Just got back from a weeks holiday in Finland where we hired a Nissan Note and did about 1200 miles. The car was virtually new and did everything it was supposed to do in an OK sort of way but oh dear how absolutely boring. If it was a colour it would be magnolia. Got back to Stansted and picked up 12 year old Pug 306 with heavy clutch, rattly bits and pieces and no aircon but what a joy to drive after the Nissan. I'm sure the Nissan was safer, more economical and it didn't smell as if it was running on coal dust but how can any manufacturer produce a car that is so utterly bland?
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We had an S reg Vetra. 2 litre.
it is the single most boring car I have ever driven. nothing good or bad about it to make it exciting/interesting/different or to give it some sort of character.
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Aim low, expect nothing & dont be disappointed
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...and then there's cars like Kia Shuma, Hyundai accent etc
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I had 6 forgettable months with a Daewoo Nubira 2.0. Goes quite well, but everything else about it whether it's handling, build quality, trim or styling is completely forgettable. Not bad necessarily, but just forgettable. The car as a domestic appliance!
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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I had 6 forgettable months with a Daewoo Nubira 2.0. Goes quite well but everything else about it whether it's handling build quality trim or styling is completely forgettable. Not bad necessarily but just forgettable. The car as a domestic appliance!
Well, you say that but while even I would never have thought of buying one of these until we were given one, I have to say that while it is totally unexceptional, at the price these cars go for second-hand I'm quite happy to let that side of things go, especially as a second car.
There is nothing wrong with a car as a domestic appliance. They're cheap, so allow you to occasionally hire a real car and appreciate it more. As a second car, would you rather have a 9 year old Nubira or a 15 year old rotbox of a VW Golf, just to get marginally better handling?
Things like Pug 306s, Focusses etc are just slightly less boring variations on a theme. Anyone who buys them for enjoyment is sadly deluded. If you want a real car, just buy a real car, for heaven's sake!
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Things like Pug 306s Focusses etc are just slightly less boring variations on a theme. Anyone who buys them for enjoyment is sadly deluded.
Well, I must keep taking the medication then ;-)
I can enjoy myself in a Focus or 306. I couldn't in the Nubira. Of course, if there was any justice in the world, I'd have a 996 GT3 and be done with it, but this is the cruel hand that fate has dealt me. :-P
Nothing wrong with one as a second car or freebie. Nothing wrong with any car as a freebie!
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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I have hired lots of Renault Scenics and more lately Grand Scenics overseas mainly. I never grow tired of the brilliant design inside and out. Even after some years since the first new shape ones appeared the design still looks so fresh. They could improve the roadholding; but then one would loose the lovely comfortable ride.
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I have hired lots of Renault Scenics and more lately Grand Scenics overseas mainly. I never grow tired of the brilliant design inside and out.
We've had ours nearly 4 months now, done 6,000 miles in it, and we both still love it to bits.
Design, styling, comfort, noise levels, engine, practicality, reliability (to date) and equipment levels are all superb. Some lovely design touches too (underfloor cubby holes and underseat trays for storage, full glass panoramic roof, keyless operation with full closure facility, back seats that individually slide fore/aft, tumble, and come out, the vastness of the boot in 5 seat mode etc etc. Only a slightly creaky interior, dead steering, and less than impressive urban fuel economy let it down, but really in the light of its strengths, they're nothing.
The only thing in the class I can see myself changing it for is an S-Max, but not for a good few years.
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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DP. I am delighted to read your letter. The famous French designer of the Scenic really is quite a genius. I just can't think of his name right now. I haven't driven an S Max. I have heard they are excellent. I am sorry to say I don't like their looks.The Scenics and the new Picassos( new shape) look good.A very good friend of mine truly loves Fords.
This summer the hire company gave me a Vauxhall ( Opel) Zaffira 1.9 diesel. I had it for four weeks in Nice and I drove it all over the place into Italy etc etc. The Zaffira is very strongly made and it's roadholding is wonderful ( I was doing 130 kph on slight bends on the autostrada in Italy, it felt rock steady). My relatives as passengers thought the suspension too hard and they thought the seats were not as comfortable as the Scenic's ones). Of course in looks it is not really attractive. I must say that as a driver, the Zaffira was amazing. The 1.9 diesel drove so well.Also in sixth gear the revs were very low.
Next time I will try to hire a Grand Scenic again or indeed a new seven seater Picasso. I will just drive slower on bends. The French certainly have flair with their designs.
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eh, the Pug 306 is a bland soap box on wheels, the Nissan note at least has a few little style additions such as the front and rear lights.
Everyone has different tastes!
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eh the Pug 306 is a bland soap box on wheels
Until you start chucking it round corners... :-)
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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Almost every mainstream modern car is bland and rubbish to drive. People aren't interested in fun so much as economy, safety and practicality.
Agree with you that the old Pugs were great cars to drive shame about the new ones.
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Lewis Hamilton picked up his new car earlier in the year and he doesn't seem to think it's bland.
It's one of the latest McLaren models apparently, but has one major fault in that it has absolutely no room for his current squeeze.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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"Almost every mainstream modern car is bland and rubbish to drive."
I disagree - depends on the driver...Mrs PU's Golf the other week 45 miles in just 55 minutes....that was fun.
