Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Doctor Gollum]

GM Europe could bring this over.
http://www.hsv.com.au/GEN-F2/see/Grange/
Just a shame about the name.

Where are they building them now?

[biggriffin]

GM Europe could bring this over.
http://www.hsv.com.au/GEN-F2/see/Grange/
Just a shame about the name.

If enough people show interest, they could bring it over, and call it the (omega f2) if priced competitively, it could sell very well, drop smaller V6 in, estate version ideal police car.The estate version R8 tourer, were my lottery money. $95,990(about£45k).. Mmm mmm yes.
The senator is very nice too.

So everybody lets start pestering GM.

[biggriffin]

https://img.tradingpost.com.au/6DVN3Z7W/1DD5YW/SGRP-Boxed640x480.jpg

Ideal as a replacement for tbe or young tunnie, bit of a road trip to go and get it.

Whoops wrong thread

[Bojan]

This one in the video is highly likely to be a 4x4 being the V6 Turbo. Don't see why they'd go backwards and make it FWD when the last model had 4x4 variants, It's more likely to be 4x4 than RWD also... Granted the boring examples will no doubt be FWD as usual.

Yes, but it will probably be primarly a FWD, only activating rear wheels when needed (as all modern AWD does).
4x4 and AWDs are, IMHO, just unnecessary weight in most of the times. When the surrface is good, I would allways go for RWD (or FWD on small car). On slippery surface, AWD is a good advantage, I addmit.
And the engine is mounted wrong way.

[ted_one]

Think I saw a similar car up at the VX heritage centre a few months back,Keith ABS would know wether it was the exact model as he knew the guy who owned it,apparently it was a personal import and it certainly was a good looking car.

[Kevin Wood]

This one in the video is highly likely to be a 4x4 being the V6 Turbo. Don't see why they'd go backwards and make it FWD when the last model had 4x4 variants, It's more likely to be 4x4 than RWD also... Granted the boring examples will no doubt be FWD as usual.

Yes, but it will probably be primarly a FWD, only activating rear wheels when needed (as all modern AWD does).
4x4 and AWDs are, IMHO, just unnecessary weight in most of the times. When the surrface is good, I would allways go for RWD (or FWD on small car). On slippery surface, AWD is a good advantage, I addmit.
And the engine is mounted wrong way.

Indeed. Direct a token few horsepower through a flimsy drivetrain to the rear to avoid the shame of having to call it a FWD car shitbox.  Fact is, the structure and suspension were designed to be FWD, so compromised from the start. As you say, unnecessary weight and, of course, tyre wear to try and cover up for the fact that the car was rubbish from the start.

[Mr.OmegaMan]

No enthusiasm towards what the next instalment of the Insignia may hold?

The new Astra K did win the European Car of the Year after all... Maybe GM / Vauxhall are trying to get their act together.

Looks like the Saloon or Hatch whatever it's going to be will be more of a coupe kinda Audi A5 / A7 shape to it. Not seen any Estate spy shots though...

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Must say with that HSV that's a 'boring' but nicely restrained design. Certainly not the unbelievably excessive coupe, high-tail, uber-thick C-pillar, tiny rear window aesthetics that is the norm for Vx, Ford, and basically every major car maker these days.

Clearly that would/should be the basis for a European rear-drive Omega successor. However, the market has changed beyond all recognition since the OMegas demise. There's more 3-series on the roads than Mondeos etc... now even 'ordinary people' can afford a new BMW/Merc/Aurdi up their drive, I can't imagine anyone would pick a large rear-drive (who cares where the power goes on their car these days?) saloon, with a Griffin on the front. I wish they would, passionately. I'd love to see another Omega/Royale/Senator, and if they were clever, and had tried to push the brand up not down over the years, then maybe they could.

The VXR programme and the VXR-8 was a good opportunity to then introduce a 'warm' VXR8, maybe all the bodykit, with a smaller engine (SRi ?). Then add one without the bodykit, and smaller engines, and hey presto, you have an Omega, or Ventora, or whatever you want to call it. 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Must say with that HSV that's a 'boring' but nicely restrained design. Certainly not the unbelievably excessive coupe, high-tail, uber-thick C-pillar, tiny rear window aesthetics that is the norm for Vx, Ford, and basically every major car maker these days.

Clearly that would/should be the basis for a European rear-drive Omega successor. However, the market has changed beyond all recognition since the OMegas demise. There's more 3-series on the roads than Mondeos etc... now even 'ordinary people' can afford a new BMW/Merc/Aurdi up their drive, I can't imagine anyone would pick a large rear-drive (who cares where the power goes on their car these days?) saloon, with a Griffin on the front. I wish they would, passionately. I'd love to see another Omega/Royale/Senator, and if they were clever, and had tried to push the brand up not down over the years, then maybe they could.

