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First Drive: 2014 Opel Cascada [Review]

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#1 ·
First Drive: 2014 Opel Cascada [Review]
Left Lane News
By Ronan Glon
Wednesday, Oct 22nd, 2014

What is it?
The Cascada is noticeably bigger than its compact predecessor. It stretches 184 inches long, 72 inches wide and 58 inches tall, dimensions that make it about the same size as the Verano. It's rather portly at 3,750 pounds in its lightest configuration - for the sake of comparison the Verano tips the scale at 3,300 pounds.

Life Aboard
The center console, the dashboard and the instrument cluster were all carried over from the Golf-fighting Astra hatchback with only minor modifications as far as aesthetics go. However, the Cascada serves as Opel's de facto flagship and the company made a conscious effort to ensure the interior reflects the car's positioning.

On the Road
Quiet and smooth on all road surfaces, the Cascada is a refined all-arounder that is one of the best topless daily drivers out there. The transmission shifts with an exceptional smoothness when left in drive and the car is stable enough on the highway to make 80 mph feel like 50.

Leftlane's Bottom Line
There are plenty of sun-worshippers out there who want to go topless without spending big bucks or getting a loud engine with a large displacement.

In that regard the Cascada ticks many of the right boxes. It certainly isn't a sports car but it provides a satisfying, wind-in-your-hair driving experience while remaining practical enough to use on a daily basis.

*Full Article at Link
 
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#3 · (Edited)
If the same car had Saab badge, they would sell a few thousand more of those nice convertibles. European customers are funny. I don't get it. The worse thing is GM does not get it at all.

BTW.

I wanted to have a real-life look at Cascada. It appeared that 2 out of 3 biggest Opel dealers don't offer their Halo-car that is supposed to draw customers to Opel showrooms.
 
#4 ·
The Cascada is noticeably bigger than its compact predecessor. It stretches 184 inches long, 72 inches wide and 58 inches tall, dimensions that make it about the same size as the Verano. It's rather portly at 3,750 pounds in its lightest configuration - for the sake of comparison the Verano tips the scale at 3,300 pounds./I]


If this is the car that becomes the Regal's companion, why would we want something noticeably smaller than the Regal to be a Regal? Skylark works for me, but don't worry...if it comes here they'll either call it a Verano or give it some other name.
 
#9 ·
The Cascada is based on and Astra not and Insignia so it was never going to be as big as a Regal. but it is my understanding that it is slightly longer than Astra/Verano on which it is based.

I like the Skylark name too! My Uncle gave me his 1964 Buick Skylark Convertible when I graduated from Highschool in "83. It was black with red interior. Sadly it needed a lot of work and as a college kid I had zero money for fixing up a car.
 
#8 ·
Yay for Poland-made!
When it comes stateside as Buick, it will be cheaper there than in dealership next to it's Polish factory. Yay for European Union! :fall:

And I still have sentiment for 9-3 vert. Maybe a little dated, but choosing between Saab and new Cascada. Tough choice.
 
#13 ·
With Audi, Mercedes and BMW convertibles appealing to a more monied crowd, a premium convertible like the Buick Cascada with a lower pricetag should do very well in the United States. VW, and Chrysler have killed their convertibles, so consumers have few places to turn. This may not be a big seller, but it will be a great image car for Buick and GM. Right now all GM has is the Corvette or Camaro.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Not that the Cascada couldn't stand to lose some lbs, but the Audi A5 (admittedly with AWD which obviously adds weight) isn't a feather weight either. Not direct competitors, but they are very close in size.

2014 Audi A5 - Features & Specs 2.0T Premium quattro Convertible (2.0L 4-cyl. Turbo AWD 8-speed Automatic

Exterior Measurements
WIDTH 6 ft. 1 in. (73 in.) HEIGHT 4 ft. 6.4 in. (54.4 in.)
LENGTH 15 ft. 2.1 in. (182.1 in.) FRONT TRACK 5 ft. 2.6 in. (62.6 in.)
REAR TRACK 5 ft. 2.1 in. (62.1 in.) WHEEL BASE 9 ft. 0.3 in. (108.3 in.)

