Later this week I have two hours to myself in a Skoda Superb estate, the aim being to drive it around a bit and see how we get along. I'm still a bit new to doing this in this part of the world, so I don't yet have any favourite routes to try it on, although this time there is a specific regular place I need to take it to, which will add a bit of verisimilitude.
But what I'm wondering is what you do. Do you have a standard set of tests to which you submit any candidate car? In my company car days I could usually borrow one for a long business trip - did this with a Passat and an S60 and you know the result, even though I rather liked the Passat's auto wipers - but that's harder to do now. But, given a couple of hours with an unfamiliar car, what would you do to get to know it properly?
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Traffic but not too much that it takes excessive time.
Rough roads and varying surfaces to judge noise as well as ride.
Close manoevering, you don't need to be close to another car but once in a while you might need to apply a minute amount of power to climb a kerb when close parking, can you control it fine enough to stop the car once it clears the obstacle...fine tuning as it were, most automated manuals would fail at this hurdle.
Do the mirrors show you what you need to see at this time, can you see the rear wheels, does any electronic parking assistance actually work in practice..
Engine testing, does it accelerate enough for you at the speeds you need to do, overtaking etc, do you need to play the gearbox constantly or does it have enough torque for a lazy comfortable drive too.
Handling, i use my own mixture of roads, including higher speeds for wind noise and stability.
Toys and controls, i would already have spent time in the showroom confirming such as this.
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Do a test park outside the house, in the garage, or wherever you usually leave the car.
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Brake testing. Does it stop in a straight line from a reasonable speed with hands off.
Invoke ABS
A/C cooling - survivable?
Are three point turns important to you if so is it easy?
HRW and mirrors ( screen?) - a little more difficult to check
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All cars stop in a straight line these days, not something you need to test unless its a 500 quid shed.
Motorway, noise.
M25 80 mph concrete gave me the nasty shock that an Octavia is really a rather noisy car.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 10 Oct 11 at 14:16
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Yes, check the noise, especially at speed. Also suspension - hard ride, or soft and rolling too much on cornering. Take a passenger and check their feed-back.
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Is there enough headroom to tilt your head back and empty the crumbs from the bottom of your crisp packet into your mouth without hitting the roof?
Drinks holders - although my car has two, they will only take cans so I cannot put a bottle of water in them. Thats annoying.
Alloy wheels - are they easily cleaned or multi spokes that will take forever.
Shopping - boot accessible, can you reach the furthest part of the boot or do you need to climb in?
Media - if applicable does it work with your phone/ipod or whatever?
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(Some bits only relevant used cars).
Test engine and radiator are cold.
Sit in seat. Adjust. Get comfy.
Switch on ignition. Do warning lights for ABS /oil pressure/ seat belts/Engine Management come on? Engine coolant and other guages at zero?
Go.No go there.. missing bulbs = bodged.
Switch on engine. Lights go out within 5 secs?
Go No go there.
Saves a lot of time on driving.
Driving.
Bumpy roads. Speed humps. Potholes.
Go No Go.
Cornering round rondabouts. Roly poly?
Go NoGo
Straights. Wind noise over 60mph
Go NoGo
Gear change Slick or not.
Clutch. Slips.
Odd engine noises etc.
Reverse into a parking space.
Clucth slip, rear vision. ease.
Forwards out and tight turn. Can I see ends of wings.?
In cabin. Controls to hand. Thick A pillars.
I gave up on a Audi A2 due to stiff ride, A pillars, and inability to see reversing. And bought a Yaris instead.. (-ves were wind noise over 70 and jiggly ride over potholes)
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Certainly noise, Z, since I'm looking for something that'll be a relaxed cruiser. I have a couple of junctions of M4 (12-10) on my likely route, plus a bit of A329(M), which I think has some concrete sections.
Ride quality is an interesting one, because it means different things to different people. My Volvo is quite choppy at 15 mph over the ruts left in our road by utility workmen but smooths out nicely at speed. Our Verso, on the other hand, copes better in town but is constantly jiggly at higher speeds, which gets quite tiring. I suppose I'll just need to gauge how I feel when I get out of the Superb.
The noise floor contributes to another thing: I'll also want to make sure it can play music to a decent standard. I slipped up there before we bought the Verso - I assumed a near-£20,000 car would have a decent audio unit on board. I'll take a couple of CDs from the Good Value Albums pile.
GB's turning suggestion is a good one - although I can't imagine it'll be worse than the Ark Royal-esque S60.
The demo Superb has a DSG transmission,which will be my first time with one. I remember quite liking the Audi Multitronic I tried nine years ago - although I think I'd be too concerned about long-term upkeep to choose to buy one. And no, I won't be left-foot braking it.
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If you pop home to test it on the driveway/in the garage try your cricket club/stick things in the boot (just to make sure). Those Skoda's look HUGE but you'd hate to spend all that money and find something like the cricket bag(s) test was a fail later.
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>> All cars stop in a straight line these days, not something you need to test
>> unless its a 500 quid shed.
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Good God Zero, some of us would give our eye teeth for a posh motor that's worth 500 quid.
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I could buy ten for that price! ;>)
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Check the ergonomic stuff, and the logic of the controls.
Although I tested one twice, I didn't really twig that I couldn't operate the cruise control in the Outlander without moving my grip on the steering wheel. It irks me every time, especially for simple speed adjustments. Ditto the steering wheel audio controls, and the trip computer - not on a stalk, but a button on the dash.
The most regrettable nonsense is the electric driver's seat without memory - what's the point of that? Surely the only reason for electric seat adjustment is to have a memory function, otherwise it just slows down adjustment with no benefit. If somebody else drives it, it's the devil's own job to put it back. I'm thinking of making a jig!
And don't get me started on auto lights and wipers. The only mercy is a mechanical handbrake.
Nobody has improved on the minor controls of Carlton estate I had in 1989 that had a 3 position rotary knob for the lights, a wiper stalk with a timer adjustment for the intermittent wipe, and a cruise control stalk that required me to move one finger. If they made them now, I'd buy one.
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If you turn off the M4 on to the A329M, WdB, come off the A329M at the next junction (Wokingham), tuenm left and left again through Binfield. In and around Binfield there are plenty of twisty B-roads as a contrast to the motorway.
I spent a long time on those roads a few years ago trying - and failing - to get on with a BMW 3-series. On the other hand I found I liked the current-model Toyota Prius more than I expected to.
The alternative (if you're starting from the Skoda dealer in Reading) is to go where I've done with Skodas from Jewsons in Oxford - M4 to Newbury, A34 and turn off at East Ilsley and (in your case) back to Reading through the lanes and B-roads.
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Test drive drill - -
