Hello! Newb here with a few (edit: what's turned out to be quite a number of) questions about their recent purchase, none of which are likely to be on the standard list...
Or should I say, slightly worried new owner as I've just ended up reading about the issues people have had with their K13s (unlucky number? ) and although the franchise dealer I bought it from second-hand offers a 7 day dissatisfaction refund, I need it for a weekend trip and likely wouldn't be able to return it within that period or find an alternative in a timely fashion afterwards... Luckily there is a 12m warranty included at least.
However, just to jinx things good and proper, it looks like, at this point, I might have got a good one. A mid-afternoon Tuesday job, if you will. Handling seems OK, engine and clutch don't do anything particularly weird (though the 3-pot thrum and lightness of the hydro clutch may take a bit of getting used to...), fit and finish is all fine, etc. But, it's not without a few small issues that I didn't pick up on during the test drives and pre-purchase look-arounds and research. Mainly, they concern the stereo/satnav (what a surprise, you may say), trip computer and the ECU.
First up, how easy might it be to add an extra 12v outlet or two somewhere? Somehow we never noticed the lack of a ciggy lighter until I came to plug in a car charger after taking delivery, and whilst almost everything I'd want to run off it does so by first converting that to 5v and piping it down a USB cable, so it could be connected with a straight-thru from the USB jack, that's not ideal. There's only one of them, splitters are unreliable, it takes away the possibility of plugging in a flash drive full of MP3s, and it still doesn't solve the problem of how to power the electric coolbox.
Second, can the maps be updated? Whilst still mostly accurate, the data on mine is now 4 years old and there's certainly been a few changes locally in that time, with some huge ones currently in progress. (And if the answer to that is yes, can the system's firmware be changed too?)
Third... any way to control what track is playing over bluetooth, or is it just start/stop?
4th/ Any kind of compatibility with AAC / MP4, or is that just a dumb misprint in the manual? It doesn't seem to even acknowledge the existence of my AACs right now, though MP3s play just fine.
(and any particular mp3 settings that should be avoided?)
5th/ Any kind of voice commands for the phone dialer or map screen, or am I misunderstanding what the "voice" softbutton is for?
6/ Any chance of speed readout / warnings whilst being navigated, or otherwise?
7/ The thing where you have to (remove and re-)insert a memory stick with the system already powered up in order for it to be registered is a known silliness, yes?
8/ Is the trip computer REALLY supposed to top out at 60.0mpg, in both instant and average mode? That's still a good 4.7L/100km after all. And, any possibility of making it go up to the traditional 99.9 instead? Even my much sportier, thirstier old Megane Sport of some years ago was known to push past 60mpg on some rare occasions...
(and, can it be adjusted to show things like average speed info, actual fuel use, etc?)
9/ ...something of a biggie. Maybe I'm the first to notice this, but the naturally aspirated K13 cars seem to have a hard speed limiter at about 100mph / 160-165km/h (...found after taking it along a handy piece of private autobahn near the end of a lengthy and gradually quicker shakedown & getting-to-know-you run, which ended up being slightly longer and faster once this was discovered), in addition to and independent of the user definable one. Seems a bit out of place in a machine with comparitively tall gears that will happily spin to 6900rpm, whose claimed vmax is 170k, that sits on tyres rated for at least that much and typically 20-40k more, and has a programmable limiter of up to 105mph/cruise control of up to 90...
It's very definitely an electronic limit because the feel of it cutting in is the same as with the driver-programmed one, and it holds the exact same speed in 4th and 5th (about 5500 and 4400rpm respectively), regardless of gradient, exact throttle position (inc "kickdown"/cruise override switch), etc. It's particularly stark if you push hard up through 3rd into 4th then try to keep going ... the engine clearly has quite a bit more left to give (and this is still the case in 5th as well!), but a few seconds after the upshift, there's an electronic yank on the reins and it just sits there at a rock steady speed instead of continuing to accelerate. Between that, the quietly impressive lower-midrange torque, and the tall gearing, 4th is actually something of an irrelevance, they could have got away with a 4-speed...
