By steve3108
on 7th Sep 2003
steve3108's Ratings
| Value for money | 10/10 |
|---|
| Overall value | 8/10 |
|---|
 steve3108's recommendation |
Good Points
Comfort, good fuel economy, handling is a huge improvement over last model, long service intervals, wonderful ride quality
Bad Points
Very silly indicator and wiper stalk design.
Less than breathtaking performance due largely to high gearing (31mph/1000rpm in 5th). Takes ages for the engine to warm up!
CD changer refuses to play CDR's (even high quality ones!).
General Comments
This car Vauxhall Vectra 2.2DTI Elite is a HUGE improvement over the last Vectra. In fact, I am surprised that they even called it a Vectra as it is like day and night compared to its predecessor. Gone is all the body roll and the steering and gearchange are far more precise. The car has no internal rattles or squeaks either.
Great fuel economy for a heavy car - On the highway by driving at reasonably constant speeds of 60 - 70mph it is easy to achieve 52mpg or more. The best so far is 59.4mpg in a 200 mile trip to Cornwall with no hold-ups, which is very impressive. Round town in the usual UK rush hour grid-lock, expect 35mpg or a bit more.
Performance - Hmmm, well don't expect to emulate Nigel Mansel in this car. Vauxhall have over-geared it just like they have done to every other car I have owned from them. The 5th gear performance is disappointing, even up the slightest inclines the car slows right down without shoving your foot down into the carpet. Lower gears can yield quite good overtaking though. Make no mistake, this is a heavy car and the engine does struggle a bit at times. Apparently the 1.8 petrol is even slower than the 2.2 Diesel!
The biggest gripes are the silly signal indicators where a quick flick of the stick is "supposed to" just signal for three flashes then turn off and a longer press is "supposed to" signal until the manouevre is completed. Oh dear, in practice, this all goes terribly wrong as the indicators do what the hell they like all of the time!
I am very disappointed that the old Vectra would play my home-made music CD's (made on my computer) just fine. This new car's CD player will not! The CD changer has a very poorly designed laser pickup. I even tried Taiyo Yuden CDR's which are supposed to be the best CDR's you can buy. They don't work either in this player.
Refinement - Well there's comfort in abundance even in the back and a great ride quality. The car seems to float on a cushion or air the ride quality is that good. It even seems better than my Audi A4! There's virtually no body roll either. You can push this car into corners with a much higher level of confidence than the old model Vectra which always made you feel uneasy.
The car is quiet on the motorway. So quiet that you'd never know it was a Diesel! Round town though it is much more obvious it's an oil burner with some engine intrusion especially when cold. This engine isn't a Common Rail Diesel and having heard the Ford TDCI engine that is certainly quieter and more refined.
The car has a heavy hatchback which is cumbersome to close.
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