Safety Engineer

Well my C4 went into the body shoop today after some berk drove into me and I have a Golf 1.6FSI, short version I'd rather the C4. Long version the FSI engine has more low down torque than a standard petrol engine so is more diesel like in needed less revs, but when you do rev it, it goes quite sprightly for a 1.6. Boot not quite as large. I like: Wingmirrors that are a decent shape and are very usable for reversing/manouvers. Gearbox, short throw very precise. Foot rest next to the clutch pedal, come on citroen you guys did it with the Xsara so why not on the C4??? I didn't like: The finish, about on par with the C4, a long step doen for a 'prestige' name and not as good as the current Skodas Steering - very little feel not much feel, the C4 may be a little on the light side but I've a good idea what the wheels are doing. Centre console, some nice 'stylish' trim on the centre console but rubs against my left leg when changing gear, Thank god I'm not driving in London this week. Maybe spoiled by the C4 but as a similar price car it's stingy with the kit, no front fog lights, no cruise control, no trip computer. Last impression: I'd save my money and buy a C4, get a more fun car to drive and extra kit.

Slight change of topic, in my 2.0HDi I've used Tesco's for most of the time, I started using Millers diesel additive and noticed better mpg, likewise BP Ultimax diesel also seems to give better mpg but then again it is 95p a litre were I live against Tesco's 89p a litre.

Very nice !! Have got a Sony Alpha, decided that the point and shoot is great for site work but for the other stuff it didn't cut the mustard, so now have a decent camera, and am experimenting with using it off auto. Can anyone recommend a good 'Learn SLR photography' book ???

All good fun Rich, have found that the Mer car cleaner seems to do fairly well with site gunge, too right about the scratches, thank god it's a company car, would be even more hacked off if it was my car. Shame because the blue tends to show up nicks and digs.

Got myself a Halfords own alloy wheel brush, bloody fantastic, mine often looks grotty after a couple of days but then visiting construction sites does that to most cars.

I have to admit that I do exactly the same, but unfortunately I won't be doing it for a little while, I had an idiot pull out and cut across the front of me this evening, crunching the drivers side wing. No-one hurt just took a little while to uncrunch cars. :angry: Looking on the funny side he seemed very apologetic and a little wary, mind you I've just come of site wearing black boots, black trousers, white shirt and a hi viz jacket. It didn't twig till my friend pointed it out to me. :blink:

On road, absolutely and without fail, I've retrieved bodies thrown out of cars - not pretty !! :blink: However, on site jumping in and out the car when it's tipping down in the middle of winter it becomes a nuisance especially when there is minimal risk it becomes a pointless exercise. The C4 isn't too bad but some are a high pitched warning and the last two Astras I had used to keep the warning going even when belted up, cue call to lease company - get this damm thing fixed or I'll fix it with a large hammer. ;)

Here's a from from my RAF days, a collegue who is now civil ATC controller was telling me about an exchange between two aircraft, normally aircraft relay messages through ATC, however, on this night ATC were busy, the exchange went something like this: While taxiing out in sequence behind a Lufthansa airliner at Frankfurt, a C-130 crew noticed an orange "Remove before flight" streamer hanging out of the Lufthansa nose wheel well (their nose gear locking pin was still installed). Not wanting to cause too much embarrassment by going thru the controller, the 130 crew simply called the Lufthansa aircraft on the tower frequency: "Lufthansa aircraft, Herky 23." No reply. They repeated the transmission and again there was no reply. Instead, the Lufthansa pilot called the tower and asked the tower to tell the Herky crew that "the professional pilots of Lufthansa do not engage in unprofessional conversations over the radio." The 130 pilot quickly replied, "Frankfurt tower, can you please relay to the professional pilots of the Lufthansa aircraft that their nose gear pin is still installed?" Here are some others: LH741: Tower, give me a rough timecheck Tower: It's tuesday, Sir. Tower: You have traffic at 10 o'clock, 6 miles! Pilot: Give us another hint, we have digital watches! Tower: Mission 123, do you have problems? Pilot: I think, I have lost my compass. Tower: Judging the way you are flying, you lost the whole instrument panel Pilot: Radar, Good Day, Airforce Blackbird, request FL 600(!) Controller (amused): Sir, if you can reach, you are cleared FL 600 Pilot: US Air Force Blackbird, leaving FL 800, decending Level 600... A Pan Am 727 flight waiting for start clearance in Munich overheard the following: Lufthansa (in German): "Ground, what is our start clearance time?" Ground (in English): "If you want an answer you must speak in English." Lufthansa (in English): "I am a German, flying a German airplane, in Germany. Why must I speak English?" Unknown voice from another plane (in a beautiful British accent): "Because you lost the bloody war!!" An USAF F16 is escorting an RAF Hercules when the F16 pulls a perfect roll right around the Herc. The F16 pilot then comes over the radio: "lets see you try that then" The Hercules crew ponder for a moment....then shut down number 1 engine. The Herc crew come over the radio in a dodgy US accent: "lets see you try that then"! "Flight 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 degrees." "But Center, we are at 35,000 feet.. How much noise can we make up here?" "Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?"

