1998 BARTRON CROSBY
Performance - ★★★
The Bartron Crosby comes with a 1.5-litre engine that produces a rather modest 101 bhp and 99 ft-lb of torque. With a 1200 kg kerb weight, that does mean that performance won’t be anything special and the figures show this. With a 0-62 mph time of 11.7 seconds and a top speed of 111 mph, racing people at the lights is certainly something that you won’t be doing. It is however a rather solid performer and is very good at just getting you and inevitably your passengers from A to B. When cruising the car settles down rather nicely and has more than enough power for getting up hills and making the odd overtaking maneuver, perhaps on the occasion requiring a downshift. Performance throughout the rev range, even low down, is strong enough thanks to a reasonably flat torque curve. One of the biggest issues is the gearing, which is too short.
Ride Comfort - ★★★★★
As expected from a car that is supposed to transport people and their luggage everywhere, the car has a rather soft suspension setup. No matter what the speed and no matter what the road surface, the car does an exceptional job at soaking up the bumps and also making sure the car doesn’t wallow and bounce all over the place when going over a large bump. The ride puts some luxury cars to shame. Usually as a “side effect” of having soft suspension is a lot of body roll, but although there is the sort of body roll you expect from a tall car, it isn’t anything that is going to make people feel queasy, and certainly does not ruin the fact that the car does an excellent job of ironing out imperfections.
Handling - ★★★★
Normally with soft suspension setups you get rather mediocre, if not poor, handling. The Bartron Crosby, however, manages to do pretty well for a car of this category. The tyres have more than enough grip and the car can be pushed pretty hard until it reaches the limit, and even when the tyres can’t take any more it is not dangerous and could even be considered forgiving. It does not, however, feel even in the slightest sporty: composed, but bland. The body roll is present and reasonably controlled, so although it does make driving on winding roads a bit weird it isn’t an issue as such. The lack of assists such as traction control and stability control do mean that from a driving perspective it makes the rather vanilla driving experience a bit more interesting, but not enough to give even a sporty touch.
Refinement - ★★★★
First thing that must be said is that the gearing needs a serious re-think. Driving along at 70-80 mph in the 4000-4500 rpm region is just not acceptable. This would not be a 4 star section if it wasn’t for the great sound insulation and the fact that the engine is reasonably quiet. At high speeds, all you can hear is a slight high-pitched rumble from the high-revving 4 cylinder engine and that is it. The wind noise and tyre noise is almost completely non-existent, something that is not really expected in a car of this category and it does help in making the car feel more upmarket that what it is.
Equipment - ★★★★
Another solid performance by the Bartron Crosby. The car comes with a rather surprising level of equipment, with stuff that you expect to see in much more expensive vehicles coming as standard. Obviously there is nothing fancy coming as standard, but you may find some really cool stuff in the options list, but pick wisely as the car could get a bit too pricey. Safety tech is really rather good, however the lack of certain driver assists does let the side down somewhat.
Quality - ★★★★
Yet another good score by Bartron. The interior of the car has some very nice, well thought out touches that make the interior just that little bit more special than many of its rivals. There are some nice soft-touch and rather plush looking and feeling plastics here and there and although lower down in the less visible areas of the interior you get the typical cheaper feeling, rather scratchy plastics, they are not too bad. Everything feels like it has been put together nice and solidly and everything makes the right sounds - no tinny sounds from metal components and no horrible plasticy sounds from, you guessed it, plastic components.
Reliability - ★★★★
Once more we have another area in which the Bartron Crosby performs rather well indeed. The engine is expected to be rather solid and although there are rather a few electronic goodies that could go wrong, it all seems that everything should be fine, partially down to the quality of the interior and also down to the fact that nowadays (late 90s) electrical components are getting more and more reliable.
Running Costs - ★★★★★
This must be the area where Bartron concentrated the hardest. Rivals are expected to achieve mid-30s (UK MPG) on the combined cycle, yet thanks to Bartron’s hard work and the fact that you can clearly tell that this is the area where they have concentrated the hardest, this car somehow manages a whopping 44.7 mpg. That is quite some figure, especially when compared to rivals. Insurance isn’t expected to be mega-cheap due to the more premium feel of the interior, but service costs are reasonable, which makes up for it.
Safety - ★★★★
Possibly the worst of the areas that were listed by Bartron as areas they concentrated on the most, it still manages to score well again. In the event of a crash, the rather rigid structure and numerous airbags should help to keep you safe in even higher speed collisions. The lack of certain safety assists is a bit of a downer, but other than that a solid job.
OVERALL - ★★★★
For: Great ride comfort, high quality interior, exceptional fuel economy
Against: Rather mediocre performance… not much else.
