My Thursday walking day with Pete started earlier than usual so I could pick up the new Kia Soul. When I first saw this car in the showroom my initial thoughts were that it looked quirky and a bit like an ambulance, but after a few days it is growing on me, and overall I am satisfied and do not regret the purchase because of the major benefits I have outlined earlier on this blog, but there are a couple of niggles.
I am a bit disappointed with the MPG. I knew this was not going to be as good as the Yeti, but it is petrol. After 50 miles or so it is only showing about 35mpg on the computer gismo, but that doesn't seem to stack up with the apparently slower movement on the fuel gauge, perhaps it is doing more?The car has only done 2300 miles so maybe it will settle down a bit - I was hoping it would do about 40. In lieu of audible reversing sensors there is a camera - I've quickly found out that the lens becomes dirty in poor weather so you are looking through a thick fog. I much prefer the audible system.
We had a short walk from Hest Bank south towards Lancaster on the Lancaster Canal. Within the last few weeks a new link road from Morecambe to the M6 has been opened after a long period of construction and amongst many other major engineering features it has involved a bridge over the canal which you do not see when driving, but we were able to view from the canal. Whilst there was no escaping a larger structure than a traditional canal bridge a good effort has been made to sympathise with canal architecture.
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| An interesting array of colours under the old canal bridge. The Lancaster Canal was completed in 1826 and these old bridges have stood the test of time, even with modern day traffic rumbling across them |
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| The new bridge carrying the Morecambe/M6 link which is motorway in all but name. When the stone weathers it will become a decent attempt at harmonising with the canal vernacular |
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| Looking north from Hest Bank - not sure what the distant snow covered hill is (It was shining more brightly than the photo depicts)- probably the Shap fells, but it looks closer than that - these things are so difficult to identify. |
I admire your discipline of taking delivery of a new car and then a post on your Thursday walk. I would get bogged down by the minutiae.
ReplyDeleteLike that photo through the bridge to some snowy hill.
The MPG computer, assuming it's similar to the one in my new Octavia, is much more sophisticated than you could ever imagine. I used to have Outside Temperature selected in the previous car but this is now permanently displayed elsewhere and so I chose Range faute de mieux. I too reacted with mild horror at the crazy way the predicted figure (in miles) varied as I drove at moderate speeds over urban roads near the dealers. Then I got on to more open roads, the speed increased and the number of miles displayed ROSE! Clearly the computer is making mileage assumptions based on current car speed relative to the gear selected. My new car has the DSG box with seven speeds (vs. six speeds for the older Octavia) and top gear must be mainly for cruising motorways.
ReplyDeleteThis is all very fascinating but more or less irrelevant; far better to keep an eye on the old-fashioned fuel gauge. The display that matters is the MPG figure "From start"; in my case this is a healthy 47 MPG. Which is very similar to the older Octavia which had a much larger engine and was a diesel.
The new owner's manual is well over 200 pages with a smallish typeface. Yet it doesn't tell me what happens when I rotate a control called Synch. Something to do with temperature I believe. But I'm reluctant to phone the dealer and appear such a fool.
BC - As I said elsewhere I think, these impulsive decisions of mine used to bemuse Tony.
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RR - My "trip" computer is not the same as the Yeti and I reckon your Octavia - it is not as user friendly, and more difficult to read with small letters, numbers and pictographs displayed in bright red against a black background. I am aware of all the different functions, but it is not easy to tell which one you are looking at.
My owners manual is 3cm. thick. It has no reference in the index to "radio", "audio", "hands free", "wireless", "voce command" all of which are features of the audio system. After leafing through hundreds of pages I did find that all the instructions are there albeit not that easy to follow. The hands free phone system with voice command is great once you get it sorted.