My only dabbling with recent Vauxhall diesels was with a 1.9 CDTi Vivaro (100bhp I think). Thought it was a really good engine, certainly much smoother and more refined than the 1.9 in my Fabia and with plenty of predictable overtaking poke where needed. The van was good fun across the B roads on the way back too when it was unladen

Chris

it was actually fine once we were on the motorway but it was at roundabouts, junctions etc that I'd lost all faith in it's ability to pull away with anything like a bit of pace which meant what would perfectly plausible gaps in traffic in my (old, petrol) car became no-go areas and I didn't like the brakes either

it was actually fine once we were on the motorway but it was at roundabouts, junctions etc that I'd lost all faith in it's ability to pull away with anything like a bit of pace which meant what would perfectly plausible gaps in traffic in my (old, petrol) car became no-go areas and I didn't like the brakes either

I think we only did about 30 miles on the motorways in it, the other 150 miles were on some more challenging B and single carriage A roads as they're more interesting and a better test of a vehicle, imho. Maybe the Vivaro has different gearing as it had no problems getting up to speed from a standing start?

Chris

I think we only did about 30 miles on the motorways in it, the other 150 miles were on some more challenging B and single carriage A roads as they're more interesting and a better test of a vehicle, imho. Maybe the Vivaro has different gearing as it had no problems getting up to speed from a standing start?

Chris

on a similar note, the fact that I was sat next to a driving assessor (we have to do a "defensive" driving course before we can drive for work) could have hindered the car's ability to get up to speed

although pressing/squeezing (not flooring) the throttle from a rolling start at just below 2000RPM in 2nd only had slightly more than f*ck all effect on the car's speed

i owned an old nova 1.5TD and that was awesome

i owned an old nova 1.5TD and that was awesome

seconded,mine was the much rarer,and therefor cooler saloon too:D

must admit,we have a no of cars,and the one that suprises me most is the 07my 1.3 suzuki swift,it has way more beans than you have any right to expect5,but the fuel econamy is aweful,drive normally and about 35mpg is all it manages.

Reading the posts about driveability, surely it is the drivers responsibility to adapt driving style to the car being used? I had a go in a Signum 2.2D, a Corsa 17. and 1.3 and they all went very well, even though it was not strong below 2000rpm.

Chris

i upped the boost and fuelling of my nova aswell as stripped it out and fitted twin 3" exhausts

it was very loud, very smokey but did go well

revved very easily and quickly all the way to 4500-5000rpm

maybe thats why it blew up :rubchin:

Driveability, noise, power delivery are all very subjective and are not relevant to the Parkers 'report'. What I find surprising is that Parkers being a price guide company that specialise in used car prices assume that everyone who buys a new car keeps it all its life then scraps it? Only Ken O'Neill has so far picked up that despite the fact that the Diesel costs more to buy new you generally get significantly more for it second hand. Obviously there are exceptions to that and the buyer need to do their homework before buying a car just like they should before buying nearly any consumer product.

Pretty poor show from Parkers there I think and I guess I may as well add my thoughts to their article!!!

Edit to that, I'm assuming their moderators will allow my critisism through their vetting!!!

Edited 6 September, 200817 yr by BeezerDiesel

Reading the posts about driveability, surely it is the drivers responsibility to adapt driving style to the car being used? I had a go in a Signum 2.2D, a Corsa 17. and 1.3 and they all went very well, even though it was not strong below 2000rpm.

Chris

Yes, but that doesn't alter the fact that the last Corsa D I drove was significantly less drivable than my petrol engined ZX 1.4, needing to be revved higher to pull smoothly (which doesn't apply to PSA or VAG diesels), and running out of revs earlier.

Reading the posts about driveability, surely it is the drivers responsibility to adapt driving style to the car being used? I had a go in a Signum 2.2D, a Corsa 17. and 1.3 and they all went very well, even though it was not strong below 2000rpm.

Chris

Yes, but that doesn't alter the fact that the last Corsa D I drove was significantly less drivable than my petrol engined ZX 1.4, needing to be revved higher to pull smoothly (which doesn't apply to PSA or VAG diesels), and running out of revs earlier.

exactly, the car's lack of b*ll*cks meant that I couldn't drive it the same as I do my (almost 10 year old N/A petrol) car; the choice was to either treat it like a slower car and wait for larger gaps or rev it around 2500RPM which as it was running out of go by not much over 3500RPM didn't seem all that practical (not to mention the fact that it's just a bit **** rolling up to a roundabout at 2500RPM)

exactly, the car's lack of b*ll*cks meant that I couldn't drive it the same as I do my (almost 10 year old N/A petrol) car; the choice was to either treat it like a slower car and wait for larger gaps or rev it around 2500RPM which as it was running out of go by not much over 3500RPM didn't seem all that practical (not to mention the fact that it's just a bit **** rolling up to a roundabout at 2500RPM)

I wasn't even talking about its (lack of) "ability to accelerate"; I was talking about needing 3rd gear at 30mph town cruise, where the ZX was easily capable of 4th, and borderline on able to run in 5th (5th was possible on dead flat or the most factional of downhills in the dry but not in the wet). At higher speeds, the ZX would always take 5th before 40, where the Corsa needed almost 50.

Driveability, noise, power delivery are all very subjective and are not relevant to the Parkers 'report'. What I find surprising is that Parkers being a price guide company that specialise in used car prices assume that everyone who buys a new car keeps it all its life then scraps it? Only Ken O'Neill has so far picked up that despite the fact that the Diesel costs more to buy new you generally get significantly more for it second hand. Obviously there are exceptions to that and the buyer need to do their homework before buying a car just like they should before buying nearly any consumer product.

Pretty poor show from Parkers there I think and I guess I may as well add my thoughts to their article!!!

Edit to that, I'm assuming their moderators will allow my critisism through their vetting!!!

Well fancy that! They've deleted my comment off the article

Parkers don't like any mild critisism then..........