Motoring Discussion > Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious?	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: madf	Replies: 23

New Mon 11 Mar 13 19:12   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - madf

Read this and fall about: "This car shows that Vauxhall is moving in the right direction to position itself as a premium alternative to its cheaper Chevrolet sister brand. " tinyurl.com/bs6krbx So comparing a Vauxhall to a Chevrolet makes it a premium car? Right? Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 11 Mar 13 19:29   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Lygonos

Damning with faint praise. 3 stars. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 11 Mar 13 20:37   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Notdoctorchris

What's it called? Cascara? A substance known for its laxative properties, I believe.... Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 12 Mar 13 01:38   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - VxFan

>> What's it called? >> Cascara? Cascada actually. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 11 Mar 13 20:39   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Victorbox

Must upset you that Autocar give it high praise too: tinyurl.com/byzjuuq Reply to this message | Report message       4

New Mon 11 Mar 13 20:58   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Ian (Cape Town)

>> Read this and fall about: >> >> "This car shows that Vauxhall is moving in the right direction to position itself as >> a premium alternative to its cheaper Chevrolet sister brand. " >> So comparing a Vauxhall to a Chevrolet makes it a premium car? Right? Ok, I've driven both marques. Now, let us clear up a bit of GM idiocy. The Opels (ie Your Vauxhalls) are definitely a cut above the Chevs in terms of build quality and feel. In fact, the local Chevs are effectively Daewoos. Except the Lumina, which is a rebadged Holden Commodore. Or commodore utility. Belting V8s! And the bakkie, which is a half-ton pick-up truck built in Brazil. Still with me? I liked the Cruze and the Orlando. The Aveo is what we call the sonic. and the Sonic is a real overpriced POS. I wrote this, and had the GM clowns down on me like a ton of bricks. Then I pointed out that I'd given the Opels a rave review. As well as the Cruze and Orlando. Then we came to the Captiva. Horrid. In all respects. Both with diesel and petrol engines. so yeah, I'll run with Opels. But the chevs leave a lot to be desired. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 11 Mar 13 21:34   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Stuu

I have driven many Vauxhalls over the years. Premium isnt a word that springs to mind. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 11 Mar 13 22:05   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Bromptonaut

Aldi are now selling a range of wine called 'Exquisite Collection' In the context of an Aldi's range they are undoubtedly a Premium product.* Whether they match say Waitrose or a wine specialists Premium ranges is a different judgement. *IMHO they're pretty good by any standard. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 11 Mar 13 23:07   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Kevin

>But the chevs leave a lot to be desired. I have a Chevy. The interior plastics are cheap and nasty. The cows used for the leather have thicker hide than Tony Blair. The switchgear was stolen from TransNamib signal boxes and the sheet-metal edges behind trim panels will amputate fingers at the slightest touch. Having said that, it's comfortable, everything works, there are no rattles or squeaks and every fault is forgiven once you turn the key and hear that V8 rumble. It goes like hell too. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 11 Mar 13 23:19   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Bill Payer

>> Then we came to the Captiva. Horrid. In all respects. Both with diesel and petrol >> engines. >> I noticed Chevy has started to offer the Captiva Sport model in the US but it's only sold to rental fleets. We rented the very slightly larger Chevy Equinox last year and I thought it was pretty good. Obviously (in the US) a petrol auto, and 3L V6 is always going to be perfectly adequate for cruising around, but I thought it was a car I could easily live with. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 12 Mar 13 01:42   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Auntie Lockbrakes

Isn't it odd that Vauxhall/Opel are launching the tin-top convertible Cascada, whilst over at their rivals VW the tin-top Eos is being withdrawn and the new Golf convertible is fabric-roofed? Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 12 Mar 13 01:57   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Lygonos

Fabric roofed, not tin. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 12 Mar 13 07:32   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Ian (Cape Town)

