Letters
The Age
Thursday October 17, 2002
Phantom of the Laguna
Laguna who? I think the Renault Laguna does not exist. Over the past few months I think I've seen close to 100 advertisements for the Renault Laguna (especially on late-night TV).
As yet I have not had the pleasure of seeing one on the road. Has anyone else seen one, or are they just on TV?
-- Alex Parfait, North Balwyn
Editor's note: According to official VFACTS figures, there are 490 Legunas on the road in Australia. Maybe you haven't been travelling the right road, Alex.
Astra gets great reception
I disagree with David Burt (Letters, 10/10). Having read all recent correspondence regarding the poor AM reception in the Astra, I was pleasantly surprised by the excellent FM reception when I recently took delivery of an Astra.
Travelling along the Hume regularly, I now get reception from stations that I never knew existed, in areas where there was no reception previously.
If only they would soften the extrafirm lumbar support.
-- Soo Lim, Wangaratta
Has Ford done its dash?
After eight Futuras in a row in six years, swapping them over at 40,000 kilometres, my friend and I, though flirting with the idea of a VY, have been following the exciting Falcon BA ``secrets revealed" (Internet) site and couldn't wait to clap eyes on, not to mention bums in, the new Barra.
With a Ford enthusiast and mechanic, we went across the road to our friendly Ford dealer for a look on the day the BA was released.
It's a sensationallooking car, especially the gruntylooking grille. Ford has got that very expensive AU mistake right at last.
The car is still very AUish, but not too bad, though.
It has heaps of zing as well, but the 182kW motor isn't as silkysmooth as we had expected.
It handles pretty well, and is spoiled only by the cheapskate tyres Ford persists in fitting. The rear end twitches disconcertingly under not a great deal of stress.
The dark grey interior of the AU III was rather elegant. The Barra one is quite good, too, apart from the glitzy, cheaplooking stereo binnacle. It looks like a silvery $30 ghettoblaster with its blue and red decals.
I don't think we can live with that incongruous lapse of taste every day. Think music, please!
Maybe Ford has, as it were, done its dash.
-- Steve Hall, Bairnsdale
Different set of rules for police
I write in disgust at the Victoria Police. You see them on the news at night saying how sick and tired they are of the ``message" about speeding not getting through.
I drive from Geelong to Melbourne every day and live with the roadworks, as everybody does.
So why in the past two weeks have I seen unmarked police cars and unmarked police bikes travelling at illegal speeds through the roadwork zones?
Not once in the past year have I seen marked or unmarked police vehicles obey the speed limit in the roadwork zones on that highway.
Maybe it's because they know the road is not policed and are waiting for the revenueraising cameras to kick in.
How can they enforce the laws they don't obey? How can they be respected or expect people to listen to their ``message" when they act like hypocrites?
-- Ross James, Torquay
Conquering the outback in style
Interesting to note on page 2 of Drive (Short Cuts, 26/9) ``Combo slides open", which should have said ``Combo goes to Citroen Berlingo with a Holden badge".
That Combo is a deadringer for, or a copy of, the Citroen.
I purchased my Citroen Berlingo more than 12 months ago and three weeks ago I decided to do the big trip north to Alice Springs.
We covered 6157 kilometres with the airconditioner on and consumed 472 litres of unleaded.
Needless to say, the Citroen performed without protest. The driving comfort was good, far better than some of the Aussie six/V8 Holdens and Fords.
Yes, we did some fourwheeldriving, but I could not find the 4x4 selector.
Yep, this pathetic French frog with that massive 57kW of power and 115Nm of torque coming from a 1400cc engine did it in style.
No doubt had the Cit been fitted with a Holden or Ford badge it would have performed much better and received Australiawide attention.
-- A. J. Walsh, Rye
Dinosaurs have had their day
I totally agree with Peter Knowles (Drive, 3/10) on RWD affordable Japanese vehicles, although a spacesaving V6 would suffice over a straight six.
