TelBoy

Being a wagon owner, i'm always on the lookout for other "Q-car" estates. But i was surprised when a silver 2.5 V6 Vectra held my attention.

I don't think they're very common, but the one i saw looked like it had been set up pretty well. It sat nicely on the road, lots of rear wheel camber which always makes me take a car more seriously, decent body kit, not the worst body shape in the world.

Am i deluded though? Is this model still a nasty Vectra underneath, or have Vauxhall made this into a decent motor?

Anyone owned/driven one?

Mossman

I think Evo ran one for a while and thought it was pretty good.
Still a Vectra though. Yuk!
Mossman

GP

*flutters hands at face and swoons*

omg, a vectra I do declare! quick, Heathcliffe, slate it mercilessly before I faint clean away..

..um, for starters, best ask for opinions on a realistic and non-biggoted BBS (for the most part) is the best advice I can give.

The Zohan

Had two @ work
Kept having problems with blown manifold, gearbox, load cover made of paper mache and cr@p handling which Vauxhall cannot cure!

Oh, brake disks as well, found them a money pit

logiclee

Tel,

If you mean the 170ish bhp V6 version and not the GSi.
Not driven the Estate but the saloons are dreadful, no turn in bite and a mass of understeer that has no place in a modern front wheel drive chassis, in all very unsettled handling with little traction by modern FWD standards.

Performance not too bad when overtaking at lower speeds(30 - 60mph) and not bad on the Motorway other wise pretty average and not in the same league as a Scooby Wagon.

Build quality is poor and the interior is enough to bring on depression after a few months, anyone for black?

Lee

Big Goon

Go for a GSi Estate (my previous car).
Attractive, mostly reliable and plenty of go, done 130,000 in 3 years with mine, a damn fine workhorse.... for a Vauxhall.

Dealers sh1te tho

fatherpierre

What's the difference between the V6 and the GSI?

I'm proud to know next to nothing about Vauxhalls.

logiclee

About 25bhp and a few handling tweeks to make in nearly average rather than total pants.

Lee

Big Goon

Mildly modified by Motorsports Developments,

GSi has the 3.0 camshafts 170 -> 193bhp
Handling tweaked (actually good for a fwd car)
17" Wheels
Recaros
Irmscher bodykit

Not a bad car at all, a great company car for me at the time, ignore the anti-Vauxhall brigade, not ALL Vectras were crap.

logiclee

Mr Big Goon,

I have admitted I have never driven a GSi but have driven nearly every other varient as I get hire cars for a few days every few weeks due to work commitments. Driven every thing from a 1.6 LS to the 2.5V6 SRi and CDX.

Put against top FWD chassis like the Mondeo, Focus, Honda's, Alfa's etc the Vectra feels totaly out of its depth.
The GSi needs to be a vastly improved car to get even close.

Lee

Big Goon

Well the GSi was vastly improved over the SRi version,
MSD and Lotus tweaked the handling (to good effect) and the V6 was always a smooth performer against any V6 on the market.

I remember reading Top Gear/What Car etc and they all agreed it was the only Vectra worth buying, except for the hideous depreciation (28% residual value over 3 years).

Certainly better than the ST24/406 V6/Xantia V6/Laguna V6,
The ST200 came along some time afterwards and did improve on the GSi in most respects.

If my STi7 gives me as little trouble over 3 years and 130,000 miles as my GSi then I'll be very happy, altho my last WRX had more grief in 6 months than the Vectra in 3 years