Test drive Opel Vectra sedan 2002 - 2005 sedan

Opel Vectra is a new line

This car was first shown to us at the spring engine of 2002 - in a single copy, in my opinion, it was from a pre -production party. They showed - and took it back to Faterland, promising to start sales of the new Opel Vectra in the fall. The above, apparently, had to be believed, because in the courtyard is October, and in the stream an unusual form of Opel was already flashed. Well, let's get acquainted with this car closer ...
 
It is worth saying about the unusual appearance of the new Opel separately, because the changes in the design of a car sold worldwide in huge quantities are always a huge risk. There is a desire to change everything fundamentally, there is an opportunity, there are brilliant decisions, but it is almost impossible to convince the leadership that this time it is necessary to change everything like this at once. There are concerns that buyers may not accept a completely new design, giving up a refusing to buy Opel in favor of another brand. Therefore, very few manufacturers decide on such a sharp change in landmarks, preferring the evolutionary path of development, when the seizure model is very similar to the predecessor model.
 
With the new Nissan Primera, everything is clear: with such a design as the previous generation of this car, you can’t earn prizes for the aesthetics of appearance, and customers perceived cars as gray mice. But Opel is a completely different matter. This is a massive, almost folk manufacturer, with a long -known and accepted customers, producing solid cars without special claims to originality. The best example is the previous generation of Vectra, which has been released without any changes for almost eight years and is still not outdated. Against this background, the new Opel Vectra looks like a revolution suddenly - despite the many conceptual developments that have been demonstrated earlier and had similar design, no one until the last moment believed that Opel would decide to launch such an original model.
 
Nevertheless, this happened - in front of you is the new face of Opel. However, not only the face, but also everything else: this is exactly how or from now on and for the next ten years all new models of this brand will look. And Vectra is the first on this list. The final version of the Opel Signum universal has already been demonstrated, also having a characteristic design with an abundance of clear straight lines, the first spy photos of the new generation of Astra, whose debut was scheduled for 2004. I don’t know how successful and attractive this design is, but the fact that Vectra is remembered at first sight is a fact. The style, abundance of straight lines, and most importantly - almost complete departure from the style that Opel preached for decades. And although the general features can be found if you wish, and even quite a lot, in general, the new Vectra is not perceived as a heir to traditions. Personally, it reminds me of the chain mail of the Teutonic knights - powerful, but elegant, inspires, but does not bother, like huge SUVs. At the same time, Vectra is very photogenic, in every angle she has something to demonstrate, especially if the car has a suitable color. And this car, by the way, is suitable for almost any color. But even better, the new Opel looks after a little intervention of tuning specialists: in the corporate directory there is a photo of Vectra in the tuning of the IRMSCher court atelier - just incomparable! And only business - attached a small front spoiler in the DTM style ...
 
However, we will leave the right to discuss the beauty of the design of Opel Vectra to those who will actually be able to constantly see it - that is, owners. It is they who and only they have the right to decide whether their car is beautiful or not, and everyone else can only express their opinion on this subject. However, Vectra has enough competitors, and everything is very powerful, beautiful, well -equipped as the selection. But after a more thorough inspection of the camp of the enemy, I want to exclaim: and who are competitors? If we compare only in the class, the inner dimensions and configuration, then there are a couple of dozen of them. But what middle -class models are the same hot novelties as Opel Vectra? BMW new third series? Sorry, with all my respect for the Bavarians, this is just a restyling of a long -existing model. Nissan Primera? It is quite, but not every buyer will agree to drive in a car with such a design, and even with dealership some constant issues. According to most middle-class models that are sold in our market, a long time ago, the Feyslift is crying, and some rest in rest. And it seems that this provision will remain in the next six months to a year - the latest competitors are not yet visible on the horizon.
 
