Thread: Newly Purchased MY15 110 - trip home from Dubbo

Hi People - as you know I have been quite excited (well anxious) about the new 110 that I purchased from Dubbo two weeks ago. Today I drove out to Dubbo to pick it up - it was aprox 4 hours drive home.

I went from Dubbo down to Mudgee - then to Lithgow - then down Bells Line of Road to Home. Quite a decent experience on reasonable bitumen with some nice hills to go up and down with some nice flat stuff - also some good safe courners to see how it handles in the dry.

I really enjoyed the drive - I kept the gears and speed varied. There was very little traffic so I was able to move my speed around and get an idea of how it would behave. Obviously unladen but I was quite happy with the motor and the response. I can see myself enjoying it more and more.

I think the gear box has been covered off in a few threads - but here is my experience.

1. In the most part I did OK - but learnt things on the way. It is a heavy duty gear box - and it does give you feedback if you have too much pressure on the gears when changing. I found that there were some sounds that were more like linkages verses gears complaining.

2. Then there was the 'snatch' if I didn't get it right. I had a lot of 100kph drive and I found when was the best time to change in 5th and 6th. i.e. change down to 5th on the flat before you go up the incline - and change to 6th after the crest on the way down - problem solved. I am sure this will get easier and there are better techniques.

3. For me in lower gears changing down (5-4-3-2) is not an issue for me - changing up in the lower gears will take some practice. Once warmed up I found driving the motor a bit harder before the change gave me better results - but that was just a thought during the day when driving in the 50 zones and stop / start for the fun of it.

Note that I know my gear box is OK as the test drive went so smoothly - and I can get it right a lot of the time - I just need to relax a bit and drive it a bit more positively. BTW - I am not that worried about the noises - just don't want to cause any long term wear.

And I had no idea on what it would sound like on a loose service i.e. stones / gravel on the road. I will need to think about sound insulation for those back wheel arches!!!

For good measure I went out this evening with the wife and I think I am getting 1st to 2nd OK now. It will just take some practice - after all I have had an auto for 11 years and my manuals before that have been pretty slick cars.

Finally - I was super happy getting home in one piece - the wife jumped into the pasager seat and we took it for a drive. Verdict = Seats Comfortable - not too noisy - nice seating position - nice high ride - nice stereo. Need to raise the centre console for arm rest - need to get a ladder for her to get in (just kidding). Overall I got a positive reaction - apart from the white roof that she is saying nothing about (BTW I love it). I was thinking I would be using this car by myself

Oh - and the really cool part - I now have a manual to read

I'll get some better photo's over time



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Thanks all for the great advice - I feel so relieved getting it home and look forward to driving it tomorrow.

Cheers,
Col.

Looks like a million bucks - congratulations and thanks for the early owner report.