No love for quick Vectras?

[Mr2Mike]

vit4 said:

Incidentally I saw an ex-police facelift VXR estate for, IIRC, £2200. Being ex-plod it had the VXR drivetrain but the spec of a lower model, but that is a lot of performance in a new car for the money. There are usually a couple on Autotrader, would they be ruinous??

ETA: £1990!! That is seriously tempting. Thoughts?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

I'm not exactly a Vauxhall fan, but that seems amazingly cheap for a 2007 VXR, even in plod spec and 100k miles on it.

Do plod always get shot of cars before 100k miles, if not I wonder if it's had a big haircut?.

[jimbobsimmonds]

My dad has a Vectra VXR...

Unfortunately a lot of the reputation comes from Clarkson demonstrating what happens when you turn TC off and apply 280bhp in 2nd gear to a 280bhp, 1500kg car and the proceed to apply maximal amounts of steering lock.

Overall the car is a lot better than I expected. The grip is there, it corners flat and the ride without the stupid sports mode isn't at all bad. The engine is an absolute peach and sounds good in standard guise. Brakes are really quite good too, I would imagine when coupled to some decent pads would be excellent.

The bad bits:

Coming from the Volvo the seats are supportive but nowhere near as comfy. Inside it is still a Vectra and the audio is a bit flat (I am spoilt by the Volvo in that respect). The gearbox is far too heavy and the thottle mapping is stupid. Part of the reason it feels so quick (and VXR owners will swear their car is soo much faster than it actually is) is that 100% torque demand appears to come from 20% throttle travel. And with the sport button pushed it's even worse!

It seemed to gain Evo's respect when they tested it against a 330i M-sport, an Evo and an Impreza. The later Vectra's had 285 bhp too I think...

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/cargrouptests/6518...

My advice to Dad was, and still is however, get a Mazda 6 MPS.

(If Dad wanted to drive a quick, 1500kg, FWD saloon he could take my 300bhp S60 on BC coilovers out and when I wanted to take out an AWD car I could have used the Mazda!)

[rb5er]

They are very bland and the interiors literally make me feel a bit sick. I think its the glue they use, they have an aura about them.

Quite hard seats too and not very comfortable for a big car. As far as boring cars go I prefer a Volvo in every way.

[Crafty_]

What EDLT said, I don't think thats VXR running gear.

[Ag51bye]

pboyd said:

Personally don't like. Seem to be owned by chats and lorry drivers. I am sure gsi is a good cruiser

I once saw a lorry driver driving an m3. I now don't like them

[340600]

Mr2Mike said:

I'm not exactly a Vauxhall fan, but that seems amazingly cheap for a 2007 VXR, even in plod spec and 100k miles on it.

Do plod always get shot of cars before 100k miles, if not I wonder if it's had a big haircut?.

Definitely not, we've still got a few on our fleet and most are pushing 150,000. I'll miss them when they go as well; the handling is fine, 160mph no sweat, and they'll take pretty much anything you can throw at them. They do like a drink though.

[rumple]

Ag51bye said:

pboyd said:

Personally don't like. Seem to be owned by chats and lorry drivers. I am sure gsi is a good cruiser

I once saw a lorry driver driving an m3. I now don't like them

Quite a few lorry drivers on here, they have some nice cars as well, I'm sure that braindead post will endear him to them, wonder what he drives, let's look in his profile.....oh wait.
Must be a right CHAT mobile.

[vit4]

EDLT said:

Its an ex-police car, so avoid it. You could get an elite spec car with a turbo V6 in, so it might not be a VXR.

I ran an insurance quote and it flagged up as a VXR [255] I'm guessing that is the lower output turbo V6 then?? I wonder if the later plod cars are 280's. For £4-5k saving I'm not adverse to the idea, they will just have been motorway cars surely?

[macp]

Back in 2009/2010 I rented a 1.8SRi hatchback and it wasnt a bad steer although slow.The chassis definitely felt like it could handle a lot more power.

