

Member No: #82
Joined: Jan 22 2007
Location: Hoylake
MurrayHenson wrote ...

Very quick update: the Preset 2 button DOES display the track info but I was hoping more to see the track listed or shown, err... well, :

Is that possible?
No.

What you get is an 8 character scrolling display like this:

"The Rolling Stones" "(I can't get no) Satisfaction"

MurrayHenson   
Fri Oct 24 2008, 04:46pm
Member No: #1827
Joined: Dec 31 2007
Location: Krakow, Poland
Boo! But good to know there's nothing to fix or further fiddle with.
wassel   
Tue Oct 28 2008, 08:24am
I should be getting my used (7000 miles) Hdi 16v Vtr plus 5 door tomorrow This looks like a smashing we car

I was wondering as to anyone's input about how much I've got to look forward to it ,As since i bought it I Seem to be coming across a lot of negative feed back re:clutches burning out ,engines cutting out etc and cosmetic deficiencies

Thanks for any input received

Oh AYE and hello everyone !!!
Dave_Retired.   
Tue Oct 28 2008, 09:20am

Member No: #1
Joined: Aug 07 2006
Location: Northumberland
wassel wrote ...

I should be getting my used (7000 miles) Hdi 16v Vtr plus 5 door tomorrow This looks like a smashing we car

I was wondering as to anyone's input about how much I've got to look forward to it ,As since i bought it I Seem to be coming across a lot of negative feed back re:clutches burning out ,engines cutting out etc and cosmetic deficiencies

Thanks for any input received

Oh AYE and hello everyone !!!



THis is posted in the wrong place but I can't move individual posts I'm afraid. Anyway have a read of my Long Term Road Test - Click Here - and BigJohnD's - Click Here - for evidence that all you read about issues doesn't apply to everyone
wassel   
Tue Oct 28 2008, 10:06am
cheers
MurrayHenson   
Sat Nov 08 2008, 08:19am
Member No: #1827
Joined: Dec 31 2007
Location: Krakow, Poland
Time for another semi-quick (read: probably rather lengthy) update.

Our C4, Monique, is at around 5,700 km now. We recently drove it from Krakow to Meiningen, Germany, and back visiting some distant relatives of mine. It was quite foggy, in some places where you couldn't see more than about four "lane dashes" ahead. The fog lights (and, occasionally, high-beams) helped as did slowing down to about 50-55 mph. We left Krakow at about midnight, so the dark and fog were challenging.

Our distant relatives thought the C4 was quite nice and said so quite a lot.

Only issue I can spot at this point is a bit of ...it's not trim... not sure exactly how to describe it, though perhaps it would be considered trim? Anyway, there's a large piece of material directly under the glove box that is drooping a bit. Not entirely sure how it is supposed to be affixed so when we visit the dealership next time we'll have them make sure it doesn't droop any more; it clearly shouldn't be.

Semi-issue: still breaking the car in and fuel consumption is, despite our efforts, a bit higher than we would like it to be. We're about 14% over the estimate of 4.5 litres/100km ...meaning we're doing about 5.1 litres, combined, over the entire 5,700 km driven. In particular, at our typical highway speeds of 60 mph (exactly 60, that is) we usually see consumption range between 4.1 and 4.7 litres/100km on the instant read out. To achieve 3.8 we have to drop it down to about 55 mph. Though, to be honest, when we're in the car the A/C or heater is on at 21C, headlamps are always on, my little Garmin GPSMap 60 Cx is powered by the 12v socket and the iPhone is powered by the USB box (and is playing music or video). Annnnd occasionally a 12v car socket to 70W standard-plug converter is there to power a laptop, charge a phone or whatnot. So the 14% drop is reasonable, I suspect, though obviously I wish we could power all the gadgets and have two people + luggage in the car at 60 mph and get 3.8 litres/100km fuel consumption. I suspect that it may improve a bit as time goes on. We're happy with the fuel consumption nonetheless; it's half what our old Xsara used.

Speaking of fuel, I've filled up twice now with 100% biodiesel (B100), diluted down to B10 after mixing it with the regular fuel in the tank. There is a chain of Polish stations called "Bliska" that sell B100 and regular diesel. When the time or opportunity has been right we've stopped, put 5.5 litres of B100 in and then filled up the remainder of the tank with regular diesel. Done that twice now and will probably continue like this for awhile. I've noticed no difference in fuel consumption or performance differences when running entirely on regular diesel versus the B10/Regular90 blend.

As before, driving with EGS is a dream. Oh, one little note here though: Not long after crossing the border into Germany my iPhone accidentally fell off its perch as we were going over a bumpy patch of road at about 40 KPH. As my hand shot out to grab it, I knocked the gearshift into reverse. My attention had obviously been diverted so it took a moment to realise that when I stepped on the acceleration pedal that the car was just free-revving. I looked down and realised what I'd done. Shifted it back into "A" mode and all was well, no stop or anything else needed. Good, smart car.

To sum it up: we're exceedingly pleased with the C4 so far.
MurrayHenson   
Thu Dec 25 2008, 02:12pm
Member No: #1827
Joined: Dec 31 2007
Location: Krakow, Poland
Another quick-ish update:

My wife's brother just started leasing a C4 Hatchback, in pearl red, with a 1.6 litre petrol engine. He's actually had a few issues with it already - the parking radar seems to beep at speeds below 10 kph, regardless of what is in front/behind him, along with some other odd electrical issues - some interior lights aren't working correctly among other issues - but, actually, he's still happy with the car. He intends to take it back to the dealership - the same that my wife and I bought our car from - and have them sort the various issues out. I expect they will do just that as "the family" has now bought a C5, a C4 and leased a C4 all from the same small, local dealership.

Monique - our C4 - continues to run flawlessly. We're at about 7100 kilometers now. Just put on a set of Michelin Alpin winter tyres; they will probably stay on until Feb or March, depending on the weather of course. I don't notice much more road noise but my wife is convinced that the ride isn't quite as harsh on the 16" wheels.

Fuel consumption on our last fill-up, with a decent mix of urban and motorway driving was 5.3 L/100 km aka 53.3 MPG. The overall average for all of the 7,100 kilometers continues to be 5.3 L/100 km (53.3 MPG). We do not do a LOT of city driving but there is definitely some - I'd say 20-30% in terms of running time. We've filled up several times with 100% biodiesel, diluted down to 10% (5.5-6.0 litres of B100 + 55 litres of regular diesel).

Basically... I continue to LOVE driving this car.

Happy Christmas to everyone here at C4O and your families!
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