Long established as the face of the marque, Vauxhall’s Griffin will be given a new look for 2008. The new incarnation follows the rapid progress Vauxhall has made in vehicle design and overall brand perception in recent years, underpinned by the success of both Astra and Corsa models.
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The Opel/Vauxhall Meriva Concept, due to be unveiled next week at the 78th International Motor Show in Geneva (March 6 – 16, 2008), illustrates how the new Opel/Vauxhall design language can be adapted to create bold, fresh design solutions for this segment.
* World premiere: FlexDoors make monocabs more comfortable, versatile and safer
* Design: Dynamic lines with no concessions in practicality
* Lifestyle: Exit the rear of the car in style
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With five doors and five seats, the new Opel Agila is not only as practical as its predecessor, which sold over 440,000 units, but now also boasts a much more agile and dynamic design. The new Opel mini-monocab makes its market premiere in spring 2008, with prices starting from 9,990 euros (Germany). It boasts balanced proportions, soft curves and a distinctive side graphic. Its passengers still sit high and upright, but the roofline has been dynamically lowered and now blends into a smooth arc toward the rear. This helps create the Agila’s aerodynamic drag coefficient of 0.32 - a relatively low figure for a vehicle of this size. The urban car is now twenty centimeters longer, six centimeters wider, but seven centimeters lower than its predecessor.
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Britain’s best-selling MPV has just got even better!
With some styling changes, a new trim level and equipment upgrades, the class-leading Vauxhall Zafira looks set to further increase its popularity in the UK market.
Vauxhall will be throwing open the doors of its Heritage Centre to mark the annual ‘Drive it Day’ celebration of classic motoring on Sunday, April 20.
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* Vision of GM’s future small monocab
* Design cues from other concepts including GTC Coupe and Flextreme
* Due to be unveiled on March 4th
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Three-day test drive survey reveals the romantic side of business drivers
Love is in the air for company car drivers according to a survey conducted by GM Fleet, the UK’s leading provider of company cars. GM’s latest research revealed that given the choice of drivers would use the GM Fleet three-day test drive of a vehicle from any one of the group’s marques for a romantic getaway. General Motors is the only vehicle manufacturer in the UK to offer such an extensive evaluation period for company car drivers and fleet operators.
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Low emissions and an affordable price tag mean Vauxhall’s New Agila is set to be hot in the city when it arrives in showrooms in April.
Available to order from early next year, the compact but flexible newcomer benefits from tax-busting CO2 figures of just 120g/km on both the entry-level petrol and diesel engines, meaning it will fall into VED Band B – the cost of a tax disc being just £35 a year!
Adding to its affordability, Agila will cost from only £7,595 when it arrives. Three trim levels will be on offer, all with impressive levels of standard equipment, plus the added advantage of the car’s incredibly versatile interior layout.
Small enough to be manoeuvrable into tight parking spaces, but with five doors and five full-size seats with three-point belts as standard, Agila benefits from enough luggage space to rival cars in the class above, providing plenty of room for the busiest of lifestyles.
The clever design allows for plenty of storage space inside and the tall roofline provides an airy, spacious feel. It also allows a high seating position, making it easy to get in and out of the Agila and ensure good visibility even in heavy urban traffic.
For those occasions when owners need to carry furniture rather than friends, the rear seat backs can be folded down to create a completely flat load floor on all but the entry-level model. In total the new Agila has a luggage capacity of 1050 litres – among the best in this sector.
To complement the dynamic looks and all-new chassis, the Agila will offer three new engines and an automatic gearbox will be available for the first time. Petrol units include a 1.0-litre three-cylinder unit developing 65PS and an 85PS 1.2, the latter of which will be available with optional automatic transmission. Vauxhall’s award-winning 1.3CDTi diesel will also be on offer, delivering excellent performance from its 75PS while sipping fuel.
There are plenty of hot hatches on the market, but it’s the Astra VXR that’s the undisputed Ring leader…
And to prove it, Vauxhall has pulled the wraps off the Nürburgring edition, named after the car’s spiritual home, where much of its pre-production development was carried out.
Based on the standard Astra VXR and priced at £20,995, each individually numbered Nürburgring edition will come with an exclusive all-white paint finish and lightweight white 18-inch alloy wheels, equipped with bespoke Dunlop tyres, are also specified. Other exterior features include dark tinted windows, carbon fibre effect mirrors and B-pillars and distinctive chequered flag body graphics, to further emphasise the car’s incredible performance.
Mechanically similar to the standard VXR, the Nürburgring Edition produces 240PS in factory tune, giving it the ability to accelerate from 0-60mph in 6.2 seconds and on to an electronically-limited top speed of 155mph. Each UK-specification car will also come provided with a Remus Sports Exhaust, developed with Vauxhall’s BTCC race team, Triple-Eight Race Engineering.
Like the standard car, the Nürburgring Edition benefits from a six-speed manual gearbox and lowered, uprated VXR suspension with ESP as standard. Ventilated 321mm diameter disc brakes at the front and 278mm diameter discs at the back help slow things down, while blue-painted callipers remain a VXR trademark.
The Nürburgring Edition theme continues inside, with carbon fibre detailing on the door trims and fascia, leather trim with the Nürburgring circuit graphic embossed into the unique Recaro front seat backrests and an individually numbered plaque showing each car’s build number.
In fact, the only thing it doesn’t come with is one of those Nürburgring bootlid stickers you can buy when you do a lap of the circuit. Such a shame, as it means you’ll have to drive it there and buy one yourself.
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