Hi guys just back from a trip to Germany and I had the pleasure of drivin a factory fresh (18kms on the odo) 1.6crdi I30. Don't know if these will make it to the states - they should, but I doubt it.
simple background is that since they got a few BMW/VW/Merc engineers under their roof they've team'd up with the solidity you'd expect from a east origin vehicle. in fact under a deal with VW they borrow the latest 1.6 TDi and 6cog manual.
On the road , I was actually shocked at the tappetness of the engine@cold - and this is coming from someone who drives a 14yr old Derv, within a minute it cleared and 'm going to put it down to new engine tightness. out on to the 'Bahn and it was whisper quiet, I mean silent. building to a gently murmmer as I decided to peak my curiosity and test the top speed(182km/h on the GPS btw). Settling into a calm cruise keeping with the majority of traffic at 145-150km/h the l/100km readout read - brace yourself - 5.2l/100km. WOW.
cooling it through the ciy limits (120) was 4.2l and roadwork section (100) came out at 3.1
the handling? marvellous,simply because I forgot my turn off until the last minute and had to scrub off some clicks and turn at the same time it handled it better than quite a few modern european I could mention, some from gallic decent that are alledgely handling experts.
being a base model/World cup special edition gives away to why it only had manual mirrors and no cruise. Overall I'd be quiet tempted to offer it new as an alternative someone wanting to buy a couple of year old beemer based on security of investment, not that it will hold money, just its the price, solidity and warranty.
I'd could be got out of it in terms of EM'ing it!