In daily driving it's something that's unlikely to be much of a problem (for reasons of traffic, safety, license, economy...) but it still irks me. For one I'm not a fan of artificial limits, especially those outside of my control which have no emergency override, set by some nanny-minded bureaucrat who thinks they have a crystal ball. Should I have to do some kind of midnight mercy dash for whatever reason, I don't want to be slowed down because the manufacturer didn't have enough confidence in their vehicle to let it reach its full straight line potential. Or indeed if I ever go to Germany in it and don't want to clog up the overtaking lane too much.
Also, I was under the impression I'd bought a 170k-on-the-flat car, not a 160k-in-most-conditions one, so claiming the higher vmax smacks of false advertising... if I wanted something with a similarly just-about-tolerable 0-100k (13.3s barely qualifies) yet a 100mph vmax or less I'd have got a C1 or Sirion or something. This actually makes it technically the slowest car I've ever owned, pipped even by an early 90s 1-litre VW Polo. It could only manage 90mph on its own, but with downgrades and outer lane motorway slipstreams it could keep pace with the stream of BMWs and Audis maintaining 95+ and peaking at 105-ish here and there, making an awful racket as it neared the rev limiter, but doing it all the same... Don't typically drive anywhere near as fast any more (and from my play-around with the cruise so far, probably even less so now, as it does seem to make holding a steady, lower speed a lot easier and more psychologically tolerable), but it'd be nice to know the facility was there should it be needed.
10/ And, for entirely separate reasons... how much would a basic OBD reader / port adaptor for a smartphone (etc) be these days? And is there any particular recommended software for the phone/laptop/etc adaptors? If nothing else it'd be handy to see if there's any hidden faults the dealer didn't mention, and maybe use my phone plus a dashboard holder to provide electronic substitutes for the missing coolant temperature (& etc) gauges.
((oh, PS, recommendations for a roof rack / bars / box? places for chipping, if that's necessary to remove the limiter (may as well improve the 0-100k at the same time, and maybe sharpen up the currently very gentle cruise control "resume" profile, probably about the same cost)? and/or adding a bit of actual visual flair to something that's otherwise the equivalent of a 4-wheeled dishwasher? I've never bothered with that sort of thing on any of my cars before, over the last 12+ years, but this time I'm sorely tempted, even if just some vinyl stick-ons to emphasise those interesting mouldings in the roof panel))
Thanks for any help you can give...
-T
Or should I say, slightly worried new owner as I've just ended up reading about the issues people have had with their K13s (unlucky number? ) and although the franchise dealer I bought it from second-hand offers a 7 day dissatisfaction refund, I need it for a weekend trip and likely wouldn't be able to return it within that period or find an alternative in a timely fashion afterwards... Luckily there is a 12m warranty included at least.
However, just to jinx things good and proper, it looks like, at this point, I might have got a good one. A mid-afternoon Tuesday job, if you will. Handling seems OK, engine and clutch don't do anything particularly weird (though the 3-pot thrum and lightness of the hydro clutch may take a bit of getting used to...), fit and finish is all fine, etc. But, it's not without a few small issues that I didn't pick up on during the test drives and pre-purchase look-arounds and research. Mainly, they concern the stereo/satnav (what a surprise, you may say), trip computer and the ECU.
First up, how easy might it be to add an extra 12v outlet or two somewhere? Somehow we never noticed the lack of a ciggy lighter until I came to plug in a car charger after taking delivery, and whilst almost everything I'd want to run off it does so by first converting that to 5v and piping it down a USB cable, so it could be connected with a straight-thru from the USB jack, that's not ideal. There's only one of them, splitters are unreliable, it takes away the possibility of plugging in a flash drive full of MP3s, and it still doesn't solve the problem of how to power the electric coolbox.
Second, can the maps be updated? Whilst still mostly accurate, the data on mine is now 4 years old and there's certainly been a few changes locally in that time, with some huge ones currently in progress. (And if the answer to that is yes, can the system's firmware be changed too?)
Third... any way to control what track is playing over bluetooth, or is it just start/stop?
4th/ Any kind of compatibility with AAC / MP4, or is that just a dumb misprint in the manual? It doesn't seem to even acknowledge the existence of my AACs right now, though MP3s play just fine.
(and any particular mp3 settings that should be avoided?)
5th/ Any kind of voice commands for the phone dialer or map screen, or am I misunderstanding what the "voice" softbutton is for?
6/ Any chance of speed readout / warnings whilst being navigated, or otherwise?
