ctrcbob
06-12-2006, 05:37 PM
Just returned from three weeks in France. Had a good time. Loved it except for the temperatures being just a little cold. Was only warm in the south, near the med coast.
Leased a Renault Laguna. Great car, about the size of a Honda Accord. It had a 2.0 DOHC 16V engine that gave me between 29 and 33 mpg, day in and day out. Price of gas! (Converted from liters to gallons and from the Euro to Dollar).
Initial Fill: 12.59 gallons, $97.50 (most I paid, was in Paris). $7.74 a gallon.
10.28 gallons - $74.53. ($7.25 a gallon)
4.4 gallons - $32.25. ($7.33 a gallon)
8.82 gallons - $59.84. ($6.80 a gallon at a discount station, the cheapest)
9.61 gallons - $70.40. ($7.28 a gallon)
8.86 gallons - $64.00. ($7.22 a gallon)
Stopped keeping records at this time. My car was gasoline, but diesel costs about 80 cents less per gallon than gas.
My Laguna was great. Manual transmission is one of the best manuals that I have driven. Drove a couple other cars while there owned by friends. One was a new (1800km on the odo) Alfa-Romeo GT "Diesel". I always thought that diesels were slow, but this Alfa, with a 6 Speed manual transmission flys. The guy who owns it has three cars. The wife drives a very small Peugeot 206 (gas) every day to and from work. His everyday car is a 13 year old Renault Safran (diesel) which has 285,000km (178,000 miles) on the clock. The only thing he ever did to the car was change the alternator, the starter and the clutch. The engine has never been taken apart. Also drove his fathers car, which also happens to be my favorate. A 2 year old Peugeot 607 which is the most beautiful car over there, including the Mercedes I've seen. This 607 also has a diesel and a 6 speed manual. His wife drives a Renault TwinGo (gas) which is a very small car. Europeans (not just the French) love their Diesel cars. I think there are even more on the road today than there were four years ago the last time I went. At least 70% of the cars are Diesel, and more than half of the diesel cars are "Turbo Diesel".
For looks, I like the Citroen C5, the Peugeot 406 and 407 but the best was the 607.
They still have some ugly cars, like the Renault Vel-Satis, Avontime and Magane, but in thinking about it, we in the US are now getting some ugly cars, like some of the Lexus crossovers, Magnum, Murano, the new small Dodge (forgot the name), and, well you get the picture. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The only "American" cars I saw were one Buick of about year 1989, and many PT Cruisers and Jeeps, as Chrysler makes them in Austria (I think).
Traveled many of the small back roads that I love. Kept out of large cities for the most part. Picked up my Leased Laguna at the airport in Paris, filled up, drove around the beltway and was in the countryside. Only other city I was in (other than Lyon, see below) was I had to go to Dijon, twice, and had no problem finding the house I was looking for. Entered once from the North and once from the South, and using my map of Dijon, I found it both times. Took the AutoRoute through Lyon, and got cought in a traffic jam. Lost about an hour, even thouht I was on an expressway, but that happens even here. (was on I-95 in SC yesterday and traffic came to a complete stop, so not unusual). I normally take the back roads in France as I love the countryside and small towns.
More later.
Leased a Renault Laguna. Great car, about the size of a Honda Accord. It had a 2.0 DOHC 16V engine that gave me between 29 and 33 mpg, day in and day out. Price of gas! (Converted from liters to gallons and from the Euro to Dollar).
Initial Fill: 12.59 gallons, $97.50 (most I paid, was in Paris). $7.74 a gallon.
10.28 gallons - $74.53. ($7.25 a gallon)
4.4 gallons - $32.25. ($7.33 a gallon)
8.82 gallons - $59.84. ($6.80 a gallon at a discount station, the cheapest)
9.61 gallons - $70.40. ($7.28 a gallon)
8.86 gallons - $64.00. ($7.22 a gallon)
Stopped keeping records at this time. My car was gasoline, but diesel costs about 80 cents less per gallon than gas.
My Laguna was great. Manual transmission is one of the best manuals that I have driven. Drove a couple other cars while there owned by friends. One was a new (1800km on the odo) Alfa-Romeo GT "Diesel". I always thought that diesels were slow, but this Alfa, with a 6 Speed manual transmission flys. The guy who owns it has three cars. The wife drives a very small Peugeot 206 (gas) every day to and from work. His everyday car is a 13 year old Renault Safran (diesel) which has 285,000km (178,000 miles) on the clock. The only thing he ever did to the car was change the alternator, the starter and the clutch. The engine has never been taken apart. Also drove his fathers car, which also happens to be my favorate. A 2 year old Peugeot 607 which is the most beautiful car over there, including the Mercedes I've seen. This 607 also has a diesel and a 6 speed manual. His wife drives a Renault TwinGo (gas) which is a very small car. Europeans (not just the French) love their Diesel cars. I think there are even more on the road today than there were four years ago the last time I went. At least 70% of the cars are Diesel, and more than half of the diesel cars are "Turbo Diesel".
For looks, I like the Citroen C5, the Peugeot 406 and 407 but the best was the 607.
They still have some ugly cars, like the Renault Vel-Satis, Avontime and Magane, but in thinking about it, we in the US are now getting some ugly cars, like some of the Lexus crossovers, Magnum, Murano, the new small Dodge (forgot the name), and, well you get the picture. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The only "American" cars I saw were one Buick of about year 1989, and many PT Cruisers and Jeeps, as Chrysler makes them in Austria (I think).
Traveled many of the small back roads that I love. Kept out of large cities for the most part. Picked up my Leased Laguna at the airport in Paris, filled up, drove around the beltway and was in the countryside. Only other city I was in (other than Lyon, see below) was I had to go to Dijon, twice, and had no problem finding the house I was looking for. Entered once from the North and once from the South, and using my map of Dijon, I found it both times. Took the AutoRoute through Lyon, and got cought in a traffic jam. Lost about an hour, even thouht I was on an expressway, but that happens even here. (was on I-95 in SC yesterday and traffic came to a complete stop, so not unusual). I normally take the back roads in France as I love the countryside and small towns.
More later.