Design 1.8i 16v 5dr Hatchback

Good roomy family car, quiet comfortable and economical

The best car I have ever owned, comfortable and with room for 4 adults to sit in comfort on long runs plus enough toys to keep the driver happy, with every option provided except sat-nav. To help longer legged rear seat passengers, the passengers in the front need to shift their seats forward a little.
It will take 3 adults in the back, but with less comfort in longer runs.
I seem to have picked the most reliable model, the 1.8i Variable Valve (VVT) Design version which gives reasonable performance with good fuel economy: however I cannot fit LPG on this latest VVT engine.
I normally get 35 mpg with a mixture of town and highway driving, (manual transmission) and it will easily give just over 42 mpg on long runs at 70mph: 45 mpg is available driving at 60 mph.

Following Honest John's good advice, I picked the Vectra version with small 16 inch alloy wheels, so it is strictly a family car. The chassis does not cope well with boy racer type driving: driving fast round winding country roads means one can feel the car lurch around and wallow.

My main gripes?
a) Those stupid, maddening turn indicators.
b) Like most modern hatchbacks rear view vision is poor and I had to get reversing warning indicators fitted. Do NOT buy the official GM reversing warning indicators as they are ludicrously expensive: I had a local body repair shop fit non GM ones which cost just £25: the GM ones cost £250!
c) The gearbox is baulky on lower gears, but it is not a big deal.

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