Weights and Capacities
EPA INTERIOR VOLUME 93.3 cu.ft. DRAG COEFFICIENT 0.34 Cd
CURB WEIGHT 4045 lbs. CARGO CAPACITY, ALL SEATS IN PLACE 10.2 cu.ft.

DriveTrain
DRIVE TYPE All wheel drive TRANSMISSION 8-speed shiftable automatic

Engine & Performance
BASE ENGINE SIZE 2.0 L CAM TYPE Double overhead cam (DOHC)
CYLINDERS Inline 4 VALVES 16



Add a 2.0L Turbo to the Buick version of the Cascada (and call it 3900-4000lbs or so) and if it's priced right they should be able to shift a decent amount. I guess AWD would have to wait until the next gen. platform? I actually think a Buick grille would improve the front which is a tad underwhelming, and I wonder if the Buick version will show up at the Detroit, Chicago or NY auto show?
 
#30 · (Edited)
I've been looking at a bunch of video reviews for this thing.

It IS a Buick... emphasis is on quietness and ride quality, not handling.
Several reviews stated that if they didn't know it was a convertible, they would've thought they were in a coupe. One went so far as to say it was as quiet as a Bentley cabrio.

They downside of that is you have a heavy car.
But reviewers didn't seem to think it was slow as long as you didn't get the 1.4t.

There is some hand wringing over all the buttons. I guess it's kind of old school.
But are controllers and touch screens really all that? They're get lots of criticism too.
I don't really have a problem with buttons. Learn where they are and they work.

The top and trunk design is really good with the pass through and electric back seat flip down.
My Eclipse has a small trunk behind the top and that's it.
When the top's up the Cascada has a real trunk that goes under the top.
When the top's down, it still goes under the top. It's just not as tall.

You can close the top at a decent speed, which is quite helpful if it starts raining.
The top is 3-layered and the color matching is really nice at this price point.

A GM car with power folding mirrors for less than $50K?? How 'bout that!
Well equipped it's way over $10K less than the Germans.
This might be the cheapest car I've seen with all these things.

I really like it. Maybe GM will come through with a good FWD convertible after all.
 
#31 ·
Buick picks its models carefully and is earning a well deserved high rating for ongoing quality improvement and customer satisfaction . I hope Buick picked this model and was not assigned it by GM management . As this is a smaller vehicle , pricepoint will be be a big factor as Buick will certainly put all the bells and whistles plus sound deadening features into the mix . The weight will most likely increase a bit , so this is not an easy fit into a superb lineup . I have the utmost confidence in their ability to make it work , or who knows , they may decide it cannot meet the objectives for quality/marketable pricepoint . Buick is setting the benchmark for the future of GM and they appear to be attracting the best management and technicians .....congratulations , BUICK !!
 
#32 ·
The MSRP for a fully loaded Vauxhall Cascada in one of the videos was the equivalent of $42K.
I wonder if they will stick with that? Please, GM... whatever you do, do not decontent or cut corners on this car.

If they put the diesel sound deadening package in the car it shouldn't gain weight.
 
#34 ·
With high diesel prices and regular unleaded at $2.82 near me, there is little incentive for GM to bring a diesel Cascada over. Let's just get the petrol version asap.
 
#42 ·
".... Infotainment is not one of the Cascada's strong points. The IntelliLink system is not particularly user-friendly and it takes a lot of getting used to, especially because the center console seemingly has more buttons than the ****pit in your average trans-Atlantic airliner. Additionally, the display for the rear-view camera is black and white which is a little difficult to accept in a vehicle that is billed as a premium halo car. Frankly, we've seen better infotainment systems in economy cars that cost a fraction of the price of the Cascada. ...."

Holden: don't even think of bringing the Cascada to Oz if it still has that calculator inspired centre stack and lacks a colour display.
 
#43 ·
Okay, so I don't want to offend anyone or maybe I'm missing something - but I can't find one inspiring line on it's exterior design. With the top down it just looks down right dorky, and I don't mean that in a good way. I think the people at Opel Design who drew this car are all taking one Xanax too many. Cascada is a made up marketing name, but if there were truth in naming, this would be the Opel Dull.
 
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