The C4 and that wheel.

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Sat 22 Jan 2005 12:39
The C4 and that wheel. - Imagos
Anyone own or driven the new Citreon C4?

How did you get on with that steering wheel?

An ergonomic masterpiece or a gimmick?

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Sat 22 Jan 2005 17:44
The C4 and that wheel. - Hugo {P}
I did think about the C4 recently but was put off by one facit that Citroen themselves were very honest about from the start.

You leave it in a car park and it gets up and struts its stuff!

Talk about overrated gimmik or what!

You can see the insurance claim statement now: Left the car in the supermarket car park when it stood up, started dancing, trod on several trollies, stepped on the cat......

H
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Sat 22 Jan 2005 20:00
The C4 and that wheel. - Mondaywoe
Haven't tried one, but I read somewhere that a tester criticised the wheel because he didn't know where his wheels were pointing when he started off! I thought that was nit picking myself - even a 'normal' steering wheel could be left in what could be construed as 'straight ahead' position - yet actually a complete revolution out.

Experienced drivers don't, in my experience, look at the centre of the steering wheel to see where the front wheels are going to go - you feel instinctively what your car is doing and make corrections as the clutch is released. In fact most half decent drivers would make a mental note of where the wheels are pointing when getting into the car - pretty much without thinking.

Graeme
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Mon 24 Jan 2005 20:40
The C4 and that wheel. - Ben79
Forget the steering wheel: the C4 is missing a clutch pedal foot rest! Come on Citroen, even the Saxo had one!

Other than that, it gets 10 out of 10 from me. Haven't driven one yet. I love my C5 enough. So does Graeme.
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Mon 24 Jan 2005 20:44
The C4 and that wheel. - Adam {P}
Funny story about the C5. I pulled into Sainsburys the other night next to...oddly enough, a C5. I had the window open and the C5 was on my right....dancing. I was on the phone and saw the front of the car lift up about a foot, completely silently, no-one in the car and then lower about 20 times. It seemed to stop after a while.

Apparently you can control this from the key? I think someone was trying to scare me!

It could teach me a few moves though!
--
Adam
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Tue 25 Jan 2005 21:38
The C4 and that wheel. - Mondaywoe
This is a known phenomenon of C5 - although I've never caught my one at it! There have been several explanations - such as fluid distributing itself around the system, cats, leaves etc moving about under the car and being picked up by the sensors, unusual loads being carried, software glitches, 'phantom' electrical events. Take your pick! As far as I know, however, the suspension height is not directly controllable by the key - although the windows can be opened and this might trigger power surges or suchlike that kick the suspension pump into life. After a set time of driver inactivity the electrical system automatically goes into hibernation mode anyway, so it's unlikely that the car would exercise itself to exhaustion!

Bit like myself really.....

My party piece is to open the boot (engine and ignition off) and sit on the lip - feet on the ground. The suspension promptly fires up and levels itself - lifting your feet right off the ground!

Much the same thing happens as you get into a C5 - as soon as your bum hits the seat there is a whirr from deep down and the car corrects its height. The longer the whirr, the bigger the bum of course, so the C5 can be a great aid to self-esteem (not!)

Graeme
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Tue 25 Jan 2005 21:43
The C4 and that wheel. - Ben79
Graeme, I realise what you say about the C5 being like weighing scales, but I fear that in this case traditional suspension has a benefit.

A sprung car will be closer to the ground if you weigh more. Therefore fat people have further to raise themselves when standing up after leaving the car. Therefore a sprung car helps fat people lose weight whereas our C5's help us get out of the car by always being the same height off the ground!
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Tue 25 Jan 2005 21:46
The C4 and that wheel. - djcj
hi, Now if only Sir clive had thought of these inovations....

Clive. ( No, NOT that one).
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Tue 25 Jan 2005 21:45
The C4 and that wheel. - somebody
I had a Citroen BX diesel and sitting in traffic you could hear the engine going 'dacka-dacka-dacka' and the hydraulics going 'chig-chig' 'ping-ping' 'pfft-pfft' and the car would raise and lower itself a few inches.

Entertaining for other road users I suppose
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Tue 25 Jan 2005 22:02
The C4 and that wheel. - djcj
hi, I assume you can't tell from the position of the steering wheel which way your pointing? There was no problems with the Alegro!!!!!


clive.
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