David, hopefully you're now driving around in you're new 5. How is it? We drove down to Battle (brother-in-law ownes a pub) over the weekend and had a great drive, very little traffic and just cruised. Filled up before we left and averaged 40.6 on the computer, so it'll be interesting to see what the actual is next time we fill up.

Dave, I know it's a bit annoying but, if you need to brighten the screen with the lights on you can adjust it with the dash light dimmer.

 

Hi chaps...

Thanks for the replies.. Yes I now have the car !! and first impressions.... Hmmmmm it feels very new, notchy gear change, quite a firm ride(hope it softens with time),very different from my previous Scenic.. Hopefully with time I will become accustomed to it.

Nick, so strange you said that you had gone to Battle, as this very morning before reading your post, the family and I decided to have our first drive down to Rye, and battle !!! We left London with the sun shinning. After an hour on the road it started raining and hasn't stopped yet !!! Not much of a family day out in the end but at least I covered a few miles and worked a few things out about the car.

Observations so far. Satnav seems good. Except when you take a wrong turn, and instead of telling you to make a u-turn like my TomTom does, it just routes you in a big circle. Today, unknowingly I drove 4 miles round the block to come out in the same place !! Arrrhhh Am i missing something or is this the way it deals with a wrong turn ? Also, there seems to be terrible flat-spots at low speed. You really need to keep in the lower gears..

The auto-wipers and auto-headlights seem good. The reverse camera again seems clear and simple to understand, but as you said previously it can get blurry in the rain.

I thought I was a bit of a geek when it came to electronics and programming things, but the satnav/radio/bluetooth is going to be a slow learning process I think !!

I have managed to make a call via the bluetooth so that is one obstacle overcome I guess... What I have noticed is that the autodim for the screen is selected, but when the lights came on the display kept the same. The only way to dim it was to go into the settings and select night... Again am I missing something? Or does it only dim when it is true night time ?

Sorry guys if I have 101 questions for you..!! Glad of the help to be honest..

All the best

David

 

Dave,

I think you will find the suspension firm after the Scenic. The 5 is known for it's more sporty feel and the sport version with the lower profile tyres will be even firmer. You will get used to it, after driving the RX8 the 5 feels remarkably squirmy in corners to me.

I think you'll find the gears a bit stiff at first. Ours is loosening up a bit after 1500 miles, although I still find changing down to second a bit tight. If it continues I will probably change the gear oil for a fully synthetic type which should help, I'll keep you informed.

I'm not sure about the SatNav U-turn business. I'm surprised it doesn't tell you to turn round although I haven't tried it, the only setting is to turn dynamic navigation on, which means it will reroute you........mme, don't know[sm=smiley29.gif]. You could always do as you're told and not make a wrong turn.

Again not too sure about flat spots. The RX8 lacked torque so you really did have to rev it, the 5 has heaps of torque and seems to pull quite hard from fairly low revs. The engine is new and will loosen up after a few miles and while "running in" it's best to not let the engine strain. Use the whole rev range upto the red line, occasionally, and don't hold one speed for too long. See how it goes after a week or two, it could just be getting used to a different car.

Slow learning process? I'm the same. I don't think I've ever had to read a manual so much to work out how to use something. The manual for the SatNav needs it's own manual and a magnifying glass to read some of it. I'm trying to learn some of the voice commands at the moment. The problem is my wife uses the car for work, so I only get to play at weekends. I'll get there!

The screen will auto dim if you have the adjusting **** on the dash turned so the dash lights are dimmed. That **** will override the dimming if your headlights are on during the day, so you can see the display.

One new thing I found! The rear seatbelts have a clip to hold them out of the way when they're not in use. I thought these were on the wrong way round as the belt didn't stay in them......but, they have a slot in them which the buckle pushes into and holds them firmly in place....cool!

In a few weeks you'll be answering the questions and I'll just sit back and watch.

Nick

 

Nick - I've had my car since September '06 and I only found those clips for the rear seat belts last week! They've been driving me mad, bucklesrattling away for thousands and thousands of miles!!!

Incidentally I was quite excited when you mentioned that the dash-light dimmer would vary the brightness of the rear-view camera screen, but alas not on the pop-up screen version.

David - have you tried an mp3 CD in the auto-changer yet? My "old" version plays mp3 CDs really well, displays all the info etc. Like you, I can't see any mention of mp3 compatability in the brochure for the "new" model. I do hope it works for you.

I'm getting quite envious reading about your auto-lights and auto-wipers. You'll be telling me you've got cruise control next. (have you?)

I had a Parrot Bluetooth kit fitted to mine so I can just about cope with you both having built-in bluetooth! The Parrot, for anyone who's interested, integrates perfectly with the stereo in the "old" 5 sport-nav.

Dave.

 

Dave, how are you getting on with the cruise control ?

 

Doh !

 

Dave

How do you find the Parrot BT unit? I have been looking at a Parrot CK3100 with a Multicomm (to be able to use the steering wheel controls) for £299+VAT fitted and guarenteed for two years.

If you don't mind me asking, what did you pay and does it affect the MMUK warrenty?

Cheers

Vince.

 

Hi Vince, I had a Parrot 3200-LS Colour fitted at my home for £229 from Avrmobiles.co.uk. I think this model has probably been superceded now. Oh, my text has turned brown???

Er, anyway, It was supplied with a loom to interface with the standard car stereo, and it works perfectly. The auto-electrician fitted it just beneath the driver's air-vent, and it's so close to the driver it really doesn't need to work with the steering wheel controls, although I can imagine searching through the phone book might be easier if you don't have to take a hand off the wheel. As the wiring loom just plugged straight into the existing wiring there are no car warranty issues, and it really works well through the stereo, and if the sat-nav is chatting to you at the same time as you are on the phone thenyou hear a very clear mix of the sat-nav lady and the phone call.

My only critisism is that if I make a very long call, after a while the audio becomes distorted (the incoming sound, not my out-going voice). My theory for this is that the whole control box is so small that the internal audio amp gets too hot during a long conversation and as it over-heats it distorts. Also the control box is hidden right behind the stereo, and at the volume I listen to my music I imagine it gets quite hot round there!

I have a nokia phone, which works perfectly with the Parrot, and a BlackBerry 8700 which works well, but not as well as the nokia. For example I have 3 entries in my phone book for my sister. The Parrot, when connected to the Nokia, will announce these 3 different numbers as "Home", Office" and Cellular", reducing the amount of time I need to take my eyes off the road to read the screen in order to select the right number. When connected to the BlackBerry, even though the 3 numbers are stored in the BlackBerry under the same catagories, the Parrot does not know which number is which, and announces all three numbers as "General".

Also, and this is purely a novelty, when connected to the Nokia, if a photo is associated with a phone number then the photo of the incoming caller is displayed on the screen!!

OK, that concludes my rather lengthy Parrot 3200 review!!

Cheers.

Dave.

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Hello chaps...

Update for you.. Had the car a week now and still getting used to it. My main gripe is the delivery of power from the diesel engine. You need to change your driving style completely. Ive always had a petrol engine previously. Still, I'm sure ill get used to it !!

Yes Nick, the cruise control is great !! Ive never used cruise before until now. Fantastic for motorway driving !!

I think Ive finally worked out the satnav/radio/bluetooth. Mileage wise, the computer is showing 42mpg average. I'll work it out properly once Ive filled up again.

The wife and I have both agreed if we dont get on with it by September, we shall trade her in for an auto version. If I do, I dont know if I could live without all these toys !! V.strange why Mazda don't offer those accessories as upgrades...

David

 

Can I post now?