timbo
04-08-2006, 01:15 AM
:banghead: Ouch! :spank: ouch! ouch! :spank: stop it, Gomez....I know...me bad :o:....ok, ok :spank: Revolver I was just joking about diesels
Ok, in my quest to check out possible RX-8 replacements I had a test drive of this...because it was there! :o: :eyetwitch :eyetwitch
First, it is not a bad looking coupé, but not nearly as nice as the previous Pininfarina designed model. And it has a front end that can only be described as the wide mouthed Frog. Hey, Hymee -- there's a big market for your grills at Peugeot dealers :hahano:
It is big and, in black, the colour I test drove seems really big -- bigger'n a Munro even :Freak_ani . At 1850Kg, it is a tad on the weighty side, too. All driving through the front wheels. I did not have high expectations :nono: even though it has 150Kw and 450Nm.
The diesel only comes in a 6sp auto, and I understand it is manufactured by Aisin, the same company that supplies Mazda trannies -- manual and auto.
Inside, it is quite nice....there's lot's of glass and compared to the 8, one feels much less shut in. It's an all leather upholstery, which comes in black, tan, red (a deep red) and cream; the red of the test car was quite nice and dark enough not to cause too many problems. The front seats were comfortable but nowhere near as enclosing and supportive as the 8's. This car has two of the biggest and heaviest doors I've ever experienced, and I reckoned if you parked driver's side up on a decent slope, you might not get out :eek: Getting into the back seat -- even with the big door -- required a much greater level of contortion than for the 8. But space and legroom was ok once you got there.
Ok, so it's on with the engine, and away we go. First thing you notice is...nothing! The interior is well insulated, the windows are double-glazed, and the engine mounted specially to minimise vibration, so there's not much to tell you apart from the lights and guages. Into gear, throttle down and off you....waft. And with 450Nm from 1900rpm, it's a surging waft, if you get my meaning. As different to the 8 as it gets, with torque the order of the day. The shift is also very smooth when left in auto, and smooth still when used as a tiptronic. Waft, waft, waft.
At low speeds the steering is too light, and there's not much feel at any stage. The suspension has two modes -- soft waft and sports waft. On Canberra's smooth roads I could barely tell the difference.
At spped, you have a strong sense of the amount of weight up front, even though the engine is set pretty well back. Obviously, I couldn't really throw it at some corners, but it felt controlled in the same sense as all FWD feel predictable. There's ESP and all that stuff, so I guess that'll intervene before you do anything too silly.
But the big thing is that torque. Up a hill that I have to drop a couple of gears in the 8 to fly up, this beast just dug its toes in, and hauled. I reckon you could pull a coupla horse floats with it...and a disk plough :mdrmed:
Nah, not for me...not into that level of wafting yet :boring: But a serious alternative to some of the other Euro coupés, if it is at all reliable (I know, 'mez...there's no way it can be :nono: ) I liked the auto tranny, though -- no clunks of banks...just the right gear at the right time.
Funny for such a big car, the boot is pretty small....bigger than the 8, but not by too much. But it does have a full size, alloy spare.
The model I drove is $79k otr...and here's the thing. I reckon it's much better equipped, dollar for dollar, than the 8. Actually the one thing about this test was that it reinforced my view that Mazda needs to seriously upgrade the 8 pretty quickly, or its previous value for money lead will disappear. The Pug has adjustable suspension, directional bi-xenons, front and rear park assist, reach and rake adjustable steering wheel, two memory fully adjustable electric seats, reasonable computer display, integrated BlueTooth, JBL stereo...airbags everywhere...and is well insulated. Of course, the downside of all that is weight, but there's some stuff in the Peugeot that Mazda could do and not add much weight.
Finally, back to the tranny. I guess we'll have to see what happens with the new auto 8 and whether it has the 4 port or 6 port motor. But, if your daily drive is almost always city traffic, the new auto might be a reasonable drive. And, if it can handle 450Nm in the Pug, it might be a tasty back end for a supercharged Renesis in the same circumstances.
