RE: Vauxhall Signum 2.8T: PH Carpool

RE: Vauxhall Signum 2.8T: PH Carpool

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Discussion

PistonBroker

2,406 posts

225 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
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Great write-up and a fantastically quirky taste in cars, clearly.


jgtv

2,125 posts

196 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
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I had one for a while, all be it the more boring 2.2 Petrol.

I really liked it, not a sports car far from it, but it did a grand job of eating up long trips and motorway miles without a fuss and swallowing a load of stuff in all sorts of strange combinations, Did a good job of being a car, a van and even a changing room once or twice. I was very tempted to get another one when it died.

randomman

2,215 posts

188 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
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Just bought a 2.0T (petrol) for longer trips and any driving that needs storage space, my other car is an MK3 MR2.

Gotta say I was pleasantly surprised by the poke, the Z20NET (as found in Vectras and Saabs, not Astra/Zafira VXRs) is a nice enough lump. Dirt cheap insurance and the manual doesn't seem to have bad MPG, recently returned 40mpg on a run to Birmingham. For full service history, 12 months MOT and generally good nick (including dual exhaust, factory tints, extra airbags, air con (that may be standard?) and Cruise control, 91k miles on the clock... 1700 quid, which seems like a LOT of car for the money.

Do keep this hidden gem hidden though, I may have to look at a 2.8T with remap after I've bought a house!

ZiggyNiva

1,134 posts

185 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
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Chipping it should see 300bhp and 400lbft. I got sick of the 16mpg around town in my vec estate elite auto, but did enjoy the fact that everyone thought it was just another repmobile. It also happily returned an average of 30mpg going backwards and forwards to Italy (same as the otherhalfs 2ltr mazda 5), while still doing 150mph+ when the road was clear.

The manual makes a massive difference and is significantly better on fuel

Edited by ZiggyNiva on Tuesday 19th May 15:59


Edited by ZiggyNiva on Tuesday 19th May 16:00

djt100

1,734 posts

184 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
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I had a signum and can honestly say, I really liked the design and the interior space, but its probably the worst car i have ever driven. Great idea badly executed.

RoverP6B

4,338 posts

127 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
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Two and a half grand for what's basically a massive Astra hatch, even if it's the bigger Vectra platform... and knowing what one does of GM build quality, they're not exactly imbued with great longevity. How badly do you not want a BMW E39 540i Touring at this sort of money? Older, granted, but with a little care, will go on forever... S80/V70 a rather nice left-field choice, as are Phaetons, but £2500 won't buy a decent petrol-engined one. No, sorry, it's an interesting concept, but the execution is as appalling as you'd expect of GM Europe.

Barchettaman

6,283 posts

131 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
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Speaking from experience there, chap?

Crafty_

13,248 posts

199 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
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RoverP6B said:
Two and a half grand for what's basically a massive Astra hatch, even if it's the bigger Vectra platform...
Eh ? its nothing to do with an Astra and if you bothered to read the thread nothing like one, it shares a manufacturer's badge with an Astra, thats it.

The idea of the Signum was it'd be a middle management car - one up from the reps (who were driving Vectras & Mondeos etc).
Thats why they are loaded with toys, leather, bit V6 engine and so on (unlike an astra estate, contrary to your earlier statements).
The idea was instead of buying a poverty spec A4 or 320 you could get one of these, more power, better spec etc.
It was GM having a bit of a gamble they could persuade people out of low spec cars. Didn't work, we know that now.

RoverP6B said:
and knowing what one does of GM build quality, they're not exactly imbued with great longevity..... but the execution is as appalling as you'd expect of GM Europe.
The 7.5 year old Astra I just got rid of is wearing better than most VWs of a similar age that I see, some Audis etc too.

So the execution is appalling ? driven one ? actually, ever even sat in one ? or in fact any Vauxhall less than 10 years old ?

Stunning/amazing cars they may not be, but they're far better than the average "derr its a Vauxhall, its rubbish" Clarksonite will have you believe.

