Re: Audi A4 vs VW Passat vs Volvo S60 Quote:
Originally Posted by Jakku Hi Avaneesh,
Congrats on your new possession and the quick decision making. You still owe us your impressions on this and if you really feel satisfied and happy on the decision you have taken.
Thanks. |
Sorry for the really late updates but life has kept me very busy.
So since I got the car, for about 3 weeks I drove it myself 100% of the times after which I got a chauffeur for the day times. At the moment the car has done about 1200 kms.
I drove the car for about 600 or so kms in the first couple weeks. My impressions so far: - The car in black is very pleasing to look at. I won't say its the looker that my F10 525d is but the looks are certainly very satisfying. However the black is difficult to maintain and I had to train my driver on how to not get swirl marks all over the car and buy him some real wipecloths.
- The front seats are brilliant. I actually like them better than my F10 525d because of the cooling feature. The seat cooling definitely makes a difference.
- The air conditioning is OK at best. In peak summer heat here in Delhi, it barely manages to keep up. The back seats get uncomfortable if the car has been parked outside and it takes a while to cool in the back. If it's just me with the driver I prefer sitting up front just because of this reason.
- The black exterior plus black interior definitely heats up quick and I would say that window tints are a must. However I have never had tinted windows in any of my cars so I would like some advise on that please.
- The back seats are comfortable and there is definitely more space than my 525d. I am tall (6 feet 3 inches) and I can sit up front with my father (6 feet) being comfortable in the back. This car feels roomier than my Q7 also when it comes to knee room.
- The arm rest on the back seat is very very nice. It has a sturdy feel to it and is of very good quality. Quick access to the boot from here or from folding the seats can be helpful at times.
- The door handles and other materials in the car feel nice. Except for the plastics a couple of places (reading lights in the back and power plug cover in the back) everything else has a premium feel.
- The entertainment package is pretty adequate in terms of sound quality. The touch screen is however a little distracting while driving but the steering has all the controls you'd ever want so you never have to use the touch screen while behind the wheel. USB works alright with pen drives but has no iPod connectivity where you can control your ipod and listen to playlists and stuff. However, you can do that wirelessly over bluetooth.
- Bluetooth for cell phones works flawlessly. I have both my phones paired with it and it tries to connect to the last connected phone first and then moves down the list. You can also use your bluetooth connected phone to play music on the car's stereo.
- Automatic Parking: I thought this was a gimmick when demoed in the TD and the commercials on TV. But this feature has been used a lot of times by me and very very effectively.
- Start Stop: This feature saves a bit of fuel I guess but I turn it off if I have passengers in the back as it turns off the air con. It's easy to get used to the pressure needed on the brake pedal to turn the car off vs just halting it in slow moving traffic.
- Auto Hold: I love this feature from my 730ld and 525d. The implementation here doesn't play nice with the Start Stop and is hence a disappointment.
- Driving Impressions: The steering wheel is very light at slow speeds and gets heavier as speeds go up. It's convenient in the city but I still prefer steering wheels with a bit more feel. The power delivery is very much like you'd expect from a turbo diesel. Once you get to 2k rpm the turbo kicks in and you feel the torque rush. Its good in D mode but once you put it in sport the rpms are pushed to the redline and the growl becomes a bit meatier. Paddle shifters are a fun little toy for me while driving this. This is not the most fun car to drive but I put that down to the fact that it's not meant to be that way plus the fact that I am spoilt by some of my other rides.
- Apart from the air con, one very big problem that I have is with the headlights. The light from them is just not enough. Even at high beam when there is no traffic on the street it doesn't give me confidence to go over 70-80 kmph at night just because of the fact that I can't see as far as I'd like.
Overall though, this car is for my house in Delhi for whenever we are visiting and it serves that purpose very well. The seats are comfortable, the car looks nice, the boot is HUGE and it's decent enough for the times I drive myself.
I am very satisfied with my buying decision so far. The 2 things that I need to sort out is the headlight situation and that with the tints on the windows/windshield. Any help on these two would be much appreciated.
If anyone has any questions, I'd be more than happy to help out. I am no expert but I can give you my personal opinion about the car. I just pointed out all the things in the car that were either excellent or disappointing. I hope this answers at least some of the queries that other prospective buyers might have. |