French cars and comfort

BrianD3

I like French vehicles and one of the major reasons is I find them far more comfortable than other makes. I thought that other car manufactureres would have caught up by now - but no! Recently I've driven a Golf Mk4, a brand new Focus and a 04 Vectra. All left me tired, irritable and with a pain in my back after about 1/2 hour driving. Rock hard seats and rock hard suspension in the case of Ford and Opel. Rock hard seats, and "squidy" underdamped suspension in the case of the VW.

My Laguna II is like a feckin Jag in comparsion

And it's no good saying that French cars give comfort at the expense of handling as that is not true. French cars handle pretty well and while they may not be at the top of their relevant class, they're usually not far off.

So anyway, what's everyones favourite comfy french car - there are loads to choose from. I nominate the Renault 25.
Barge alert:

mike65

I found the Pug 305 very good at smothering the roads while also handling very well. Opels are not famed for thier comfort, in fact German cars generally seem to be a bit harsh but then unlike French cars Bimmers, Mercs etc are built for the Autobahn not crumbling rural roads.

Mike.

BrianD3

That's probably true about the design philosphy of German cars. I was a passenger in a Merc C class a couple of years back and was most disappointed with the comfort for an expensive and so called prestige vehicle. I was in a Renault Megane and a Pug 106 on the very same road and they were much better.

BrianD3

leeroybrown

I can't speak about other French marques but I've spent many miles in Peugeots, particularly the 405 and 406. I found both to be very comfortable cars.

lomb

leeroybrown wrote:

I can't speak about other French marques but I've spent many miles in Peugeots, particularly the 405 and 406. I found both to be very comfortable cars.

the 405 certainly was incredibly comfortable but incredibly unreliable. who in their sane mind would touch a modern renault or peogeot or citroen that 'is alive with technology' everything from automatic electric handbrakes to no key starts. it all sounds like major trouble in the future to me.

Alfasudcrazy

I agree - I always remembered the absolute comfort of the Peugeot 404's our neighbour used to have years ago.
Recently I bought a 1977 Peugeot 504 with only 40,000 on the clock and the way is soakes up rough roads and pot holes is amazing.
I have had a 02 BMW 530D which was supposed to be the best saloon car in the world - but the peugeot is far more comfortable than any car I have driven before

stratos

The french invented rust. It's true

stratos

The Italians perfected it !

ambro25

The best car I have ever owned, bar none: Citroen CX 25 GTI Turbo, Mk1 (with the 'T' turbo alloys :rolleyes: ).

_Palatial comfort (though much harder than comparable, non-turbo petrol or turbo-diesel CXs)

_Porsche performance (240kph, used to 'race' some between Strasbourg & Paris... Forget about Mercs & Beemers, tho')

_Cadillac economy (about 20l-25l per 100km :eek: )

CrowdedHouse

What about French cars shopping trolley-like handling and the ability to reduce the toughest mechanic to tears !

ambro25

Ei2JC wrote:

What about French cars shopping trolley-like handling and the ability to reduce the toughest mechanic to tears !

I thought that was the sole preserve of Brit cars?

joolsveer

I have owned four french cars and all had great comfort and gadgets but very poor build quality and reliability. The dealers are bad in Dublin at least. The worst main dealer I have come across in thirty years still sells Peugeots on the north side.

The most comfortable car I have driven was a Renault 16TX.

Dancing_Priest

The 25 is a classic, I practically grew up in one. French cars are in a world of their own when it comes to comfort. Why in the name of sweet jesus in everyone putting rock rard vw seats and suspension in their cars these days?!

mike65

ambro25 wrote:

The best car I have ever owned, bar none: Citroen CX 25 GTI Turbo, Mk1 (with the 'T' turbo alloys :rolleyes: ).

_Palatial comfort (though much harder than comparable, non-turbo petrol or turbo-diesel CXs)

_Porsche performance (240kph, used to 'race' some between Strasbourg & Paris... Forget about Mercs & Beemers, tho')

_Cadillac economy (about 20l-25l per 100km :eek: )

Me very jelly-ous! When I had a BX I mused frequently about how I'd one day have a 25 GTI and if lucky (old enough) a late Turbo 2. Who knows it still might happen.

Mike.

highdef

My last car was a 1998 Citroen Xantia and boy, was that smooth on the road. I drive a top of the range Scorpio now and it doesn't come close to the Xantia. It had a fierce heavy clutch though! If it had been an auto with climate control and leather I would have kept it - Great car for bumpy roads and those sleeping policemen that seem to be becoming very common place these days.

Stimpyone

At the moment I am driving a Megane II which i have to say is one of the most comfortable and solidly built cars I have ever owned ( used to be a ford man ).

The only problem is that I've had her back to the garage 3 times for the same problem, apparently the induction coils in the ménage leave a lot to be desired. Consequently as soon as the warranty runs out I'll be trading her in for some other make. Which is a shame cos I really love the Car.