MatraSport Forum

Hi Guys,

Well, picked my 2001 (Y-reg) Silver Grand Espace 2.2 dCi up on Saturday. I've done in the region of 150+ miles in it now and I must say I quite like it. I'll reserve full judgement until I've put more miles on it and it hasn't broken down (hehehe).

I'm surprised at how quiet it is and how comfortable it is. There's still a bit of van-feeling in it, but that's probably mostly due to sitting so high up rather than van-like suspension; in fact, it handles really (well for the size).

The 2.2 dCi engine seems to keep up with traffic without any problems at all - motorway cruising in the outside lane.  8)

I also took the rearmost row of seats out and I'm amazed by the size that's available in the back... awesome! :)

Oh, and I do have one question: Where's a good point to "steal" 12V for gadgets, such as GPS'...? Somewhere under the dash or something... :)

All well so far... :D Thanks for all your help!

Congratulations on your purchase!, - I'm looking forward to your report when the two of you have got some more miles under the hood together.

I must confess, I haven't yet investigated any better place to get 12V than the cigarette-lighter between the seats. My GPS has a long wire, with which the GPS unit comfortably can sit on the dash, while being connected.

Be advised - if your windscreen is athermic, you might not get a good signal below it, as the coating on the windscreen shields off the radio signal.

However, at least my GPS can actually also get a signal on the back seats, - I guess it looks through the polyester roof, without being shielded completely by the "Fahraday cage" chassis. I find it funny that the polyester roof causes less interference than an invisible coating on the glass - but there you have it :-)

Alternatively you can fit a real antenna somewhere, and have the connector handy near the dash.  But of course, if your windscreen is not athermic, then you have no problem with GPS.

/Lennart

Your guarded enthusiasm reminds me that when I first got my Espace I was not at all happy with it for the first two weeks. I found it very difficult to get used to the driving position and getting the seat adjusted to my frame.

But of course it finally started to click for me and over the last 6 years I've enjoyed  a great 70,000 miles motoring.

It really brings a smile to my face if I visit Ikea and throw a vast amount of furniture in the back while all around me there are people with ordinary cars scratching their heads and loading roof racks....

...or driving to Perpignan at up to 100mph on the coastal motorway with wife and 3 children and camping equipment for 2 weeks. Wife Sue didn't know the kid's bikes were in the back until we unloaded at the camp site.

Recently I've been filling it with building materials, and although it won't take 2.4x1.2m sheet it will take a lot of 3.0m timbers or small sheets of drylining plasterboard. I find the quality carpet always cleans up really well  even after trips to the dump to get rid of demolition material.

Thanks guys!

As Lennart got me a bit worried about the GPS signals, I had to try it out last night. Luckily my girlfriends Garmin i3 is easy to just stick on the windscreen - and it worked without any problems. *phew*

Regarding the power. I noticed the fuse box at the passenger footwell - maybe that's a good point for some "stealing".

I also have a Nokia handsfree kit, but I don't have a Nokia phone. I wonder if I can change the holder of that one to fit my up-n-coming SonyEricsson P990i..?

Will, I completely agree with your thought regarding the space in this car. It's just so versatile - even if I've not yet started to load it up with all my stuff yet. But I know for sure that it'll do Ikea trips, Homebase trips, Wickes trips, camping trips, etc etc... But I'll keep my enthusiasm down a bit for now... heheh

Thanks again, guys!

Wouldn't that contain 12V - even easier to steal ?

Excellent that your GPS works, - athermic windscreens became rather popular in
the final years of the JE's production. And while it probably shields off some of the
heat, it is quite annoying that it also kills the GPS signals.  (eg our Picassos at
work are completely "GPS silent")

/Lennart

Yes I think it would - I'm just a bit apprehensive to tap into already aftermarket wires. I'd feel a bit safer if I'd find the source myself :) But if push comes to shove, I'll probably use the hands-free kit.

 8)

The JE (or at least my 2002 2.2dCi Grand) has wiring for a mobile phone hands-free system located in the storage compartment below the drivers seat. You should find a small bundle of wires in the right hand side of the compartment (of a right hand drive vehicle) but need to ease back the lining as the wiring is behind it when the car comes out of the factory. No adhesive is used on the lining so it is easy to get at the wiring without spoiling it.

In addition to a 12volt supply the small bundle of wires also includes connections to the dashboard and the radio/CD player..... so with the hands free kit correctly installed using these connections the display then says "Phone" and the radio is muted whenever you use the mobile phone in the cradle. The wiring for the cradle and antenna run out of sight underneath the kick plate and then up the side of the door pillar.

You could take the power for the GPS from the storage compartment connections, run the wiring as described then lick-n-stick the display to the side screen just in front of the door pillar (so you don't obscure the mirror).... or on the front screen and run the cable in the little channel between the main dashboard cover and the side screen air vent housing. Either way you'd have a neat and tidy installation without wires hanging about and little more than the display visible.

Martin

Brilliant! I'll have a look for that. Thanks, Martin! :)

That same storage compartment is also ideal for a fire extinguisher..... at least that's what I used it for........ just in case I got the wiring wrong ;)

Martin

Ahahha... brilliant! :)

As I said earlier; The car will be loaded up with all sorts of stuff. Today we went shopping for this and that, and as we're going to redo the bathroom floor we needed some thermal insulating boards... no problem to transport home... I've also been looking for something to cover the floor with, an impuls trip to Carpet Right saw this offcut of "aluminium" carpet that'll do just fine under the bikes! Again, no problems to load in! :D

Awesome!  ;D

Yes, it really is an impressive car.

I recently went to a wedding, where we were to bring a japanese cherry tree as a present, and I had checked with the local gardening centre that they had such trees. They had them in "2 meter versions", which I thought sounded fine. (it matched the money we had intended to spend)

When I arrived, it turned out that 2 meters is the size og the tree *before* you splice on the japaneese part, which then extends a further 2-3 meters from there ... (!)
(ok, that includes the thin branches that normally curve downwards, to when placed vertically, the tree was "only" 3.5 meters tall :-)  )

There I was, with the best of 4-5 meters (12-15 feet) of tree, - but leaving the tailgate window open, it was no problem at all, - in fact only a very modest part of the tree (3 feet or so) was outside.

What a versatile car !

Excellent!!  ;D


Absolutely! I see it more as a gadget than a car... and I love gadgets!  8)

Yes, that's a Grand Espace! Plus it handles like a dream, does motorways like a train, country roads like a sports car (almost...), keeps the family safe and happy on long jurneys, and even does all daily transport of kids and shopping.