OUCH !! I can sympathise, driving round site (of the public highway) at 5-10 mph with lots of stop and start it drives me batty. I did find a post describing what the computer controlled but nought on how to turn it off. Would do wonders for my sanity if I could !!

Things I hate/dislike: Cup holder: Bad position and not deep enough. Door cubbys: Good size but straight edges rather than the curves would be more practical. Economy Mode: Why??? Cigarette Lighter/Accessory point: Would be nice to have had one like the Xsara that stayed on after the ignition was turned off. Visibility: could be better but unfortunately the bane of all cars with high crash rating, it's a trade off between primary and secondary safety. Wingmirrors: Look great but are truly bloody awful, they taper where I want most visibility, a definate could try harder. Otherwise a very good car, some of these gripes I could also apply to other cars, perhaps as I use my car for work I'm being over fussy. Just looking at Mat's post reminded me, yep, rear view mirror is too low. And Reversing light: Why only one on the hatchback and Why so low?? FFS anywhere without street lights really needs two and being so low down they get all the mud and muck from the road on them, given that the xsara had two RL's a bit of a step backwards.

To put it into perspective, the current (new Astra) has more recall/dealer fix faults than the C4 and that car has components from existing Vauxhall cars. Having had 2 (Astras) die on me on the space of three months (fortunately lease cars) I would recommend the C4 any day. Mines got 12,800 on the clock since March this year with the following hiccups - recall for airbag adjustment, recall for EGR valve and a fuel tank replaced under warrenty.

Has anyone seen any plans or spy shots for a C4 estate ? A friend likes my C4 but says he really needs an estate car, and is looking to change late next year. Or is citroen just sticking with the coupe/hatch. Any ideas ???

C4VTRhdi I know what you mean about the Conti's bloody fantastic tyres, not a fan of Michelin, I get great wear from them but they are not very good in the wet compared to conti's I've run even the new Michelins. As a budget have found the Uniroyals (also made by continental) a good tyre. Speaking of which anyone know how long it takes Citroen to reply to an e-mail, I had a query with them about tyre pressures buthave had no response for several weeks.

Have got a Garmin StreetPilot C330 and found it to be a good unit, the C3xx series are being replaced with the C5xx series, pretty much the same but with a SIRF III 20 channel reciever instead of the 12 channel in the C3xx series. In the countryside I can get a good signal with my friends C520 without an additional ariel, it does suffer in town though. The other change in the C5xx series is that you can buy a TMC reciever for £150 for traffic info in England,Scotland & Wales. No subscription fees, just plug and go. Older GPS used a 12 channel system, look for a 20 channel system SIRF III chipset is the most common if it is WAAS or EGNOS enabled it will be fairly future proof

Had the car back from the garage Thursday, and have been told that the tank had split, hence the fuel leak. They said it was a composite tank so not sure why it failed That is a bit worrying, drawing on my knowledge of pressure systems (the H&S aspects) I wouldn't have thought that warm diesel could exert the amount of pressure required to split a tank. Are there any high pressure components in the tank ? Regards

Do you find that the same happens on the motorway? Wide low profile alloys are prone to 'tramlining' they are wide enough to touch the sides of ruts from trucks, potholes etc and the cars steering acts like the wheels are in a tramline. Quite common with wide low profile wheels. Also one of the reasons you don't see these size wheels on rally cars.

