The first car ever made which only works if you sit in the back-seat.

[Kowalski]

This is the sort of car that's best experienced from the back seat. So why not try to drive it in the back seat?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azh4P7bvw2g



The best thing about it is the back-seat. The rest is pretty much Vectraish; quite nice but oh so boring.

[paul8488]

Haha, I liked that review! I saw this car at the auto show this past fall, and loved it. It IS a little impractical... but makes a nice sorta budget executive car. Besides, there IS a little third seat in the middle for short runs and small people. I'd love to see this as a Saturn... the Vectra wagon might suit more people, but the Signum is just that bit more upscale, which is where Saturn wants to go.

[Kowalski]

Originally Posted by paul8488

Haha, I liked that review! I saw this car at the auto show this past fall, and loved it. It IS a little impractical... but makes a nice sorta budget executive car. Besides, there IS a little third seat in the middle for short runs and small people. I'd love to see this as a Saturn... the Vectra wagon might suit more people, but the Signum is just that bit more upscale, which is where Saturn wants to go.

I partially agree with that. I can see the Signum as a sort of "Poor man's Maybach". Thing is though, Vauxhall claims the Signum is a rival for the BMW 5-Series. Fine. But who in their right mind would say "No. I don't want a 5-Series. I more want a a 4-seater executive Vauxhall hatchback". Who would do that? Why would anyone choose a Signum over a 5-Series?

The Renault Vel Satis is the Signum's main and only credible rival. And like Vauxhall, Renault also try to fool everyone by claiming the Vel Satis is a "Hatchback Limousine to rival the BMW 5-Series". Yeah right...no one believes in that; just look at the sales figures of each of these two cars.

[Hudson]

When I read the title of this thread...I was thinking of something like this:

[jry]

to me, it looked like simon cowell driving a cheap car.

[Kowalski]

I just want to point a few things:

-The Signum technically replaced the Omega, although it is really a extended Vectra with extra rear space. It doesn't completely fit the category of either MPV or Estate.

-The model tested is the pre-facelift sold from 2003 to 2005. This is the current Signum on sale (pictured below as the Opel version):




-The model tested by Jeremy Clarkson is the base version Design with the 2.2 16V (154 Bhp) petrol engine and 5-speed manual. This engine was later replaced by a 2.2 16V Direct Injection 176 Bhp on the face-lift model.

-Vauxhall recently announced, that for 2007 the Signum will be available with the same 2.8 V6 Turbo 252 Bhp engine of the Vectra VXR. Although, there won't be any VXR version for the Signum.

-This is the Renault Vel Satis




Want me to post pics of the Renault interior?

[Smaart Aas Saabr]

Originally Posted by Kowalski

I partially agree with that. I can see the Signum as a sort of "Poor man's Maybach". Thing is though, Vauxhall claims the Signum is a rival for the BMW 5-Series. Fine. But who in their right mind would say "No. I don't want a 5-Series. I more want a a 4-seater executive Vauxhall hatchback". Who would do that? Why would anyone choose a Signum over a 5-Series?

Well because the Signum is relatively interesting and looks nice. The 5 series is about as visually appealing as a dog turd floating in a rusted bucket of puke.

[gerardo_zg]

Want me to post pics of the Renault interior?

That would be nice. I liked the Vel Satis.

[Kowalski]

Originally Posted by Smaart Aas Saabr

Well because the Signum is relatively interesting and looks nice. The 5 series is about as visually appealing as a dog turd floating in a rusted bucket of puke.

As for the 5-Series...

I couldn't agree with you less with what you said about the look of it.

As for the Signum...

A lot of firms use the Signum for ferrying customers to/from their factories. The Vectra based oddity gives reasonable comfort without letting on that the company is making money hand over fist.

[Sara76]

I went from an Audi A3 2L tdi Sport with lots of luxuary upgrades. It was on a 53 plate when they bought the new shape out. I had no end of trouble with it, it spent more time in the dealership then it did on my drive!
So I got shot of it, not only did I have at the time an 8yr old son, I was expecting another baby & a 3 door car with a small boot didn't cut it.

My dad being a Sales Director for over 20yrs had been through his fair share of company cars as had I being also in sales. However out of the 100's of cars we had driven between us, he really rated his Vectra, good value for money, comfortable, it ticked all the boxes. I didn't mind it, I had one for a couple of days when my Audi was in on one of its fix ups.
However we did want space & we wanted value, so we took advantage of the way they lose value & went for an ex demo. We had a black one with the tinted windows, I have to say they only colour I like it in. We had the 3.2V6 Design auto. It was great, put your foot down on the motorway, amazing how many people moved out of the way as it looks like a Vectra from the front, so people thought we were an unmarked police car from a distance.
It was quick, but not dangerously quick, it was comfortable, which was a huge bonus as I suffer with a back & many a cars cripple me after an hour of driving. Down side is if you drive from Bedfordshie, do a lap of the M25 (I had an appointment on the south side & wanted to come back a different way) then home again, you do fear you might just get a DVT.
I had a hell of a time getting rid of though as we were emmigrating, apparently the engine is too big for most people to afford to run. Yeah it did about 23mpg average, so I ended up having the finance company taking it back with no penalty.
I now live In Canada & have a 4.7L V8 engine, & thats only cause I could not afford the 5.7L Hemi at the time. So now I can say I have a bigger engine then a Ferrari 430 but no I can not go as fast as I now drive the new Dodge Durango. Yes it is Dodge, yes it is American but my god is it comfy & believe me you need something that big so others can see you coming, cause I swear they drive like they are the only people on the raid here. No idea how to overtake as they all undertake & weave. God help you if you have a stopping distance, they think it is a gap to sit in. If there is no gap, they will pull in & make one & hope you brake! For every idiot you see driving around the UK motorways is equal to every good driver here. Fatalities every day, makes for an interesting commute!

[F14CRAZY]

They already make vehicles you enjoy and drive from the back seat. Called a limo