irishcar.com - Opel's new Vectra first view

The Opel Vectra is famous for being excoriated by a particular UK motoring personality. And because he criticised it, many of his compatriot carscribes followed suit. Like a sheep following its mouth.

What the car is not so famous for is being the best-selling in Europe in its segment between 1995-1998. And for being doggedly reliable, reasonably economical to run, and not difficult to sell secondhand.

And there are several millions of Vectras out there performing faithfully, fusslessly trolleying families and business people around their various transportation needs.

The Vectra has been a very successful car, both for its GM maker and the people who bought the model.

So much for the mouth and its following sheep.

There’s a new Vectra upcoming. On sale in July for Ireland, though copies will make their public debut here in mid-March. And it changes the stakes in the segment, not just for GM but also for the competitors.

I’ve driven a few versions briefly. Not yet the key ones for the Irish market, but enough to get a promising view of the newcomer.

There will be two initially: a saloon and what they call a GTS, ‘a four-door with a tailgate’, aimed at a younger and more affluent market than the mid-50s male currently the median buyer of the car.

The saloon has rather classic lines, with a strong look to it. The C-pillar area is where it has been carefully shaped to keep the faith with the current customer base. It is almost formal. The GTS ‘glasshouse’ extends further back and has a more sweeping roofline. Trim will be different too, and fittings like seats and steering wheel will have a more sporty design.

The car isn’t the largest in its class on the outside, but Opel are claiming it probably is the best packager of people against the competition. Certainly it feels big inside - I felt immediately that I might be driving an Omega.

The seats were large and comfortable, and the car showed ample space front and rear for a full load of occupants.

The 4-spoke wheel fronts a strong (this is the word that keeps cropping up in the sense of this car) set of white-on-black dials, and in the middle of the dash there’s a good large screen for info and entertainment management. The now-familiar Opel anthracite centre stack with its cluster of info controls and large switchgear is a key part of the family ‘feel’. A rib of wood- or techno-effect material the full width of the dash adds strength (again!) to the overall ambiance.

There’ll be more detail on all this when we get to test the car in Ireland, in its local specification. Meantime, there’s a gallery of safety and handling goodies standard right across the range, including an airbag set which incorporates full-size side curtains front and rear.

The electronic stability programme has an ESP-Plus designation that indicates how it can apply brakes on up to three wheels when getting the car out of some operator-applied bother. The ABS includes a cornering brake control, EPD, and brake assistant.

The car’s design also has a number of screwed-on ‘crash boxes’ under the body which are designed to make repairs easier, leading to an overall lowering of running costs in the new Vectra.

Service intervals of up to 30,000km or two years also keep costs down. This is achieved by, among other things, the development of an oil specifically for the car. And those of us who served nobly in the skinned-knuckle brigade just shake our heads in wonder at the eight-year interval between spark plug changes.

The engines for Ireland will be 1.8-, 2.2- and 3.2-litre petrol, and a 2-litre turbodiesel. The 5-speed manual and automatic gearboxes will be augmented later this year by a CVT electronic auto-manual for the 1.8-litre, and a six-speed manual. A direct injection petrol engine is also on the cards.

Other derivatives of the Vectra next year include a taller Signum and an estate with capacity that rivals the current Omega wagon.

So, how did it all feel? Well, on good Spanish roads it felt great, and the 2.2-litre petrol and diesel cars we could try were smooth and powerful. There was some Irish criticism of the fact that there won’t be a 1.6 petrol, but frankly, I don’t think it would do anything for the new, bigger car. And the lack of a 1.6 has done no damage to the current Mondeo sales in Ireland.

Everything is all growed up a bit, you see. Just like this new Vectra. And the mouth and its following sheep will just have to move to another part of the mountain for its favourite bitter grass.