I used to use Peter Sewells out near Great Dunmow till it chnged hands, absoluteky spot on service. My father used to use Helix in Chelmsford, he hated them due to a variety of problems, so was a little cautious when I started using them for the C4 and have found them to be quite helpful so far. Anyone know if they have changed hands or new managment ??

Many thanks gents !!

powza, my car came with them, the lease company supplies them with the car, there are two plastic catches that hold the mat in place on the drivers side. They are pretty good quality, I'm on and off site a lot and they have handled the abuse since this feb, I've had after market mats die in the same amount of time. VTRPlus hello, hope you enjoy your C4, I wouldn't get rid of mine in a hurry, has been nice to drive, fairly economical and above all reliable.

A couple of questions, any help greatly appreciated: 1. Being only me in the car I've never had the rear windows open, have just had a car kit installed and ws told that I need to reinitialise the electric windows, do they go all the way down like the fronts or only about 2/3rds down? 2. I use Tesco's diesel, and have done for a long time. I haven't noticed any real difference between it and other 'standard' diesels. I have noticed though that it does foam badly when filling up. I been using it in my C4 since I got it in Feb and haven't noticed any problems, I fill the tank brim full and haven't noticed any leaks or spillage. I've just started using Millers in my C4 and have notice that the last two fills have ended up with diesel being dumped on the forecourt (looks like about a litre or so). Any thoughts or suggestions, is the hot weather affecting the diesel making it more prone to foaming. PS Have spoken to local Citroen dealer who tell me that I am overfilling it, if so why has it only just started dumping fuel when I have been filing it brimm full on every fill (about two a week) since feb.

On the VTR+ with 17" alloys, apparently it's because the 17"wheel sticks out from the spare well. The 15" & 16" have standard wheels. but cannot confirm this.

Look on the bright side, I had 1.7CDTi Vauxhall Astra as a hire car whilst waiting for my C4 ended up getting through two in three months due to electricla problems, after a little digging found a total of 17 recalls, most are not safety critical but are dealer only info - to be done during servicing and the owners don't get letters from Vauxhall, at least Citroen is more being more open about it.

Congratulations on your crash avoidance and your test !! Sound like you have the makings of a good driver. I would suggest that you give your local IAM a call and try the advanced driving test, as a they will teach some extra skills not taught or tested in the normal test inc motorway driving and also one passed it can be used to get your premiums down. It's also a good laugh. I wouldn't recommend Pass Pluss as you can get the same by getting someone you know sitting in the car with you for a while. It's expensive for an observed driving session. Also IAM is cheaper. I tend to use my fogs on unlit country lanes as they pick up the edges of the road well but as soon as I see the headlights from another car they go of asap, otherwise fog only, I live in Essex and it seems to be the latest chav thing to do drive on side lights and fogs only, I tried it on a car park and it is terrible I couldn't do it but as one muppet said t looks bling. I had one lass following me last night with fogs on, and when she pulled up behind me at the petrol ststion I told her she was dazzling me with her fog lights. She turned all her lights off and drove away. Obviously a candidiate for retesting.

I went for the C4 as I had already had a Xsara and found it to be very good, sold it at 140,000 miles and it never let me down. As for the Focus, I worked for the company that did the seats for the first one and the seats were of the centreline for the steering wheel so you had a slight twist when you drove, from what I've heard it hasn't been solved with the new model. Kit to price ratio - the focus can't compare to the C4. Practicality, I looked at the new Focus and took along an A-Z map and couldn't get it into the door cubby hole, given that I drive 60k a year all over the south east I want my car to take my maps. Ride, ok it's a 'driver's car' whatever that means but on a long drive it's just too hard, the C4 has a good blend of stiffness and comfort, after all if all I did was hare around country lanes then the Focus wins over the C4 but I don't. Space saver spare tyres, standard on the Focus and it's one of these grotty skinny little things, ok I have a SSSP on the C4 but it is more like a proper 15" tyre so is less out of kilt with the 17"s on the car.

I preferred the Da Vinci Code explination :D