You poor americans that dont get to ride Citroen's

[perzy]

I must say, living in Sweden I was used to Volvo's and Saab's.

But i needed a backup-car, something cheap.

So, being curious I bought a old 1995 Citroen XM. (google it) for about 1500 US$.

Never had I arrived after a long journey so relaxed. Such a smooth ride because of the hydraulic suspension system.
It doesent take all the bumps in the road, you feel the big one's. But instead it smoothes out the small one's, which is better.

One day a animal, a kind of deer, ran ut in front of me. With no chance of stopping I steered over in the meeting lane. The car that feels so big, behaved like a small sports car.
As I learned, it because 11 sensors, including one that reads the steering wheel, in milliseconds activated the computer who stiffend the suspension up to 'sport mode'.
Talk about active safety!

I pity you not having Citroen in the USA. Apperently you forbid selfleveling suspension.

 

[SearchMaster]

It's a French car, 'nuff said. We tried Renault, that didn't work so well.

 

[jagec]

2CV fo lyfe!

 

[perzy]

Yes it's a french car. It's strange, things are different. The interior is, frankly, of low quality. I dont really think it's a good looking car, it's so strange.
But I love it.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: jagec
2CV fo lyfe!

Amen Brutha :beer:

 

[GoatMonkey]

I rode in a early 90's Citroen that a guy brought to the U.S. through the gray market. It was weird. Unusual control designs. The suspension was cool though. You can be sitting still and it just raises up like an elevator. It did have a very smooth ride. Not a fast car, but it was cool, just for being so different.

 

[perzy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppLk8dhvINs

Britain's Top Gear program test of the Citroen C6.

Brace yourselfs. it odd, it's strange, it's French...but so cool!

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: jagec
2CV fo lyfe!

There was a guy that imported a 2CV to the US, when he was on the freeway the cops would follow him until they got to a hill and he couldn't stay over 45MPH and give him a ticket for going too slow.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: perzy
Apperently you forbid selfleveling suspension.

Apparently you don't do any research on your claims.

Cadillac had a self-leveling suspension in 1988 and sold it on numerous models. The '95 Lincoln Mark VIII that I used to have used a self-leveling suspension. Any number of older Volvos with the mechanical Nivomat self-leveling system were sold in the US from the late 1980's through the 1990's.

There is not a single law on the books in the US that forbids self-leveling, or any other active suspension system.

Citroen used to be in the US market, but pulled out in 1972 because they could not meet US safety (crash) and environmental regulations.

ZV

 

[JulesMaximus]

Poor Americans that...

Activated the computer who...

I pity you, your poor grasp of the English language.

Edit-I won't even get into the numerous punctuation errors in your post.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth

Originally posted by: jagec
2CV fo lyfe!

There was a guy that imported a 2CV to the US, when he was on the freeway the cops would follow him until they got to a hill and he couldn't stay over 45MPH and give him a ticket for going too slow.

The car featured an air-cooled, flat-twin, four-stroke, 375 cc engine, with the notoriously underpowered earliest model developing only 9 bhp DIN

 

[BigLar]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Poor Americans that...

Activated the computer who...

I pity you, your poor grasp of the English language.

Edit-I won't even get into the numerous punctuation errors in your post.

His English is infinitely better than my Swedish...

I've turned into a SAAB dude

2002 93 SE 5-speed

4000 lbs - 35 mpg on flat, level turnpike at 65 mph

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: BigLar
2002 93 SE 5-speed

4000 lbs - 35 mpg on flat, level turnpike at 65 mph

3,175-3,285 pounds. Unless you're driving around with lead weights in the thing.

ZV

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: BigLar

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Poor Americans that...

Activated the computer who...

I pity you, your poor grasp of the English language.

Edit-I won't even get into the numerous punctuation errors in your post.

His English is infinitely better than my Swedish...

I've turned into a SAAB dude

2002 93 SE 5-speed

4000 lbs - 35 mpg on flat, level turnpike at 65 mph

Yeah, mine too. Just poking a little fun is all. :laugh:

My first car was a SAAB. Can't say that I'd really like to own another one though.

 

[manowar821]

I kinda wish I had those cars here, they're really nice, especially for the price..

 

[AMCRambler]

Self leveling suspension is great until one of those 11 sensors goes bad and the car becomes undrivable. Thanks but Ill stick with good old mcphereson struts.

 

[perzy]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: perzy
Apperently you forbid selfleveling suspension.

Apparently you don't do any research on your claims.

Cadillac had a self-leveling suspension in 1988 and sold it on numerous models. The '95 Lincoln Mark VIII that I used to have used a self-leveling suspension. Any number of older Volvos with the mechanical Nivomat self-leveling system were sold in the US from the late 1980's through the 1990's.

There is not a single law on the books in the US that forbids self-leveling, or any other active suspension system.

Citroen used to be in the US market, but pulled out in 1972 because they could not meet US safety (crash) and environmental regulations.

