Surprised-ish by a repmobile
Discussion
I know there's a ton of Vauxhall hate on PH so not sure how this'll go... Off site meeting today means the nice Hertz man has brought me a shiny new Vauxhall Insignia diesel - 1100 miles on the clock on a 14 plate.
Driven it about 40 miles this morning and it's quiet, comfortable, well specced (GPS/media nav thing, cruise, climate, etc).
Perfectly suitable for pounding motorways but also not too bad driving around town either - reasonable turning circle etc.
Not sure I'd give Vauxhall £xxK of my own money for it (but then I smoke around in knackered 15 year old sheds) but for £30 a day? Bargain.
It's not exciting, but it's pleasant enough - what's the problem?
tl;dr: boring car not as s
t as often said to be
Driven it about 40 miles this morning and it's quiet, comfortable, well specced (GPS/media nav thing, cruise, climate, etc).
Perfectly suitable for pounding motorways but also not too bad driving around town either - reasonable turning circle etc.
Not sure I'd give Vauxhall £xxK of my own money for it (but then I smoke around in knackered 15 year old sheds) but for £30 a day? Bargain.
It's not exciting, but it's pleasant enough - what's the problem?
tl;dr: boring car not as s
t as often said to beTo be honest, there's nothing inherently 'wrong' with Vauxhalls (that I've ever found).
They're the supermarket brand car. They'll always get criticism for not being quite as good as a premium German car or as refined and reliable as something Japanese, but they clearly have a place in the market.
My parents had an Insignia on Motability when they first came about and it was a lovely thing. Yea, it was big and hard to see out of the back, but it had parking sensors for that. It was quiet, reliable, swift (for something so big) and very comfortable. I don't know what more people actually want in a car.
It's a bit like that old Clarkson review for the 'best car in the world' where he basically said that nobody needs anything more than a humble Vauxhall Astra. Everything beyond that point is purely frivolity. The old bloater sort of had a point.
They're the supermarket brand car. They'll always get criticism for not being quite as good as a premium German car or as refined and reliable as something Japanese, but they clearly have a place in the market.
My parents had an Insignia on Motability when they first came about and it was a lovely thing. Yea, it was big and hard to see out of the back, but it had parking sensors for that. It was quiet, reliable, swift (for something so big) and very comfortable. I don't know what more people actually want in a car.
It's a bit like that old Clarkson review for the 'best car in the world' where he basically said that nobody needs anything more than a humble Vauxhall Astra. Everything beyond that point is purely frivolity. The old bloater sort of had a point.
Occasionally I borrow the odd humdrum car from our friends at What Car or Autocar and no matter what they lend me these days it's always rather good.
Cars just work these days, OK so some are better than others, but when even the most basic of supermini has AC, decent seats, 100mph performance and a creak free interior you always come away thinking 'that was actually pretty decent'. For the average family buyer who isn't really into cars there has never been a better time, lot's of good A to B cars out there.
As for the Insignia, I put 500-odd miles on one a few weeks ago and was impressed. Decent mile eater with great seats and a pleasant cabin. Didn't handle, but was ace on the M way.
Cars just work these days, OK so some are better than others, but when even the most basic of supermini has AC, decent seats, 100mph performance and a creak free interior you always come away thinking 'that was actually pretty decent'. For the average family buyer who isn't really into cars there has never been a better time, lot's of good A to B cars out there.
As for the Insignia, I put 500-odd miles on one a few weeks ago and was impressed. Decent mile eater with great seats and a pleasant cabin. Didn't handle, but was ace on the M way.
One thing that terrifies me a bit is the number of screens everywhere, touch pad in the centre console to control the screen for the driver (and it's a touch screen too), electronic handbrake etc.
Nice now but an interesting prospect at Shed money in 2030 - will any of this stuff still work?
Nice now but an interesting prospect at Shed money in 2030 - will any of this stuff still work?
