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Vauxhall Vectra Estate - Vauxhall Vectra Car Review

Review

Added: 18 Jun 2004
Last update: 25 Dec 2009

SPACE is all important in an estate car and, understandably, Vauxhall is keen to ensure motoring journalists and their readers get all the vital statistics and measurements.

So I could dive in and tell you that, with its rear seat folded, the boot capacity on this vehicle is 1,850 litres - a significant 150 litres more than the Ford Mondeo.

But figures leave me cold and, in any case, the most impressive thing about this car is its power. Sure, it's built for holding luggage and making those weekly treks to the tip with gardening rubbish.

But it's also been made with ummph! in mind. Its 2.0i 16 valve turbo petrol engine can fire you along the 0-60mph dash in under nine seconds and it has a top speed of just under 140mph - though I'm sure nowhere near that when it is carrying a heavy load.

Pretty impressive for a family estate. It's sleek and attractive, has plenty of road presence and the muscle under the bonnet to match its looks. The new range has a wide engine choice and lots of useful features and storage ideas.

Because the Vectra Estate shares its wheelbase dimensions with its sibling Signum, interior space for passengers is generous.

Indeed, the car has been deliberately designed for what Vauxhall calls 'lifestyle.' Hence you get a mixture of practicality and versatility and it works.

That interior space is a key strength. Such is the Vectra's capaciousness that it compares favourably to the executive segment Omega - itself renowned for its luggage and passenger space - despite being 76mm shorter overall.

There's been lots of fresh thinking in terms of making the car as practical as possible. With the Vectra Estate, Vauxhall has continued with the 'Flex' theme, and so joining Flex7 (Zafira) and FlexSpace (Mervira) is FlexOrganiser, a system designed to cope comfortably with all your packages and suitcases.

It should also mean that the days of your supermarket shopping being strewn across the luggage area, or heavy items falling into delicate ones should be a thing of the past.

The system is based on upper and lower parallel rails which run along each of the sidewalls in the luggage area up to the back seats.

Onto these rails can be attached various dividers, poles and hooks in various configurations, so creating different sized compartments for different types of cargo.

It sounds complicated, but in practice, it's not. The system is available in two versions, the Organiser or Divider pack.

But the Vectra Estate's versatility doesn't end on the inside. It has two new exterior features which should make driving it even easier.

The first is a powered tail-gate which can be operated from one of three places - form the key fob, from a button inside the cabin or a separate switch underneath the number plate.

The second is a retractable tow bar, which can be easily and safely stored out of sight, horizontally behind the rear bumper.

It is released by using a simple mechanism from inside the boot, so can be operated without getting hands dirty.

The range has a choice of seven engines - four petrol and three diesel.

In addition Vauxhall is the first manufacturer to offer the Adaptive Forward Lighting in this segment.

This is a technology which combines 'dynamic' curve lighting when negotiating narrow bends and static 'junction' light to give a wider range of vision in the dark.

FAST FACTS

Vauxhall Vectra Elite 2.0i 16v Turbo Estate

Price: £21,695

Mechanical: 175bhp, 1,998cc, 4cyl petrol engine driving front wheels via 6-spd manual gearbox

Max speed: 138mph

0-62mph: 8.4 secs

Combined mpg: 30.7

Insurance group: 13

CO2 emissions: 221g/km

BiK rating: 30%

Warranty: 3yrs/ 60,000 miles

Words: Andy Richards

Keywords: vauxhall, vectra


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