No love for quick Vectras?

[chrisw666]

I'm sure they're competent, but are also likely to be driven by someone who doesn't care about driving.

[Crafty_]

chrisw666 said:

I'm sure they're competent, but are also likely to be driven by someone who doesn't care about driving.

Unlike an BMW, Audi, VW of course....

[RichTBiscuit]

Quick(ish) in a straight line, but pretty dire in most other regards.... Buy a V6 or (new shape) 5 cyl turbo mondeo instead.

Far nicer cars in my opinion.

[Steve Maund]

Many moons ago I had the 2.6 GSI which was devloped by MSD in MK.
Not good round bends but enjoyed it for the 2 years I had it.

[Devil2575]

RichTBiscuit said:

Quick(ish) in a straight line, but pretty dire in most other regards.... Buy a V6 or (new shape) 5 cyl turbo mondeo instead.

EVO magazine doesn't agree

You approach the VXR with lower expectations, but against the odds it really delivers. Like the Impreza, some of the details don't convince - the steering and gearchange particularly - but overall it's an exploitable, composed and exciting car to hustle along, with a lovely engine, superb traction and great brakes. In case you haven't guessed, it's much better than any of us had expected.

[Face for Radio]

It's things like the primary school calculator screen in the middle of the dash that really ruin things in the Vectra.

If I were putting my money on something along those lines, I would be aiming to get a V6 Omega Elite.

[Pablo68]

About 12 years ago I had a 2.0T SRi. It was actually a decent car to hoon around in (although not what you'd call fast at all). But it was a good enough cheap saloon that could take a bit of B Road tomfoolery and also cruise the motorways at a reasonable pace and reasonably cheaply. The interior was very 1990's VX though.

[RichTBiscuit]

I know that Top Gear is not the oracle of driving dynamics, but THIS;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy4kPODqv58

ties in well with my experience of the Vectra.

Catastrophic Understeer.

[Panda76]

Newer shape was an awful looking thing imo.
I had a 2000(w) sri 140 vectra,which was a pretty decent car and the best shape...
Sadly that shape was destroyed by "modders"

[Pablo68]

RichTBiscuit said:

I know that Top Gear is not the oracle of driving dynamics, but THIS;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy4kPODqv58

ties in well with my experience of the Vectra.

Catastrophic Understeer.

All FWD cars with a reasonable amount of power will understeer a lot if you push them. Stick crap tyres on and corners become totally optional.

[s m]

Steve Maund said:

Many moons ago I had the 2.6 GSI which was devloped by MSD in MK.
Not good round bends but enjoyed it for the 2 years I had it.

Earlier ST versions could have a LSD and AP brakes as options

[Crafty_]

RichTBiscuit said:

I know that Top Gear is not the oracle of driving dynamics, but THIS;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy4kPODqv58

ties in well with my experience of the Vectra.

Catastrophic Understeer.

They pulled all the fuses for everything - abs, traction, esp and the active suspension - basically crippled the car, then drove it like wkers. What do you expect ?

Vectra C reigned supreme in BTCC before the universal subframes etc came in.

Far from an expert but I managed to hustle one around Thruxton at a decent speed, sure its not a caterham etc but its far from a poorly handling car.

Vectra B and the 2.5 V6 engine were poo though.

[ben5732]

Had a look at a few when I was looking to replace my car, mostly ex police as wanted a cheapish quick estate, drove ok but did like understeer a lot. Ended up with a Volvo T5 instead just felt like the car had a bit more of a soul compaired to the vectra, its just a bit too bland in my oppinion...

[fjord]

Crafty_ said:

They pulled all the fuses for everything - abs, traction, esp and the active suspension - basically crippled the car, then drove it like wkers. What do you expect ?

^This guy.

Top Gear fks me off at times. As much as i love Clarkson, the VXR vectra test was set up for the thing to fail. It beat the Mazda and Mondeo in terms of speed, so they intentionally fked the car up to make it look bad, just so Clarkson didnt have to eat humble pie.

When people bleat on about Veccy understeer, I always ask how many they've owned or driven, and the answer is 0.

Having travelled at 156mph (albeit not around a corner) in a VXR vectra (and i really think it had more in it), I can honestly say i never felt safer.

[Devil2575]

fjord said:

Crafty_ said:

They pulled all the fuses for everything - abs, traction, esp and the active suspension - basically crippled the car, then drove it like wkers. What do you expect ?

^This guy.

Top Gear fks me off at times. As much as i love Clarkson, the VXR vectra test was set up for the thing to fail. It beat the Mazda and Mondeo in terms of speed, so they intentionally fked the car up to make it look bad, just so Clarkson didnt have to eat humble pie.

Top Gear is scripted.

The results of the tests are what the writers want them to be.

[Mastodon2]

I remember seeing a Vectra VXR on one of those Police Interceptor type programs, the "Rapid Response" team were driving the VXR, and from the dash cam footage showed it more than capable of cornering at speed. Then again, the Top Gear test counts for nothing, because even if the Vectra did have the worst chassis of all time, any FWD car will understeer on command if you throw it into a corner at top speed, crank the steering angle on and then floor it. By that token though, driving a RWD car like a dhead will also see you failing to corner properly just as easily.

[Hudson]

I've been chased down by an unmarked 2.8 VXR so i can attest to the fact that they fking shift (i wasnt running they were just VERY keen to talk to me).

I think they look smart but the whole "top gear said this" thing put people off.

[rumple]

Hudson said:

I've been chased down by an unmarked 2.8 VXR so i can attest to the fact that they fking shift (i wasnt running they were just VERY keen to talk to me).

I think they look smart but the whole "top gear said this" thing put people off.

I remember a vectra absolutely destroying my 328 E36, it wasn't a VXR either, I can't say the model really it fked off that quick, had it happen again on my favourite twisty, so they can corner aswell.

[vit4]

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...

Edited by vit4 on Friday 17th May 17:18

[EDLT]

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?

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.