None so far.
Handles great as in it meets my expectations, I wasn't looking for a sportscar to fool around, just a nice 2-person car with some guts. In hindsight I am glad I haven't gone for the 1.6 110 hp diesel version, for an admittedly significant reduction in fuel consumption you get the same agility, somewhat worse handling in the bends and an additional 2000 euros on the pricetag.
The VTR+ 138 hp diesel one, now THAT would have been a nice car to own, unfortunately it's 4000 euros over this one in its basic version, and you just HAVE to have the parking assist, the swivelly xenon headlamps, the glass roof and all the other goodies which would bring the DDP price to over 20.000 euros.
I've managed to get my 1.6 VTR with alloy wheels, side airbags and CD player thrown in for free, plus two zone climate control and metallic paint as ordered optionals for 14.200 euros DDP, which IMO is a great bargain. I only regret not ordering the transparent roof, `twas an extra 500.
On to the car now, it is competent on rough roads (we have plenty around), windy roads, straight roads and the autobahn. comfortable, plenty of room inside for two people, getting slightly crammed if you accommodate four.
The huge doors are a headache in tight parking spots and the garage, same for backwards visibility, I find myself using the side mirrors A LOT. The coupe's looks more than make up for these inconveniences, though.
Fuel consumption, I'm having a hard time hitting the 9.5 l/100 km published for city driving, mostly it's about 10.5 peaking at 12 if you really push her. Highway it's about 5.5 @ 90 kph and 6.5 @ 130 kph, so no complaints there. You can easily get 900 kilometers worth of range from the 60-liter tank.
The gearbox is a bit on the short side, at 130 kph you're doing ~4000 rpm, that's about the highest speed that's practical in this car, any faster and the noise goes up, the fuel consumption goes up, and I bet engine life takes a dive too. So 130+ speeds are for short dashes only, overtakes and the like. Speaking of overtaking, it does well in this area, this is where the short gearbox really helps, floor it in fourth at 90-100 kph and the car lunges forward.
What else? The CD player is OK, radio idem, ergonomy A+, looks AAA++, it really is a head turner, adequate boot space (for two people), perfect reliability so far (although after only 5000 kilometers you can't really tell).
Some discrete rattles and squeaks have been acquired on and manifesting themselves on romania's nice cattle-trails that stand for regional roads. Quiet inside, virtually vibration free idle and city running (if the roadway cooperates), in fact a fellow diesel driver was under considerable distress every time he came to a halt at the stoplights, as it looked to him that the engine had stalled. A look under the car revealed sturdy, beefy construction.
Costs on the high side, both check-ups and spare parts, but hey, anything for my other significant other.
Dealer was nice, young friendly people eager for a sale, but not willing to sacrifice courtesy and with enough common sense to avoid pushing me into a decision, a thing that I hate with all my heart, and which always finally gets the exact opposite reaction out of me. The service - herding them along is one of my old childhood friends, pleasant surprise.
Overall I'd say an inspired acquisition.
Good review - some of the rattles that developed are possibly known rattles that all the cars suffer from - usually one of the sections of the door that rattles, and there's a known fix for it.
However, do they not have the VTR+ spec there? Which is basically everything you paid extra for, but slightly cheaper to buy anyways, since climate etc is standard on them, so are the alloy wheels, and a few other nice little things - auto lights, wipers etc.
Glad the cars been good for you though. The 1.6 petrol engine is the same used in the 106GTi / Saxo VTS, and it's revvy by nature. Loudness isn't too bad, but it'll happily sit at 160kph+ all day. Had mine past the 190kph mark numerous times with no problem. The engine is a little noisy, but the car was alright. Fuel consumption obviously dropped, but I wanted to see what the car was capable of.
But the engine, when fitted to other cars, the limit was nearer the 8000rpm mark, so don't worry about it doing 6000rpm a lot. I don't, and with it being a new car, it's better to drive it hard from new. Ends up as a more powerful engine actually.
Well, they DID have the VTR+ spec, unfortunately their pricing was the exact opposite of what you said, it was actually cheaper to buy a VTR and spec it up to VTR+ level, so they got rid of it and introduced a new one, "Urban Jungle" which is basically a VTR loaded with the goodies I ordered on mine and about 400 euros cheaper. They put up this new offer two weeks after I ordered mine. yes, I cursed them for that.