The VXR programme and the VXR-8 was a good opportunity to then introduce a 'warm' VXR8, maybe all the bodykit, with a smaller engine (SRi ?). Then add one without the bodykit, and smaller engines, and hey presto, you have an Omega, or Ventora, or whatever you want to call it. 

I remember the original. Nice shape, which was the same as the Victor driven by the fella in Randall and Hopkirk (deceased)

[Kevin Wood]

... I'd love to see another Omega/Royale/Senator, and if they were clever, and had tried to push the brand up not down over the years, then maybe they could....

Yes, it all started when someone decided that their customers would be prepared to pay £30k for their flagship model with... the same front end as a shitbox Astra G.

A real British Leyland bit of thinking, that was.. "Well, we've got all these left over grilles in stores".

[Bojan]

No enthusiasm towards what the next instalment of the Insignia may hold?

As long as it holds it engine transverse - NO 

Jokes aside -> Insignia is a nice car, much better than vectra. But I (and belive many other,too) resent to GM for ditching Omega, and, even more, for promoting Vectra C/Signum as it's successor. How did they dare to say something like that    What audacity 

2 Kevin Wood -> modern AWD system fitted on popular cars just doesn't seem like a real deal to me. IMO, in slippery conditions, I belive that a good,strong LSD would be more benefitial that most of AWD systems.

I remember looking at Peugeot 2008 commercial on TV a year ago (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3ku3rvdWfQ, from 0:15) -> driver swithces the round knob to slip-conditions (or whatever) and goes trough some snow on the street. My thoughts were: Oh, look at all this modern technology (ESP, AWD ect), todays cars can go trough banks of snow high as 2"!!! What will they think of next!?

[Kevin Wood]

Modern car marketing:

1) Sell customer a shitbox no matter which end of the market they are buying at
2) If trying to pass off as a luxury car, add loads of gimmick "features" that cost nothing more than a few lines of code and some random buttons spread over the (plastic) dashboard to implement.

[Diamond Black Geezer]

... I'd love to see another Omega/Royale/Senator, and if they were clever, and had tried to push the brand up not down over the years, then maybe they could....

Yes, it all started when someone decided that their customers would be prepared to pay £30k for their flagship model with... the same front end as a shitbox Astra G.

A real British Leyland bit of thinking, that was.. "Well, we've got all these left over grilles in stores".

I do agree to a fair extent. Thing is, the facelift of the Omega was what it was. In fairness to them they spent a shedload of cash on it (£180mill rings a bell from my memory banks) and of course what you got was a brand new car, with just the main shell and floorpan the same as the PFL, everything else got a fettle in one form or another. It was a brilliant facelift, though in years to come I think the PFL wil be perceived as the more 'resolved' design. in 2000 everything had to have fully body coloured bumpers, all in one grilles and bonnets were the new Vauxhall 'face', and of course, it's the millennium to roll out the Star Silver in buckets! I remember, beautifully aesthetic or not, the Omega was dated in 2000, and in fairness, it had hit its natural 6-year lifecycle. The fact it was revised at all, and to the level it was reminded me of Concorde, actually. 

I can see someone one day taking a last of the line 3.2 Elite, and installing PFL externals, and possibly the dashbaord, too, but leaving all those extra FL goodies that the last models got, that weren't even in existence on the 1994 cars. ESP, rear vented discs, Dual zone Charcoal filtered Climate, lift up centre armrest and cup holder jobby, etc... plus all the usual toys on top.

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Modern car marketing:

1) Sell customer a shitbox no matter which end of the market they are buying at
2) If trying to pass off as a luxury car, add loads of gimmick "features" that cost nothing more than a few lines of code and some random buttons spread over the (plastic) dashboard to implement.

Yep! That's it, in a nutshell! 

[Diamond Black Geezer]

No enthusiasm towards what the next instalment of the Insignia may hold?

As long as it holds it engine transverse - NO 

Jokes aside -> Insignia is a nice car, much better than vectra. But I (and belive many other,too) resent to GM for ditching Omega, and, even more, for promoting Vectra C/Signum as it's successor. How did they dare to say something like that    What audacity

2 Kevin Wood -> modern AWD system fitted on popular cars just doesn't seem like a real deal to me. IMO, in slippery conditions, I belive that a good,strong LSD would be more benefitial that most of AWD systems.

I remember looking at Peugeot 2008 commercial on TV a year ago (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3ku3rvdWfQ, from 0:15) -> driver swithces the round knob to slip-conditions (or whatever) and goes trough some snow on the street. My thoughts were: Oh, look at all this modern technology (ESP, AWD ect), todays cars can go trough banks of snow high as 2"!!! What will they think of next!?

Left a sick feeling in my stomach at the time, too. Oddly this exact same thing happened at Vauxhall in the late 70s. They'd lost the money for a replacement for the flagship Cresta/Velox/Viscount, so 'upgunned' the Victor (think Vectra) and tried to make it the new 'prestige' model. A very nice Victor it made, but a Cresta it was not.