I found this in my files. Sorry about the metrics. On paper, the Chevrolet Captiva Captiva 3.0 LTZ has a lot going for it – 7 seats, all-wheel drive, a 190 kW 3.0L V6 engine, 6-speed autobox, aggressive good looks, climate control, and all the interior bells and whistles and luxury features one would expect. In principle the Captiva, a crossover SUV developed by GM Daewoo, gives the best of both worlds – a Mom’s taxi/commuter during the week, and a weekend getaway vehicle. But after a few hours in each role, it became evident that the Captiva could be perceived to have some serious shortcomings. First off, it is thirsty. Very thirsty. urban fuel consumption is (a claimed) 15.3L/100km, with a combined figure of 10.6, but despite my best efforts, and keeping the ‘Eco’ function on, I battled to get close to those figures – and most of my driving was done off-peak, so given the stop-start crawl of rush hour traffic, I’d expect worse. Crawling is also a problem – in my experience, automatic boxes, once you’ve let your foot off the brake, will creep along with the engine idling. The Captiva didn’t, so a nudge on the accelerator was needed to get it, and keep it, moving. The Captiva is big – two-and-a-half tonnes of big – but handles well round town and the suburbs, with speed-sensitive power steering and the all-wheel drive system allowing precise positioning on the road. It low speeds it is easy to manoeuvre, but again the need to nudge the throttle is a drawback, as is the absence of a handbrake – the on-off nature of the electric brake doesn’t allow for modulation. Driver visibility is fair for a vehicle of this size, and the park-distance control is a boon, but the large c-pillars take a bit of getting used to. Interior space is ample – even in the ‘occasional’ third row of seats, but going for the 7-seat option obviously sacrifices the majority of the luggage space. But holiday-time ‘five-up with luggage’ seems to be the task ideally suited for the Captiva, so I was looking forward to an extended trip to see how it would fared as a motorway cruiser. After topping up the 65-litre tank – 180km driven, 28 litres used. Ouch. – I set out on the N1 for Paarl, and initially things went well. But once at motorway speeds, I started having serious doubts about the engine/gearbox combination. With 288Nm on tap, getting those bursts of acceleration for overtaking should have been a doddle. It wasn’t. At around 100km/h, a push at the accelerator produced a jump in the revs as the box cogged down, a bit of noise, and barely a flicker on the speedometer needle. So push harder – and the next cog down comes into play, the engine screams up a few thousand revs, and the Captiva starts to pick it up. But not significantly, which means any passing manoeuvre is going to have to be well planned. As pilot-in-command Sarel mentioned, this alone would make a busy Easter weekend journey a nightmare ‘unless you were the one at the front of the queue’. Which is a shame, because the Captiva is an attractive, well-built vehicle, with a lot to offer. Maybe the diesel option – a 135kW 2.2L with 400Nm – would be better suited to the box? And definitely more economical. Chevrolet Captive 3.0 AWD LTZ. As tested: R454 600. Warranty & Roadside Assistance - 5 years/120 000km Anti-Corrosion - 5 Years/Unlimited km Service Intervals - 12 Months/15 000km Service Plan - 3 Years/60 000km We also gave it to our 'tame racing driver', Sarel van der merwe, who doesn't mince his words. tinyurl.com/d2npla9 Sarel says “The gear ratios are up to ****, totally, across the range, and the hunting is totally irritating. The engine is very noisy, and the performance doesn’t warrant the noise the engine makes. The styling I like, but then you just get that cheap feel the moment you get in, especially on the dashboard, where the plastic doesn’t stop. I don’t know exactly where it is supposed to be at that price – it is very expensive, for that kind of space you can buy better ands cheaper. It is something I wouldn’t buy… or I’d look at a lot of other things before I bought one. In fact it is a bit of a letdown because you see them around often, and they look quite nice on the road, and it is a bit of a disappointment once you get behind the steering wheel. The diesel engine could be the one to make a difference to the car. It has plenty of space, and as a Mom’s Taxi it would work, but for sure I wouldn’t buy a V6 for a Mom’s Taxi. One would also have to look at the Kia or Hyundai range, where the build quality is excellent, and the finish is better. The Chevrolet is still a bit of a Daewoo, regardless of the name change. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 12 Mar 13 06:55   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - ....

GM know their target audience and have made it easy for them by naming their new Cabrio after a German eurodance group. Marketing have probably already got 1,000 "Dancefloor" special editions ready to go for the summer. Last edited by: gmac on Tue 12 Mar 13 at 06:57 Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 12 Mar 13 10:18   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Robbie34

>> Read this and fall about: >> >> "This car shows that Vauxhall is moving in the right direction to position itself as >> a premium alternative to its cheaper Chevrolet sister brand. " >> >> tinyurl.com/bs6krbx >> >> So comparing a Vauxhall to a Chevrolet makes it a premium car? Righ>> Nowhere in that article does it say that Vauxhall is a premium car. You have taken the comment wholly out of context when it specifically compares Vauxhall to Chevrolet, where Vauxhall models are premium to Chevrolet irrespective of whether they would be classed as premium per se. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 12 Mar 13 11:19   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - TeeCee

"Cascada is Spanish for waterfall" So the roof leaks then? Something of an unfortunate name for a convertible...... Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 12 Mar 13 13:09   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - madf

>> "Cascada is Spanish for waterfall" >> >> So the roof leaks then? >> Something of an unfortunate name for a convertible...... >> Probably apt given GM's quality control. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 12 Mar 13 13:12   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - jc2

Better than the Chevrolet Nova-(Nova = won't go!!). Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 13 Mar 13 09:23   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Fursty Ferret

>> Probably apt given GM's quality control. >> Yes, the DAB radio in the new Insignia has packed in the and the local dealership haven't the foggiest idea what's wrong with it. "Could Sir leave it with us for a few days?" No, Sir I can't, especially if the courtesy car is a Fiat Panda. They're now looking at getting me another Insignia for a week. Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 13 Mar 13 at 09:39 Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 13 Mar 13 09:50   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Bromptonaut

>> Yes, the DAB radio in the new Insignia has packed in the and the local >> dealership haven't the foggiest idea what's wrong with it. >> >> "Could Sir leave it with us for a few days?" Can they not just swap out the unit for a new one? Or is it to integrated with other kit for that to be possible? Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 13 Mar 13 10:15   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - madf

I suspect removal is a time consuming task... Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 13 Mar 13 10:44   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Boxsterboy

I would suspect that Insignia radios are churned out by some Bosch company, and so the fult may not lie with GM, unless their specification/price requirement is unrealistic. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 13 Mar 13 12:22   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - VxFan

>> Can they not just swap out the unit for a new one? If it's like my Vectra, it'll need divorcing from the separate display unit, then the new unit pairing up to the display. Something like ½ hrs work with a Tech2 device. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 13 Mar 13 12:29   Vauxhall - Motoring journalist - credulous and pretentious? - Runfer D'Hills

I found that one of the most useful accessories for any Vauxhalls I've had was to hang a large magnet out of the back of the car to catch the random bits which would fall off it... :-) Reply to this message | Report message