Toaster Pilot said:
One thing that terrifies me a bit is the number of screens everywhere, touch pad in the centre console to control the screen for the driver (and it's a touch screen too), electronic handbrake etc.
Nice now but an interesting prospect at Shed money in 2030 - will any of this stuff still work?
I await the first 'I used auto park and it ran over a bus queue' claim when the car is 15 years old and poorly maintained, auto park is in the most mundane of Fords these days so will be commonplace soon. Nice now but an interesting prospect at Shed money in 2030 - will any of this stuff still work?
As you say, what will happen to the tech in a barge when it reaches shed money?
Garlick said:
I await the first 'I used auto park and it ran over a bus queue' claim when the car is 15 years old and poorly maintained, auto park is in the most mundane of Fords these days so will be commonplace soon.
Or more likely, on your 14 plate Ford in 2030- turn ignition key*
- BEEP*
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Since people demanded more space and amenities, while crash testing has gotten much tougher and global market/tastes have converged.Euro and Japanese car's got bigger, American car's got smaller and they met somewhere in the middle.
Mondeo (2007–2014)
Length: 4,844 mm (190.7 in)
Width: 1,886 mm (74.3 in)
BMW 5 series (2010-present)
Length: 4,899–4,907 mm (192.9–193.2 in)
Width: 1,860 mm (73.2 in)
Mondeo (1992–1996)
Length: 4,481 mm (176.4 in)
Width: 1,747 mm (68.8 in)
BMW 5 Series (1972–1981)
Length: 4,600 mm (181.1 in)
Width: 1,690 mm (66.5 in)
Vauxhall Astra (2009–present)
Length: 4,419 mm (174.0 in)
Width: 1,814 mm (71.4 in)
I have a diesel insignia estate on hire at the moment too. It is also a high spec with heated leather, big touch screen etc.
I quite like it over all but there are a few things which seem very oddly thought out to me:
The engine automatically rev matches when you change gear, nice touch, the trouble is it is programmed to assume you are going into the next gear up, so block changes become a jerky change when the clutch is lifted and the revs are matched to a different gear. I can't find any way to turn this off, it does drop the revs back to idle if you hold the clutch down for about 5 seconds, but who wants to do that everytime you change gear?
Most functions on the touchscreen can be controlled by the mouse pad thing by the handbrake, but only most, why not all? When using the nav you can navigate as far as address input, but you can only use the qwerty keyboard as a touchscreen, so you have to reach over and concentrate a lot more on typing then driving. As a result, I don't use it.
The electronic handbrake is flawed, to disengage it you have to press the brake and then press the elec handbrake to release, but if you are parked on a hill the car will roll back as you move from brake to throttle pedal despite the car having hill start assist. the hill start assist only seems to work if you roll backwards a considerable way (several feet) with the brakes on, only then does it realise you are on a hill.
I quite like it over all but there are a few things which seem very oddly thought out to me:
The engine automatically rev matches when you change gear, nice touch, the trouble is it is programmed to assume you are going into the next gear up, so block changes become a jerky change when the clutch is lifted and the revs are matched to a different gear. I can't find any way to turn this off, it does drop the revs back to idle if you hold the clutch down for about 5 seconds, but who wants to do that everytime you change gear?
Most functions on the touchscreen can be controlled by the mouse pad thing by the handbrake, but only most, why not all? When using the nav you can navigate as far as address input, but you can only use the qwerty keyboard as a touchscreen, so you have to reach over and concentrate a lot more on typing then driving. As a result, I don't use it.
The electronic handbrake is flawed, to disengage it you have to press the brake and then press the elec handbrake to release, but if you are parked on a hill the car will roll back as you move from brake to throttle pedal despite the car having hill start assist. the hill start assist only seems to work if you roll backwards a considerable way (several feet) with the brakes on, only then does it realise you are on a hill.