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I disagree - depends on the driver...Mrs PU's Golf the other week 45 miles in just 55 minutes....that was fun.
Depends which Golf you were driving, most of the range aren't much fun. Note use of word 'mainstream' by which I mean non-sporting derivatives.
Go back a decade and it was quite possible to find fun cars such as the diesel and small petrol engined 306 which just don't exist today.
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how can any manufacturer produce a car that is so utterly bland?
By lots of careful design, after listening to their customers and giving them what they want.
Most buyers don't want excitement in a car, they want predictability: a car which will do what its asked to do, without any serious vices.
Of course some buyers think they want excitement, but still end up driving ordinary saloons or hatchbacks because those are the vehicles which will do the job of day-to-day transport. Of course, the manufacturers pander to that by claiming that their euroboxes offer excitement, but it's a double-bluff: both buyers and seller know that if you want excitement, it's not going to come from a family holdall. Modern safety requirements have trumped excitement by adding weight and bulk, which is why cars like the 306 aren't made no more.
It's a pity: I think that the modern cars are probably too safe, as well as too heavy. But what manufactuter is going to risk a lower NCAP rating?
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My Seicento isnt boring. Its fun to drive, handles well and is nicely styled both inside and out.
Compared to the Daihatsu Cuore of the same age that I looked at, its a characterful little car.
That said, the Seicento is really a late 90's design despite mine being an 2003 model, so perhaps its legislation that is hurting good design flair.
On the other hand, taking a quick look at a new Fiat 500 yesterday, id say that here is a fight back and maybe bland wont be forever.
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It appears to me that two things have contributed to the blandness of modern cars. First there is the corporate image which results in somewhat similar cars being available in small, medium and large. The second factor seems to be that every manufacturer wants to be represented in every sector spreading their design effort to far. The worse offenders are people carriers, 4x2s and medium sized family cars.
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Also as well there are fewer smaller independent car companies that for one reason or another persisted with individual designs or idiosyncrasies eg odd engines like V4s or inline 5s, air cooled etc or with a house style that changed very little over the years (mainly because they could not afford to change too often eg SAAB or were of the "if it's not broke why change it eg Land Rover).
I think also as car makes are increasingly seen as brands there seems less focus by the marketing department on the actual features of the car that might be distinct (in many cases there is nothing original at all) they are spending alot of time and effort trying to claim the aura or feel of the brand is distinctive instead without having to genuinely innovate at the product level.
As has been discussed here before I think the set up of most cars is becoming remarkably similar - interiors use similar colour schemes and controls (eg who can think of a car without 3 rotating knobs for heating/ventilation these days) ride and handling biases are all clustered around a VW golf norm, engine options are remarkably the same eg in line 4s transverse up to 2.5 litres approx and V6s/V8s above. There does not seem to be an outlier population doing things differently eg is anyone producing a 2 litre 6 cylinder engine?
I actually think that looking back on it being a car buyer say in the 60s or 70s seemed to offer more genuine interest. At least someone was offering some difference eg wankel engines, flat 4s, very different interiors eg Lancia Trevi swiss cheese effort, Rover SD1 Pod, Older style Rover wood dashboards, spare looking VW dashboards, the Citroen CX revolving drums, the new idea of a hatchback at different sizes etc etc
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Ironically, the companies that people most associate with "bland" -- the Japanese mostly -- are the ones which experiment the most these days.
The problem is, Westerners would not buy them. We are too straight-laced -- we see their offbeat offerings as weird and scary.
Then we winge about all cars handling the same, but when a company produces a car that's softer, it's dismissed as wallowy. Make your mind up chaps.
The problem is down to the buying public. We listen to the magazines too much, and the magazines are in the pockets of the big manufacturers. Cars become blander and blander, and we get sucked in by the same old garbage about Meganes having character etc.
In the meantime, people like me see the folly of the whole thing, just buy something cheap and reliable and have done with it. Almost all cars look the same, perform the same, drive the same and have the same features. Why bother overspending?
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My Seicento isnt boring. Its fun to drive handles well and is nicely styled both inside and out.
I agree! Even my 899cc Seicento is fun, and can put a smile on my face. They're stupidly cheap too. Some new cars I've driven (including the Panda) felt very dull and boring. IIRC the Aygo/107/C1 has a torque curve that is almost completely flat. If let the revs go up, the engine noise barely changes, and it feels really slow. In the Panda you have to listen very careful to even hear the engine, which not only makes it dull, but can also make it difficult to control the revs.
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'Boring' cars tend to be the least boring to drive when you are on a long trip, while 'interesting' or challenging ones get very tedious after a few dozen miles!
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Brilliant observation, SS!
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You're right Jase1. The public is always scared of innovation.
Decades ago (and naming no names) you could buy cars with innovative styling, all-round independent suspension, sometimes by fluid, overhead cam engines, de Dion rear axles and ground-breaking technology in other areas.
But what did Joe Public (or his company car supplier) buy? Something like the Ford Cortina - bland looks, out of date technology and riding on cart springs.
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There's a time and place for everything. The Mazda allows you to feel the road and get a real sense of what's happening beneath you, great fun on country roads in the sunshine.
Not so good at half past midnight in mid winter on the M1 around Leeds in pouring rain with the lorry trainlines pulling you from one track to the other. Give me a bland car then anytime!
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