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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 10:42 AM
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Default Calling all diesel bashers!

Vauxhall have just made a nice new diesel vectra. Gets 47mpg and meets EuroIV emissions spec already, so nice and environmentally friendly.

Only a 1.9 litre engine though, so not likely to be very fast.... er....

With 212bhp and 400Nm of torque it is!

See here: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/preview...y.php?id=48088

0-60 in 6.5 and top speed limited to 155mph!
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 10:45 AM
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Prototype tho' and we are not likely to see it till 2005.
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 02:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Clett
0-60 in 6.5 and top speed limited to 155mph!
which would make it one of the fastest vectras ever made. i'll eat my cat if the production model makes those figures.

(i don't own a cat btw)
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 02:39 PM
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That's seriously impressive. It does say the engine could produce 450Nm torque! They just need a strong enough gear box I reckon you could see that in production. There's a huge market for diesel cars now and the way the company car tax is going, they will become even more popular. How about putting it in the VX220 body?

Chris
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 03:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Chris L
How about putting it in the VX220 body?
I think that would actually be probably one of the best possible engines for it - would really suit it. Big torque would be much more useful than having to rev the **** off a petrol engine mid-corner and change gear all the time. On a twisty road, I reckon it'd be much faster than a petrol (remember that episode of Driven when the diesel version of a hot hatch was way quicker round a circuit than it's petrol counterpart? I reckon it'd be the same for a VX!)
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 03:33 PM
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Angry Sooty!

Originally Posted by Clett
so nice and environmentally friendly.
Covering the planet in a layer of carcinogenic soot cannot really be called 'environmentally friendly'.

Diesels are a health hazard. Bloody hate them, especially if you ever have to sit behind these damn things in traffic.

Suresh
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 03:37 PM
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saying 400nm of torque means f*ck all to most people and it doesn't impress me, i know they use nm because it gives a higher figure and it's still a high torque figure but using nm fails to impress
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 03:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Suresh
Covering the planet in a layer of carcinogenic soot cannot really be called 'environmentally friendly'.
It's EuroIV compliant - and that means hardly a puff of soot at all. The new diesels aren't anything like the nasty clattery polluting diesels of old, which weren't all that environmentally friendly!
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 03:55 PM
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Originally Posted by screechmr2
saying 400nm of torque means f*ck all to most people and it doesn't impress me, i know they use nm because it gives a higher figure and it's still a high torque figure but using nm fails to impress
It's 295 lb-ft, which is more than an Impreza STi (253 lb-ft), BMW M3 CSL (273 lb-ft) and Ferrari 355 (268 lb-ft). With the gearbox uprated, it would be 332 lb-ft.
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 05:05 PM
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It's torque at the wheels that accelerates the car though.

Diesels have to run high gearing because they can't rev and produce torque low down in the rev range.

A Formula 1 car only produces similar torque to a 2.0 TD family car.

Figures on their own mean nothing.

Many modern diesels have an overboost features to increase power and kick out a decent amount of soot. Try following a VAG PD or TDCi Mondeo when they give it full throttle.
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 05:10 PM
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Not a patch on anything that came out of Newton-le-Willows
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 05:18 PM
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EE had a bit more space in the engine bay though
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 05:19 PM
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Originally Posted by RichWalk
Not a patch on anything that came out of Newton-le-Willows
And they had 3000bhp
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 05:28 PM
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Oh.....so many sleeping enthusiasts...........!

proper Diesel Basher!
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 05:32 PM
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Er, it's a Vectra.

Turd. Polish. Can't.
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 06:07 PM
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I don't see whats so impressive considering its not on the market
a remaped PD150 produces 190 - 200 bhp and 290-320 lbs of torque

AMD had an upgrade for a PD130 costing about £2500 - 230bhp and 350 lbs of torque - their demo was in a few mags and did 0-60 in 7 seconds on a wet day at bruntingphorpe
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 06:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Dapster
Er, it's a Vectra.

Turd. Polish. Can't.
Exactly!
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 07:08 PM
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Originally Posted by RichWalk
Not a patch on anything that came out of Newton-le-Willows
As a Newtonite I take that as a personal compliment
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 07:13 PM
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'Turd. Polish. Can't.'

What a load of old crap, still listening to Clarkson are we, the new Vectra is a decent enough car, its just badge snobbery and the fact it comes from an unfashionable market sector that count against it, oh and the fact that 90% of the British public would sell their souls to own a BMW 3 series.

Compare it to a Scoob on every criteria and for most people I think the Vectra would be a more sensible choice, the kind of people who frequent boards like this arent sensible hence our choices, I sold a new shape Mondeo to buy a Fiat Coupe Turbo, the Mondeo was a great car, the Fiat is ok but feels old in comparison, it wins on looks and performance but loses to the Mondeo in everything else, just depends what you think is important.

