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Remember that stunning little coupe that recently made the auto show rounds? Well AutoCar says they've driven it:
When the vehicle you are driving has a carbon-fibre body and an estimated price tag of £2m, you'd expect to be clamped into some rare-earth supercar.
Not so. On this glorious morning, on the hills above France's dramatic southern coast, I'm piloting the new Vectra. Sure, this is the GTC concept car, which was unveiled at the recent Geneva show. And yes, it's a two-door coupe rather than a conventional hatch or saloon. But under the carbon fibre party dress is the real thing. The pressed steel under-structure, the 4x4 drivetrain, the independent suspension and the 2.8-litre direct-injection V6 are all production items.
Frank Leopold (GM Europe's manager of Innovation, Advanced Package and Concept Cars) scrambles to the ground and points out the factory-fresh pressings, the differential casing and the substantial lower wishbones.
The GTC is based on General Motors' new Epsilon 2 platform, one of the company's most important engineering projects for decades. Epsilon 2 is a kit of parts that will be used to underpin new models from Vauxhall/Opel, Saab, Pontiac, Buick, Saturn and Holden. The key is that the same parts will be used in otherwise identical factories in Europe, China and North America, to build a wide range of new vehicles. This will provide GM with potentially enormous cost savings.
But a global platform needs to be flexible enough to cover markets from the developing nations to affluent North American markets. Leopold explains that Epsilon 2 can be built with three different back axles, all of which bolt-up to the same mounting points.
A conventional beam axle will likely be paired with smaller engines to provide cheaper transport for countries such as Turkey and South American markets (and possible a rental-spec special). European and US buyers will get a four-link axle and the option of new all-wheel drive system. The engine bay will accommodate everything from a 1.6-litre four-pot petrol engine to a 3.2-litre (and possibly a 3.5-litre) V6 for the North American market.
The GTC, however, has a prototype example of what's likely to be the top-end European engine: a new 2.8-litre direct-injection V6 with what's rumoured to be a single turbocharger (Leopold was keeping quiet on a number of new Vectra specifics).
Autocar - Driven: the next Vauxhall Vectra
My Autocar
I really like this little coupe. It might just come here as a Saturn under the new GM practice.
M
When the vehicle you are driving has a carbon-fibre body and an estimated price tag of £2m, you'd expect to be clamped into some rare-earth supercar.
Not so. On this glorious morning, on the hills above France's dramatic southern coast, I'm piloting the new Vectra. Sure, this is the GTC concept car, which was unveiled at the recent Geneva show. And yes, it's a two-door coupe rather than a conventional hatch or saloon. But under the carbon fibre party dress is the real thing. The pressed steel under-structure, the 4x4 drivetrain, the independent suspension and the 2.8-litre direct-injection V6 are all production items.
Frank Leopold (GM Europe's manager of Innovation, Advanced Package and Concept Cars) scrambles to the ground and points out the factory-fresh pressings, the differential casing and the substantial lower wishbones.
The GTC is based on General Motors' new Epsilon 2 platform, one of the company's most important engineering projects for decades. Epsilon 2 is a kit of parts that will be used to underpin new models from Vauxhall/Opel, Saab, Pontiac, Buick, Saturn and Holden. The key is that the same parts will be used in otherwise identical factories in Europe, China and North America, to build a wide range of new vehicles. This will provide GM with potentially enormous cost savings.
But a global platform needs to be flexible enough to cover markets from the developing nations to affluent North American markets. Leopold explains that Epsilon 2 can be built with three different back axles, all of which bolt-up to the same mounting points.
A conventional beam axle will likely be paired with smaller engines to provide cheaper transport for countries such as Turkey and South American markets (and possible a rental-spec special). European and US buyers will get a four-link axle and the option of new all-wheel drive system. The engine bay will accommodate everything from a 1.6-litre four-pot petrol engine to a 3.2-litre (and possibly a 3.5-litre) V6 for the North American market.
The GTC, however, has a prototype example of what's likely to be the top-end European engine: a new 2.8-litre direct-injection V6 with what's rumoured to be a single turbocharger (Leopold was keeping quiet on a number of new Vectra specifics).
Autocar - Driven: the next Vauxhall Vectra
My Autocar
I really like this little coupe. It might just come here as a Saturn under the new GM practice.
M
