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451

General Discussion Area / Insignia the Car that Sees for itself

« on: 23 June 2008, 22:25:42 »

From Western mail - do you want Insignia items on this site or should they go on Vectra/Signum Forum?

THE CAR that sees for itself will be here next year-thanks to a high tech
camera system developed by General Motors Europe and auto-electrical giant
Hella.
The forthcoming new Vauxhall Insignia will be the first car to be made
available with the new all-seeing-eye system - a dual-function camera that is
capable of reading speed limit and no-overtaking signs and displaying them on
the instrument panel.
The system will also alert drivers when they unintentionally veer out of their
lane.
Known as Traffic Sign Recognition and Lane Departure Warning, the two systems
improve driving safety, reduce stress and can even prevent costly speeding
tickets.
"These new features follow Vauxhall's philosophy of enhancing driving
excitement by assisting drivers without reducing their level of control, "
explains Hans Demant, managing director of General Motors Europe Engineering.
"That means the system gives drivers information, but it doesn't intervene."
Known as the Front Camera System, the wide-angled, high-resolution camera and
processors were jointly developed by Vauxhall /Opel engineers and specialists
from Hella.
The camera, located between the windscreen and the rear-view mirror, detects
road signs and lane markings. It's not much bigger than a mobile phone, yet can
take 30 pictures a second. Two signal processors filter and read the photos.
Depending on light conditions, the Traffic Sign Recognition function begins to
repeatedly read signs at 100 metres.
When a match is found in the car's computer software, the sign is displayed in
the instrument panel; it will even prioritise a no overtaking sign over a speed
limit warning sign.
When the Lane Departure Warning function is turned on, it uses a second signal
processor and software to read traffic lanes and record a driver's normal
lane-changing behaviour, taking into account steering input and indicator
usage.
If any deviation is detected, an audible and visual warning is sent from the
instrument panel, preventing hazardous situations such as a driver falling
asleep at the wheel.
The Front Camera System will be available as an extra-cost option on the new
Insignia in 2009, with other Vauxhall models benefiting from the system in
future.
Copyright © 2008 MGN Ltd.
This is the fulltext.

452

General Discussion Area / GM Europe's Ruesselsheim plant

« on: 23 June 2008, 22:19:11 »

May news item


General Motors Europe's Ruesselsheim plant could add a third shift starting in
2010, said Klaus Franz, head of GM Europe's workers union.
He said the extra workers would be needed to produce the upper-medium
Opel/Vauxhall Insignia, medium-premium Saab 9-5 and lower-premium Saab 9-3.
A third shift would be good news for GM Europe's underutilized R sselsheim
factory. Last year, capacity use at Opel's home plant was 57.8 percent,
according to figures from consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers. The plant made
125,936 cars in 2007, well below it current annual capacity of 218,000.
"The problem we have with the R sselsheim plant is regarding volume, but we are
starting with the Insignia soon and we think that after the summer vacation
growth will be very aggressive, " Franz told Automotive News Europe. "Maybe in
the middle of 2010 when all the models are in there, we will increase from two
shifts to three shifts and we will hire the 800 new people we need."
Franz said the factory would be able to produce 293,000 vehicles a year with
extra shifts.
He said the union has a contract with the company to make three variants of the
Insignia, a hatchback, sedan and station wagon, and three Saab models: sedan
and hatchback versions of the 9-5 and the 9-3.
There has been media speculation that the new Saab 9-3 could be built on GM's
Delta platform - which underpins the lower-medium Astra.
Such a decision could mean that 9-3 production would be kept at Saab's main
factory in Trollhttan, Sweden, rather than move to R sselsheim.
Franz denied the rumors. He said the 9-3 is needed to meet a production goal of
275,000 units promised by GM in 2004.
Same Epsilon platform
"We are absolutely confident that R sselsheim will be filled, " Franz said. "The
capacity will be filled with another model or extra Insignia."
Franz has previously offered to produce Chevrolet Epicas, which share the same
Epsilon platform as the Insignia.
"With Saab and Insignia we have the work force in place for 293,000, so we can
produce Chevrolets for the cost of the materials, " he said. "This is cheaper
than China."
Andreas Kroemer, spokesman for GM Europe, said R sselsheim will make the
Insignia in several versions and produce Saabs. He declined to reveal which
Saabs.
Earlier this month, a GM insider told ANE sister publication Automobilwoche Ruesselsheim will begin making the next Saab 9-5 after the 2009 summer break.
Copyright © 2008 Crain Communications Inc.
This is the fulltext.

