RE: Vauxhall Adam Grand Slam: Review

[Escort3500]

y2blade said:

The death of PH

Er, why? Should PH restrict itself to high performance cars that only some people can afford?

[Stu R]

Escort3500 said:

y2blade said:

The death of PH

Er, why? Should PH restrict itself to high performance cars that only some people can afford?

It'd certainly help.

[Oddball RS]

Anyway, back to the car, that's what I come on here for, its a bit of a Turnip isn't it, and you can't polish a 'Turnip' can you, however you can roll it is glitter as indeed Vauxhall have.

I just cant see who would buy one, i'm more a 500 fan than a BMW Mini fan but why would you want this?

[y2blade]

Oddball RS said:

Anyway, back to the car, that's what I come on here for, its a bit of a Turnip isn't it, and you can't polish a 'Turnip' can you, however you can roll it is glitter as indeed Vauxhall have.

I just cant see who would buy one, i'm more a 500 fan than a BMW Mini fan but why would you want this?

Well said.

[dukebox9reg]

it still smacks of Vauxhalls current trend of being late to the party and not doing enough market research or engineering.

The Antara was the last one, quick need a mid-sized SUV look how the cashcow is doing. Then stick an ancient diesel in that does half the mpg of rivals, a dreadful gearbox, dreadful performance even with creeping towards 200bhp, dreadful interior etc etc.

The Adam is just the next one. Quick look how well the 500/Mini is doing. lets stick a posh frock on the ancient Corsa chassis, stick old engines in it (obviously finally starting to ish address that) give it silly names, huge wheels and a huge price tag.

Only seen a few around and all have huuuge wheels with bottle top rear drums on the rear. Niiice. Silly price tag and rusty drum brakes.

[Mr2Mike]

trashbat said:

rm, it seems more likely than naming it after a ten tonne bouncing bomb.

I'd like to think they named the performance variant of a model after a huge bomb (not the bouncing bomb b.t.w.), but given Vauxhall's piss poor names for other spec. levels in their range of cars it's more likely something to do with golf or tennis.

e.g. "Club", "Life", "Design", "Excite". The last one shows they have a sense of irony at least.

[DeuxCentCinq]

Writing smacks of someone who wants to be invited to drive more free cars.

I bet it's nothing like as good as it's made out to be.

[GTIAlex]

Surely the Fiesta Red Edition is the comparable car, not the ST.

Red edition is a 1.0 Ecoboost putting out 140bhp, which is 10 less than the vauxhall, however the claimed MPG are higher.

THE FACTS
Ford Fiesta ST Red/Black Edition
Tested: 999cc, three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, five-speed manual gearbox, front-wheel drive
Price/on sale: From £15,995/August 18
Power/torque: 138bhp @ 6,000rpm/155lb ft @ 2,000rpm
Top speed: 125mph
Acceleration: 0-62mph in 9sec

Cheaper, same top speed, slightly slower to 60.

[dukebox9reg]

GTIAlex said:

Surely the Fiesta Red Edition is the comparable car, not the ST.

Red edition is a 1.0 Ecoboost putting out 140bhp, which is 10 less than the vauxhall, however the claimed MPG are higher.

THE FACTS
Ford Fiesta ST Red/Black Edition
Tested: 999cc, three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, five-speed manual gearbox, front-wheel drive
Price/on sale: From £15,995/August 18
Power/torque: 138bhp @ 6,000rpm/155lb ft @ 2,000rpm
Top speed: 125mph
Acceleration: 0-62mph in 9sec

Cheaper, same top speed, slightly slower to 60.

Well the 125bhp ecoboosts only do about 42mpg (few mates/work colleagues have them) so I cant imagine the 140 1.0 being much better in day to day driving than the ST for fuel.

Just have to look on honestjohn for MPG to see that Ford are one of the worst for their economy figures. Not sure on the Vauxhall numbers though.

Right just looked, Vauxhall aint much better.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/vauxhall/corsa...

Edited by dukebox9reg on Monday 16th March 16:06

[Flanders.]

What a cool little car!

[Devil2575]

Oddball RS said:

Anyway, back to the car, that's what I come on here for, its a bit of a Turnip isn't it, and you can't polish a 'Turnip' can you, however you can roll it is glitter as indeed Vauxhall have.

