All these commuter questions..... - Happy Blue!

I am currently overseas for a few days and driving a rented Peugeot 107. With the exception of a few very minor niggles it is all the car a person needs. It is reasonably comfortable, more than able to hold its own at 70+ mph and doing at least 50+ mpg at the same time.

Now, we get all these one time questioners who come on here with pretty much the same story: - they need (want) to change their car and do xxx miles per week commuting and what should they buy. We then provide several alternatives depending upon our own preferences as to petrol/diesel, manual/auto, French/reliable makes, small/large etc etc.

In reality, the average commuter drives alone for 90% of the time. So why do we recommend all sorts of larger vehicles. Last night I drove about 40 miles each way on mainly fast motorway roads with light traffic. In reality the worst type of road for a small engined, small buzzbox. But you know what. It was fine. I cruised between 110kph and 130kph without any difficulty and getting back up to speed was a doddle. It's bit noisy, but not ridiculously so. So far I have driven about 280km and the tank is still over half full. Any other form of driving - heavy traffic, back doubles, rural switchbacks etc etc - makes the case for the small nippy car even stronger.

I have no doubt that there are comparable vehicles to the 107/C3/Aygo clones which do the same job just as well if not better, but whenever anyone asks the same old question, surely the answer is - small and petrol.

Or am I wrong?

All these commuter questions..... - daveyjp
I agree, if you want stripped out motors to do a commuting job they are perfect, but as we have just found out with our Aygo they don't last forever.

You also need to consider most people buy a car which suits most of their requirements. The 107 isn't much good for transporting bulky goods, or taking 4 plus luggage on holiday.
All these commuter questions..... - unthrottled

The 107 isn't much good for transporting bulky goods, or taking 4 plus luggage on holiday.

This is the bind. If you need a big car just twice a year and you can only afford one car, it has to be a big one. Buying a big and a small car doesn't necesarily make much sense because of the fixed costs of each car.

Also, there's the "novelty factor" of hire cars. There's a big difference betwen living with something for a fortnight and living with one for a couple of years or more.

All these commuter questions..... - Avant

I'd have done exactly the same as you, hiring the smallest (and cheapest) car to drive alone - but if Happy Pink had come with you would you have got all the luggage into a 107?

The trouble is that as you say many people, like you and me, drive alone, and locally, for 90 % of the time. It's for the other 10 % that we need something bigger - gubbins to the tip, driving somewhere four-up or the occasional long business trip.

You need to persuade the aforementioned Happy Pink to ferry the children in the S-Max, and have something snall and nippy for yourself. Personally I'd go for an Up or Citigo in preference to a 107/C1/Aygo but either would do the job admirably.

All these commuter questions..... - Happy Blue!

Ah! The 10% factor....several years ago someone on here said that for the 10% you should rent, but its not really practical for the trip to the tip on a Sunday afternoon.

All these commuter questions..... - gordonbennet

I've effectively soundproofed the family Aygo and improved the radio immeasurably, took me an afternoon.

Completely different car now and owner is like a puppy with two tails.

As said a superb basic design, and with a bit of cheap elbow grease its minor failings can be much improved.

All these commuter questions..... - John Boy

Would you mind being more specific about the materials you used and where you put them, please, GB?

All these commuter questions..... - gordonbennet

Gladly JB.

I bought self adhesive pads from the usual site roughly 8mm thick, hmm maybe 10mm now i think about it, thicker the better but judge for yourself what will fit where.

There is no soundproofing whatsoever over the rear wheelarches or over the boot floor or under the back seat, so i have thoroughly fitted out those areas, including going right round the spare wheel well and under the wheel.

I also proofed the front doors its a 4 door, if it was a 2 door i expect the rear side panels would be easily accessible once the plastic panel over the wheelarches is off, that would make a marked difference.

Thicker soundproofing is available but there's not a lot of room for extra padding on an Aygo and traditional felt type would need gluing which could be a messy job.

I found under the footwells and the front end/bulkhead to be already adequately proofed and nothing else was needed and time was running out to be picky.

Be warned the plastic clips are brittle and don't like the cold so best left till a warm day before removing the panels (easy job though) and i'd be inclined to use a hairdryer to warm the clips then if i did the job again.

Hope that helps, please ask if you want to know more, i'm sure i could have gone far deeper with even better results but time was of the essence on the day in question.

The improvements to the audio/CD were startling given the cost involved, replaced head unit and all 4 speakers (also slipped in a neat under seat Pioneer active sub which most wouldn't bother with), no point in doing one without the other, its like a different car now

Edited by gordonbennet on 04/03/2013 at 12:08

All these commuter questions..... - gordonbennet

lots of info here, i found it very helpful.

www.citybugblog.com/2008/01/soundproofing-your-107...l

All these commuter questions..... - John Boy

Those two posts were really helpful, JB. Thanks very much.

All these commuter questions..... - John Boy

Those two posts were really helpful, JB. Thanks very much.

Sorry, slip of the finger there, GB!

Thanks again from John Boy.

All these commuter questions..... - gordonbennet

Most welcome JB.

All these commuter questions..... - jamie745

I think this is why the Focus sells so well. It's big enough to put four people in but it's not so big it feels unnecessary when you're on your own. It's a good shape to fit all manner of things into but it's not a big bulky estate car.

All these commuter questions..... - Happy Blue!

Just worked out my fuel consumption for 220miles. 66.7mpg! at mix of mainly motorway driving and stop star urban driving.