What they said when the Vauxhall Meriva was new… (Mar 25 2003)
THE family car market is huge and if a new vehicle has all the essentials plus a distinct element of family fun, its maker should be laughing.
Perhaps that was why Vauxhall decided to unveil its new Meriva midi MPV at Disneyland Paris. Great for the kids, but, make no mistake, this is no Mickey Mouse vehicle.
It looks good, has been well thought out, has an ultra flexible seating arrangement, and is a lively drive.
It looks the part and handles well, whether in the clogged up, hectic streets of Paris or on the charming, open roads of the French countryside.
A smaller sibling of the successful Zafira, Vauxhall's aim has been to try to break the family car mould with an abundance of space. It has done this by the fusing together of a long wheelbase and high roof on a new compact car platform. Through this combination the five-seater Meriva is able to adapt to the demands of modern, young family life, Vauxhall says.
Externally, the Meriva follows the design lines of the Zafira, but subtle styling gives the car a whole new, fresh character of its own. The sharp, crisp lines reflect the car's premium character and its length is emphasised through a four-window arrangement that stretches rearwards from a split A-pillar window triangle.
With its flexible interior, the Meriva is opening up a whole new segment in the compact class for, like the Zafira, there is no need to remove any seats as the car can be transformed from five seats right down to one.
So whether you are taking the kids to school, doing the shopping run or driving fully laden with suitcases to an airport, the Meriva should manage it - or at least remove some of the space headaches you find in some of its less adaptable competitors.
It is able to do this courtesy of its FlexSpace variable rear seat system. It means ample space for three passengers or executive car comfort for two, producing more leg, elbow and shoulder room than other models of its size. And there is actually more headroom than inside the Zafira.
The middle seat can be folded flat and the two outside rear seats moved fore and aft by a hefty eight inches/200mm, as well as sideways by 3.5 inches/70mm to produce very impressive leg and shoulder room. The front seat backs have airline-style fold-down trays with seat-back net storage and there is an option of under-seat storage.
The car is 159 inches//4042mm long (just slightly shorter than Astra) and its height of 63.9 inches/1624mm makes it as tall as the Zafira. The measurements demonstrate the designers' brief to create a spacious, practical interior on a minimum road area.
The true spaciousness comes from making the fullest use of the wheelbase of 103.5 inches/2630mm, which is close to that of the seven-seater Zafira.
The all-new platform cleverly combines elements from the Corsa, Astra and Vectra. Continuing the space theme, the bulkhead has been moved forward as close as possible to the front axle to gain more space and the windscreen extended into the roof so that all passengers have a perfect view ahead.
High seating positions add to the "room with a view" feeling. My kids particularly appreciated all the vision their back seats provided.
Twin audio, a first for a car of Meriva's size, allows rear seat passenger to listen to radio and CD independently from front passengers using headphones. And an optional AutoVision DVD entertainment system adds the chance for those in the back to watch films, play conventional music or data CDS and connect games consoles.
Initial engine choice is between 1.6 8v or 16v petrol engines or the more powerful 1.8 litre petrol engine. The Euro 4-compliant 1.7 litre common-rail CDTi diesel engine - the first 1.7 common rail engine to meet Euro 4 - will join the range in the late summer.
Also coming will be the Easytronic automatically-shifted manual gearbox which will be available in 1.6 litre 16v and 1.8 litre 16v-engined models for the first time.
Fuel consumption, on a combined cycle for the three petrol engines is 36.2mpg for the 1.6 8v; 37.6mpg for the 1.6 16v and 34.4mpg for the 1.8 16v. They achieve the 0-60mph spring in 14 seconds, 12.9 seconds and 10.9 seconds respectively.
Three trim levels, Life, Enjoy and Design, all feature FlexSpace and mix and match a multitude of requirements - which is just what the car is designed to do. The Life model is already fully equipped, for example, with electric windows and remote central locking, ABS and driver and passenger airbags.
The Enjoy trim level comes with air conditioning, smart airbags which can detect whether or not there is a passenger or child seated in the front passenger seat, Travel Assistant removable storage box, CD player with Twin Audio, a choice of vibrant interior trims and more storage spaces.
Design, as its name implies, adds style and some premium characteristics like alloy wheels, fog lights, black A,B and C-pillars and dark-tinted glass as well as body coloured door handles and side rubbing strips. It has a CD player with twin audio, black instruments with silver rings, a leather steering wheel and a matt chrome centre console.
Vauxhall sees Meriva, which is built at the General Motors Europe Plant at Zaragoza in Spain, as the perfect complement to the Zafira, offering multi-purpose vehicle space with all the manoeuvrability of an Astra-sized car.
It will go on sale in June with prices to be confirmed, but likely to be ranging from £11,000 - £14,000.
Sales in the first year are forecast to reach 10,000 and accelerate to more than 25,000 in 2004, thanks in part to the introduction of further engine and transmission choices
Words: Andy Richards
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