The salon, more precisely, the front panel and the central console, although they seem to be excessively correct and strict in the photo, are actually not at all loading with their brutality. And although the interior of the new Vectra does not shine with special designer delights, it is one of the most pleasant in its class: instead of pretentious shapes and various chips, the Germans rely on marginal functionality and harmony, and did not lose. Moreover, if such a style of interior design will soon migrate to other News of Opel, then customers will surely like it, and the VW will lose its main trump card - more chic than that of competitors, the salon. And although the cars of these brands are radically different in terms of design, common features can still be found: expensive materials, minimal, in places even missing gaps between panels, verified ergonomics. And if the VW is already honest, I had bored, and not everything in its interiors is so flawless as it seems, then the completely fresh salon of the new Vestra flaunts many interesting solutions. For example, in this car that is very rare now, there are convenient internal door handles for natural grip both in front and behind. I don’t know why, but most manufacturers ignore the need for the presence of this useful and convenient device in their models, preferring the purity of the lines. Most cars have only horizontal internal handles designed to close the door. For Opel, for the design of the internal door panels, you can put a separate five to the person who came up with the tongue of opening the door with a metal with a chrome coating. In general, the Vectra salon did not hit the general, but pleased: enough space on the rear seats, the door openings are wide, the assembly is very high quality. There are no branded chips like Baemwash I-Drive here, ergonomics experts managed to squeeze all the buttons into the central console and at the same time not to make it overloaded.
 
The ignition lock is unusually located - under the very steering wheel, directly at the bottom of the right -wing steering switch. This did not affect the convenience of use, but this movement of this device necessary for the car had a completely different goal. Namely, an increase in car safety. How? In fact, it turns out that it is probably practically no, but for the crash tests of the EURONCAP series this is just a vital necessity. The famous road safety institution, which annually conducts a series of crash tests of cars of various classes, is now in fashion both among consumers and among automobile publications. And although in fact many different organizations and even individual wealthy automotive publications are conducting their tests, breaking a huge number of new cars on concrete cube, it has recently been hearing this abbreviation - EURONCAP. They do not do anything special, they simply break on a special deformed steel obstacle to the car, and the blow goes with 50- or even with a 40 percent overlap, it falls on the left front of the car, as with a real collision of cars moving towards each other.
 
In the car, special mannequins stuffed with sensors are installed, and the crash test process itself is removed on a special video camera, which makes it possible to clearly track the entire process of destroying the car and the reason for the appearance of injuries in passenger manneques. After such a test, flights are analyzed, with a detailed study of damage, as well as the nature of mannequins injuries, and a verdict is made at the end - a car safety assessment in the form of points and stars. The safer the car, the more stars will be given to it and the more, respectively, buyers will pay attention to this model. The maximum rating is five stars, and so far only two models were able to get it - Renault Laguna II and Mercedes C -class.
 
Arithmetic is simple, like everyone else in this business, and automakers instantly cut off the situation: you will not achieve any advertising films and certificates to buyers in the safety of models, as after demonstrating the results of tests of an independent expert. I specifically took the word independent in quotation marks, because, in my opinion, many automakers began to prepare too zealously for this test, trying to earn the treasured five stars in any way, wiping their nose with competing models. No, in the independence and objectivity of EURONCAP experts, I am one hundred percent sure, if only because the results of the tests are vigilantly monitored by firms and competitors, and any unnoticed or unexcounted penalty will instantly be presented. The point is different, in the automakers themselves. The same Mercedes C -class received its prestigious five stars only on the second attempt - during the first he showed himself not very well. What suggests: is this modernization, called the increase in the level of security, just thorough preparation for this test. Taking into account all the errors, the designers made changes that allowed this model to break into the leaders. However, to Vectra, all this fuss with Euroncap has nothing to do with it: even despite the presence of a corporate party, which is cutting off when the pedal unit is hit, as well as a very seriously thought -out security zone, this car still failed to get the highest result - the judge gave Opel Vectra Only four stars. And the funny thing, among the shortcomings, noted the insufficient protection of the legs. You really don’t know where you will find and where you will lose. I was sure that if there were shortcomings, then in completely other areas.
 