I pesonally think it would be highly amusing to make a Scoob, Boxster etc etc driver work very hard to out accelerate a Diesel rep mobile. Got to love these new generation diesels !
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 07:23 PM
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Originally Posted by RichWalk
Not a patch on anything that came out of Newton-le-Willows
My Lords, you cant beat a split box.
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 07:29 PM
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'Turd. Polish. Can't.'
No really, the Vectra is an awful bit of kit. From a drivers perspective it is well off the pace. Compare it to the Mondy, Mazda 6, Beemer 3, Pug 406 (I haven't driven the 407) or even the old shape Primera. No steering feel, terrible foot control positions - more heel and knee than heel and toe, rubbery gearbox, cheap cabin materials (let's not even talk about the indicator ergonomics), and yes, an utterly uninspirational badge.

I have a Boxster and get regularly smoked by the reps in their diesels but I prefer the way a car handles rather than it's ability to burn off the line, and for my money I'd take a Mondy TDci over a Vectroid any day of the week.
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 10:03 PM
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Must admint I would rather have the Mondeo, I was staggered when I bought mine to how much they had come on, but can you really honestly say that 90% of motorist know what heel and toe is, can do it safely and can be bothered in any rep-mobile, I cant do it in my Fiat but my old Mk2 Golf was a joy, in fact I would say I was quicker point to point in the 120 bhp Golf than the 250 bhp Fiat, in fact the Mondeo was a damn fine handler as well.

The Vectra is good at what it does, it just we dont really like what it does
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 10:44 PM
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you can get 210 bhp out of a fiat or alfa 2.4 jtd for about £500 and you can get a marea estate for around £4000, alfa 156 a little more
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Old Jul 14, 2004 | 11:06 PM
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Some of the modern diesels are pretty good. That vectra is a 1.9 twin turbo and as far as I know (was told by somebody that works for Vauxhall HQ) it is going to be released. I would choose it over a bmw 3 series everytime. Driven both and hate the bmw.
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Old Jul 15, 2004 | 03:25 AM
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the new Vectra is a decent enough car
One of the worst cars I have driven this year, it was an ergonomic disaster and drove like any other Vauxhall I have driven, well behind the competition. The only saving grace was the footrest which was positioned superbly for me

Oh and whats with the indicators, I struggled to get used to them as so 80% of the new Vectra drivers I come up against....
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Old Jul 15, 2004 | 09:42 AM
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Oh and whats with the indicators, I struggled to get used to them as so 80% of the new Vectra drivers I come up against....
Just the same as a BMW then

The unusual thing about the Vectra is, it isn't a massive amount of torque (under 300ft-lb) for the rated BHP (200+ bhp). With the twin turbo it must be tuned for higher torque at higher rpm .... hence also the quickish 0-60 time.

In the VAG diesels the torque falls off quite sharply after 3000rpm, maybe the twin turbo setup keeps it more level.
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Old Jul 15, 2004 | 12:35 PM
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Just the same as a BMW then
No BMW don't have the stupid system that the Vectra has.
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Old Jul 15, 2004 | 12:49 PM
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Didn't think BMW's had indicators?
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Old Jul 15, 2004 | 02:19 PM
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You have never driven a Vectra then .......... ?????????

Opel chose the Vectra to re-invent the turning indicators. There are no positive clicks left or right. Instead, you simply dab the stalk naturally, the indicator blinks until cancelled - this is the tricky part. To cancel the indicator, you merely prod the indicator in the other direction but you invariably tend to overdo it and start indicating that you're going the other way.
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Old Jul 15, 2004 | 02:21 PM
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Or put it another way

VECTRA INDICATORS 'CANNOT BE STOPPED'


A Vectra, still indicating,
ysetreday


Red faced Vauxhall engineers have been forced to admit that the indicators on its latest Vectra cannot be stopped. The not-acclaimed mid-ranger attracted much criticism at launch for its smart-arsed indicator stalk which attempted to reinvent a part of the car that has worked perfectly well for the past 50-odd years and was in no way crying out to be buggered about with. Now Luton sources have conceded that there is no way to stop the Vectra's indicators, ever ever ever. 'We thought that you could cancel them by quickly nudging the stalk the other way,' claimed one engineer. 'But that just triggers the opposite indicator. Then, when you try to cancel that, the whole deeply annoying cycle starts again. Even turning the ignition off doesn't seem to work. In fact, I've just been into the big shed where we keep our old crash test vehicles. We completed the main frontal, side and rear impact tests for the Vectra over three years ago. Turns out the indicators are still going. What are the chances of that, eh?'
However, one boffin within Vauxhall HQ says there may be one possible solution; 'The only answer to the problem is to never use the indicators in the first place,' he claimed. 'Fortunately, since we sell most Vectras to moustachioed sales drong fleets they're way ahead of us on this one.'
Thanks to Richard Porter
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