Car Hire Lottery

[GG.]

Seems like we've been lucky with Easter Holiday school timings this year and my son's school has later dates than most others. As a result everything seems to be priced lower in Portugal at the moment and I upgraded the hire car to "C class or equivalent". Rather surprisingly we actually got a C class - C220d estate in standard issue Mercedes silber or whatever they call it. Blends in a bit better in Quinta do Lago than the tatty Fiat or Renault they sometimes give you



Interior is cloth but actually seems very premium. 17 inch wheels and squashy suspension so a very comfortable ride. The 4cyl diesel is actually also very refined. It shows up the V8 in the Range Rover for NVH and really demonstrates how far things have come on as any diesel four from a decade or two ago was a horrible rattly box of misery.

The overriding thing i'll take away from the experience however is the nannying. Flashing and bonging if you go above the speed limit (which it reports wrongly probably 30% of the time. Tugging at the wheel if you go near a white line and slamming on the brakes as I did a three point turn at 5 miles per hour because there was a pedestrian walking along the pavement behind me (I genuinely thought I'd hit a low wall or something that wan't visible)

It looks like most of this can be turned off but then defaults back to on again on the next start up. I think there are perhaps 'personal' modes where you presumably can select all to "off" and then just set it to your mode on entering the car.

I know the "ISA" intelligent speed assist in the UK came in slightly later - is it from MY 24? I'd have to make sure any new cars I buy going forward pre-date it!

[jamcg]

The overriding thing i'll take away from the experience however is the nannying.

That’s pretty much anything modern really. My focus is a 2020 car and has such niceties as

an over enthusiastic collision warning system- big red display that beeps and eventually brakes for you. Shits itself if you’re pointing at a stationary car even if the steered wheels are not. Nice and distracting

lane assist- like every system I’ve tried it just yanks you all over the road if you’re not careful- only lane assist I’ve come across where turning it off leaves it off but I’ve not tried every manufacturers versions

Automatic speed limiter- set the speed limiter and it changes when the speed limit does. Like the merc it’s often wrong

(Tied in with the speed limiter) on dash speed limit display- often wrong and often absent when you actually would benefit from the ability to look as an extra check. Flashes like fuck when you exceed what it believes is the limit but thankfully no bongs

Auto lights- only auto in the dark so you look like a cunt if you forget in daylight rain

Strangely absent from the spec sheet are parking sensors and cameras- doesn’t bother me (my van doesn’t have sensors either and is strangely easier to reverse) but previous Skodas have done what you described and shit itself and made you think you’ve twatted something

[IanF]

I recently returned from Tampa, took the opportunity to hire a muscle car*.. Dodge Challenger R/T with a Hemi V8. No gpf (or CAT ?) on US vehicles so sounded like what God (Bless America) meant it to sound!

*makes 375hp from a 5.7L or 6.1L or 6.4L depending on year

IMG_6555.jpeg (136.78 KiB) Viewed 303 times

[Rich B]

The overriding thing i'll take away from the experience however is the nannying.

That’s pretty much anything modern really. My focus is a 2020 car and has such niceties as

an over enthusiastic collision warning system- big red display that beeps and eventually brakes for you. Shits itself if you’re pointing at a stationary car even if the steered wheels are not. Nice and distracting

lane assist- like every system I’ve tried it just yanks you all over the road if you’re not careful- only lane assist I’ve come across where turning it off leaves it off but I’ve not tried every manufacturers versions

Automatic speed limiter- set the speed limiter and it changes when the speed limit does. Like the merc it’s often wrong

(Tied in with the speed limiter) on dash speed limit display- often wrong and often absent when you actually would benefit from the ability to look as an extra check. Flashes like fuck when you exceed what it believes is the limit but thankfully no bongs

Auto lights- only auto in the dark so you look like a cunt if you forget in daylight rain

Strangely absent from the spec sheet are parking sensors and cameras- doesn’t bother me (my van doesn’t have sensors either and is strangely easier to reverse) but previous Skodas have done what you described and shit itself and made you think you’ve twatted something

my M2 doesn't have any of this crap. My golf wouldn't let you move if the door was open - very annoying if you open the door whilst parallel parking just to check how close you are to the kerb.

[PaulJ]

I got offered only PDK Porsches when I had my car serviced at the suppling dealers and I said I didn't do non GT cars on religious grounds. They were a little surprised and apologetically asked if a Cooper S would be acceptable for the day. It was fine.

Opportunity missed there!

You could be right there. I was asked by the same dealer why I hadn't gone for a GT4. I said that I had assumed I wasn't important enough to make the 'GT' list, and the salesman answered ''you never know, you might have been''...

