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

[Bentley3]

I’ll show my age. 1975 Renault 16TX. Gordini engine, 5 speed gearbox, armchair seats and loping ride. Brilliant long haul car.

[AC43]

Bentley3 said:

I’ll show my age. 1975 Renault 16TX. Gordini engine, 5 speed gearbox, armchair seats and loping ride. Brilliant long haul car.

Great car, amazing seats.

My uncle had one of those back in the day in between a P5B Coupe and a very early BMW 320i.

He was my cool uncle :-)

[jpayne]

I did 100k in a Lexus IS-F. Never went wrong, happily drive up and down the country in a day but could pick up it's feet when you wanted it to - solid as a rock at 160+ on the autobahn..

[marculos]

My new old car which I've for few weeks, N52 330i Auto with heated sport seats and SE suspension very comfy, great for around town and sports mode for when you want to hear that lovely straight 6

[cerb4.5lee]

marculos said:

My new old car which I've for few weeks, N52 330i Auto with heated sport seats and SE suspension very comfy, great for around town and sports mode for when you want to hear that lovely straight 6

I was also going to nominate the E90 330d/330i autos that I've had, but they were both M sports so they fail on the soothing bit in some ways. However that didn't stop me doing 41k miles from 1 MOT to the next one in the 330d once though! The 330d was a great motorway car I thought.

[Jaguar steve]

Bentley3 said:

I’ll show my age. 1975 Renault 16TX. Gordini engine, 5 speed gearbox, armchair seats and loping ride. Brilliant long haul car.

Absolutely spot on for wafty goodness. I'd bloody love a R16 now




I'll show my age too - did my apprenticeship mostly on '70s Renaults.

[TedStriker]

Strangely, a 2003 VW Bora TDI Sport 150. Used to do 50k miles a year in that and it just kind of wafted along doing incredible MPG, loads or torque at motorway speeds and never got uncomfortable. Finally rusted away on 390k miles and was running sweet up to that point.

[Jaguar99]

Bentley3 said:

I’ll show my age. 1975 Renault 16TX. Gordini engine, 5 speed gearbox, armchair seats and loping ride. Brilliant long haul car.

Never owned or driven one but someone my dad knew when I was young had one. Went in it a couple of times and overriding memories are of the comfy sofa-like seats and the column-shift

Edited by Jaguar99 on Thursday 6th May 19:05

[B10BRW]

My 2002 Alpina B10 V8S is by far the most comfortable car I have had, sublime Alpina suspension that just soaks up all our terrible roads throw at us.
Creamy 375hp V8, with great performance.
Like driving a very quick armchair

[AC43]

B10BRW said:

My 2002 Alpina B10 V8S is by far the most comfortable car I have had, sublime Alpina suspension that just soaks up all our terrible roads throw at us.
Creamy 375hp V8, with great performance.
Like driving a very quick armchair

I just love the Alpina ethos.

[CBM1234]

C5 - agreed very comfortable except on the wallet when the unrepairable electronic handbrake packs up at a cost of £1000!

[lornemalvo]

Previously, my Renault 16TL, a wonderful thing. I even loved the column change. If Renault made something with this level of comfort, they'd clean up, because modern cars , regardless of size, seem designed to gain two seconds around the Nürburgring, at the expense of horrendous ride comfort

Currently, my 1999 Lexus 400, which is a serene, silent, incredibly refined machine. It is truly relaxing enough to change your driving style to a very relaxed affair. I can afford to replace the Lexus with something much newer and more expensive but there is always something to put me off potential replacements. Truly superb ride comfort and refinement seem to be things of the past

[Chris C2]

Obviously haven't been in one but I guess the back seat of a Toyota Century takes some beating.

[X100SCD]

A 1987 Jaguar Sovereign V12 in steel blue with black leather and walnut trim. Best car I ever had, and that includes quite some cars. Sadly rotted into oblivion, as Leyland cars were prone to do in those days.

[fortfive]

lornemalvo said:

Previously, my Renault 16TL, a wonderful thing. I even loved the column change. If Renault made something with this level of comfort, they'd clean up, because modern cars , regardless of size, seem designed to gain two seconds around the Nürburgring, at the expense of horrendous ride comfort

Currently, my 1999 Lexus 400, which is a serene, silent, incredibly refined machine. It is truly relaxing enough to change your driving style to a very relaxed affair. I can afford to replace the Lexus with something much newer and more expensive but there is always something to put me off potential replacements. Truly superb ride comfort and refinement seem to be things of the past

definitely agree, the original V8 Lexus 400 was streets ahead of the Mercs in seats, ride and the general handling was well up there too. Fond memories of the Peugeot 404's back in the day too, in Kenya.

[bennno]

Current model Volvo V90, heated seats and steering wheel. Auto pilot and radar cruise control. Plus it’s entry spec so decent tyre sidewalls, so good ride and comfort.

[biggbn]

Jaguar steve said:

Bentley3 said:

I’ll show my age. 1975 Renault 16TX. Gordini engine, 5 speed gearbox, armchair seats and loping ride. Brilliant long haul car.

Absolutely spot on for wafty goodness. I'd bloody love a R16 now




I'll show my age too - did my apprenticeship mostly on '70s Renaults.

I'll third that, wonderful cars. Drove the later, bigger 30txe a few times, big v6 felt really fast for the time, sophisticated hooligans car like the 505 v6 or cx turbo

[AC43]

biggbn said:

Jaguar steve said:

Bentley3 said:

I’ll show my age. 1975 Renault 16TX. Gordini engine, 5 speed gearbox, armchair seats and loping ride. Brilliant long haul car.

Absolutely spot on for wafty goodness. I'd bloody love a R16 now




I'll show my age too - did my apprenticeship mostly on '70s Renaults.

I'll third that, wonderful cars. Drove the later, bigger 30txe a few times, big v6 felt really fast for the time, sophisticated hooligans car like the 505 v6 or cx turbo

Boggo 405's were also great. Soft springs, taught dampers & long wheelbase made them effortlessly quick over broken tarmac.

[marine boy]

Another vote for the Lexus LS400, just driven mine for 2.5hrs for the first time after buying it today

It's so quiet, no engine/transmission noise, no wind noise, can hardly hear cars passing in the opposite direction

Looking out the front feels like watching the TV with the sound off while sat in a very, comfy couch

Makes me want to just waft along at a very relaxed pace in total comfort with the radio off.

Only downside is the loudest noise I can now hear is the mild tinnitus ringing in my ears

Also I'm a little worried I may now never want to own a Mercedes W126 which I've lusted after for a longtime

[Nicks90]

For all the people suggesting various VAG offerings or smaller bmws, have never been in a truly comfortable car.
Sorry.
Not meaning to be disparaging or rude, but.....
Blag a ride in a 20 year old well maintained jag, or Lexus 400/430/460 or e class avantgarde/any s class and then get back in your golf...

Whilst a 10 year old BMW 330 on se spec suspension is a lot more comfy than pretty much every modern white goods 'look at my gadgets' over styled box on wheels, and infinitely better than anything advertised as dynamic and developed at 'the ring', they're still not very comfortable in comparison.

Edited to add - phaeton is an exception.

Edited by Nicks90 on Thursday 6th May 22:31