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C6 1 year on |
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michaelb
 
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  Member No: #14
Location: London |
C6 ownership for me is over a year now, here are some thoughts on this milestone. I feel better disposed towards the car now than last year. The weedy radio, small boot and too much road noise are still bothersome but the economy seems to be improving and having had the "square" tyres replaced has made a big difference to comfort. I'm writing this in Ireland. We've just spent the weekend in the West and the car was a paragon of comfort and capability. To understand how good it's been you first have to understand how bad Irish roads in the West are. They are built on bogs - which is never a good starting point - so suffer from sudden dips and subsidence all over the place, then they've been built shoddily and suffer from years of neglect being much poorly patched and pot-holed. They were built in Victorian times for horse and traps and are too narrow. Then in the West, particularly near the coast, have almost no straights. I've been driving these roads for years and I know in many "ordinary" cars a few hours exposure to them is very hard work. Everyone, passengers included, become exhausted from being thrown around, constant gear changes and non-stop steering from one lock to the other make the driver feel like a hard-pressed Monaco GP racer. The C6 took all of this and swallowed it whole. The suspension is exceptional. Even at speed the wheels didn't leave the ground once - lesser cars will bounce sideways on the torturous mid-corner bumps. Those Michelins maybe noisy but they gripped gripped and then gripped some more. I've never, even in a RWD car, experienced such bite from the front wheels in corners - even in the wet - not a hint of understeer even on the twistiest bumpiest rough stuff. Then of course the auto box looking after the cog-swapping and the beautifully light and high-geared steering meant piloting it though the curves was about as effortless as it can get. The car took four of us there and back. Three long days' motoring and the tank is still showing a 200 kms range remaining. I guess it did the journey for about EUR €50. It was no economy run either with plenty of overtaking and heavy-footed Sport mode driving. Overall very impressive. The boot at 480 litres is too small. The four of us could only take weekend bags and it was full. My brother's new Octavia - in the class below - comes with 560 much more accessible litres. It also comes with all the usual goodies: split rear seats, leather, bluetooth, parking sensors, cruise, auto-wipers, etc. I still find the road noise too much, at motorway speeds conversation with the rear passengers is not comfortable - it should be in a car in the exec class. Nothing I haven't mentioned ad nuaseam before but they do niggle me. However I now find that the decent economy and exceptional suspension have better endeared the car to me. 
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C6Dave
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   Member No: #1
Location: Northumberland |
Nice to hear that the car is growing on you Michael 
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tonyrome
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  Member No: #15
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Good to hear the economy is improving, the same thing happened with mine. Re the boot, I've just read a review of the new C6, in a respected German magazine. They claim that the size of the boot in the new car is just 421 litres. That is even smaller than the original and pitifully small for a car of this size. The other cars in the test - the inevitable Audi, BMW, Mercedes & Jaguar - all had either 520 or 540 litres, which is more like what you'd expect. |
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michaelb
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Member No: #14
Location: London |
What have they changed on the new model to reduce the boot that much? Or has the boot always been 421 and perhaps the 480 spec is a little bit of fibbing? I know I can squeeze an awful lot less in the C6's 480 than I managed in the 166's 500 litres. Certainly a lot less than is explained by 20 litres claimed difference. |
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C6Dave
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Member No: #1
Location: Northumberland |
Maybe they are all getting the 'lounge pack' treatment. | ||
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tonyrome
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Member No: #15
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C6Dave wrote ... Maybe they are all getting the 'lounge pack' treatment. It must be something else, Dave, as the original was listed as 470 litres even with the Lounge Pack (488 litres without). |
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michaelb
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Member No: #14
Location: London |
tonyrome wrote ... Re the boot, I've just read a review of the new C6, in a respected German magazine. Are you able to rustle up a link? |
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tonyrome
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Member No: #15
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It was an article I read in a Auto Test magazine, dated August 2010. The test was between the 'new' C6 3.0 HDi, the Mercedes E350 CDi, BMW 530d, Audi A6 3.0 TDi & Jaguar XF 3.0D. Almost inevitably, the C6 came last with the BMW victorious! However, out of a possible 700 points, the BMW received 539 and the C6 481, so it was actually not a huge difference. One interesting point was that the base price of the C6 was higher than any of the others. I know it has a lot of standard kit included but that's still difficult to accept. Even with options, as tested, I think only the BMW cost more than the C6 and the Jag was still about 3,000 EUR less! |
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c6bern
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  Member No: #148
Location: Bern |
tonyrome wrote ... C6Dave wrote ... Maybe they are all getting the 'lounge pack' treatment. It must be something else, Dave, as the original was listed as 470 litres even with the Lounge Pack (488 litres without). There is considerably more room if you ditch the spare. |
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gmerry
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 Member No: #21
Location: Scotland |
Michael, certainly the C6 is no perfect car but it does have bags of character and offers good comfort. Seriously if the road noise at speed bugs you, I suggest the tyres and/or window seals need attention. Most contributors here who have ditched the Michelins have noticed an improvement in noise and harshness without any reported downside on grip. On the space side in the boot, I too think the most practicable route is to ditch the spare and carry 2 off puncture repair cans. In theory one shouldn't get caught out by a slow leak on the C6 as the tryre pressure monitoring system should take care of this. The alloys valves are a weakness (siemens design) but according to the Mechanics manual should be replaced at every service in any case. Personally I find a routine 3 hour trip (bad roads and traffic) is now taken in one bite by all on board whereas previously we had to have one or two stops. The difference being the better ride and reasonable seat comfort. Regards G |
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michaelb
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Member No: #14
Location: London |
G, I have no doubt the road noise is down to the Michelins. It has been discussed at length here over the last year and one can clearly hear the difference moving from one surface to another. On silky French tarmac they are perfectly bearable but on coarse UK, or worse in Ireland, surfaces they rumble and roar at any speed. My car came with four new ones (eventually) which still have many miles of thread remaining when they need replacing I'll certainly be changing manufacturer. |
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tonyrome
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Member No: #15
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gmerry wrote ... Personally I find a routine 3 hour trip (bad roads and traffic) is now taken in one bite by all on board whereas previously we had to have one or two stops. The difference being the better ride and reasonable seat comfort. How comfortable do you find the front seats, though? I've been disappointed with them and get a numb backside after a while. It actually means I have to stop when I otherwise would not need to. Apart from more lateral support, the problem for me is the cushion padding, which is lacking. |
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David Hallworth
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  Member No: #90
Location: Glasgow |
tonyrome wrote ... gmerry wrote ... Personally I find a routine 3 hour trip (bad roads and traffic) is now taken in one bite by all on board whereas previously we had to have one or two stops. The difference being the better ride and reasonable seat comfort. How comfortable do you find the front seats, though? I've been disappointed with them and get a numb backside after a while. It actually means I have to stop when I otherwise would not need to. Apart from more lateral support, the problem for me is the cushion padding, which is lacking. This is where my Series 1 V6 24v XM excels! The seats in the XM are miles ahead of the C6's in terms of comfort! Don't get me wrong the C6's are very good compared to some of the cars I've been in but they're in a different league from the XM! David. |
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tonyrome
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Member No: #15
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David Hallworth wrote ... This is where my Series 1 V6 24v XM excels! The seats in the XM are miles ahead of the C6's in terms of comfort! Don't get me wrong the C6's are very good compared to some of the cars I've been in but they're in a different league from the XM! Maybe I should retro-fit some of these to the C6! |
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