RWD mediumsized sixcylinder Magnas, Nissans and Camrys would see behemoth ``Falcodores" go the way of the dinosaurs.
Households are shrinking fast, so what does Ford do to its new BA range? It produces a longstroke, ironblock, basemodel XT lump weighing just short of 1700 kilograms.
-- Joseph M. Todisco, Moorabbin
A trip down memory lane
Good story about the Citroen DS (Drive, 12/9).
I enjoy Rearview, probably because of the nostalgia bit, but as cars are becoming more generic and many marques have been eliminated, it's good to mark the uniqueness of past marques and also to inform younger car fans.
I also enjoyed the NSU Ro80 article (Rearview, 25/7). I have one, too.
-- Brendan O'Donoghue, via email
Cars of 30 years ago
The Rearview article on Rob Garnsworth's BMW (Drive, 5/9) reminded me of a story in a motorsport magazine featuring a 3.0 CSL Coupe.
On rereading the article (from January, 1973) I was fascinated by just how good cars were some 30 years ago and just how realistic the unrestricted speed limits were on European freeways.
I will just quote some interesting snippets from the article:
``The price is #6399 and BMW are cheerfully selling them here (UK) at the rate of about 80 a month."
``The autoroute being reached and the BMW set to cruise at 5900rpm, with the speedometer indicating 130mph (208kmh)."
``Fuel thirst was working out at around 1415mpg. The BMW responded with a timed 138mph (220kmh), its speedometer modestly saying 135mph (216kmh)."
I hope readers will find the quotes both interesting and exhilarating.
-- Tony Maslen, Jerilderie
VY changes just skindeep
I think the VY Commodore will lose out to the muchrevised BA Falcon.
The Falcon seems like a 90 per cent new car, and that's because it is.
The cosmetic changes to the Commodore make it seem like a new car but with old bits in it, and that's because it is.
Why buy a VY when you could get the same car in a far cheaper VX or even VT form?
-- Richard Rutter, Boronia
Commodore's new face a winner
I am writing to say that I think the new VY Commodore is a beautifullooking car.
The Commodore was in need of a facelift and Holden has done it very well.
I think the new VY Commodore will beat the BA Falcon with ease.
-- Chris Coxall (age 16), via email
Lessons of the past ignored
Has the new VY Commodore got what it takes?
I may be hasty, having not yet seen the VY Commodore in the flesh, and I might be suggesting something that flies in the face of global vehicle design and development, but I cannot help but think Holden is doing to the Commodore VT what it did to the HQ.
Both models started out with a ``softish" but very stylish (dare we says futuristic?) design that was mucked up in model updates.
For example: HQ (brilliant); HJ (poor); HX (ditto and gasping); and HZ (soso), now repeated with VTVX (soso tail) and now VY with hard angles and edges over a previous integrated design.
As for the mechanicals of the VY? More of the same. Some of the development costs should have been siphoned from design (cosmetics) and given to engineering.
-- Colin Mather, via email
Drop 4WD preferential tax treatment
With reference to the fourwheeldrive debate, I rather think that the real questions regarding these vehicles have not been raised.
Personally, as a driver of a ``normal" car, I find them irritating from the point of view that owners are usually not very careful how they park, often letting their doors swing against adjacent vehicles.
I also find it very annoying having to travel behind them.
What really irks me, however, is the favourable tax treatment they receive. Long before they became urban cruisers, they were regarded as commercial vehicles, primarily used by mining companies and farmers, and as such received this preferential tax treatment.
Now that probably 90 per cent of the 4WDs purchased are used for leisure purposes and never leave the urban environment, why does the government persist with this favourable tax treatment?
It seems to me a rather simple process for legitimate commercial enterprises to claim a tax rebate if they can substantiate commercial use of 4WDs. Then the 4WD community will be taxed in the same way as the rest of us.
-- Dan Lambert, Westmeadows
Address all correspondence to: The Editor, Drive, PO Box 257C, City Mail Processing Centre, Victoria, 8001. Fax: (03) 9601 3137; Email: drive@theage.com.au
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