I've just got back from a 2 week / 2000 mile touring holiday around France - and the car needed a bloody good wash !
The Roc did us proud though
, it was loaded up with roofbars ,a roof box full of gear , as much as we could physically pack into the boot - then my two kids (17 & 14) in the back , with me and the missus up front. The roof box and all the extra weight clearly doesn't help with economy much ( i returned an average of 42mpg over the 1978 miles - which i guess isn't bad considering i was mostly traveling on A & B type roads. Fortunately 'Gazole' is just £1 per litre over there
The 177 TDi motor hardly noticed the weight difference though - the huge torque available meant that performance was pretty much unaffected - God ! I love this car !!
I have to take to hat off to the MSS spring kit too - having lowered the suspension by nearly 40mm (unladen) -i was a bit worried about the effects of all that extra weight and the dodgy french B roads would have on the ride / harshness . I needn't have worried - it was absolutely fine . All the extra weight only seemed to lower the car by a further 15mm or so , and even with my 12mm spacers on the stock GTS rims , there was no rubbing on the arches . Obviously - speed bumps required some extra caution but thankfully they're not massively abundant over there .
Although it wasn't a prime consideration when buying the car - I'm really pleased just how 'practical' the Rocco has proved to be. My son is 6'2" and my daughter can be a bit of a moaner (!) , but there were never any complaints from the back of the car as we drove down to the Loire Valley region of France and back again - in fact the only 'car related' thing they did say was "Dad, every time someone French pulls up next to us - they spend ages staring and smiling at our car !"
Now all i need to do is clean the interior - i'm sure I told them no eating in the back !!
Lee