[Hans]

Hello everybody,
I am very interested in the DS and already saw the car at my local dealer. But I go quite a shock when I read the specification about the dimensions. The width of the car with mirrors (and that counts when you are driving) is 217cm. That is the same size as a BMW X5 (218cm) a Porsche Cayenne (216cm) and larger than a Mercedes ML (214cm). Sorry all are German cars but that is what I see mostly on German roads. Even the "Monster" RR has just 5 cm more. And these are large cars, which have problems on narrow roads, supermarket parking lots and underground parking stations. They look huge Of course the length of the DS is smaller but often its the width which is more of a problem. I just returned from a holiday in Northern Italy and some streets in small villages were nearly a problem with my old BMW with 197 cm width (incl. mirrors).
What is your experience with the width of the DS in all day usage?
Hans

 

[Disco]

I don't think it is as big as the X5, but it is bigger than the x3. my wife has the X3, and my disco has more space in both interior and cargo.

 

[BFGDSMan]

Hello everybody,
I am very interested in the DS and already saw the car at my local dealer. But I go quite a shock when I read the specification about the dimensions. The width of the car with mirrors (and that counts when you are driving) is 217cm. That is the same size as a BMW X5 (218cm) a Porsche Cayenne (216cm) and larger than a Mercedes ML (214cm). Sorry all are German cars but that is what I see mostly on German roads. Even the "Monster" RR has just 5 cm more. And these are large cars, which have problems on narrow roads, supermarket parking lots and underground parking stations. They look huge Of course the length of the DS is smaller but often its the width which is more of a problem. I just returned from a holiday in Northern Italy and some streets in small villages were nearly a problem with my old BMW with 197 cm width (incl. mirrors).
What is your experience with the width of the DS in all day usage?
Hans

Mirrors....ripped mine off in some narrow lanes on the autobahn the other day :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Car is normal width for a large 4x4 - you can always fold them in at a touch of a button. :?:

 

[Guest]

Hans

I live in Norfolk in a tiny village with access roads from both directions so narrow two cars cannot pass. Much of the county is like this and I have no problem at all. My work takes me to very remote villages.

I have never been to any country in Europe where the supermarkets are so mean with the space they allow for each car - France for example has significantly wider bays. In England there is a real risk of getting dents on the doors caused by careless drivers parking next to you but in fact it's my wife who has had the problem twice with significant "hit & run" damage caused. She drives very small cars!

I used to drive monster trucks and ran a boat transport business - boats were so wide sometimes I had no rear view in the mirrors and I needed a police escort.

As an ex traffic police officer I now run an advanced/defensive driving school and risk assessment business for company drivers as well as private individuals - including truck and van drivers. I'm also a qualified cognitive behavioural therapist specialising in driving-related phobia. You can find details here http://www.drivexcel.co.uk

The point of telling you all this is that I can pretty much guarantee that within a few hours you will be quite happy driving this vehicle - if that is what is concerning you.

It may be it's purely the risk of damage that is the problem, rather than actually driving a larger car. Don't let it worry you - it won't be a problem as long as you are reasonably careful and choose where to park . Your perception of the size will change very quickly and if drivers of large trucks can drive on roads as described above daily without damaging them (and getting fired) then we have nothing to worry about.

 

[Chris b]

Increase over Freelander 2 is mainly length. When I took my test drive, I brought the DS straight home and backed it into my garage (as usual) to confirm that it would fit OK. Door posts are 2.13m/7ft apart and this is OK for Freelander and DS with mirrors folded. This test had to be passed before I put in my order!

 

[Hans]

Mirrors....ripped mine off in some narrow lanes on the autobahn the other day :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Car is normal width for a large 4x4 - you can always fold them in at a touch of a button. :?:

And you were not fast enough to touch the button on the autobahn? :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[ccomley]

Car is normal width for a large 4x4 - you can always fold them in at a touch of a button. :?:

Yeah, but they're so fat they're nearly as wide "folded". So I put it in quotes - I don't know why they bother!

 

[Hans]

