Why is it the decent smaller estates have wheel arches in the way of the load area. I need a small estate and the main contenders don?t have flat access.
Totally mad. If you look at the Focus or Golf, you get a normal flat rear section; but the Audi A4 BMW 3 series & V40 are rubbish. ?The V40 even has a lip!
Why oh why are the 3 I want so badly designed? You?d think the likes of Audi / BMW / Volvo would know how to make a little estate.
|
|
That's why they are called 'lifestyle' estates. They fit an ad man's idea of a life style, but not the real world requirements of the likes of you and I. And of course journalists (with some honourable exceptions) daren't mention level floors and load heights these days - far too boring!
|
|
I know, -I'm just amazed thatif Ford can do it wht can't BMW. -Does a focus floorpan sit that much higher?
|
|
|
I agree with Boxsterboy. It basically comes down to whether you want a workhorse or a lifestyle / fashion statement.
Many "workhorse" estates like the Ford Mondeo have completely redesigned rear suspension over their saloon / hatch counterparts to reduce loadspace intrusion. You can tell the real intent from this kind of feature.
Cheers
DP
|
|
|
|
I think the point is that these estates are designed more for style than for load lugging. They are there so people can see themselves as youthful, vibrant and exciting rather than "married with two kids". It is purely aesthetics over practical matters.
I have a BMW 5 Touring (see its Touring not estate!) bought new in 2001 and whilst it does everything I want, that was perceived at the time as an inferior load lugger compared to the Mercedes. I believe the current 5 is substantially bigger in this area.
You may need to look for a bigger model (Volvo V70/Audi A6/BMW 5 Series)
|
|
I am running a 2002 BMW 5 touring at the moment and if I wanted anything bigger I would use a transit.
|
My 2001 Passat has a little lip but is easy to load. Had two setees in it recently (consecutively) for "recycling". 1.8m long load space and plenty of head room unlike the 'lifestyle' vehicles.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
|
My 2001 Passat has a little lip
No doubt a hefty clip round the ear soon brings it back into line eh, GWS?
|
Interesting the O.P compares the V40 to the Focus as based on same platform. Think the real problem is that if a 3 series had a big enough boot, who would buy a 5 series? Likewise with the V40, it would surely rob the V70 of sales.
As far as I have always understood it this is why smaller models are designed to be specifically inferior to their bigger brethren for the premium marques.
|
|
It's the V50 that's based on the Focus; the V40 is a cousin of a Mitsubishi something - and it's horrible.
|
|
Sorry Will- can see that now- assumed he was talking about new cars.
|
|
|
On the broader point, the 'premium' brands seem to take a perverse delight in the impracticality of their offerings - why else would Saab have ditched the wonderful 9-3 hatch for a me-too saloon with a letterbox boot opening? It can only be a marketing perception that a saloon is somehow more 'prestigious' - although what's prestigious about having to wipe the rainwater off your wiperless rear window with a rag is beyond me. I'm sure hatchback versions of things like the A4 and the S60 would outsell the saloons - when did you last see a saloon Vectra or Mondeo? - but these peculiar 'lifestyle' cars, some of which actually hold less luggage than their saloon equivalents, are the nearest the marketers will allow.
Perhaps the truly prestigious never carry a bulky load - one has staff for that!
|
|
'Premium' estates are meant for carrying a (clean) dog, not a wardrobe.
|
Remember that the fondness for large hatchbacks is more-or-less unique to the UK. Most European buyers who want a big car with a hatch buy an estate (hence, for example, no Passat hatchback) and even in Ireland, you'll find far more saloon Mondeos, Vectras and Avensises (Avensi?) than hatches.
Also, a hatchback's bodyshell tends to be less stiff than a saloon's, and the premium brands make much noise about driving dynamics. Hence the boot sills on estates too. The car mags might protest if they couldn't slide a flat pack into a Focus estate at B&Q, but they'd protest quicker and louder if the 3 Series estate flexed more than the saloon version!
|
but they'd protest quicker and louderif the 3 Series estate flexed more than the saloon version!
... which it undoubtedly does, how could it not? 'Estates are drummy motors' (minicab driver's wisdom).
But the reason people prefer saloons to hatchbacks has nothing to do with body-flexing and its baleful effects on suspension performance. It's much more to do with silence and refinement. The stiffness of a booted structure makes the whole machine quieter, and so does the solid bulkhead behind the rear seats, where there is one.
|
>>The stiffness of a booted structure makes the whole machine quieter, and so does the solid bulkhead behind the rear seats, where there is one.
I swopped my Sierra Sapphire for a Mondeo saloon which although it does not have a solid bulkhead does seem a lot quieter.
Testers should try a long trip in the rear seat to check on the wind howling round the rear seals on a hatchback.
|
Lifestyle estates are basically a prestige brands way of selling a hatchback version without having to call it a hatchback and also charging a premium for it.
They are not load luggers, clearly. Todays best load luggers are usually MPVs as they have the most practical load spaces for carrying big stuff.
|
|
|
|
|
Please don't forget that the 3 series is a RWD car, not a FWD like mainstream estates. It goes without saying that a small RWD car will have a bit of space passed over to the drivetrain.
|
One of the features Peugeot used to boast about, was the fact that on their estates, they were NOT just saloons, 'with a big loadspace added'.
In the case of the 305 we had, you had minimial wheel arch intrusion, into the floor area, due to a totally different suspension design, from saloons.
Just had a look at the 407 on their www, looks like pretty generous & flat area in a SW - does that mean Station Wagon, or Sports Wagen, I wonder.
VB
|
Perhaps no excuse on the new V40, it is based on the Focus.
DP makes a good point, the Mondeo estate is cavernous and lard asred with a much bigger overhang than the saloon/estate and a different rear suspension to reduce intrusion in to the load area. IIRC those mentioned by the OP are simply variants of the saloon.
|
|
|
|
