We all love 406's but what do you hate about them?

[Eric]

there´s the rumbling sound of the petrol engines.At least every ew10j4 I´ve heard sound like they´re gonna break down any second.

Try the diesel.
Sounds like someone has chucked a bag of spanners in a washing machine when it's cold and idling

[steve_earwig]

Is there a car on the road that is slower than the HDi?

Eh? My HDI's almost as quick as my old 2,1, although it doesn't give you that lovely shove when it gets to 3 grand it certainly holds it's own in the traffic light grand prix!

I had a Scorpio (2.9 V6) and it was awesome!

I had a 3 year old 2,0 auto, admittedly it was a slug but that wasn't why I bought it. It never seemed settled on the road and, at speed, needed the whole lane to weave from side to side and doing anything over 80 was positivly dangerous. I spent ages buggering with the steering geometry and was just about to change the springs and shocks when I followed another one round the M25 for a few miles and it was doing exactly the same thing. Once I went over a bump and the front of the center console just about fell off. When I looked at it, there wasn't much holding it on in the first place, just round pegs in holes in the dash. Yumm, Zetec, you need 2 universal joints on your ratchet to get to the spark plugs, clever design. Leather seats (not a great fan of leather seats, I know I'm in a minority but they seem to have all the disadvantages of vinyl plus harder to clean and much easier to damage) that I had to keep buggering with on long journies 'cos they were so uncomfortable.

Before it I'd been driving a 16 year old Avenger and was expecting a touch of class and luxury but the whole thing shrieked of cost cutting, bad design and shoddy workmanship. I prefered the Avenger, it was crap but at least it was honest about it.

[Eric]

Is there a car on the road that is slower than the HDi?

Eh? My HDI's almost as quick as my old 2,1, although it doesn't give you that lovely shove when it gets to 3 grand it certainly holds it's own in the traffic light grand prix!

I find the HDi terribly slow, horribly, terribly slow.
The shove is more like a limp wristed tickle.

But I didn't buy the car for performance.... I just sometimes wish it had a little as a bonus
And performance is relative I suppose, I came from some very fast, fast and quick cars to the HDi - I was just a bit surprised at how much slower the HDi was.

I had a Scorpio (2.9 V6) and it was awesome!

I had a 3 year old 2,0 auto, admittedly it was a slug but that wasn't why I bought it. It never seemed settled on the road and, at speed, needed the whole lane to weave from side to side and doing anything over 80 was positivly dangerous. I spent ages buggering with the steering geometry and was just about to change the springs and shocks when I followed another one round the M25 for a few miles and it was doing exactly the same thing. Once I went over a bump and the front of the center console just about fell off. When I looked at it, there wasn't much holding it on in the first place, just round pegs in holes in the dash. Yumm, Zetec, you need 2 universal joints on your ratchet to get to the spark plugs, clever design. Leather seats (not a great fan of leather seats, I know I'm in a minority but they seem to have all the disadvantages of vinyl plus harder to clean and much easier to damage) that I had to keep buggering with on long journies 'cos they were so uncomfortable.

Before it I'd been driving a 16 year old Avenger and was expecting a touch of class and luxury but the whole thing shrieked of cost cutting, bad design and shoddy workmanship. I prefered the Avenger, it was crap but at least it was honest about it.

Strange I found the seats very comfy, admittedly it rolled round corners on it's door handles and the leather bench seats meant everyone swapped positions in the car when cornering

You are right though, the Avenger was an utterly sh*t car - My Mum had one and it was dire

[Welly]

My last 3 cars had 160, 165 and 170BHP so were considered *relatively* swift I suppose and I can honestly say, and I'm not pissed or anything, that my HDi 110 IS quick!

I have a stretch of by pass near me and the HDi and the 170BHP one are the only cars to indicate 120MPH on a certain stretch.

In second gear the shove of torque really does feel impressive (albeit over in a flash) and the 80 to 100MPH is equally impressive. I can open up a huge gap from the car behind at motorway speeds just by squeezing the throttle.

I have pondered, sometimes, as to whether the previous owner chipped my car as I know he used it for International Caravan Towing and I keep meaning to try to contact him to ask. My MPG isn't the best either which will be to do with me enjoying the torque so much

All in all I wouldn't call the 110 'slow'.

[steve_earwig]

You are right though, the Avenger was an utterly sh*t car - My Mum had one and it was dire

They weren't all bad you know. I had a couple of these
the 100 bhp Avenger tiger. I loved them because they were't fords and they ate mexicos for breakfast. Avengers were lighter than escorts too, with an indestructable engine and great (for the time) handling. Up to 1977 they were made in Ryton on Dunsmore but the redesigned ones were made in Lynwood and they were truly awful, laughable styling with thinner panels (in a misguided attempt to improve fuel consumption) and rust like you wouldn't believe. When product ceased the presses were broken up so there were no spare body panels. They're very rare now.

[Eric]

My last 3 cars had 160, 165 and 170BHP so were considered *relatively* swift I suppose and I can honestly say, and I'm not pissed or anything, that my HDi 110 IS quick!

I have a stretch of by pass near me and the HDi and the 170BHP one are the only cars to indicate 120MPH on a certain stretch.

In second gear the shove of torque really does feel impressive (albeit over in a flash) and the 80 to 100MPH is equally impressive. I can open up a huge gap from the car behind at motorway speeds just by squeezing the throttle.

I have pondered, sometimes, as to whether the previous owner chipped my car as I know he used it for International Caravan Towing and I keep meaning to try to contact him to ask. My MPG isn't the best either which will be to do with me enjoying the torque so much

All in all I wouldn't call the 110 'slow'.

