Car models: Successors & Replacements
Discussion
Many moons ago, Milkyway Sr had a Viva 1300 GLS & traded it in for a Chevette... he always regretted it.
He also had two Lagunas, I had his original one (94) & he always said that he preferred it to the slightly later model. (98).
( Mainly in the comfort & towing ability depts)
It got me thinking, has the ball been dropped over the years by certain manufacturers.
Eg ; (Mentioning no names)...
Was a facelifted / MK2 model etc, really better than the previous version(s).
Was a model replacement really better than its predecessor.
He also had two Lagunas, I had his original one (94) & he always said that he preferred it to the slightly later model. (98).
( Mainly in the comfort & towing ability depts)
It got me thinking, has the ball been dropped over the years by certain manufacturers.
Eg ; (Mentioning no names)...
Was a facelifted / MK2 model etc, really better than the previous version(s).
Was a model replacement really better than its predecessor.
Edited by Milkyway on Wednesday 27th July 09:45
mcflurry said:
Sierra replacing the Cortina..
And then the Mondeo was a world ahead of the Sierra, although many mourned the loss of RWD.Likewise the Focus was a huge improvement on the Escort - it is as if Ford got its act together in the mid-90s.
I suspect every new model is 'better' than the previous one on paper, perhaps it would be more interesting to pick models that were ruined - there's a few models that had smaller choice of engines or gearboxes in recent years (eg. BMW 3 series, no manual option on most engines, and death of naturally aspirated sixes etc)
Nickbrapp said:
Disco 4 to disco 5
some would suggest the new defender, not sure it’s true though.
I had a ride in a new Disco 5 the other day. It felt very Range Rover like, and very different to my Disco 4. Like you say many have said the new Defender is a Disco 4 replacement, but it's smaller inside (certainly lengthwise), although I suppose the new 130 will address this. Although I believe Defenders are a lot more expensive than Disco 4s ever were, even adjusted for inflation? some would suggest the new defender, not sure it’s true though.
The Mazda RX-8 suffered because people wanted it to be a faster, sportier replacement for the RX-7, but it wasn't - arguably an example of misunderstanding / wishful thinking rather than an actual poor replacement.
The upcoming AMG C63, with its 2.0 hybrid engine, is unlikely to be considered a suitable successor to the lineage of V8-powered C-classes stretching back to the W202 C43.
Despite currently owning one, I would say that the E60/E61 5 series was a worse car than the E39 5 series. It was a pretty huge change bringing in bangle angles, i-drive, run flats etc but to me, they don't ride or steer as well, look more challenging and the interior feels poorer quality. The LCI stuff did help address some aspects and I'll admit the corrosion protection is miles better.
swisstoni said:
The biggest contrast I can recall was when the Mondeo replaced the Sierra. Most people were surprised at how much better the latter was.
The Mondeo was vastly better than the Sierra I agree. However I remember when I got my Mondeo ST24 back in 2001...I actually much preferred the 2.9 XR4x4 that I had before it. The Mondeo just felt a bit boring and a bit too grown up for me at the time. cerb4.5lee said:
swisstoni said:
The biggest contrast I can recall was when the Mondeo replaced the Sierra. Most people were surprised at how much better the latter was.
The Mondeo was vastly better than the Sierra I agree. However I remember when I got my Mondeo ST24 back in 2001...I actually much preferred the 2.9 XR4x4 that I had before it. The Mondeo just felt a bit boring and a bit too grown up for me at the time. In Lexus circles some claim the LS430 is overall a better car than the LS460 that replaced it. I disagree, but I can accept reliability is certainly likely to be better with the 430 due to it having less complexity in both engine and the bells and whistles.
I thought the Vauxhall Insignia was a bit of a backward step - it used the same platform and engines as the late Vectras, offered no real advantages over its predecessor (bar the 4wd options) and came with a significant weight gain.
I thought the Vauxhall Insignia was a bit of a backward step - it used the same platform and engines as the late Vectras, offered no real advantages over its predecessor (bar the 4wd options) and came with a significant weight gain.
donkmeister said:
I thought the Vauxhall Insignia was a bit of a backward step - it used the same platform and engines as the late Vectras, offered no real advantages over its predecessor (bar the 4wd options) and came with a significant weight gain.
I disagree - I think the Insignia was a huge step forward over the Vectra, whereas the Vectra had been a massive retrograde step from the Cavalier.For other replacement models that marked a backward step, I'd also add:
- Range Rover Classic and P38
- Vauxhall Omega and Senator (not that the Omega was a bad car at all - quite the opposite. It just wasn't a Senator!)
- VW Lupo and Fox
- Toyota MR2 Mk2 and Mk3
- Citroen Xantia and C5
And possibly the most disappointing of all:
- Vauxhall VXR8 and.......................nothing.
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