2006 Vauxhall Vectra SRi from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing.. yet!

I am truly amazed by this car!

Let me explain.. I have just given back a Saab 9-3 Vector Sport Tid to be replaced by this car.. yeah I know " the tarted up VECTRA" sharing the same floor plan, GM epsilon etc etc.. but I have to say 3 Months on.. This re styled reworked latest version of the Vectra should be known as the "tarted up 9-3" in my opinion, even though at list, it is almost £5k cheaper.

So it may not have that street or badge presence some may say.. but with the lowered sports suspension, subtle bodykit and dual branch tale pipes, it's no plane Jane to look at, and the good news continues..

It has a much better quality feel inside the cab, materials used are not distant from Audi, driving environment 1st class, ergonomics a joy, fantastic supportive multi adjustable seats, all the saftey kit required and unlike the Saab.. a truly decent quality audio system! (with excellent nav thrown in)

The road handling is supberb, good feedback from the steering and yet it also provides a hushed, smooth and relaxed ride.. a great balance.

Power is plentyful.. this 2.2 litre 6 speed sprints 0-60 in about 8.5 seconds and on to 135mph.. and on the motorway in 6th, 85-90 mph at just over 3000 revs, with the kind of torque experience you would expect from a diesel!

As yet, no annoying rattles and sqeaks from the interior, just laods of driving pleasure.. which also holds the entire family with ease and has a boot big enough for all your weekend kit and a mountain bike.

Well done Vauxhall.. a quality, great looking quick and comfortable sports saloon which doubles as family transport.

Should have a Saab badge on the back eh?

I agree.

At last a Vectra which deserves praise and some good press!

I have the same vehicle.. very quick, refined, quiet and oozes quality everywhere.

My only very small niggle is the lack of storage in the front cabin.. but that is all!

It looks great and returns well over 38-40 to the gallon, even with motorway abuse. (USE Optimax Fuel. a good tip.)

Incidentally, I chose this car after test driving a 9-3 over 48hrs.. and put the change in my pocket.. I agree it is a better all round car!..

Totally agree, the one I have 2.2 sri direct auto hatch, look and drives awesome, i love it to bits, always looking for an excuse to drive it.

I hired an SRi for a week having been given the choice of other similar sized cars at the hire depot. The car looked awesome in shiny black, resembling some form of stealth car.

Unfortunately, the drive was not as equally impressive as the looks. I found the road noise excessive on motorways and was forever trying to turn up the radio to drown it out. This in turn brought out the poor performance of the audio system.

The suspension was way too stiff and we felt every bump and with the UK full of speed humps and poorly maintained road surfaces it became a sheer pain in the neck.

The kids complained about the seating in the back and on examination I noticed that the seats lacked any shape or lumbar support.

But of all my grumbles I'd have to say the manual gearchange was the worst I have ever experienced. The engine loves to rev, but the gearbox will not change gear when you do so. Even at a standstill I found the syncromesh non existent going into reverse.

I hear that this is a huge improvement on previous vauxhalls and if this is the case I dread to think what the older versions were like. We changed the car for a Renault Megane 1.6 for the rest of the holiday and found a huge improvement in all these areas.

So I'm sorry Vauxhall, in my opinion you still have a long way to go.

.. I find it hard to understand the above comments with reference to the audio system.. It is simply one of the best sounding standard fit units available.. the sound quality is

fantastic!.. I hope other 2006 Vectra drivers agree?

With regard to the other comments.. You were driving the SRI

variant..what do you expect!!!...The harder, stiffer, lowered sports suspension coupled with wide low profile shoes is not designed for soft mushy wafty motorway work.. but for what the model name suggests!!!.. The Exclusiv or Design models would not cause complaint in the areas you mentioned.

The interior is a big improvement over the Vectras of old, but you clearly haven't been in a recent Audi if you think it's in that league. It isn't.

No one suggested the interior was in the same league as an Audi.. the comments referred to the quality of materials used.. and the words.." not too distant from.."

I drive an Audi A4.. my partner a new model Vectra Design. I can't see huge step up on interior quality on the Audi from the Vauxhall!!!.. Comparing to an Audi A6 or the higher spec A4'S then no contest... But like for like in terms of price on both vehicles.. the Vectra represents better value for money.. and has better equipment levels too.

2006 vectra sri is just awesome in all areas, it is fantastic car, latest shape sri looks a wicked beast. I just love the ride.

I drive a 2006 SRI 150 cdti.. and I am very impressed with it as a total package.. and by coincidence only, my previous car was a 2004 A4, which was a great car with little problems to write about, but this Vectra is by no way the disappointment compared to what I was expecting!

This car feels so solid, and yes, the material quality of the interior, fit and finish, design and ambiance could be compared with it's German rivals, just the colour choices maybe let it down (grey, black etc).

I love the cars looks, driving environment, space, quality feel and equipment levels, but am disappointed about the lack of rear electric windows on this SRI model.. a trade off for big alloys and extra body styling, lowered suspension and "sports" set up, but for the price tag, not a major problem because I sit in the front!

As for performance, truly outstanding from this 1.9 turbo diesel.. amazing in fact. From 0-60 to mid range torque, the power available is effortless and smooth and would put many 2.0ltr petrol engines to shame, evidence of which I experience consistently on the motorway sprinting from 70-100mph in seconds, in sixth gear!. The fuel economy is equally impressive.. on average returning well over 500+ miles to a tank, even when worked hard.

OK, I would agree that the road noise is a little excessive at speed, but can accept and expect this because of the 18 inch low profiles.. the ride a little hard on the Motorway.. but the handling characteristics on the A roads more than makes up for this, which as someone pointed out, the SRI is all about.

The sound quality from the audio system is way better than you would expect, excellent in fact, and the Navigation system, controls and display one of the best I have come across.

As I mentioned, for the money, this car does it all and won't disappoint as a total package...Well done Vauxhall, you have definitely NOT got a long way to go to improve on this!.

I had a loan sri cdti 16v for a while, and covered many miles as an account manager up and down the county. My own car (Mondeo Ghia) was in dock following a small argument with a concrete post!. I have to admit, as a Mondeo ownwer, that I was very impressed with this latest Vectra. so much so that I would now consider choosing one (sorry Ford!).

I liked the effortless power and torque from the 150ps engine, and found the ride firm, but reassuring. The build and quality feel was first class, driving ergonomics a pleasure and always finished a long journey refreshed and ache free.

Many quality touches were evident that I would not have expected from this " rep mobile".. the sound system and navigation was excellent, seats supportive, criuse control as standard and rear wipers activating when selecting reverse (if fronts on) was a nice touch!

Good family car too.. my children loved it, no sick bags required and it looked " WICKED"- quote my 11 year old son.

(I have to agree on this one)

I did however find the road noise more than I would have expected at speed. the noise coming from the rear, almost if a rear door seal was missing, or the window was not quite shut, but this is my only niggle (along with some more storage in the door bins required)

So a good all round car that impressed me as someone who covers many miles and spends too much time behind a wheel.

A year ago, I was a car salesman, I'm not now, because I hated it. But a large manufacturer was releasing a massively updated and revamped hatch/saloon car or large family car, basically after all the training, we got to drive the new car as well as rover 75's, mondeo's and a host of other simlar cars... the vectra sri they had was class, to the trainers astonishment, the votes were counted, and the vectra came out top, by far!

Now I'm buying one, an 06 model 2.2direct sri nav, getting it friday or saturday, so i'll keep you posted.

The road noise comes from the boot area which is poorly insulated. The saloon does not suffer so much, you can add more insulation to the boot and this helps.