[jamieduff1981]

Can't think of a single thing I like about Vectras, apart from being extremely cheap second hand.

Dull to look at, horrible interior, utterly boring to drive and to round it all off a bad image earned by some people driving most 'fast' Vauxhalls like tossers.

If you can live with all the negatives and are happy to make excuses for the handling (sorry, but being ok for a powerful FWD car is still crap compared to anything anyone ever called a driver's car) then they're good value second hand.

[chris123321]

My dad had a Vectra 2.6 V6 Estate, it looked brilliant and went well although I can definitely say they have now fallen into the hands of the Lexus light brigade.

[wc98]

JohnoVR6 said:

I've always quite liked the older Super Touring edition:



But only because I always wanted to drive about pretending to be Cleland...

I have no idea about that model Vectra at all though, it could be horrific for all I know

i have a mate that has one of those and an astra gte up on axle stands in his garage,both have fluids removed are spotless and have very few miles.why i dont know.

as for top gear,they also said clarkson did a lap of the ring in 9.59 in a diesel jag;) its prime time telly,just like east enders.

[Baryonyx]

JohnoVR6 said:

I've always quite liked the older Super Touring edition:



But only because I always wanted to drive about pretending to be Cleland...

I have no idea about that model Vectra at all though, it could be horrific for all I know

Did they sell one with the Supertouring decals?

[Crafty_]

Baryonyx said:

Did they sell one with the Supertouring decals?

supertourings looked like:


They did 2 runs - one 2.0 16v, the other 2.5 v6.
IIRC there was a couple of red ones too ? or maybe that was some other special edition ?

[Tim330]

This was my old Vectra gsi which I had from 2004-2006. It drove very well compared to the rover 216gti it replaced. It also sounded great with a remus straight through centre section & cold air induction feed.

[s m]

Tim330 said:

This was my old Vectra gsi which I had from 2004-2006. It drove very well compared to the rover 216gti it replaced. It also sounded great with a remus straight through centre section & cold air induction feed.

They do sound much better as standard than the similar engined Mondeos.
Prefer those early GSi wheels to the later kinked spoke ones.
Very nice

[22rgt B Squadron]

The Vectras especially the C's have what just has to be the most uncomfortable driving seat of any car! Will give excruciating back ache and after a while a numb arse. Ignore the petrols, the best one overall is the 150hp 1.9 16v diesel. Has more go than the power figures suggest and isnt bad on fuel either.

[fjord]

Mr2Mike said:

I'm not exactly a Vauxhall fan, but that seems amazingly cheap for a 2007 VXR, even in plod spec and 100k miles on it.

Do plod always get shot of cars before 100k miles, if not I wonder if it's had a big haircut?.

We got rid of ours fairly early too. It was a great car, however in one night, myself and a compadre managed two full tanks of fuel. That's a LOT of money and the bean counters didnt like it. As a result, the VXR's were swiftly replaced with diesel repmobiles, and probably a little premature than is normal.

vit4 said:

I ran an insurance quote and it flagged up as a VXR [255] I'm guessing that is the lower output turbo V6 then?? I wonder if the later plod cars are 280's. For £4-5k saving I'm not adverse to the idea, they will just have been motorway cars surely?

A lot of insurers (and even dealers for that matter from my experiance) probably don't know the difference between the 255 and 280, or when they came into production.

[ben5732]

vit4 said:

I ran an insurance quote and it flagged up as a VXR [255] I'm guessing that is the lower output turbo V6 then?? I wonder if the later plod cars are 280's. For £4-5k saving I'm not adverse to the idea, they will just have been motorway cars surely?

Traffic so will of seen its fair share of pursuits and response driving. However given I've had my Volvo over a year and a half with no issues from the plod now with 180k if your after a quick cheap estate I'd go for it. Advice would also be type the reg into Flickr, gives you an idea if the car was general traffic or motorway patrol.

[JFReturns]

It would have been properly maintained too. Massive bargain IMO.