The Bartron Crosby comes with a 1.5-litre engine that produces a rather modest 101 bhp and 99 ft-lb of torque. With a 1200 kg kerb weight, that does mean that performance won’t be anything special and the figures show this. With a 0-62 mph time of 11.7 seconds and a top speed of 111 mph, racing people at the lights is certainly something that you won’t be doing. It is however a rather solid performer and is very good at just getting you and inevitably your passengers from A to B. When cruising the car settles down rather nicely and has more than enough power for getting up hills and making the odd overtaking maneuver, perhaps on the occasion requiring a downshift. Performance throughout the rev range, even low down, is strong enough thanks to a reasonably flat torque curve. One of the biggest issues is the gearing, which is too short.
Ride Comfort - ★★★★★
As expected from a car that is supposed to transport people and their luggage everywhere, the car has a rather soft suspension setup. No matter what the speed and no matter what the road surface, the car does an exceptional job at soaking up the bumps and also making sure the car doesn’t wallow and bounce all over the place when going over a large bump. The ride puts some luxury cars to shame. Usually as a “side effect” of having soft suspension is a lot of body roll, but although there is the sort of body roll you expect from a tall car, it isn’t anything that is going to make people feel queasy, and certainly does not ruin the fact that the car does an excellent job of ironing out imperfections.
Handling - ★★★★
Normally with soft suspension setups you get rather mediocre, if not poor, handling. The Bartron Crosby, however, manages to do pretty well for a car of this category. The tyres have more than enough grip and the car can be pushed pretty hard until it reaches the limit, and even when the tyres can’t take any more it is not dangerous and could even be considered forgiving. It does not, however, feel even in the slightest sporty: composed, but bland. The body roll is present and reasonably controlled, so although it does make driving on winding roads a bit weird it isn’t an issue as such. The lack of assists such as traction control and stability control do mean that from a driving perspective it makes the rather vanilla driving experience a bit more interesting, but not enough to give even a sporty touch.
Refinement - ★★★★
First thing that must be said is that the gearing needs a serious re-think. Driving along at 70-80 mph in the 4000-4500 rpm region is just not acceptable. This would not be a 4 star section if it wasn’t for the great sound insulation and the fact that the engine is reasonably quiet. At high speeds, all you can hear is a slight high-pitched rumble from the high-revving 4 cylinder engine and that is it. The wind noise and tyre noise is almost completely non-existent, something that is not really expected in a car of this category and it does help in making the car feel more upmarket that what it is.
Equipment - ★★★★
Another solid performance by the Bartron Crosby. The car comes with a rather surprising level of equipment, with stuff that you expect to see in much more expensive vehicles coming as standard. Obviously there is nothing fancy coming as standard, but you may find some really cool stuff in the options list, but pick wisely as the car could get a bit too pricey. Safety tech is really rather good, however the lack of certain driver assists does let the side down somewhat.
Quality - ★★★★
Yet another good score by Bartron. The interior of the car has some very nice, well thought out touches that make the interior just that little bit more special than many of its rivals. There are some nice soft-touch and rather plush looking and feeling plastics here and there and although lower down in the less visible areas of the interior you get the typical cheaper feeling, rather scratchy plastics, they are not too bad. Everything feels like it has been put together nice and solidly and everything makes the right sounds - no tinny sounds from metal components and no horrible plasticy sounds from, you guessed it, plastic components.
Reliability - ★★★★
Once more we have another area in which the Bartron Crosby performs rather well indeed. The engine is expected to be rather solid and although there are rather a few electronic goodies that could go wrong, it all seems that everything should be fine, partially down to the quality of the interior and also down to the fact that nowadays (late 90s) electrical components are getting more and more reliable.
Running Costs - ★★★★★
This must be the area where Bartron concentrated the hardest. Rivals are expected to achieve mid-30s (UK MPG) on the combined cycle, yet thanks to Bartron’s hard work and the fact that you can clearly tell that this is the area where they have concentrated the hardest, this car somehow manages a whopping 44.7 mpg. That is quite some figure, especially when compared to rivals. Insurance isn’t expected to be mega-cheap due to the more premium feel of the interior, but service costs are reasonable, which makes up for it.
Safety - ★★★★
Possibly the worst of the areas that were listed by Bartron as areas they concentrated on the most, it still manages to score well again. In the event of a crash, the rather rigid structure and numerous airbags should help to keep you safe in even higher speed collisions. The lack of certain safety assists is a bit of a downer, but other than that a solid job.
OVERALL - ★★★★
For: Great ride comfort, high quality interior, exceptional fuel economy
Against: Rather mediocre performance… not much else.