Omega - The last word from Vauxhall! (Vauxhall Omega CDX 2.5TD 4-door Saloon)

Member Name: firemanspam

Product:	Vauxhall Omega CDX 2.5TD 4-door Saloon
Date:	27/11/08 (339 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A good solid economic car.

Disadvantages: Weight.

OK we will now have a review on the saloon car pictured, hang on, that's an estate! No matter, we all make mistakes, that's why there are rubbers on the end of pencils! : )

The saloon, as well as the estate version, is powered by the solid reliable BMW Turbocharged Diesel engine, this is a 2.5 litre straight six. The engine was sourced by Vauxhall as a stop gap, because their version was not ready in time. The decision was a good one for anyone buying the car, because you get a quality BMW engine that is tried and tested, and was actually better than the Vauxhall unit that replaced it.

This was available with a manual or fully automatic gearbox, which was fitted with an "S for sport" button, this holds the car in lower gears for longer, giving that much more power. OK there is not that much of an increase of power, the engine revs higher, but the acceleration is still not the best for a car like this. The car actually weighs some one point seven Tonnes, so even with this 2.5 litre lump, the power to weight ratio is not that good.

Having a heavy car with a decent engine, coupled to an auto box, gives a brilliant tow car, and the torque is fantastic, it is torque that pulls the car up hills, not power, so this car just keeps climbing no mater what it's carrying or pulling.

Vauxhall factoids:-
The company celebrated its Centenary in 2003. & have been making cars and vans for a considerable amount of time.

The suspension was uprated from the pre-facelift models, and the ride is a lot smoother.
The exhaust is rather weird, it goes all the way from the engine as two pipes, then just before it becomes a tailpipe, it goes into one! I feel it would be more efficient to stick with a twin ppe system all the way, and look better too.

As for the build quality, it is very good, the cars were built in the Opel factory in Russelsheim in Germany. Opel has a very good name in quality control and build quality.

Economy is not bad for a vehicle of this weight. I get over fifty on a run, although in stop start town driving it can drop to as little as 25!
For carrying capacity, the boot is very good, the rear seat folds down, so you can load long items, although the car has a "Ski hatch too. The front passenger seat backrest also drops down too, this makes it even more practical, you could load a Grandfather clock no problem.

Roadholding is good, comfort first class, and for a Diesel, the car is quiet and vibration free.

OK now for the factory fitted extras, or luxury kit, also known as "Toys":-
Electrically operated mirrors, also heated and colour coded.
Radio, Cassette player (Yes some of us still use them) plus CD with 4 disc autochanger. The radio has RDS and eight speakers.
Tinted windows.
Climate control, yes Air conditioning PLUS a sunroof.
Remote boot release.
Heated reclining and height adjustable front seats.
Xenon Headlights, automatically adjustable.
Adjustable leather steering wheel with audio controls.
Adjustable seat belt height.
Alloy wheels.
Speedsensitive power steering.
Colour coded side strips and bumpers.
Remote keyfob so you can lock and unlock the car, or open the boot from as much as twenty feet away!
There is a lot of spec to these cars, check them out, and compare with your own car, considering these were designed in the late eighties, they are pretty much up to date.

Vauxhall do of course have a very good website, see it here:- http://www.vauxhall.co.uk
You will find all the boring spec here, plus a lot of interesting stuff too.
The depreciation on these care was something terrible! Which means they lost most of their money in the first two or three years, so you can get yourself a real bargain second hand. You have no option of buying new anyway, because they stopped making these more's the pity.

Contact details for Vauxhall here:-
Head office
Griffin House
Osborne Road
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU1 3YT

Tel: 01582 721122
Fax: 01582 427400

Having owned three Omegas, I can highly recommend these.

Summary: A luxury car for Mondeo money

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