ZV

I'm sorry if I was wrong about self-leveling suspension being illigeal. It was not meant as any critisism.
And yes my english spelling IS terrible. I'm sorry about that but it's a second language for me.

The 2CV is cool in a way. But development has come a looong way since then and it's bad if the 2CV is what people think of when they here Citroen.

My cheap Citroen XM is a luxury ride , with the smooth suspension, comfortable chairs, spacey interior and all kinds of gadgets.
It does not have the quality, or the quality feeling, of BMW's or Audi's. But it never had their pricetag either.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: perzy
Apperently you forbid selfleveling suspension.

Apparently you don't do any research on your claims.

Cadillac had a self-leveling suspension in 1988 and sold it on numerous models. The '95 Lincoln Mark VIII that I used to have used a self-leveling suspension. Any number of older Volvos with the mechanical Nivomat self-leveling system were sold in the US from the late 1980's through the 1990's.

There is not a single law on the books in the US that forbids self-leveling, or any other active suspension system.

Citroen used to be in the US market, but pulled out in 1972 because they could not meet US safety (crash) and environmental regulations.

ZV

Well, the SM was illegal in the US because at one stage you had a particularly inane piece of legislation that made it so, because it forbid any variable level suspension (for particularly daft, and ultimately quite futile reasons).

This was repealed in 1981, I think.

 

[Thump553]

My father, who was Amercian car only till his dying day, loved the ride of Citroens when he used them in business trips to France.

Have you have your car repaired yet? I've been told they are a nightmare to work on. A person I knew here in the US that had one said it was extremely expensive for repairs & maintenence, but that could have a lot to do with their rarity here.

Personally I always liked them, thought they were cool looking, in a ugly sort of way.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: perzy


One day a animal, a kind of deer, ran ut in front of me. With no chance of stopping I steered over in the meeting lane. The car that feels so big, behaved like a small sports car.
As I learned, it because 11 sensors, including one that reads the steering wheel, in milliseconds activated the computer who stiffend the suspension up to 'sport mode'.
Talk about active safety!

I pity you not having Citroen in the USA. Apperently you forbid selfleveling suspension.

Sounds a lot like GM's StabiliTrak

 

[TheSlamma]

Originally posted by: perzy

I must say, living in Sweden I was used to Volvo's and Saab's.

But i needed a backup-car, something cheap.

So, being curious I bought a old 1995 Citroen XM. (google it) for about 1500 US$.

Never had I arrived after a long journey so relaxed. Such a smooth ride because of the hydraulic suspension system.
It doesent take all the bumps in the road, you feel the big one's. But instead it smoothes out the small one's, which is better.

One day a animal, a kind of deer, ran ut in front of me. With no chance of stopping I steered over in the meeting lane. The car that feels so big, behaved like a small sports car.
As I learned, it because 11 sensors, including one that reads the steering wheel, in milliseconds activated the computer who stiffend the suspension up to 'sport mode'.
Talk about active safety!

I pity you not having Citroen in the USA. Apperently you forbid selfleveling suspension.

Man you are just too cool for us, you better leave us to our sorrow.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: SearchMaster
It's a French car, 'nuff said. We tried Renault, that didn't work so well.

Hey! Im part French, but QFT! hehe Still have my old '72 AMC Jevalin.

 

[LordMorpheus]

I wouldn't mind a C6, but I prefer my big american luxo-barge.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: dug777
Well, the SM was illegal in the US because at one stage you had a particularly inane piece of legislation that made it so, because it forbid any variable level suspension (for particularly daft, and ultimately quite futile reasons).

This was repealed in 1981, I think.

Actually, the SM was illegal because the design of the variable-height suspension caused the car to fail NHTSA 5mph bumper testing. The suspension itself was not forbidden, it was just designed in such a way that it could not meet the then-current bumper regulations.

The bumper law, which went into effect in 1974, was indeed repealed in 1981.

But again, that law was regarding bumper height, not self-leveling suspension per-se.

ZV

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: dug777
Well, the SM was illegal in the US because at one stage you had a particularly inane piece of legislation that made it so, because it forbid any variable level suspension (for particularly daft, and ultimately quite futile reasons).

This was repealed in 1981, I think.

Actually, the SM was illegal because the design of the variable-height suspension caused the car to fail NHTSA 5mph bumper testing. The suspension itself was not forbidden, it was just designed in such a way that it could not meet the then-current bumper regulations.

The bumper law, which went into effect in 1974, was indeed repealed in 1981.

But again, that law was regarding bumper height, not self-leveling suspension per-se.

ZV

That's 'actually' the legislation that I was referring to

So 'again', variable height suspension was 'forbidden' in the US from 1974-1981, as I understand it.

I was only referring to variable height suspension, and only as a suggestion as to why the OP may have said what he said (it's a easy thing to be confused about).

I appreciate that you consider yourself to be extremely well informed (and you pretty much always are, which is very useful for people who seek answers on here, and honestly much appreciated by people such as myself), and that you always seek to correct things that are wrong, but you can probably achieve the same end without coming across as a rather superior 'know-it-all'.