Here is a list of cars with a width of more than 2,00m with mirror (which is relevant in Germany because in roadworks on autobahnen they are just allowed to use the right lane). You will see that the DS with its 2,17m is really some kind of super-size:
AUDI A4
Mittelklasse 183 cm 204 cm
AUDI A5
Mittelklasse 185 cm 202 cm
AUDI A6
Oberklasse 187 cm 209 cm
AUDI A6 ALLROAD QUATTRO
Oberklasse 190 cm 209 cm
AUDI A7
Oberklasse 191 cm 214 cm
AUDI Q3
Kompakt-SUV 183 cm 202 cm
AUDI Q5
Kompakt-SUV 190 cm 209 cm
AUDI Q7
Große SUV 198 cm 218 cm
BMW SERIES 3
Mittelklasse 181 cm 203 cm
BMW SERIES 5
Oberklasse 186 cm 210 cm
BMW X1
Kompakt-SUV 180 cm 204 cm
BMW X3
Kompakt-SUV 188 cm 209 cm
BMW X5
Große SUV 194 cm 218 cm
BMW X6
Große SUV 198 cm 220 cm
C8
Große Van & Mini Busse 186 cm 219 cm
CHEVROLET ORLANDO
Große Van & Mini Busse 184 cm 217 cm
FORD B-MAX
Kompakt-Van 175 cm 207 cm
FORD C-MAX
Kompakt-Van 183 cm 207 cm
FORD FOCUS
Untere Mittelklasse 182 cm 201 cm
FORD GALAXY
Große Van & Mini Busse 188 cm 215 cm
FORD KUGA
Kompakt-SUV 184 cm 208 cm
FORD MONDEO
Mittelklasse 189 cm 209 cm
FORD S-MAX
Große Van & Mini Busse 188 cm 215 cm
HYUNDAI I30
Untere Mittelklasse 178 cm 205 cm
HYUNDAI I40
Mittelklasse 182 cm 210 cm
HYUNDAI IX20
Kompakt-Van 176 cm 203 cm
HYUNDAI IX35
Kompakt-SUV 182 cm 210 cm
JAGUAR XF SERIES
Oberklasse 194 cm 208 cm
JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE
Große SUV 194 cm 216 cm
LANCIA VOYAGER
Große Van & Mini Busse 200 cm 225 cm
LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER SPORT
Große SUV 207 cm 222 cm
MAZDA 6
Mittelklasse 184 cm 211 cm
MAZDA CX-5
Kompakt-SUV 184 cm 217 cm
MERCEDES A-CLASS
Untere Mittelklasse 178 cm 202 cm
MERCEDES B-CLASS
Untere Mittelklasse 179 cm 201 cm
MERCEDES C-CLASS
Mittelklasse 181 cm 202 cm
MERCEDES CLS-CLASS
Oberklasse 188 cm 208 cm
MERCEDES E-CLASS
Oberklasse 185 cm 207 cm
MERCEDES GLK-CLASS
Große SUV 184 cm 202 cm
MERCEDES M-CLASS
Große SUV 193 cm 214 cm
MERCEDES VIANO
Große Van & Mini Busse 190 cm 225 cm
NISSAN QASHQAI
Kompakt-SUV 181 cm 207 cm
OPEL ASTRA
Untere Mittelklasse 181 cm 201 cm
OPEL INSIGNIA
Mittelklasse 186 cm 208 cm
OPEL ZAFIRA
Kompakt-Van 180 cm 203 cm
OPEL ZAFIRA TOURER
Kompakt-Van 193 cm 210 cm
PORSCHE CAYENNE
Große SUV 194 cm 216 cm
RENAULT GRAND ESPACE
Große Van & Mini Busse 189 cm 210 cm
RENAULT GRAND SCENIC
Kompakt-Van 184 cm 208 cm
RENAULT SCENIC
Kompakt-Van 185 cm 208 cm
SEAT ALHAMBRA
Große Van & Mini Busse 190 cm 208 cm
SKODA OCTAVIA
Untere Mittelklasse 181 cm 202 cm
SKODA SUPERB
Mittelklasse 182 cm 201 cm
VOLKSWAGEN CC
Oberklasse 186 cm 209 cm
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF
Untere Mittelklasse 180 cm 203 cm
VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT
Mittelklasse 182 cm 206 cm
VOLKSWAGEN SHARAN
Große Van & Mini Busse 190 cm 208 cm
VOLKSWAGEN T5
Große Van & Mini Busse 190 cm 228 cm
VOLKSWAGEN TIGUAN
Kompakt-SUV 181 cm 204 cm
VOLKSWAGEN TOUAREG
Große SUV 194 cm 221 cm
VOLKSWAGEN TOURAN
Kompakt-Van 179 cm 208 cm
VOLVO V70
Oberklasse 186 cm 211 cm
VOLVO XC70
Oberklasse 187 cm 212 cm
VOLVO XC90
Große SUV 194 cm 212 cm

(this list is from http://www.kfz-auskunft.de/news/18584.html)

 

[Disco Oldenburg]

Hi Hans,
My wife's Citroen C4 is 2.06m wide and she gets on ok with it (fat mirrors). My ex C5 Tourer was 2.10m (body 9cm wider than C4) and at times quite a hassle to park. I took it to southern England (Cotswolds) once and found general driving around ok, but supermarket parking lots were a joke. Car hanging out both ends and doors wouldn't open at all. Germany was ok though.
I think your concern is a valid point if you intend to do a lot of driving around town. It's best to have a second smaller car at hand for that anyway. Don't want to get that new Disco dented!
My experience: Wide mirrors ok, can be folded in, as BFGDSMan said, but wider body does have quite an effect on parking.

Martin

 

[DevonDisco]

Thought the FL2 was even wider at 2195 mm.

 

[Chippy]

I was just about to make the same comment as DevonDisco. 2005mm with mirrors in.

Neither my wife or I have any problems parking although a friendly white van driver did manage to scrape along both rear and front doors as he parked next to us at the supermarket in Perth whilst we were on holiday in Scotland last year and then kindly reversed out again adding to his artwork. Even worse was that he raced off and we'd no chance of getting any details of the vehicle.

But we learnt our lesson and now always park as far away from the store doors as we can!!

 

[rduk]

Interesting thoughts, having test driven at the weekend I thought it didn't seem that big, but now reading this it is quite wide!

It means that it wouldn't fit through one of 6'6" width restrictions that are quite common in the UK? Has anyone tried that to confirm? I followed an X3 through one recently and they had no issues.

 

[IanH]

Freelander is wider with the mirrors 'out', but narrower with the mirrors folded in. MY DS just go's through the door into my garage, and like Chris b I took the demonstrator I test drove home to make sure it fitted in the garage.