453

General Discussion Area / CHURCH TREE CRUSHES OMEGA

« on: 23 June 2008, 21:59:37 »

Spotted on PA News - one in TheBoy's back garden

"A man is claiming compensation from a Northamptonshire church for the loss of
his car after a tree fell and crushed it - missing him by a matter of seconds.
David Bott, 54, of Welford, Northampton, was returning to his car after
visiting a churchyard when the trunk of an overhanging tree split, crushing his
Vauxhall Omega.
Mr Bott said he was only seconds away from getting back into the car in Ashby
St Ledgers, near Daventry.
The shocked self-employed engineer is now claiming GBP2,750 from the
church's insurers for the loss of his car.
Mr Bott said: "If I had been in my car 10 seconds later, or 10 minutes earlier,
I would not be here now.
"I had parked up underneath the tree and it was beginning to spot with rain, so
I sat there for 10 minutes waiting and it stopped.
"I went for a walk round the churchyard and was going to carry on walking down
into Ashby St Ledgers when it started raining again.
"I went back to the car to get my coat and as I was approaching it I heard this
strange noise, almost like a jet overhead.
"All of a sudden there was this wallop right in front of me. The tree sheared
off and landed on the car.
"It completely crushed it. If it had happened maybe 10 seconds later, or even
10 minutes earlier when I was sat in it, then that would have been it."
Copyright © 2008 Press Association.
This is the fulltext.

454

General Discussion Area / Car Insurance Business Use

« on: 26 April 2008, 10:15:06 »

Just about to change insurers and thought it might be good to share some information:

My son and I have two 3.2 gas gusslers one is an Omega Elite. Because of increased private mileage and need for my son to do business mileage - I changed my wife's Focus for a Signum 1.9 CDTI which does 50 to a gallon. This is now doing 18- 20000 miles a year. Ongoing this will include asbout 4000 personal business miles for the 3 drivers.

This where you have to be careful. Personal business use is for owner and spouse only. Made enquiries of several insurance companies on the web - no joy - all same response. Then went to tailor made insurance broker who has arranged the cover unlimited mileage and 3 drivers personal business use for £450 total annual premium.

Apparently also if you declare more than 12000 miles mileage then they effectively treat this is unlimited. Has anyone heard of this - i.e. do any of your policies show say 20,000 miles ?

Oh, the 3.2s are now relegated to local work - shame!!

455

General Discussion Area / Gearbox for XK8 1997

« on: 16 April 2008, 21:54:28 »

Iif anyone has ideas - friend of mine has 1997 4.0L Jag XK V8 - gearbox blew up in Northampton about 80 miles from his place and is in garage up there. Any ideas where to get a new gearbox from - £4000 is cost of full Jag job!!!

cheers

456

General Discussion Area / Formal Dialog with Vauxhall Customer Service

« on: 15 November 2007, 23:19:03 »

My suggestion would be that we try and convince Vauxhall to set up a form of liaison group with a Vauxhall Technical Panel/Customer Service working with representatives of this forum to resolve those issues which forum members find difficult to deal with either because good advice is not in the dealerships or repair costs and spares are disproportionate to the fault.

This liaison group could be web based but with say a face to face every 6 months or so . It may be that this group also works with the Vectra/Signum forum and maybe others as long as we avoid duplication.

We should take care that it does not become a complaints panel for forum members to complain about individual dealers - it is more to do with VX understanding that the people who buy their products deserve fair treatment and I think my dealer would be the first to admit that they would benefit from info from this site but they are not allowed web access from service reception!!

I think that this forum has a big part to play in shaping an improved VX service to loyal customer base.

Any views. I have already written to VX with the suggestion without naming any websites or forums.

I just feel there is a big gap and hopefully not between my ears!!

457

General Discussion Area / Sony out of warranty claim

« on: 17 November 2007, 10:03:17 »

Just a bit of info that might be of use if you act quickly.

Some of the early Sony Digital cameras and other makes using the Sony base suffered from a faulty CCD  - this manifests itself as a distorted image in the screen. THEY ARE STILL FIXING THEM OUT OF WARRANTY SOME 4/5 YEARS ON!!

Postman arrived this morning with my T1 direct back from Sony - no charge.

Sony said the final date for these repairs was 1st October 2007 I but did not send mine to them till 1st Nov when it went faulty. I only had the original 12 months guarantee from 2003 - this does not matter.

All you do is download the repair form and free post voucher from the Sony site and send off to Wales - the secret words to put in the fault box are simply "I2 fault" you can add distorted image. You then get a confirmation of recipt and a warning that if the repair is not under warranty you have to pay a fixed charge.

Maybe VX could learn a thing or to about loyalty?

Quote from Endgadget
"What can you say when a manufacturer finally comes clean about a product defect, three years after the fact? If that manufacturer is Sony, and the defect is a CCD problem that affects over 100 different models of digital cameras, camcorders and PDAs made from 2002 to 2004, you might say, "gosh, no wonder your market share is slipping!" According to Sony, the defect, which affects both the recording and displaying of images "only occurs to a limited number of units" (ain't that always the case?). The company is offering free repairs to anyone whose camera is still experiencing the problems, though we have to wonder how many owners of long-discontinued digicams like the 2 megapixel DSC-P31 have been hanging onto their defective cameras just waiting for this announcement — and how many have moved on to newer (and probably non-Sony) models in the interim."