I just cant see who would buy one, i'm more a 500 fan than a BMW Mini fan but why would you want this?

I'd buy one over a 500 or a Mini. Better looking than both IMHO.

[Blayney]

Or if you give me £3k you can have my Twingo GT that might be 50bhp down but is only a second off in the 0-60, 7mph down on top speed, exactly the same tax but will genuinely do 49mpg if you want. All from a 1149cc of turbo powahhhh

[HorneyMX5]

Dave Hedgehog said:

adam's are a rarer site in the SE than 911's

I thought about this and you are probably correct.

[jiggawhat2k]

dukebox9reg said:

Well the 125bhp ecoboosts only do about 42mpg (few mates/work colleagues have them) so I cant imagine the 140 1.0 being much better in day to day driving than the ST for fuel.

Just have to look on honestjohn for MPG to see that Ford are one of the worst for their economy figures. Not sure on the Vauxhall numbers though.

Right just looked, Vauxhall aint much better.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/vauxhall/corsa...

Edited by dukebox9reg on Monday 16th March 16:06

We have a 100bhp ecoboost 1 litre focus and get about 37mpg! It does get thrashed but still, pretty bad.

[Devil2575]

Blayney said:

Or if you give me £3k you can have my Twingo GT that might be 50bhp down but is only a second off in the 0-60, 7mph down on top speed, exactly the same tax but will genuinely do 49mpg if you want. All from a 1149cc of turbo powahhhh

A second off 0-60 and 7 mph top end indicates quite a difference in performance.

[R8VXF]

While in at Vauxhall the other day getting the 8 serviced I had a quick look round the Adam, nice little car IMO, a good little shopping trolley/city car that looks quite nice. Also went to see the new VXR Corsa on Saturday at Donnington and think that it offers quite a lot for what should be a fairly decent price. Interior wasn't too bad and the gearbox on the Corsa has an amazingly short throw. I personally think too many people bash Vx just for the sake of it without much, if any, knowledge of what the cars are like. My 10 year old 1.2 Corsa SXi is still running perfectly without any issues whatsoever, and it is a great little car for thrashing about the place in.

If only people could put their prejudices aside for one moment, they might realise this is quite a cool little car.

[alisdairsuttie]

DeuxCentCinq said:

Writing smacks of someone who wants to be invited to drive more free cars.

I bet it's nothing like as good as it's made out to be.

I think the review is fair and balanced (I would, I wrote it). This is why I mention both good and bad points about the Adam Grand Slam, so fuel economy, emissions and price are all marked down. It's a good, fun warm hatch, simple as that, but too expensive as I say in the review. If I was worried what Vauxhall thought, do you think I would compare it it to the cars I mention? Also, why would I review a car wrongly or make it out to be better than it is? That doesn't serve the PH readers, the PH editorial staff, Vauxhall or anyone else. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but best to base them on fact and experience.

[joefraser]

Enjoyed reading the article, cars not for me or will it ever be.

Can't see why the article deserves all the hate it's getting.

[lewisf182]

Surely this cars rival is the Ford Ka, not the ST. The Corsa is obviously the Fiesta rival - which kind of makes this whole article pointless? Whats the KA equivalent of this? I don't even know what engines they put in but i'd imagine the 1 litre ecoboost is in there which would be a good rival.

This car must weigh a fair bit to say how small it is if it can only manage 0-60 in 8.5 too, seems that vauxhalls do always seem to struggle in the weight department compared to rivals?

[R8VXF]

lewisf182 said:

Surely this cars rival is the Ford Ka, not the ST. The Corsa is obviously the Fiesta rival - which kind of makes this whole article pointless? Whats the KA equivalent of this? I don't even know what engines they put in but i'd imagine the 1 litre ecoboost is in there which would be a good rival.

This car must weigh a fair bit to say how small it is if it can only manage 0-60 in 8.5 too, seems that vauxhalls do always seem to struggle in the weight department compared to rivals?

Totally agree on the comparison being a little disingenuous, Fiesta = Corsa in my book.

Could well be down to gearing slowing it down, coupled with the 18 inch wheels.