Rob
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Post by Rob on Feb 26, 2017 0:26:27 GMT
I am often coasting in the A3 in stop-stop traffic with the engine at idle. But I've done comparisons before and turned off coasting and it's hit and miss if it makes a difference.
I've been happy enough with the MPG over 2+ years for a petrol DSG car.
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Post by lygonos on Feb 26, 2017 8:44:49 GMT
An EV coasting is using virtually no power at all and has no motor drag. If range was an issue to me I'd certainly be looking at small petrol turbo ICE, or plug-in hybrid/range extender tech - a Tesla wold be super but I couldn't justify £60k+ for an insurance group 50 car... Speaking of range-extender tech, have a look at Vx Amperas on autotrader - they're almost all big milers (60-100k miles on 4-5yr old cars) so reliability/functionality must be decent. www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?make=VAUXHALL&model=AMPERA |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2017 9:10:27 GMT
An EV coasting is using virtually no power at all and has no motor drag. If range was an issue to me I'd certainly be looking at small petrol turbo ICE, or plug-in hybrid/range extender tech - a Tesla wold be super but I couldn't justify £60k+ for an insurance group 50 car... Speaking of range-extender tech, have a look at Vx Amperas on autotrader - they're almost all big milers (60-100k miles on 4-5yr old cars) so reliability/functionality must be decent. www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?make=VAUXHALL&model=AMPERAYeah, I fancy an Ampera, it would really suit my daily routine. Or a Chevy Volt (same thing). Will think about them next time I get the urge.
Seems odd to me they've been binned by Vx without a replacement model.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Feb 27, 2017 10:24:50 GMT
Is it? Draw a Venn of the respective sets of Vauxhall buyers and forward thinkers. How's that looking?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2017 10:48:53 GMT
Perhaps I am mistaken but a real forward thinker, to my mind, wouldn't be overly bothered about a badge.
It seems odd that GM put so much in to this car, only to cut off development and improvement of the type there, whilst other manufacturers take it forward. Maybe they're up to something I haven't spotted yet.
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Post by lygonos on Feb 27, 2017 14:02:36 GMT
GM is marketing the Ampera-e in Europe with no plans for RHD variants.
It is basically a badge-engineered Chevy Bolt which is a pure EV with 200+ mile range.
The range-extender GM product (confusingly called the Chevy Volt) won't be coming to Europe or RHD after the dismal sales of the original Ampera.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2017 14:06:54 GMT
Ah. Boo hiss to UK car buyers then, but still curious that they don't want to compete here when electric vehicles are being introduced more widely by BMW, VW etc.
A 200+ mile range car is surely a winner, given the success of the cripplingly expensive Teslas.
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Avant
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Post by Avant on Feb 27, 2017 15:33:42 GMT
You can't blame GM for canning the RHD Ampera (although you can for producing boring, bland Vauxhalls). People just didn't buy enough of them in the UK.
As I've said before:
EVs are at their best in cities and towns.
Most people living in cities and town centres have to park on the street.
How would those people charge their EVs?
Until someone finds a way of charging EVs in the same time that it takes to fill a car's petrol or diesel tank - or alternatively the price of plug-in hybrids is reduced to a sensible level - these cars will always be niche products.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2017 18:16:15 GMT
I guess Vauxhalls must have gone down hill.
I've always rather liked them, though the last one I had was, I think, an Omega from the early 00s.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Feb 27, 2017 18:49:51 GMT
The Omega was a proper piece of engineering and is long gone. Vauxhalls now sell to those who long for a lost (and imaginary) England but can't afford even a secondhand Jaguar.
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Post by Humph on Feb 27, 2017 19:18:31 GMT
I've always wanted to like Vauxhalls. Even bought a few over the years. They all, sadly without exception, ended up being a disappointment when compared to the other mainstream cars I've had. Poor quality, brittle trim, dodgy reliability and mediocre dynamics. Pity really, some of them looked quite nice, again when compared to their direct competitors of the time.
The modern Astra ( GTC is it? ) coupe-ish thing anyway, looks as pretty as a pretty thing, but I'd be reluctant to buy one based on past experiences of the brand.
Their most obvious competitor is Ford, whose styling department apparently use somewhat blunter pencils in the main, but whose engineering and dynamics, is in my view anyway, so very much better.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2017 20:56:40 GMT
Shame. I had a Vectra in Caracas, must have been around 98. One of the go faster V6 things. Really well equipped, really nice to drive and bloody good aircon. Years ago I had a Astra GTE, the roundy one, not the pointy one. That was great as well.
My first ever grown up and new car was a Cavalier I think. I remember that very fondly. Though I admit that might be biased given the crap I was driving immediately before it.
I haven't loved a European Ford since my MKIII Cortina.
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Post by tyrednexited on Feb 27, 2017 21:40:28 GMT
My first ever grown up and new car was a Cavalier I think. I remember that very fondly. Though I admit that might be biased given the crap I was driving immediately before it. This would have been '83. It was a 2-door 1600 saloon, quite good looking in its own way (much more so than the 4-door). I also remember it fondly. It followed a Chevette which, though it did some things pretty well, was also both unreliable and a rot-box. Haven't really been tempted by a Vauxhall since.  ...having only seen the Opel (Ascona) version, the locals were quite intrigued by the front end. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2017 9:20:07 GMT
Vauxhalls are like Peugeots, they're more sold on the merits of their financing schemes than the merits of the actual vehicles. Maybe that's why PSA want to buy Vauxhall/Opel from GM, or at least maybe why they think it's a good fit. Omega was indeed their last real goodie. Fords are better cars IMHO, my last ones were very good - Galaxy, MkII Mondeo. In the mid-30s now in terms of numbers of cars owned, still never had a Vauxhall............
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Post by Hofmeister on Feb 28, 2017 9:47:30 GMT
With GM Europe cars, the root of the problem is American
GM came to the " build global cars" party with all the other large makers, but then went on to interpret that as " The American way is best". So we got thinly disguised mass market American cars, which as we all know are shit in every department. Ford used the global platform to move American cars up a notch.
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