The running qualities of German models, which have long been famous for their abilities for long -speed movement, have long been considered reference. The luxurious Lexus are trying to imitate the equally luxurious Mercedes-Benz with their habits, the creators of the drivership models are mandatory in the sight of BMW products, and everyone else, not so highly specialized brands, take an example from the rest of the Germans. And it seems that the creators of Korean, Italian, French and some Japanese models would not hurt to consider Opel Vectra as the standard of a family car. More precisely, its running qualities. This machine, created for high speeds, has quite balanced pendants: not rigid, but not lully soft. She tries to ignore the irregularities of the road, although the joints are transmitted to the body, which is especially felt in the back seats. We were not accelerated to high speeds, due to the lack of documents for a car, but its legal hundred, to which, according to passport data, Vectra with an automatic machine and a 2.2-liter gasoline engine accelerates in 10.8 seconds, it gains quite briskly. I would even say, assertively, especially in the first or second programs. Further, the acceleration rate is significantly reduced, which is strange in itself: there is a 5-speed automatic checkpoint, and, in theory, the transmission should be short enough. If necessary, the transmission can be switched on your own, forcibly holding this or that step - for this it is enough to reject the gearbox lever to the left of the position D. This does not add sharpness, but allows you to have a more predictable car: in the bend you will definitely know that the machine will not jump to the step up. By the way, even if you do not use the sports regime, then with very intense driving, the machine holds the transmission for a long time, allowing the tachometer to reach the red zone each time.
 
But in any case, this car can rather be called a comfortable than sports, which is unequivocally hinting at the incredibly stupid steering wheel - from the stop to the stop of more than four turns! And besides, he has nonlinear feedback: at high speeds, when the driver slightly turns the steering wheel, he has a very clear zero and has sufficient informativeness, but in tense turns the situation is much worse. If you like to go through the turns with a breeze, and even for the accompaniment of screeching tires, then you will have to hope only for your trained vestibular apparatus, as racers do: the closer to the extreme positions, the less informative the steering wheel becomes. But this, to be honest, is not the biggest drawback for a family car: in this case, the stability of behavior at high speeds and predictable behavior during emergency braking is much more important. By the way, if someday the stock of the brake road may not be enough, this will not be the last bright memory for the Vectra driver and passengers: the car is serial, that is, already in the cheapest basic versions, is equipped with a whole set of security tools. Firstly, there are active head restraints on the front seats, and secondly, ABS and the electronic distribution system of brake force, and as an option you can also add an electronic stabilization program and the Electronic Traction Control, which, if necessary, involves the engine and the brake system. And the base also has four air airbags: two front and two side, supplemented by pillows-bunks on all four windows. As you can see, with security here everything is Okay.
 
It’s in fact that it is difficult to choose a car, no matter how interesting and fascinating, it does not seem damn, especially when you yourself do not really know what you want specifically. Especially now, when each traditional class of cars accounts for two or three alternatives: mini and micro, parquet SUVs, sports station wagons, etc. But even if you definitely know that you want to purchase a regular passenger car of the middle class, this does not make the task of finding the best option. Each manufacturer, especially if we have a very active dealer, offers its interesting options - inexpensive, or with a good level of equipment, or generally with some unique features that are inherent only in this brand, such as Audi all -wheel drive. And if I had a choice: Ford Mondeo, Renault Laguna II, Citroeon C5, Audi A4, VW Passat, Mazda 6, Nissan Primera, or still a new (or new?) Vectra, I would be honest for a long time . Moreover,, as always, in his best traditions Opel offers a very attractive price for Belarusian buyers. There is a reason to think ...
 
SUBJECTIVE OPINION:
 
(+) A solid appearance, attractive cost, spacious interior, stylish interior, large trunk.
 
(-) Relatively weak standard equipment of the base version, sluggish accelerated dynamics in the version with an automaton.
 
Text: Pavel Kozlovsky
 

A source: Autogazet / N 37 (383) dated 10.23.02