Chevrolet Orlando - not very PistonHeads at all.

[Barchettaman]

Right. Let´s get this out of the way first - this is our family bus, it´s diesel, dull, automatic, has 7 seats, is probably about as un-Pistonheady a car as there is on this site, so apologies in advance as this ain´t going to be a particularly thrilling Reader´s Cars thread.

However, as far as I can see, there isn´t another one on this section of the forum and you never know, maybe someone at some point in the future will be offered one and wonder what they´re like. So here is my brief perspective on the thrilling prospect that is Chevrolet Orlando ownership.



Here it is. It´s the low spec model (LT I think). Great, less things to go wrong. I thought it used the Insignia diesel motor but apparently it´s a VM Motori unit. 2.0, 163BHP so similar output.

A brief bit of history: at 125,000 miles and with a DMF replacement looming, its predecessor (a Zafira B) was sold and broken for parts. I got €1200 for it.

This coincided with my Dad wanting to change his Orlando for a 5-seater SUV. So I took it off his hands - he was happy, as being a good son, I gave him full retail for it, and I´m happy in the knowledge that he hasn´t been ripped off at trade-in.

And you know what - it´s really rather good!

It´s miles more refined than the 1.9 120 GM Diesel it replaces. The VM Motori engine pulls harder but is quite a lot less economical, no doubt in part due to the 6-speed automatic ´box, a GM 6T 45 unit, which is pretty smooth.

My intial observations:

-the boot floor is of similar dimensions to the Zaf B, but about 20 cm higher.
-front seats/dashboard area is considerably more spacious. It´s more like an XC90 size-wise in the front.
-the plastics get slagged off on reviews - doesn´t bother me in the slightest
-it corners much flatter than my old Zaf, which was like the Queen Mary in a storm
-the oil filter housing is in a MUCH more convenient location than the Zaf B, right on the top of the engine, back left. Yay- Oil changes will be a doddle!

After a few 1000 km:


- the fuel economy is really poor compared to the Zaf. I got 39.9 mpg on the last tank, and that was all (fully laden) Autobahn work between 105 and 135 Km/h. I would expect my old Zafira to have achieved high 40s/low 50s at those speeds and conditions.
- I miss cruise control and will definitely get a John Gold unit retrofitted. My car is pretty low-spec.
- it's really nice to bowl along, however. Compared to the Zaf B which felt like a jacked-up Astra H, this is much more like a shrunken Jeep, with the flatter bonnet in view from behind the wheel. Combined with the auto box and smooth powertrain it makes effortless progress.
-the headlights are bloody excellent.
-it regens pretty often, so not the right choice for anyone doing exclusively short runs. It wouldn´t like that at all.

Plans:

-change the gearbox oil before 100k km
-replace the crappy LandSail winter tyres currently on it which are downright dangerous
-retrofit cruise control


Overall, well worth a look if one is nearby at the right price. I rather like it.

[Barchettaman]

I'll stick a few up later, assuming everyone can stand the excitement.

[Barchettaman]

Funkycoldribena said:

I actually quite like it.
Might change my mind when I see the interior though.

I think you´re about to.

Encouraged (and somewhat surprised) by the positive reaction so far, here are a few more photos of the Chevy.

Here´s where the magic happens:



Plenty of hard-touch, cheap plastic here. Easy to wipe clean. Or something. The wife says ´the best thing about the inside is that you don´t have to look at the outside´. She may have a point.

In a tribute to the ´show us your steel wheels´ thread in GG, here´s one of mine:



I said they were Landsails. They´re not. They are Goodrides, and are bloody awful. Whilst I´m sure that any car of this size/configuration would have a tendancy to understeer, these are more inclined to steer off the road completely. 215/60 R16, plenty of tyre wall for a comfy ride though.


The centre console looks like this:



But it has a trick - it conceals a neat and pretty deep storage cubby, with a mini audio jack input and a 5V USB charging point. Very handy. Higher spec models have a satnav unit above, this doesn´t as it´s poverty spec.