An E39 540i might satisfy your upper class brand yearnings, but I bet it'll cost a stack more to keep on the road than a vectra in a frock...

RoverP6B

4,338 posts

127 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
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I know it's not an Astra. It just looks exactly like an Astra would if you left it in the oven for too long and it came out with a bad case of elephantiasis. Yes, I've sat in one, someone was operating one as a taxi round here a few years ago. Shocking build quality and the ride quality wasn't that good. As for an E39 540i Touring, well, I've got almost the same thing (535i saloon, plus a lowly 520i Touring) and can report that they're generally cheap as chips to keep on the road. They've occasionally been a pain in the backside, but the persistent engine problems I had with the 520 were the result of it being too low mileage, seals and crankcase breather buggered... the 535i has been pretty much faultless, and only cost me £600 to buy. To be honest, I couldn't give a stuff about the badge, I just like the cars for what they are. Image doesn't enter into it. I rather fancy a VXR8, but can't afford one yet... from what I've seen, GM Australia make far more solidly-engineered cars than GM Europe do.

And yeah, I get the whole 'proper luxury for 318i money' argument. However, the Rover 75 did that so much better, as it had a properly luxurious interior... the Vauxhall didn't. Leather and toys alone don't make luxury, the build quality was just so shoddy...

Edited by RoverP6B on Tuesday 19th May 19:52

Crafty_

13,248 posts

199 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
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Errr...

Astra


Signum


So you've been in a taxi thats been round the world and back, therefore all Vauxhalls have dodgy build quality ?

Do you not think that maybe, just maybe a taxi isn't quite representative of the general build quality ?

Quickmoose

4,482 posts

122 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
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How do you get elphantitis from being in an oven? confused

adingley84

337 posts

161 months

Wednesday 20th May 2015
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It's funny how time changes opinions. Bought new,most people would have rightly asked why buy a 3.2v6 or 2.8T Signum?

Bought now...WOW that's a lot of car for the money, and different too! You made a great choice!

We used ours for 2 kids, dog and buggy and swallowed it all easily due to the sliding rear seats, would highly recommend as a family wagon.

Sadly an unknown oil drinking problem spelled the end and we chopped it in. Was only the 2.2i Direct as i couldn't justify 5.3l,2 turbos and 500bhp over 2 family cars!

maurauth

749 posts

169 months

Wednesday 20th May 2015
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RoverP6B said:
Two and a half grand for what's basically a massive Astra hatch, even if it's the bigger Vectra platform... and knowing what one does of GM build quality, they're not exactly imbued with great longevity. How badly do you not want a BMW E39 540i Touring at this sort of money? Older, granted, but with a little care, will go on forever... S80/V70 a rather nice left-field choice, as are Phaetons, but £2500 won't buy a decent petrol-engined one. No, sorry, it's an interesting concept, but the execution is as appalling as you'd expect of GM Europe.
It's not anything to do with the Astra; the interior is from the Vectra and the chassis is from the Vectra Estate, not sure how it could be an Astra?

geeks

9,121 posts

138 months

Wednesday 20th May 2015
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I always loved these, a car that served no purpose other than, just because we fking could smile to the classifieds.....

405dogvan

5,326 posts

264 months

Wednesday 20th May 2015
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ST270 said:
405dogvan said:
There are quite a lot of Signums around here - they outnumber Vectra Estates many times to one in-fact - I still fancied a Signum for some reason, until I actually got into one and took a look around it.

