Test drive Opel Omega Sedan 1999 - 2003 sedan
The most powerful Omega
The old motto Opel gains a new meaningThe motto is this: more - for less money. Now it is forgotten, but in relation to the OMEGA model with a 3.2 -liter engine, one hundred percent suitable. Because the company offers a car, equipped, one might say, at the highest category, but at a very reasonable price. We can say otherwise: if you consider the class of cars, then Omega has more than enough competitors, if you take into account the cost, then there are practically no. In any case, in the Russian market. However, before talking about sad, about prices, we will look at the flagship of the German company.
The external changes in Opel Omega 2002 of the model year have already been described in the November (No. 2, 2001) number of automobile news. The most powerful version of Omega can be distinguished outwardly only by two chrome exhaust pipes. However, this time Omega was in the richest EXECTIVE configuration. In addition to standard skin, the front seats are equipped with electric drives and are able to store the memory of the settings. The standard musical installation, sounding very well, gave way to a real Hi-Fi Bose system with 8 speakers and excellent quality of playback. In addition, it is still able to think, that is, automatically adapt to the changing working conditions. Say, if you opened the driver's window, then the speakers will sound louder on the left. If the passenger did it, then on the right. Of course, the sound intensifies with increasing speed. EXECUTIVE equipment is also a built -in alarm, a parking system that facilitates the parking of a rather rather big car on tight city streets, heating all seats, including rear, cruise control and an electric drive.
In winter on summer tires?!
Andrei, sorry, but this is a completely new car and we have not yet managed to put winter tires, ”Opel brand manager told me, handing the keys to Omega. And this was the most seemingly snowy days when the Moscow road services once again (already in which this winter!) Demonstrated their complete helplessness! It is they who are to blame for the fact that I could not fully feel the energetic character of the most powerful Opel Omega. Indeed, on the unclean roads, the rear -wheel drive, summer rubber, automatic checkpoint and 218 hp. Under the hood - an explosive mixture.
On the other hand, benefits from any situation should be beneficial. For example, in extreme conditions I fully evaluated the settings of ABS and the latest Traction Control (TS) system, standardly installed on the new Omega. I hasten to notice that the vehicle is both an anti -circus system and a course of course stabilization in one bottle. You can turn it off with one button, which I never occurred to me.
So, in three days (the roads, as it should be, did not clean, and where the snow was removed and something politically, they were like grates with lard) you can make sure the efficiency and reliability of the vehicle. Despite the fact that the system, of course, could not be designed for traveling in winter rubber in winter. Even with a strong press on the gas pedal, which, under the described circumstances, should inevitably lead to skidding, the Traction Control stabilized the car body, allowing not to really think about the insidiousness of the rear -wheel drive. Moreover, I dared so much that I just stopped thinking about the classical layout of the car and each time pressed on the accelerator, fully relying on electronics.
Nevertheless, even she could not hide the potential laid down in a new 6-cylinder engine. If a piece of pure asphalt turned out to be under the wheels, then the car pressed the driver and passengers in the backs of the seats with force, providing amazing acceleration. At the same time, the programs switched even smoothly, displeased quickly. In general, the automatic transmission has three operating modes - standard, sports and winter.
I, as you can guess, had to mainly use the latter. In winter mode, the machine touches from the second gear, which makes a slip of it impossible. By the way, this made it possible to be the first at starts from traffic lights, since many of our drivers still do not want to understand that the optimal start of movement on slippery coating cannot be accompanied by a slip of the drive wheels. The power and torque of the Opel Omega power unit is so large that at almost any speed a sharp pressing of the accelerator pedal was accompanied by a blink of a yellow bulb on the instrument panel. She simply signaled the start of the work of Traction Control. The car suspension seemed a little more rigid than on a version with a 2.6 -liter engine, which, in turn, minimized the body's roll in corners. Also the highest rating also deserves the steering - with growth in the speed of the steering wheel is noticeably heavy. In a word, Opel Omega with a 3.2 -liter engine is a real business class with a sports character.
For those who can count
The tested car, I recall, was distinguished by the richest equipment. And it costs 34990 dollars. This is four thousand more than a version with a 2.6 -liter engine and a less refined decoration of the cabin. If the reader tries to find a direct competitor for that kind of money - with all the options described - I think he will spend time in vain. It is clear that, for example, Mercedes-Benz E320, BMW 530 or Audi A6 are more expensive. It is also clear that it is quite normal for the brand and image. The whole question is how much, and what can be obtained for it. In a word, with Omega 3.2 Opel, it seems that she made a good application for success in the business class car segment. At the same time changing traditional ideas about their cars. In addition, our compatriots seem to begin to consider money no worse than Germans.
Opel cars are provided with an annual warranty without limiting a run.
Andrey Osipov