Peugeot quotes around 11L/100k city and 6.7 hwy, so there's no doubting the fuel economy...but it's a lot of money to spend to...er...save fuel :bootyshak
C'mon :flamed: :FIREdevil
Give me your best...at least I give you a bit of entertainment :mdrmed:
Ok, in my quest to check out possible RX-8 replacements I had a test drive of this...because it was there! :o: :eyetwitch :eyetwitch
First, it is not a bad looking coupé, but not nearly as nice as the previous Pininfarina designed model. And it has a front end that can only be described as the wide mouthed Frog. Hey, Hymee -- there's a big market for your grills at Peugeot dealers :hahano:
It is big and, in black, the colour I test drove seems really big -- bigger'n a Munro even :Freak_ani . At 1850Kg, it is a tad on the weighty side, too. All driving through the front wheels. I did not have high expectations :nono: even though it has 150Kw and 450Nm.
The diesel only comes in a 6sp auto, and I understand it is manufactured by Aisin, the same company that supplies Mazda trannies -- manual and auto.
Inside, it is quite nice....there's lot's of glass and compared to the 8, one feels much less shut in. It's an all leather upholstery, which comes in black, tan, red (a deep red) and cream; the red of the test car was quite nice and dark enough not to cause too many problems. The front seats were comfortable but nowhere near as enclosing and supportive as the 8's. This car has two of the biggest and heaviest doors I've ever experienced, and I reckoned if you parked driver's side up on a decent slope, you might not get out :eek: Getting into the back seat -- even with the big door -- required a much greater level of contortion than for the 8. But space and legroom was ok once you got there.
Ok, so it's on with the engine, and away we go. First thing you notice is...nothing! The interior is well insulated, the windows are double-glazed, and the engine mounted specially to minimise vibration, so there's not much to tell you apart from the lights and guages. Into gear, throttle down and off you....waft. And with 450Nm from 1900rpm, it's a surging waft, if you get my meaning. As different to the 8 as it gets, with torque the order of the day. The shift is also very smooth when left in auto, and smooth still when used as a tiptronic. Waft, waft, waft.
At low speeds the steering is too light, and there's not much feel at any stage. The suspension has two modes -- soft waft and sports waft. On Canberra's smooth roads I could barely tell the difference.
At spped, you have a strong sense of the amount of weight up front, even though the engine is set pretty well back. Obviously, I couldn't really throw it at some corners, but it felt controlled in the same sense as all FWD feel predictable. There's ESP and all that stuff, so I guess that'll intervene before you do anything too silly.
But the big thing is that torque. Up a hill that I have to drop a couple of gears in the 8 to fly up, this beast just dug its toes in, and hauled. I reckon you could pull a coupla horse floats with it...and a disk plough :mdrmed:
Nah, not for me...not into that level of wafting yet :boring: But a serious alternative to some of the other Euro coupés, if it is at all reliable (I know, 'mez...there's no way it can be :nono: ) I liked the auto tranny, though -- no clunks of banks...just the right gear at the right time.
Funny for such a big car, the boot is pretty small....bigger than the 8, but not by too much. But it does have a full size, alloy spare.
The model I drove is $79k otr...and here's the thing. I reckon it's much better equipped, dollar for dollar, than the 8. Actually the one thing about this test was that it reinforced my view that Mazda needs to seriously upgrade the 8 pretty quickly, or its previous value for money lead will disappear. The Pug has adjustable suspension, directional bi-xenons, front and rear park assist, reach and rake adjustable steering wheel, two memory fully adjustable electric seats, reasonable computer display, integrated BlueTooth, JBL stereo...airbags everywhere...and is well insulated. Of course, the downside of all that is weight, but there's some stuff in the Peugeot that Mazda could do and not add much weight.
Finally, back to the tranny. I guess we'll have to see what happens with the new auto 8 and whether it has the 4 port or 6 port motor. But, if your daily drive is almost always city traffic, the new auto might be a reasonable drive. And, if it can handle 450Nm in the Pug, it might be a tasty back end for a supercharged Renesis in the same circumstances.
Peugeot quotes around 11L/100k city and 6.7 hwy, so there's no doubting the fuel economy...but it's a lot of money to spend to...er...save fuel :bootyshak
C'mon :flamed: :FIREdevil
Give me your best...at least I give you a bit of entertainment :mdrmed: