Modern Cars on test drive - Are they all like this?

[James76G]

I am in the market for a new petrol hatchback to replace my old (2003) petrol saloon (Audi A4).

I test drove the new Honda Civic just before Christmas and it was great. But I wanted to check that I wasn't missing anything so arranged test drives in the Audi A3, Mercedes A Class and VW Golf. None of these cars had I ever been in, let alone driven and my previous car was a 2011 C-Class so I am out of touch with modern "enhancements".




Mercedes - I asked for a facelifted hatch, but got a pre-facelift saloon. No dramas the engine is the same (sort of). It sounded awful - is the noise augmented? Secondly on the test drive I had to avoid an oncoming car (which was overtaking a cyclist) and transgressed from my lane as a result. This activated the lane-assist and pulled me back in to the path of the oncoming car. Scary when you aren't expecting it and potentially lethal.



Audi - I asked for a hatchback but got a saloon. Top engine (below the S3) is a 150hp 35TFSI which was surprisingly slow and didn't make a great noise either (My 2002 A3 1.8T sounded much better). Also the stop/start activates before the car has come to a stop, which is weird and it did this odd thing where it would actively apply the brakes when lifting off the throttle. I spotted this first as I approached a roundabout so thought it might be using the sat nav to "know" when to brake but it didn't do it consistently so I decided it can't be that. Is that a thing now?

They both also have gearboxes that are too lazy in comfort, so you go to accelerate as you exit a roundabout, nothing happens, so you push the pedal some more and which wakes everything up, it drops two gears and you get to slingshot down the road when all you wanted was to make smooth progress. The answer is Sport mode but then that just hangs on to every gear which feels a bit needless when you only want to drive at 6/10ths.

VW - No petrol Golf automatics available to drive.

So my question is this. Are all modern cars like this, or is it just Audi and Mercedes because they were both super frustrating to drive? It feels like the sensible throttle and gearbox mappings are out of the window and the autonomy is taking over to prevent you from doing anything that the car/emissions regulations don't want you to do. Or do you just learn to live with it?

Edited by James76G on Wednesday 11th January 16:39

[TheInternet]

Have you ordered your Civic yet? It seems to be smashing everything in the reviews for 'ordinary' cars.

[LunarOne]

I haven't driven anything European that's more modern than 5 years old, and the only car I've driven for a long time with smaller than a 3-litre engine is a 2006 A4 1.8T. But a few years ago I had an Audi A4 30TFSI as a loan car and I couldn't believe how slow and sluggish it was. I guess Audi have moved to this numbering system to disguise the small engines that emissions regs forces them to put in everything. But I also guess that lazy transmissions are there to reduce emissions and that most drivers eventually get used to it. It might explain why everyone seems to be so slow to accelerate away from lights nowadays. When I started my driving career in the early 90s, people used to try to move off from a standstill as quickly as they could. There was much less traffic, and driving was fun rather than frustrating. But then I was 17 years old and not nearly 50.

I have no desire to drive any car with speed assist, lane assist or any assist other than ABS and power steering. For 18 months I've owned an automatic for the first time in my life, and I do like it. But then it's 30 years old!

Modern cars are synthetic electrical appliances, some of which still take petrol. Older cars are mechanical beasts with personality, and that's why of my five petrol vehicles (4 cars and a bike), none are newer than 9 years old.

[Scootersp]

I'm stuck in the past and so can't help much!

Heard some reports of lane assist being intrusive/annoying/disconcerting.
My only modern(ish) car and XC60 had emergency braking that shocked me once (I was doing a motorcycle display team type move ie I new the van on the roundabout was going to keep going but computer says "that's too close" and kindly broke hard for me!

I'm a luddite on cars now, not a fan of electric handbrakes let alone land assist etc etc.

I think lots of modern cars are mapped for emissions and so don't always feel great/responsive, but I'm sure you get used to it. Where you are coming from means you've miss the gradual trends that have happen, I doubt many ever switch from so old to new?

Sounds like you need to buy the Civic!

[James76G]

TheInternet said:

Have you ordered your Civic yet? It seems to be smashing everything in the reviews for 'ordinary' cars.

I haven't but based on my current experience it's the only one I'd be happy to order. It just seemed to "work" as expected, unlike the others. The only gremlin I could find was there was some engine drone when accelerating to join a dual carriageway but that's understandable given how the drivetrain is configured.

I wouldn't have one in black though - looks awful.

[Whataguy]

James76G said:

So my question is this. Are all modern cars like this, or is it just Audi and Mercedes because they were both super frustrating to drive? It feels like the sensible throttle and gearbox mappings are out of the window and the autonomy is taking over to prevent you from doing anything that the car/emissions regulations don't want you to do. Or do you just learn to live with it?

Lane departure systems vary between manufacturers - one of the reasons I got rid of my 21 Honda (and other owners have too) is that in addition to it taking over the steering crossing a white line, it also does the same if it thinks you are close to what it thinks is the side of the road Move over a bit for oncoming traffic on a narrow road and it will steer you head on towards them! Same thing if it thinks the edge of the road is nearer than it is on country lanes.

Whereas a good system should only warn you about white lines without indicating. I believe some don't warn below 20mph, which was one of the suggestions from Honda dealers online for driving on national speed limit roads/etc!

As for gearboxes, yes many are programmed this way for emissions and economy reasons now. My old automatics had much faster response in kickdown from 50-70, but newer ones take a while. In a DSG it can faster to accelerate first in one lower gear before dropping a second gear down rather than waiting for the gearbox to take time going down 2 gears at once itself.

I drive permanently in sport mode, but with a lighter foot and lift off slightly to trigger upshifts at lower revs so I'm not left with high revs when I don't want them. It just takes a bit of learning to get the response you want without the high revs all the time.

As well as my own 1.5TSI DSG Golf, I've also driven a couple of year old B Class Mercedes auto for a week. They just take a bit of adjustment to get the best out of the gearboxes/engines.