[Jobbo]

Surely the Golf just applied the auto parking brake which you could manually release?

[IanF]

Surely the Golf just applied the auto parking brake which you could manually release?

I’ve had (hire) cars that won’t select gear if door open..

Bizarrely, on my last car hire (above) there was a button on the key fob that when pressed twice started the engine! I was out the car with a crew member in the car and started it.. the look of panic was very amusing (to me!)

[Mito Man]

All the American cars seem to do that, remote start. It’s on the F150 and Camaro. Seems to be their not very environmentally friendly way of preheating/cooling the car

[mik]

Hyundai Bayon 24V in Johnnyforeignland this week.

Disappointingly that V stands for volts as opposed to valves.

It's absolutely fine as a hire car that I'm not seeking tactile pleasure from - the most important elements being easy to figure out cruise control (check) and quick-connecting apple carplay so I can use Waze (check).

It's a manuel, and the most notable feature is a drive-by-wire clutch that allows the engine to switch off whilst being automatically and simultaneously decoupled from the transmission when you are on the motorway (or local equivalent) at speed, and you head down a hill, or deactivate the cruise to slow for something. Whilst it's clever, I'm really not sure how much this saves vs an engine being fed zero fuel whilst you slow off-throttle. It does of course remove engine braking, but I can't imagine that is worth a huge amount.

Also the wipers juddered badly. A bit crap on a car with less than 1500km on the clock.

edit: the above engine cut-out system almost but not quite brings the engine back to life on-time as you press the accelerator - so there is a slight by noticeable pause in power delivery every time.

Also - the car guides you to change up very early - it wants you in 6th by 30mph for example. It then uses the mild-hybrid system to fill in when you try to accelerate at 1200rpm. That bit doesn't feel intuitive, and doesn't sound very nice, but it actually works well.

[MikeHunt]

Not sure if this car is broken, my 740d was pretty much the same engine with a higher tune in a bigger car and would do 40+ for the same journey, even my 550 will do between 17 and 20 mpg, even in traffic.

[IanF]

Not sure if this car is broken, my 740d was pretty much the same engine with a higher tune in a bigger car and would do 40+ for the same journey, even my 550 will do between 17 and 20 mpg, even in traffic.

Hire car innit.. also, I’ve always thought you can get better mpg from a 3.0L than a highly tuned 2.0 (by manu) on a-roads/motorways

[KevH18]

The overriding thing i'll take away from the experience however is the nannying.

That’s pretty much anything modern really. My focus is a 2020 car and has such niceties as

Auto lights- only auto in the dark so you look like a cunt if you forget in daylight rain

My old 2012 Focus had a setting on the drivers display between the dials so change to lights on when it was raining and it put the auto wipers on. It's about three deep in the settings so not easy to find, and I sold it nearly a year ago and I can't remember how to change it

[Jobbo]

Not sure if this car is broken, my 740d was pretty much the same engine with a higher tune in a bigger car and would do 40+ for the same journey, even my 550 will do between 17 and 20 mpg, even in traffic.

That does look shit, but 12 miles at an average of 14mph in sport mode - were you driving into central Birmingham?

[Jobbo]

It's a manuel, and the most notable feature is a drive-by-wire clutch that allows the engine to switch off whilst being automatically and simultaneously decoupled from the transmission when you are on the motorway (or local equivalent) at speed, and you head down a hill, or deactivate the cruise to slow for something. Whilst it's clever, I'm really not sure how much this saves vs an engine being fed zero fuel whilst you slow off-throttle. It does of course remove engine braking, but I can't imagine that is worth a huge amount.

My S6 is an auto but does that - the Allroad did it too but only in Eco mode and not for as long or as often. The S6 is notably more economical than the Allroad so I think it works. I’ve now started trying to make it go for as long as possible with the engine off - 40 seconds or so is apparently the maximum. I’ve got pretty much there a few times even off the motorway. I’m sure the 48v system feeds a small amount of power in to stop you just rolling to a halt (they call it mild hybrid but it’s not obvious exactly what that means). Even when I know it’s doing it, restarting is sufficiently seamless I don’t notice it. It feels way more polished than the last generation.

[MikeHunt]

That does look shit, but 12 miles at an average of 14mph in sport mode - were you driving into central Birmingham?

Just an average day in Bromsgrove, it didn’t manage much better than mid 20s on the motorway. I mentioned it to enterprise and they said they had noticed the same.

All the more reason to keep with petrol.

[jamcg]

The overriding thing i'll take away from the experience however is the nannying.