If you want the biggest back seats in the world - it's awesome for sure, but the boot is relatively tiny and the seats don't fold anywhere near flat so it's utterly impractical as a load carrier (I realise that's not it's intended purpose)

The Estate being rarer and a TONNE more practical AND cheaper (generally) makes it more appealing - if a Vectra C could ever be called appealing (I had a Vectra B - the seats were nice and it cost me almost nothing to run - and that's about it!!)
Wrong - the seats fold totally flat if the headrests are removed / or if the front seats are slid forward to accommodate.. - the seat squabs are designed to tilt forwards to create room for the seat back to lay flat
That's weird - the one I looked at, when the seats were folded they sat proud (higher at the back of the front seats than the boot floor) - which meant long/flat stuff would be unsupported (we had sheets of boarding - they'd have snapped so we jammed coats under them)

It's not an uncommon problem - most hatchbacks and some estates have it - I'd just assumed it would be neater. Maybe something was jamming the seats (if I don't remove the headrests in the dogvan they won't lie flat either) and at 6'5" I can't put the front seats forward much if I intend to drive it (again - lots of cars have that issue tho)

dandare

957 posts

253 months

Wednesday 20th May 2015
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adricmarsh said:
300 made in the flavour of elite v6T. Works out about 2 pre week for the three years they made it. Picture of the rear with fridge...
As for chipping it don't tempt me!!!
That brings back memories. I designed the complete "Travel Assistant" centre console, as it was called. I think I may still have a prototype one in my workshop. It could have been much better, with the original design specifications it had more functions, but they kept cost-cutting it before production.
An interesting choice of car. Nice and roomy, although I'm not a fan of that era of Opel/Vauxhall design.

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 20th May 2015
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Crafty_ said:
RoverP6B said:
and knowing what one does of GM build quality, they're not exactly imbued with great longevity..... but the execution is as appalling as you'd expect of GM Europe.
The 7.5 year old Astra I just got rid of is wearing better than most VWs of a similar age that I see, some Audis etc too.

So the execution is appalling ? driven one ? actually, ever even sat in one ? or in fact any Vauxhall less than 10 years old ?

Stunning/amazing cars they may not be, but they're far better than the average "derr its a Vauxhall, its rubbish" Clarksonite will have you believe.

An E39 540i might satisfy your upper class brand yearnings, but I bet it'll cost a stack more to keep on the road than a vectra in a frock...
In his defence the 2005 Vectra that I owned was dreadful, although most of its problems came from the engine. The interior also made use of the sttest plastics known to man, everything felt like it was about 2 mins away from breaking (and quite a few things did).

MarshPhantom

9,658 posts

136 months

Wednesday 20th May 2015
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Reading this has reminded me of meeting a chap who told me with some pride that his son had just spent 28 grand on a Vauxhall Vectra - this must have been over 10 years ago.

csd19

2,171 posts

116 months

Wednesday 20th May 2015
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Well I spent less than £4k on my 34,000 mile 2.8T Vectra Elite and I'm quite happy with it smile

'09 plate so it has the 250bhp engine (which incidentally is made by GM Australia, so according to the earlier poster at least it's got something good in it) and the 6-speed auto. Brilliant for long motorway journeys but I agree the Elite spec suspension isn't meant for b-road hooning.
It's black and flies under the radar, and I've decided to leave the apparently unused towbar on it - adds to the WTF factor when you put the foot down wink My wife enjoys driving it (her first automatic car) so it's a win from that side of things too.

Obvious downside (as mentioned) to using the performance is the fuel consumption, although it claims to do 25mpg combined, and that is what it's done over the last 9,000 miles. Town driving does skelp the fuel a bit, but meh, it's only money ffs smile

Only a quick remap away from some ridiculous torque figures and a nice hike in power as well...

VolvoT5

4,155 posts

173 months

Wednesday 20th May 2015
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I owned one for about a week a few years back. It went back to the trader for a refund due to a fault and them not being able to fix it. HUGE cars inside and out.... really practical and comfortable. Unfortunately they handle like a boat and are basically just a Vectra on the inside.

Personally I wouldn't touch the 3.0 v6 diesel.... A huge Isuzu engine that is absolutely rammed into the engine bay. Eye watering parts, service and repair costs - I was quoted £650 for the cambelt service.... not very economical and not as fast or torquey as you would expect either.



Edited by VolvoT5 on Wednesday 20th May 21:24