What's the most 'soothing' car you've had..?

[AC43]

In terms of cars I've actually owned, it's my current E500 and the one before. Both with large petrol V8's that are whisper quiet and air suspension that smooths out the ride and reduces cabin noise without losing any body control.

The current one has all sorts of toys to reduce stress further; radar cruise, variable ratio steering, cornering bi-Xenons, heated/cooled seats, etc.

As others have said, E's are good but S's are better, of course. And the S-based V12 Maybach I saw earlier is better again.

[cmvtec]

Fusion777 said:

J4CKO said:

Special mention, bear with me on this, my mother in laws old MK4 Golf diesel estate auto, lowest power 100 is bhp engine, nice velour seats and high profile tyres.

No performance beyond the perfectly adequate shove you got at half throttle, holding it any longer didnt seem to make any appreciable distance but it got to speed limits and beyond easily enough. The ride was excellent and like the performance there was no point in exploring the handling as if you did it lolloped about like an overweight Labrador that has something stuck to its bottom. The seats were supremely comfortable.

Was just thinking the same. A friend had a MK4 1.4 S when they were current. This was the most basic model, but this works in your favour when it comes to ride comfort. I swear the wheels were only 14" steel, though some places seems to say 15". Donut tyres, soft suspension and seats. Really comfortable when just cruising around.

B8 Passat GT is a very solid and quiet car especially given the price tag. Not especially cosseting on 18"s, but comfortable enough with decent seats. Remember the original XC60 being very quiet but with quite a firm ride in R-Design spec.

I have to agree with both - I've got a mk4 TDI 100 that I paid scrap money for - and an S-Type 3.0 petrol auto.

The S-Type is lovely but the Golf does almost as much, and if it was an auto I wouldn't have the S. It's got the comfy velour seats, good air con, cruise, electrics etc

[Pommy]

So basically what this thread evidences, is that if you want the most soothing car go for something:

- that suffers from horrific depreciation.
- big bills if it goes wrong
- is often regarded as something unreliable
- torquey


If it isn't ticking all the boxes above don't get it

[Ambleton]

With great comfort comes great bork

[AC43]

Ambleton said:

With great comfort comes great bork

Mine have been alright. In seven years that I had the first one, I had a boot lock, a crank pulley and an air suspension compressor go pop.

On the current one I had to get the seat cooler fixed and I have just replaced the rear air springs.

So that's five non-service items over an eleven year period.

One bork every two years - seems reasonable.

[Sycamore]

Are any of these cars... reliable?

It'll mostly just be personal preconceptions, but reading through I was rightly or wrongly thinking of them as being unreliable or having the ability to financially molest you. Jaguar, Range Rover, Big Mercedes, Big BMWs.

The only ones that haven't stood out to me are the various offerings from Lexus, which for some reason I think of as being reliable, but I'm not sure how true that is.

[Pupbelly]

Had a 2003 Lexus GS300 for a short period. Lovely silky smooth drive, lots of comfort despite being 15 years old at the time. Everything worked as it should and seemed to be a really well built car.

[Royal Jelly]

Sycamore said:

Are any of these cars... reliable?

It'll mostly just be personal preconceptions, but reading through I was rightly or wrongly thinking of them as being unreliable or having the ability to financially molest you. Jaguar, Range Rover, Big Mercedes, Big BMWs.

The only ones that haven't stood out to me are the various offerings from Lexus, which for some reason I think of as being reliable, but I'm not sure how true that is.

My 750 beast didn’t put a foot wrong, it was remarkable.

Except for the fuel gauge. Which was a shame, because the fuel consumption was spectacular.

[AC43]

Sycamore said:

Are any of these cars... reliable?

I can only talk to Mercs. Over 18 years I've run 2 x C43's and 2 x E500's and have had few issues with non-service items.

The E's are more complex and had 1 x air suspension issue each (fair enough, that's par for the course) plus 3 other things.

The C43's were simpler and remarkably tough. Although the paint on one was a bit rubbish.

[jamesbilluk]

Sycamore said:

Are any of these cars... reliable?

It'll mostly just be personal preconceptions, but reading through I was rightly or wrongly thinking of them as being unreliable or having the ability to financially molest you. Jaguar, Range Rover, Big Mercedes, Big BMWs.

The only ones that haven't stood out to me are the various offerings from Lexus, which for some reason I think of as being reliable, but I'm not sure how true that is.

The RRS I had, I'm afraid the answer would have to be no, not very reliable..

[Jaguar steve]

Ambleton said:

With great comfort comes great bork

Not necessarily.

Ive had great comfort for 11 years with this and nothing has broken.



Yet...

[mwstewart]

MY CLK350. Near silent around town, wafts fantastically, and sounds lovely when opened up a bit.

[99t]

Probably my Saab 9000 Griffin - all £350 quid's worth!

Effortlessly wafty 2.3 turbo auto, soft suspension, extremely comfortable seats as really only Saab used to do, good cold air con and could park it anywhere without a care!

It wasn't so soothing if you tried to corner aggressively, it really wasn't set up for that! But under all other circumstances it was relaxation on wheels!

Would probably still have it if some muppet hadn't parked a Transit in the boot...

[Maximus_Meridius101]

It was a 2003 Volvo S80 auto, with a straight 6 and lots of wood and leather. Apparently Volvo could never fit a manual box to it. It was fantastic, until the box lunched itself. It was a fantastic car to munch miles with though.

[MickyveloceClassic]

My most soothing car. Smooth and cosseting with a negligible bork factor over my ten year ownership.

[anonymous-user]

This was (still is) a very comfortable place to spend days crossing the continent. Can easily do 1000 miles a day sat in there.



Probably even better but never actually sat back there.

[Jaguar99]

Pommy said:

So basically what this thread evidences, is that if you want the most soothing car go for something:

- that suffers from horrific depreciation.
- big bills if it goes wrong
- is often regarded as something unreliable
- torquey

Jaguar steve said:

Not necessarily.

Ive had great comfort for 11 years with this and nothing has broken.



Yet...

I can’t believe you said that out loud. Cars know when you are feeling cocky...

[elvismiggell]

Most surprising one I've owned was an A3 eTron. Just super comfortable, soft but supportive seats and obviously very quiet especially around town.

F-Type and XF both had slightly too low profile tires to be truly comfortable, but they were lovely places to be.

[anonymous-user]

Sycamore said:

Are any of these cars... reliable?

It'll mostly just be personal preconceptions, but reading through I was rightly or wrongly thinking of them as being unreliable or having the ability to financially molest you. Jaguar, Range Rover, Big Mercedes, Big BMWs.

The only ones that haven't stood out to me are the various offerings from Lexus, which for some reason I think of as being reliable, but I'm not sure how true that is.

I’ve had a few e38 740’s over the years, great to drive, beautiful looking not all that unreliable bar the usual bmw cooling system flaws and Osv valves.

Lexus is dull as dishwater to drive but incredibly comfortable incredibly reliable and mine has never thrown up a big bill it’s life. Travelling in the thing is serene even at autobahn speeds. I think the reason it’s boring is because it is so good.

[anonymous-user]

D2 Audi S8, after that a 4.4 L322 Range Rover.