2006 Vauxhall Vectra SRi ( nav ) from UK and Ireland - Comments

Slight frustrating steering wheel vibration between 70-80mph, but apart from that, all fine. Still almost new.

Solid build with a air of quality makes this car a pleasure to live with. I needed a family sized motor which didn't advertise I had a young family and required a bit of fun too!

Cdti diesel is both effortless and quick and strangely out performs my previous 9-3 with same engine unit.? Torque and power amazing for a 1.9, 6 spd box helps return 50mpg + on motorway runs, whilst balanced sport set up on this Sri provides comfortable reassuring handling on the fast twisty A roads.

Cabin quality and comfort all excellent, to be honest, a notch up from my Saab in my opinion!.

Loads of room coupled with vast boot (hatch), accomodates the entire family with ease and comfort.

Ride firm, but not hard or harsh, noticeable road noise at motorway speeds though.

Equipment levels, audio system and Nav all 1st rate.. plenty of "Kit" and subtle body kit styling all very pleasing on the eye without obvious boy racer statement.

I found this car hard to beat in the market, considering it's price, a true family quality mile muncher which provides a fast fun sporty driving experience when asked of it!

Just wish my dealer would acknowledge the slight steering wheel vibration though.. had the tracking,wheels and tyres checked twice now & can't find an obvious problem.. anyone else experiencing this or can offer advice?

It's a process of elimination, but Vectra's are known for being hard to balance right.. and most quick-fit centres don't seem to get it right. From my own experience, what l assumed was vibration coming from a front wheel turned out to be a back wheel.

Source for following information:

http://www.forum.vectra-c.com/

One approach is to:

1. get the tracking sorted

2. swop the wheels (rotate front to back etc)

3. balance the front wheels.

Many people using wheel balancers haven't got a clue how to operate them properly. With even the most basic digital balancer they need to be calibrated once a month or so. A good tyre depot keeps a wheel they know is perfectly balanced just for this.

They should always input the rim width and the size of the wheel being balanced. They should then select whether they are using knock on weights on the rims or self adhesive weights. This is done on the control panel.

A good fitter will balance to 0 grams. A bad fitter will balance to +/- 5 grams which is within tolerances. The biggest single mistake that is made is counter balancing. They add weight where told to do so by the machine and check the wheel. They then find it still isn't balanced so they add more weight where told to do so etc etc. They end up with weight everywhere. A good fitter will move the original weight a fraction around/in/out on the rim and will achieve perfect balance. Watch next time your wheel is balanced and see which category your tyre fitter falls into!

Good luck.

Many thank's!!.. Watch this space, will be interesting to see if my local VX main dealer gets it right!

Update... All sorted and now all fine, as it should be!.. up to 130mph (ssshhh) with no hint of a wobble, vibration or judder. Thank's to the lads at "National tyre" centre, Mere Green, Sutton Coldfield who, incidentally, balanced the front wheels to "0" grams as you suggested a good fitter should, and found to be +15 grams out on the n/s/f.. no wonder I was having problems. Shame on two Vauxhall main dealers, I won't mention, who failed to diagnose this correctly, and insisted there was no fault!!.. my thank's again for the advice.

I love my Vectra, I call her Vicki.