[Cp2008]

Hi all

Have now had our new Crossway 1.2 coming up to a month so thought I'd share my thoughts amongst fellow owners. Upgraded from a 7 year old Grande Punto 1.4 Active Sport which we also had from new (and still have until the offspring passes his test) - with a price difference of around £3k it would be unfair to make any direct comparisons but I will say that there was a massive difference in the feel of 'new-ness' between the two with the 2008 winning hands down.

Overall we are ecstatic with the car - the interior looks and feels fantastic, the half leather trim being responsible for most of this feeling. There are a few finger-print magnets inside, so likely I've waved farewell to my lazy Sunday afternoons but the thumb-print free look is well worth the effort. Driving position is good - I'm just short of 6'6" and even with the seat jacked up a few notches there's still some free space between my head and the roof. When swapping out with the 'foot shorter' better half we are able to quickly and easily get back to our preferred driving position. Everything on the dashboard is within easy reach and tested pretty much everything other than the park assist and cruise control and all appears to work as it should. The interior lighting is so good that we may actually find ourselves looking for excuses to go out at night to get the full effect (damn these long summer evenings

). The only negatives I have so far both centre around the infotainment system. Firstly, I don't find the integration of the unit into the dashboard very pleasing (although I have seen much worse - the C4 Cactus looks like someone just chiseled a channel out and then plonked the unit in it) and they could have streamlined it into the dash more aesthetically. Secondly, the overall operation of the unit is similar to my 6 year old Tom-Tom and feels very clunky and unresponsive. I fully agree with someone elses comments surrounding this and in today's smartphone world it already seems outdated. I've tried the sat-nav out too and I would have been very disappointed if I'd have paid for it as an optional extra - after a single trip I've immediately reverted to my HTC M8 for navigational purposes which incidentally fits into the space below the aircon like a glove.

Ok, onto the exterior and again we both feel the car looks stunning. We wanted white - budget didn't allow for pearlescent so Bianca it was. We live in a steel manufacturing town - consequently when it rains we appear to get a good percentage of their crap expelled from the many chimneys deposited on our car

. Guess that's the lazy Sunday mornings gone as well then. Personally I find it difficult to fault anything about the exterior - the wheels look great, the chrome shines, the styling is streamlined and the tinted glass contrasts well against the white. If i was being ultra picky, the only thing I could negatively comment on is the rear doors. I don't like the bit that sticks out when the door is open (could be a little hazardous for anyone with young children getting in and out the rear) and the window seals around the back doors look a little bit overdone and clumsy (however if this stops door rot in 5 years time then all good).

Will quickly finish off now with a few notes on performance. Already done quiet a lot of motorway driving and was amazed at the pull the 1.2 engine still had when doing motorway speeds and pulling out to overtake - the most responsive engine in a car that I've owned and takes alot of uncertainty out of such manoeuvres. Powers up inclines with no problems and fuel consumption seems fair to good. Again having to think of a niggle and only thing is still struggling a little with setting off. Clutch is very springy and accelerator extremely sensitive - have now nailed a smooth controlled take off but if I need to get out of a junction fairly sharpish I can still find myself lurching around in the seat somewhat until I hastily change up into 2nd gear

Apologies if I've caused anyone to nap but hopefully a few of you will be nodding your heads and smiling in agreement - looking forward to many happy hours, days, weeks, months and years motoring ahead and wish you all the same!

 

[Frank Bullitt]

Nice write-up, your thoughts are interesting.

I suppose one question with hindsight as you've not used park assist and aren't a fan of the sat nav (which seems a common issue) is would you have been better off getting an Allure in Pearl White which would have still been less expensive to buy than a Bianca White Crossway?

Still not tried the 1.2 82 puretech, it does seem to be well regarded even if the statistics don't give the impression it's a power-house.

 

[Mik207]

Hi Frank l have the 1.2 you speak of, most my driving is town/city with the occasional long journey. Around town its perfectly behaved no problems with ecg, done long trip of 850km motorway and again it cruised at 120kph no bother. Saying that if your style driving is a little "boy racer" you will be let down.

 

[Cp2008]

Hi Frank. We originally had a Bianca Allure on order and had pretty much maxed out our budget. A month had passed by with no indication of a firm delivery date when the dealer called to say they had gotten hold of a stock Crossway and would we like to take a look and see if a deal could be struck. To cut a long story short, they offered the Crossway for £200 more than the price we had ordered the Allure for so with all the added extras and being able to drive it away within a few days, the OH dipped into her secret savings stash. Understand your point and hope that explains. To make things even sweeter, we had originally turned down the Safeguard paint and upholstery protection but when they gave me the revised invoice it had mysteriously appeared on the paperwork so they included it. Likely just the dealership massaging their figures but did feel like we'd got a freebie

 

[Frank Bullitt]

I do remember your original thread on why you got one, apologies. They can typically often give a bigger discount on a car in dealer stock or central stock rather than a factory order.