With the diesels I've had over the years the rumblings it had would normally say to me a clutch wearing and perhaps a dodgy glo plug but apparently there was nothing wrong it. Despite the fact at 2000 RPM it coughs noticeably and this got worse as time went on giving the car a definate shudder as it coughed past 2k.
Anyway it's gone and out comes a hire car, they bring me an Insignia SRi.
First impressions "ohhh it's an SRi", however the moment I drove it these soon left my thoughts.
First of all it was very under powered but at 900 miles the engine switched into working mode and seemed to work a bit better.
However this also triggered a massive change in the fuel economy.
Before the 900 mile trigger it was giving about 32-33mpg which (on the work run) wasn't far off the 36.7 the VW said it was giving.
Now however I'm getting 23.5 which is pretty shocking, this is driving it as gently as I can and trundling along as carefully as possible. With my diesels it was just a case of driving how I liked and the forgiving diesel obliged.
The ride is pretty crap to say the least, this seems to be a 1.6 turbo (petrol) but no idea really as Vauxhall seem to hide the info on the web site.
It has literally no power until the turbo kicks in which is quite high on the revs, it will then lurch forwards for a couple of thousand revs before working through the gears like crazy.
The power steering seems electric like most cars lately but you feel quite disconnected from the road, it twitches and skitters about like there are marbles under the front wheels. Quite often you come into a bend and suffer terrible oversteer, other times on the same bend it hugs the corner trying to strip the paint off the bodywork.
Most reasonable diesels seem to have little difficulty in beating it off the mark and keeping well ahead of it, in fact this morning as an example at 40mph and in 4th gear (trying to squeeze some economy) a car in front accelerate for the hill ahead, the little R reg Corsa 1.2 pulled away, I put my foot down and nothing, no increase, no extra Rev's, nothing at all. Eventually it started to increase very slowly, got to 3k revs and the turbo kicks in. It lurches forwards then and I gradually caught the Corsa up.
The fuel computer registers 23.1 at this point so what's the purpose of this piece of crap under the bonnet?
Equipment is dull to the point of almost not bothering, it has lots of shiny things when you get in but basically its got a CD radio, cruise control, auto lights (which are pretty annoying and a waste of time), front and rear fog lights and I'm running out of things to say.
No bluetooth, no sat nav, no funky display, nothing.
I did notice a red LED light in the door pocket (yawn), white MPG dials (not a patch on the Toyota instruments) and apparently I can factory reset the car from the on board menus.
Ah yes, it also has climate control which I can only think was designed by someone without a head. You get in, in the morning and start the engine, press the windscreen button and it fires the fan to level 5 - I didn't ask it so off I go in the menu's and tell it not to.
I drive along and decide to pop the air to the ... ah I can't have windscreen and something else so I have to pick feet, head vents and something else I can't work out so I pick two of them and within minutes the rear window mists up.
A quick press of the Windscreen button and yup the fan comes on force factor 5 - it's soooooo annoying.
Turn the radio volume and ahhh that's not the volume, you would assume the large knob in the middle of the radio was volume ? nope it brings up a digital version of a radio tuner, Jesus H Christ this is really their idea of technology ?
Saving stations is tedious due to the poor layout of controls, no ability to link my phone to the car, the fan pops on full again, for Gods sake just catch fire and end the misery.
Driving along the steering wheel is a strange shape and size, quite uncomfortable to grip over long distances, the cruise control gives no feedback if its working or not, on the VW it showed engaged and the actual speed set. On this it lights up green or white then sits there with the car doing pretty much what it wants.
I can't see the lighting switch, as usual on a Vauxhall they obscure this with the right hand of the steering wheel, something they designed in many years ago and they obviously decide it's fine in Germany where it's Left hand drive.
No idea what the lighting is set to, I can't adjust the headlight leveling as I can't see the control and I can't adjust the dashboard level as I have no idea where that control is.
The handbrake was never a favorite on the VW, in Devon it showed true witchcraft and with the possibly failing cluth the VW actually went backwards down some hills instead of pulling off. With this car it's a shocking piece of work.
A tiny switch where the handbrake would be, pull it up and with a tinny whirrrrrr the brake engages, it takes several seconds. The VW was a press of the LARGE button on the right side of the steering wheel and BOOOM it was on, time to engate almost nothing.
Get in the Insignia in the morning and it will not disengage until I've tried pulling off 3 or 4 times, hmm brake lock anyone ?
The VW was accelarate and go.
Compared to the electric handbrake in the VW it's truly shit.
Comfort is OK, nothing to write home about, boot space very good, perhaps worth filling it with petrol or a spare engine?
In this day of economy and emissions to make a car with such shit performance and economy beggars belief, Vauxhall appear to have no idea, it pulls off from lights with a whimper, until the turbo kicks in it has nothing to offer, then your racing up the gears with the car scurrying along and not feeling like your having a good time.
Although the Astra SRi was diesel I reflect back that it was far more fun to drive, you pressed the Sports button and it automatically called the nearest hospital to book you in. With this car you touch the throttle and it thanks you by costing twice the price to run than a diesel.
I've tried to like it, I've done almost 1000 miles in it, I will be ringing the hire company tomorrow and seeing what else they have. In fairness even my Shogun 3.6 petrol didn't do less than this to the gallon and that was awsome to drive.
If your thinking of buying one hire one first, see how much fuel you pour in and that should put you off.
As for my new car, the Audi dealer was OK but the car was duller than a dull day in dull town, literally dull dull dull. Nipper sat in the back and said "it's crap", the Mercedes dealer said "I think there's one over there somewhere, it might be the same but not sure" and simply couldn't be bothered to talk to me, so on that basis I won't have a Mercedes even if it's awsome.
The BMW dealer on the other hand (Stratstones Chesterfield) treated me like a person, let me look around as much as I wanted, showed me the differences between models, gave us all a cup of tea, spent time talking to us and genuinely made the effort to simply treat us like normal people.
When you look and see the Audi dealer probably had 100 people in it (on a Saturday), the BMW dealer the same, Mercedes had .... 2 people in it ! I think that explains what's up.
I've ordered the BMW and if their service is as good as the day I went in then I won't have any problems.
I'm sure the Audi would have been OK but one colleague said the interior is like dating day at the morgue, it's grey and dull with a lifeless console.
I sat in the BMW and it felt great, nice seating, nice control position and apparently goes like stink.