Pet Troll said:
The electronic handbrake is flawed, to disengage it you have to press the brake and then press the elec handbrake to release, but if you are parked on a hill the car will roll back as you move from brake to throttle pedal despite the car having hill start assist. the hill start assist only seems to work if you roll backwards a considerable way (several feet) with the brakes on, only then does it realise you are on a hill.
Are you sure you you don't just drive off and the electronic parking brake releases automatically, a Meriva that I drove recently worked like that as do most electronic parking brakes?I had a new Passat estate thing recently and a new Astra 170bhp diesel thing even more recently.
I generally concur with the comments that modern cars are pretty damned good. Both were reasonably quick, very frugal, handled well and had plenty of interior space.
I drove many Passat models when I used to get company cars and loved, coveted, them all. But the one I had killed it for me stone dead.
Why? It handled far better and went very well. But I've moved on and, by comparison to my current car, felt noisy (a lot of road noise) and slightly cramped. OK, so it's an unfair comparison. Even compared to my '2000 E55, the Passat had far more road noise.
Tha Astra was nice and went well but wasn't as quick as I thought it would be. You'd put your foot down and it'd go very nicely, but then you'd realise that it didn't have that much more to give.
The thing is, I found myself driving both aggressively to be enjoyable. I exploited their performance and handling and hated myself for it. Both lacked soul and both seemed very 'white goods' to me. Almost devoid of character. I would get very bored with them very quickly.
I generally concur with the comments that modern cars are pretty damned good. Both were reasonably quick, very frugal, handled well and had plenty of interior space.
I drove many Passat models when I used to get company cars and loved, coveted, them all. But the one I had killed it for me stone dead.
Why? It handled far better and went very well. But I've moved on and, by comparison to my current car, felt noisy (a lot of road noise) and slightly cramped. OK, so it's an unfair comparison. Even compared to my '2000 E55, the Passat had far more road noise.
Tha Astra was nice and went well but wasn't as quick as I thought it would be. You'd put your foot down and it'd go very nicely, but then you'd realise that it didn't have that much more to give.
The thing is, I found myself driving both aggressively to be enjoyable. I exploited their performance and handling and hated myself for it. Both lacked soul and both seemed very 'white goods' to me. Almost devoid of character. I would get very bored with them very quickly.
HTP99 said:
Pet Troll said:
The electronic handbrake is flawed, to disengage it you have to press the brake and then press the elec handbrake to release, but if you are parked on a hill the car will roll back as you move from brake to throttle pedal despite the car having hill start assist. the hill start assist only seems to work if you roll backwards a considerable way (several feet) with the brakes on, only then does it realise you are on a hill.
Are you sure you you don't just drive off and the electronic parking brake releases automatically, a Meriva that I drove recently worked like that as do most electronic parking brakes?Toaster Pilot said:
One thing that terrifies me a bit is the number of screens everywhere, touch pad in the centre console to control the screen for the driver (and it's a touch screen too), electronic handbrake etc.
Nice now but an interesting prospect at Shed money in 2030 - will any of this stuff still work?
I know. The new Peugeot 308 has a touch screen to control absolutely everything - heating controls etc... hmmmm.Nice now but an interesting prospect at Shed money in 2030 - will any of this stuff still work?
It is tech for the sake of it - I can't see it being easier to have to find things in a menu when driving, than just turn a dial you know is there!
HTP99 said:
Are you sure you you don't just drive off and the electronic parking brake releases automatically, a Meriva that I drove recently worked like that as do most electronic parking brakes?
This is how it (the car I have today) works apart from the very first time after starting the engine. I have had a couple of Insignias as hire cars and they have all been pretty good.
One was a 12 plate and was the most comfortable car I've ever driven. The latter was a 14 plate and was slow and not as nice.
Still as a hire car you couldn't ask for more.
I still ring and ask for a 3 series though
One was a 12 plate and was the most comfortable car I've ever driven. The latter was a 14 plate and was slow and not as nice.
Still as a hire car you couldn't ask for more.
I still ring and ask for a 3 series though
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