7/ The thing where you have to (remove and re-)insert a memory stick with the system already powered up in order for it to be registered is a known silliness, yes?
8/ Is the trip computer REALLY supposed to top out at 60.0mpg, in both instant and average mode? That's still a good 4.7L/100km after all. And, any possibility of making it go up to the traditional 99.9 instead? Even my much sportier, thirstier old Megane Sport of some years ago was known to push past 60mpg on some rare occasions...
(and, can it be adjusted to show things like average speed info, actual fuel use, etc?)
9/ ...something of a biggie. Maybe I'm the first to notice this, but the naturally aspirated K13 cars seem to have a hard speed limiter at about 100mph / 160-165km/h (...found after taking it along a handy piece of private autobahn near the end of a lengthy and gradually quicker shakedown & getting-to-know-you run, which ended up being slightly longer and faster once this was discovered), in addition to and independent of the user definable one. Seems a bit out of place in a machine with comparitively tall gears that will happily spin to 6900rpm, whose claimed vmax is 170k, that sits on tyres rated for at least that much and typically 20-40k more, and has a programmable limiter of up to 105mph/cruise control of up to 90...
It's very definitely an electronic limit because the feel of it cutting in is the same as with the driver-programmed one, and it holds the exact same speed in 4th and 5th (about 5500 and 4400rpm respectively), regardless of gradient, exact throttle position (inc "kickdown"/cruise override switch), etc. It's particularly stark if you push hard up through 3rd into 4th then try to keep going ... the engine clearly has quite a bit more left to give (and this is still the case in 5th as well!), but a few seconds after the upshift, there's an electronic yank on the reins and it just sits there at a rock steady speed instead of continuing to accelerate. Between that, the quietly impressive lower-midrange torque, and the tall gearing, 4th is actually something of an irrelevance, they could have got away with a 4-speed...
In daily driving it's something that's unlikely to be much of a problem (for reasons of traffic, safety, license, economy...) but it still irks me. For one I'm not a fan of artificial limits, especially those outside of my control which have no emergency override, set by some nanny-minded bureaucrat who thinks they have a crystal ball. Should I have to do some kind of midnight mercy dash for whatever reason, I don't want to be slowed down because the manufacturer didn't have enough confidence in their vehicle to let it reach its full straight line potential. Or indeed if I ever go to Germany in it and don't want to clog up the overtaking lane too much.
Also, I was under the impression I'd bought a 170k-on-the-flat car, not a 160k-in-most-conditions one, so claiming the higher vmax smacks of false advertising... if I wanted something with a similarly just-about-tolerable 0-100k (13.3s barely qualifies) yet a 100mph vmax or less I'd have got a C1 or Sirion or something. This actually makes it technically the slowest car I've ever owned, pipped even by an early 90s 1-litre VW Polo. It could only manage 90mph on its own, but with downgrades and outer lane motorway slipstreams it could keep pace with the stream of BMWs and Audis maintaining 95+ and peaking at 105-ish here and there, making an awful racket as it neared the rev limiter, but doing it all the same... Don't typically drive anywhere near as fast any more (and from my play-around with the cruise so far, probably even less so now, as it does seem to make holding a steady, lower speed a lot easier and more psychologically tolerable), but it'd be nice to know the facility was there should it be needed.
10/ And, for entirely separate reasons... how much would a basic OBD reader / port adaptor for a smartphone (etc) be these days? And is there any particular recommended software for the phone/laptop/etc adaptors? If nothing else it'd be handy to see if there's any hidden faults the dealer didn't mention, and maybe use my phone plus a dashboard holder to provide electronic substitutes for the missing coolant temperature (& etc) gauges.
((oh, PS, recommendations for a roof rack / bars / box? places for chipping, if that's necessary to remove the limiter (may as well improve the 0-100k at the same time, and maybe sharpen up the currently very gentle cruise control "resume" profile, probably about the same cost)? and/or adding a bit of actual visual flair to something that's otherwise the equivalent of a 4-wheeled dishwasher? I've never bothered with that sort of thing on any of my cars before, over the last 12+ years, but this time I'm sorely tempted, even if just some vinyl stick-ons to emphasise those interesting mouldings in the roof panel))
Thanks for any help you can give...
-T