Opel Signum 3.0 V6 CDTI for 5 days

[TT]

So, do you remember dani's topic about Opel's Milion mile free testdrive? I asked for a Signum and a Signum I got.. but a bloody diesel!! Argh! A friend of mine got a Vectra GTS (3.2 V6), and I get the 3.0 V6 CDTI! :bah: At least it is the most powerfull diesel option

And I got it for way more than 3 days:



Sadly for various reasons, I'm gonna take it back already tomorrow (anyway I used already all the 1000 km included in the package )...

The pics:



Impressions:

Do you remember Jeremy's review? Well he was kind! The car is worst than you could expect!! Build quality.. terrible. Worst than a Vectra! My 10 years old BM is still better IMO! Ergonomically it isn't good, the seats aren't supportive and on long travel, not comfy at all.. I guess even worst for ppl taller or bigger than me! the gear stick has is heavy, in a bad way and no precise, the steering is too assisted and vague, the clutch difficult to judge and easy to stall despite the bazillion Nm of couple the damn engine got!
the travel assistang between the rear seats?!?!? A fucking JOKE! badly built, dodgy, nothing seems to work proprely! There was no cable to connect the little fridge, I wonder why they gave the car with this thing inside it! The litte tables that come out of it are then impossible to be put back in if not in 15 minutes.. the assistant wasn't even fixed into the seat, I had to drive 400 km to go to my parents with the thing moving around.. I finally found an Opel dealership there and two guys, a mechanic and a salesman needed 10 minutes to deal with it :roll:

Now, the engine. Like most of us, I asbolutely hate diesels! I am lucky to live in a country where they are kinda rare, but their quota is rasing :bah:
Anyway, diesel engine, even 2005 ones, are utter CRAP! People buy them because they want to save money on fuel, PERIOD! if somebody tries to tell you a diesel engine isn't so bad, he is lying! NOBODY can like a diesel engine! I don't want to sound dumb or naif, but definitely, the only positive feature a diesel engine has is the fact even a big 3 liters one can average 7 liters / 100 even if driven like you drive a rental car for 1000 km. Nothing else. It is still noisy (I know BMW and Merc ones are better, but still crap), it smells like shit, it vibrates, its powerband is still short.
The bottom line, as somebody else said on another forum is that the diesel engine is a very simple and old concept.. ppl always attack american V8 saying they are simple engines and not modern at all.. well, the diesel engine is worst.. the fact is that the car industry, to make all the ppl wanting to save on fuel happy, invested billions to develop it and try to hide all it's downsides, trying to make it seem like a petrol unit. Wasted money and time! If the same amount of money would have been invested in petrol engines, by now your regular hot hatch would easily cruise at 350 km/h, using of course 1 liter every 100 km!

no shit, the diesel engine is the worst thing happened in the car industry history! Don't be fooled, NEVER buy one!

As for the Signum, the V6 CDTI goes for around 50'000 CHF or 40'000 USD (you can do the maths on www.xe.com for your currency).. and noway it is worth that money!!

Anyway it was a fun testdrive, around 1000 km my car could avoid and despite all the downsides, on the highway it is an acceptable car and it can managed overtaking pretty well...

I am so happy to be back at the wheel of my 320i from tomorrow on!!