That’s pretty much anything modern really. My focus is a 2020 car and has such niceties as

Auto lights- only auto in the dark so you look like a cunt if you forget in daylight rain

My old 2012 Focus had a setting on the drivers display between the dials so change to lights on when it was raining and it put the auto wipers on. It's about three deep in the settings so not easy to find, and I sold it nearly a year ago and I can't remember how to change it

No auto wipers so no setting. That’s what I meant by that, the simple switching on of the wipers should make the car change the light levels needed to activate the lights or something but it doesn’t unless you have the automatic wipers

[jamcg]

It's a manuel, and the most notable feature is a drive-by-wire clutch that allows the engine to switch off whilst being automatically and simultaneously decoupled from the transmission when you are on the motorway (or local equivalent) at speed, and you head down a hill, or deactivate the cruise to slow for something. Whilst it's clever, I'm really not sure how much this saves vs an engine being fed zero fuel whilst you slow off-throttle. It does of course remove engine braking, but I can't imagine that is worth a huge amount.

My S6 is an auto but does that - the Allroad did it too but only in Eco mode and not for as long or as often. The S6 is notably more economical than the Allroad so I think it works. I’ve now started trying to make it go for as long as possible with the engine off - 40 seconds or so is apparently the maximum. I’ve got pretty much there a few times even off the motorway. I’m sure the 48v system feeds a small amount of power in to stop you just rolling to a halt (they call it mild hybrid but it’s not obvious exactly what that means). Even when I know it’s doing it, restarting is sufficiently seamless I don’t notice it. It feels way more polished than the last generation.

Most mild hybrids have a motor generator replace the alternator, so it acts as an alternator when not in use but then can feed power direct to the crank through the belt system

[mik]

Merc EQA supplied by Audi to cover us until they have fixed Mrs mik’s etron.

That’ll do nicely.

Have only taken it up the road and back, but initial thoughts (which will make me look like an ungrateful moany git) : whilst the interior is far from unpleasant, the big vents in the centre are a bit chintzy. The central touch screen is too far away and not angled towards the driver , so it’s hard to reach whilst being accurate. I missed the “button” several times when removing stored phones on the move - eventually having to rest my pinky and ring finger on the small ledge above the chintzy vents to improve my index finger prodding accuracy.

The above undoubtedly partly due to the ride, which is pretty firm and a bit jiggly.

Right hand stalk is dedicated to drive selection, leaving the left stalk to do indicators, front & rear wipers, and presumably manual dim/dip of the lights too. This is possibly “standard merc” but it seems a bit stoopid initially - I am sure it’ll feel natural with time.

It’s currently set on 1-pedal mode which applies significant regen when you are a lifter. Weirdly though it then also has creep built into forward and reverse for low speed manoeuvring - which feels a bit counterintuitive…. Lift off to slow when driving, lift off to go when manouvering?

None of this means I’m not happy to have it though. It’s massively better than not having a car.

It took a couple of weeks for Audi to complete the motor swap on the ETron, so mrs mik had this a while and I put some more miles on it.

Dash layout (directly in front of driver) is split into 3 sections - each screen independently configurable easily using a thumb-operated touch pad on the steering wheel. It's a model to others on how this kind of thing should be done, and it's exactly the kinda user configurable functionality every car with a digital dash should have.

Could not get used to stoopid stalks setup in 2 weeks - kept indicating when I wanted to flick the front wipers, and the button position for the rear wiper is awful. Vents in dashboard continued to feel chintzy. Ride continued to present as "pretty fidgety".

It was the lowest power one (190bhp?) but traction when exiting junctions was surprisingly easy to break (FWD), even being relatively gentle.

And the HiFi (we can't use ICE for soundz any more can we?) really annoyed me. It was clearly base spec - which means a 9-speaker setup, and when you pump the volume upto max, the amp and speakers remain in total control, but it just isn't very loud. It sounds rather artificially limited to my ears. Following a brief search it appears there are 2 HiFi upgrades - the upper one being a full pricey Burmester upgrade, but there is also an interim "plus" option that adds a sub to the base 9-speaker setup. I have no evidence, but I strongly suspect that in addition to adding a sub, they remove/reduce whatever artificial limiting they have on the same amp, so the whole system sounds better. Which - if true - would be a pretty snidey way to remove a few more £s from punters....

[Rich B]

Merc are also the company that make you pay a large yearly subscription to have the full power motors (that are already installed and working at a lower output) - so a hobbled sound system doesn't sound particularly far fetched.

[DeskJockey]

That's similar to how mainframes used to be priced. All kit in the box from the start, and then you bought a licence to get more CPU or RAM enabled. Makes it easier for them.