Well maybe my 110 is suffering from the rear calliper "rubbing" a little
Can't imagine it would make much of a difference.
There is a little bit of torque there but not what I'd call a shove and the throttle response is pretty lax IMHO.
Maybe mine's just a slow one, but 110BHP in a car as heavy as that can't make it "quick" even with a bit of torque.

Before the 406 I had a lightly modded GTi-6 and a heavily modified MR2 Turbo (built by a Japanese racing team) and before that a lightly modded Rover 620Ti and Nissan 300ZX Twin turbo.
All of which actually had quite a lot of torque and revs and went like stink (especially the MR2 which generally required me and my passengers to change underwear afterwards.)
Getting in the HDi is almost like riding a push bike backwards in comparison but more comfy

Still, even if the HDi is very slow to me it gives good economy and is relaxing, luxurious and comfy so it's just as good in it's own way.
I just wish it had a bit more power so I didn't have to rock backwards in forwards in my seat shouting "Come on!" when I hit the national speed limit

Maybe mine is slower than the normal, I can't keep up with any other diesels on the road when they are going for it.

[Eric]

You are right though, the Avenger was an utterly sh*t car - My Mum had one and it was dire

They weren't all bad you know. I had a couple of these
the 100 bhp Avenger tiger. I loved them because they were't fords and they ate mexicos for breakfast. Avengers were lighter than escorts too, with an indestructable engine and great (for the time) handling. Up to 1977 they were made in Ryton on Dunsmore but the redesigned ones were made in Lynwood and they were truly awful, laughable styling with thinner panels (in a misguided attempt to improve fuel consumption) and rust like you wouldn't believe. When product ceased the presses were broken up so there were no spare body panels. They're very rare now.

That is sooo cool it hurts!

[Welly]

110BHP in a car as heavy as that can't make it "quick" even with a bit of torque

OK, it's no racer by any stretch but what I was trying to say was my HDi, heavy or not, feels like a quick car i.e it doesn't really dissapoint to the point of calling it slow. I can more or less keep up with most equivalent VAG cars in mine without too much fuss.

I suppose you would ride in my car and say "this goes well for a Diesel" if you get my meaning but yes, the HDi is not fast by petrol-fast standards.

Overall then I would say it 'goes well'.

I was expecting the HDi to be pretty dull and lifeless after the petrols I had but I was pleasantly surprised TBH and in fact on most B roads I can travel at higher speeds than previous sporty cars because the soft suspension and squishy tyres stop the car from darting around and scaring you to death!

Welly

[Eric]

Yes lifeless pretty much describes how my car feels tbh.
It makes the noise, the revs go up but it doesn't seem to correlate to what the speedo shows.
And no the clutch is fine

My car desperately needs more torque and a sharper throttle response IMHO.
But as it's the first diesel I have ever driven let alone HDi I thought that was normal.
In fact on the test drive I didn't realise I had pulled away till I hit the limiter in 1st
For me the HDi feels very muted and underpowered.

I do tend to notice the torque in 5th at 60mph+
But other than that..... it's a bit...Yawn....

Hmmmm....

Maybe if anyone on here lives in Bristol they could take my car for a spin and see if it's normal

The handling is ok apart from lots of body roll and it feels like it wants to understeer a lot, but I guess you can't have a limo ride and sharp suspension at the same time.

Still, I do like the 406 seats and interior - I have never found French cars to have build quality issues everyone talks about about and to me the 406 is better built again than most French cars I have owned.

When all is said and done, I have to get a new car next year - something with a little more poke even if it means sacrificing some economy.
The BMW 530D is looking like the likely contender at the mo.
I'll still always respect the 406 as a great car though, maybe just too much power sacrifice for economy for me personally.

[Welly]

I've been wondering about a Passat 2.5V6 TDi next, with a re-map to about 185 BHP I reckon that would be a nice all rounder. Plus the V6 TDi's all seem to be owned by enthusiasts and have less mileage on them than the 1.9's and around 6 bags will get a decent one.

You may know this already but have a looky at used Vel Satis Renaults you'd be amazed at the low prices for the 3.0 V6 DCi. If you want ubber-luxury and effortless king size cruising then they are cool (bit of a quirky drive though by all accounts, neither car nor MPV).

[Eric]

I've been wondering about a Passat 2.5V6 TDi next, with a re-map to about 185 BHP I reckon that would be a nice all rounder. Plus the V6 TDi's all seem to be owned by enthusiasts and have less mileage on them than the 1.9's and around 6 bags will get a decent one.

You may know this already but have a looky at used Vel Satis Renaults you'd be amazed at the low prices for the 3.0 V6 DCi. If you want ubber-luxury and effortless king size cruising then they are cool (bit of a quirky drive though by all accounts, neither car nor MPV).

Not sure I want quirky
But won't have the notes till next year anyway so got a while to ponder
530D still winning the fantasy race at the mo though.

[steve_earwig]

530D still winning the fantasy race at the mo though.

[steve_earwig]

Hmm, seems to have gone a bit fuzzy on the resize.

While I'm here, why do my D9's indicators sound like an ancient tv video game? plip plop plip plop...

[Eric]

530D still winning the fantasy race at the mo though.

Ah that's because they are arrogant drivers in any car and just happen to drive a Beemer.
I know how to indicate.


Bmws do have indicators don't they?

[jameslxdt]

Yes lifeless pretty much describes how my car feels tbh.
It makes the noise, the revs go up but it doesn't seem to correlate to what the speedo shows.
And no the clutch is fine

you may want to get the fault codes read, more often than not you can have a fault without the K light comming on, resulting in either a running problem or a power loss,

as for diesel power i would get one of the last volvo S60 D5 180Ps, and get it remapped to well over 200BHP