Pretty good boot space, €10 eBay boot liner:



The rear seats are kiddie-only, so it´s really a 5+2. Compared to other similar MPVs I´ve used, I would say they´re bigger than a Corolla Verso, smaller than a Zafira B.



The rearmost seats pop up pretty easily.



All seats fold flat to make a useable boot space, although the floor is far too high, compared to a Zafira at least. It´s not a bloody 4x4, it doesn´t have anything drivetrain-related at the back, so why didn´t they drop the boot floor? Stupid.



Other first-world problem – the rear view mirror is the wrong shape and doesn´t match the aperture of the rear window. For some reason I find this bloody irritating.

Congratulations if you´re stayed awake this far. Well done.

Edited by Barchettaman on Sunday 11th December 12:57

[Barchettaman]

Maty said:

Question though, how do you know when it's going through a regen? I've had a few diesels now but never been aware of any of them cleaning their dpf's.

Here´s what should happen:

Car bongs three times, engine management light starts flashing, instant fuel consumption goes up (and stays at 3l/100km even on the overrun), EML light goes off when finished, procedure complete.

Here´s what actually happens:

Car bongs three times, EML light comes on AND STAYS ON, fuel consumption goes up, and it´s only by monitoring the instant fuel consumption reading that you can tell when it´s stopped regenning i.e. coast in gear on the Autobahn, when it´s reading 0.0l/100km, you know it´s finished the cycle. Not ideal.

The EML goes off when you stop and start the car, however. There´s no smell inside the cabin, and apparently it´s best not to turn off the motor whilst the regen cycle is happening.

I can see why unscrupulous people want to gut the DPF innards and map it out. It is a bloody nuisance. Touch wood, mine hasn´t clogged up completely yet, and there are various companies nearby who will remove it from the car, clean it and replace it, if it does start spacking up.

There´s a company in Belgium who will remap the VM Motori engine from 163 to 200, but I´m worried that the increase in torgue might then be beyond the specs of the automatic gearbox. It´s only rated to 425NM and the remap will take it to 440, apparently. I´m not massively keen on the idea of the ´box lunching itself.

Edited by Barchettaman on Sunday 11th December 13:12

Edited by Barchettaman on Sunday 11th December 13:14

[Barchettaman]

Jimmy Recard said:

Is that the radio control panel that flips up?

I don't know why but I like that

Yep. Pretty neat feature. Although if you´re charging anything off the USB it doesn´t want to shut again as the cable fouls the latch, so it´s a bit flawed.

[Barchettaman]

Aaaaaaaand.... the wife has just crashed it. She drove into a concrete block. Major scratches to and a crack in the offside front bumper. Happy Third Advent. Grr.

[Barchettaman]

Pics to come.

Gaffer tape - probably not. I think it'll be an offcut of an ice cream tub epoxied on the back of the bumper. But that can wait til summer. In the meantime I reckon I can polish out, or at least improve, quite a lot of the scrape. Arse.

[Barchettaman]

Jag_NE said:

definitely in the so awful its interesting category.

...says the man who recommended someone else buy a Toyota Avensis.

Only kidding. Awful it ain´t, but in general an MPV is about as good an advertisement for a preemptive vasectomy as you can get.

[Barchettaman]

Well what a coincidence. Just happened to be browsing RC and my thread gets updated.

We still have it. It’s now on 175,000km.

It’s never let us down. One problem is looming: the starter motor is probably on the way out (changed the battery and glow plugs and it still isn’t great at cold starts, but we have had a hard winter).

Preventative maintenance: gearbox oil change at 160,000km.

Otherwise just general stuff, I make sure to change the oil/filter at 20,000km, it’s snapped an OS/R spring, DPF and exhaust still original, engine and drivetrain all OK, air con still good, basically it’s been a sound if rather unexciting family bus.

Recommended, particularly looking at the other cars you’re considering. It’s bigger and is likely to work better for your needs. Well worth a punt at £3.5k assuming the history stacks up etc.

Best of luck!

Edited by Barchettaman on Saturday 24th April 20:28