Invisible wrote:
> In the category of "I realise nobody actually gives a damn but I'm going
> to tell you all anyway": I have a new car.

Me too!
http://www.zbxt.net/~aero/saab/sc_front.jpg
http://www.zbxt.net/~aero/saab/sc_back.jpg

> I had a mark-I Renault Megane. I now have a mark-II Renault Megane with
> a bigger engine. (I still have yet to determine *exactly* what model
> I've bought, but it has a 2.0 L petrol engine which may or may not be
> turbocharged.)

I doubt it's not turbocharged.

> - The clutch doesn't enguage until you completely remove your foot from
> the pedal. You can lift the pedal all the way from the floor to almost
> fully released, and you're still not moving. Only in the last 5mm or so
> of travel do you get any power to the wheels.

Traditional French clutch. All the French cars I've drive have had a
clutch like that. It's something I've never got used to.

> - You don't get a key. Instead, you get a huge lump of plastic. If this
> is within 200 yards of the car, all the doors unlock, and the "start"
> button is enabled. (Yes, you actually start the engine by pressing a
> huge "start" button. How stupid is that?)

I wouldn't like the automatic locking/opening, but starting with a
"start" button is pretty logical - as long as you don't separately need
to put the key to the lock (sorry BMW, THAT's plain stupid).

> This means that if I park my car and go shopping, and I happen to walk
> past a shop front that's fairly close to the car park, my car will
> unlock itself and allow anybody who notices and hops in to start the
> engine and drive off.

I'd guess the engine will shut down when you're far enough?

> (Presumably once they get out of range, the engine will stop and they'll
> be locked in? Or maybe it won't - imagine if you were driving the car
> normally and the radio ran out of battery power. Could be quite a safety
> issue!)

Ah yes, if it doesn't load the battery while driving or alert the car
that "hey, my battery is running out, please disable the safety shutdown
feature".

> I still haven't found a way to lock the car yet. Presumably if I walk
> far enough away, it will lock. (But I'll be far away, so I have no way
> of verifying this.)

Try pushing all the buttons! :D

> - Rather than having the normal 4 or the extravagent 5 gears, it has 6.
> I'm not sure why. You'd think they would use this to add more gears to
> the top of the range; but no. They just took the other gears and spaced
> them closer together. In other words, you need to change gear more
> often. 

It gives you the possibility to drive more economically - at least in
theory.

> (Which, considering that the clutch doesn't work properly, isn't
> much fun.)

It does. It's just French.

> - It does not appear to be possible to turn the headlights on or off.
> They just turn themselves on or off when they feel like it. (Presumably
> too many French people decided to drive off in the middle of the night
> with no lights on or something?)

That's actually a good thing. Light automation rocks, when you get used
to it you'll hate the German cars without it :-).

> In addition to all this, it has the usual minor stuff that all cars
> have. 

Ah yes, "nothing ever works properly". Fix the problems and it'll be a
nicer ride.

> The wipers don't work very well (but then, they never do). 

Wait, what? They never do? In the history of me and cars I've had *one*
car with *one* problem on wipers and that was a loose nut on a 14-year
old car!

> The
> brakes are very sharp. (Presumably it just had new brake shoes or
> something.) 

New brakes take a part of the glory, but mostly it's just the way the
brakes are built. I too have new brakes, but they aren't oversharp (then
again, I've always liked the feel of Saab's brakes - they just fit my
braking foot).

> It's taken me ages to fiddle with all the mirrors such that
> I can see properly. And so on.

Yes, and to get the seat positioned etc. That always takes some time.

> So it's a rubbish car then?

If it was, would you have bought it?

> Well, not so much. The steering is absurdly light - not sure if that's
> good or bad. 

That depends on you and what do you like. I like light but sensitive
steering - Audi had a steering that absorbed the road to itself, even
while it wasn't a light one, I didn't like that, but I assume someone
else does.

> The suspension seems... "better" somehow. The car doesn't
> tip over when it goes around corners, and driving over lumpy roads (or
> just ramps) doesn't shake you around so much. It's better-damped or
> something.

Maybe it's just not worn out yet? Well ok, probably they have had some
time to tune it up, it's not the same model as your previous car, after all.

> I couldn't say whether the 20% bigger engine makes it go any faster,

If it doesn't, it's crap :).

> since I'm constantly in the wrong gear. (I've yet to figure out how to
> access 6th gear. Every time I try I get 4th instead.) Selecting reverse
> is a tad tricky too. I guess I'll get used to it.

You will, you just need to find the 6th first to know how to get there.

-Aero

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