As for the engine, I had the opportunity to rev it up to 6000 rpm on the autobahn in Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic (shhh, don't tell on me), 180+ kph, but IMO the car isn't "at home" at those parameters. The ride's rock solid, but the engine feels like a junior league playing with the pros. with some success I might add, I was (almost) able to keep up with my pal's Honda Accord diesel, 143 bhp, under 100 kph I could stay glued to his tail IF I floored it through 5000 rpm, over 100 kph and he would leave me in the dust every time he floored it, especially uphill.
On the plus side, that 60 liter tank really, really helps, I was able to get from Timisoara, Western Romania to somewhere near Jihlava in the Czech Republic, on a tankful. Almost 800 kilometers with about 100 to spare, and this without trying to go economic, 7.3 l/100 over a 1900 km trip with two people and their luggage, three tank fills. Theoretically, if one could find a human able to hold it in and drive without rest for twenty hours at 90 kph, you could almost cross Europe in this car. Get the diesel and you're really talking about RANGE then, 2000 kilometers on a tank of diesel fuel is believable, although you would have to be a cold war SAC b-52 driver to be able to stand twenty hours of turbodiesel drone.
No way will a diesel cover nearly 1,200 miles on a tank of fuel. Half that and you have it about right judging from owners I have spoken to.
Average range of the 1.6 petrol unit seems to be around 400 - 450 miles 600 - 720km ish. From what I have got that's using 98ron fuel. and travelling around 80mph sustained 130kmh.
And the drone doesn't bother me you just turn the music up put foot down. The engine is fine to stupid amounts of revs though citroen had one of these things revving to over 12,000 RPM during design of it so 6000 is not really a problem.
Turbodiesel drone? What are you talking about?
The engine on my 2.0HDi VTS is silent, and I spend all, the time on motorways, or autobahns, whatever you like to call them.
I agree with the last comment what noise?? my 1600HDI VTR+ is quieter than the Lexus that I owned and does 600 to 720 miles on a tank, not bad hey?
An auto is now available tried a test drive and thought that it drove better than the manual, definitely pulled away from rest better.
Good motor all round.
While I agree that it's quiet FOR A DIESEL and even quieter than some petrol cars, I can definitely hear (& feel) it at highway speeds whereas the 1.6 petrol is inaudible under about 4000 rpm and vibration free below 5000. again, this is my SUBJECTIVE perception of the noise & vibration levels of the two engines, so feel free to have a different opinion, but don't pick on me for doing the same.
Update from owner, 11000 kilometers: no major malfunctions, a transient fault with the cruise control, it wouldn't come on and the signal lights were acting funny, a relay click was coming from under the dash every 4-5 seconds, blinking the status lights and interrupting the signal lights. the problem fixed itself though, the car had been in rain and very humid weather previously, the sun came out and it came to its senses, so I guess a wet sensor or something. happened only once, will mention at next service.
Fuel economy, 7.2 l/100 km average, managed 7.8 over a 4600 kilometer euro-trip mixing high speeds on the german autobahns, winding roads in france and loaded to the roof with stuff.
Top speed was ~185 kph in germany, car stable, but engine definitely at it's performance limits. it felt it could have gone faster, but only a little bit. 120-130 kph is a comfortable speed on long trips on the motorway.
The textiles inside seem pretty wear-resistant, but the driver seat is showing signs of strain under my bulk. I should lose some weight, I know.
An embrio of a rattle in the driver's door, sounds more like something sticky sticking and unsticking itself.
When you're talking about the noise it probably depends what model you have. I've got a vtr+ and had extras, one of them being the laminated/acoustic glass. You really wouldn't know you were driving a diesel. I'm also confused about the spoiler. My one is coloured coded (which I obviously chose), we debated at the garage and came to the conclusion that the colour one is nicer. Yes the promo stuff has the black one, but the doesn't necessarily make it nicer. It's maybe okay if your car is black!!! I also passed a white one the other day and noted that they had also opted for a colour coded spoiler. I hadn't reckoned on the coupe looking good in white, but I was pleasantly surprised!!! A black spoiler wouldn't have looked so good. It depends what you prefer, but I did hear one comment which was that maybe some people had not got a colour coded one as it was cheaper to buy it in black. I found this to be rather amusing. I think however it is a personal choice and really depends on the colour of your car.
I just beat my best ever range on a trip from top of france to spain...970 miles on a tank of diesel all for 40 euro!! (1.6HDi by loeb 110)
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