The new head of sales in our computer company was delivered today of a new 9-5 TDi. Paying just over £400 per month on a lease for presumably a fair few miles a year. I had a quick sit inside before it went off to a conference in Southport.
The thing is huge outside and pretty large inside although after an MPV nothing feels that big these days unless you are in limo. Lots of toys but there were so many buttons to press and all quite small. The 'glass cockpit' of the S-Max is far easier to live with.
The main point of interest was a turbo boost gauge. Why? Who cares if a turbo is boosting these days. It is completely irrelevant in a TDi anyway isn't it? I could think of far more useful dials to put there (economy for one).
Seemed nice enough but I just couldn't get excited like I used to over seeing a new car. Maybe Ford do have the answer for everything?
|
...Maybe Ford do have the answer for everything?...
It might not have happened on the road to Damascus, but we do have a genuine convert. :)
Have to agree about the turbo boost gauge, no use whatsoever, particularly after you've driven the car a few times and got to know its power delivery.
I wouldn't be without a rev counter, but you could almost say the same about one of those.
|
|
£400 a month for a 9-5? Seems like a lot. I guess it is all cheap on tax or something though.
|
>> I wouldn't be without a rev counter, but you could almost say the same about
>> one of those.
I agree with you about the Rev Counter on cars with manual gearboxes. You use it to make decisions as to which gear to select.
However with an automatic gearbox, it's the electronic brain in the car that is making those decisions. The Rev Counter is still useful, though, since you can see by the activity on it that the car has changed gear!
|
What about autos with manual override?
I knew someone with a Saab 9-3 Aero (I think it was the Aero) and that had a boost gauge. It also had some turbo lag so it was useful in that car back then.
|
>>turbo boost gauge. Why?
An idiot stick.
Most drivers haven't a clue what the rev counter means - I once sat with such a being who thought it was the speedo, ask Bellboy!
|
Some trucks have a boost gauge, it does have a purpose as an economy gauge..once it goes fully over to maximum boost you'll see if you have an instant fuel consumtion readout that you're shoving fuel through at an astonishing rate, possibly not the reason they fitted it to the car in question though.
A torque gauge would be well worth having.
Does this fantastic machine have an oil pressure gauge too?
|
A torque gauge would be cool.
|
>> >>turbo boost gauge. Why?
Quite a few years ago a friend had a Renault 9 turbo - he certainly knew how to use it. If you were a passenger you quickly realised the moment the boost came on was the moment to close your eyes and grab hold of something secure (impossibility in a R9 anyway). I think he got bored with it after a few weeks and exchanged it for a Capri 2.8i.
|
|
I had to drive an expensively "improved" 2- or 3-year-old Renault 11 turbo back from the bodyshop once - the torque steer made it virtually undriveable. Probably what saw it needing a bodyshop in the first place, thinking about it...
Last edited by: Dave_TD {P} on Tue 8 Feb 11 at 00:36
|
>> What about autos with manual override?
>>
I had a play with the manual overrides in my car (6-speed steptronic). It lets you choose the gears to some degree, but it takes control back and puts the car into the gear that *IT* wants, if it thinks that you are being silly.
Can't see the point of manual overrides when you have an automatic. If you want to change gears yourself then buy a car with a manual gearbox. If you buy an automatic it is because you want the car to do all that menial stuff.
|
>> ...Maybe Ford do have the answer for everything?...
Having owned a Glaxy since November, which turned out to have a faulty heated windscreen which has just been replaced under warranty, I had the first opportunity to use it against this morning's frost today.
I can not ever imagine buying a car without one again, a bit like when I first discovered aircon.
Mind you, a Galaxy's a VW really.......
|
>> Mind you, a Galaxy's a VW really.......
>>
Old ones, partly yes. The actual extent of their VW-ness depends on the engine fitted.
New ones (since March 2006) have 0% VW.
|
|
Yes, true. Mine's a 2003 with the VW 1.9TDI PD 115 engine. Although it says Ford on the engine cover........
|
|
I do love my heated windscreen. At first I thought it performed poorly in comparison with the one I had years ago in an Orion Injection. However I have just discovered that the current that runs through it appears to increase significantly with a few revs so that it clears very quickly even on a frosty morning.
|
A Galaxy might be a VW really, but the heated front screen is wholly Ford.
The screens do clear quicker if you turn everything else off and/or increase the revs.
|
>> The screens do clear quicker if you turn everything else off and/or increase the revs.
I can certainly hear the revs drop when I turn mine on.
|
It's reckoned around 3-4hp can be transmitted through an alternator belt until it starts to slip.
|
SAAB 9-5 - Five minute impression - Iffy
