America's new love: the Vauxhall Vectra!

What are you people talking about? The Aura is NOT a Vectra with Saturn badges. They ride on a somewhat related set of components, but the Aura is on a longer wheelbase, and shares much more with the Pontiac G6 and new Malibu that just debuted at Detroit than the European versions of that platform. The exteriors may look similar, but the platform, powertrains, and interiors are completely different. The next generation Vectra will be exactly the same as the next generation Aura, however.
 
jetsetter said:
So? The phrase is still correct. I am trying to get people to realize that companies like Holden and Opel are not separate and unconnected. They are all General Motors so in turn they are really all US brands. More than likely GM would like to eliminate all the names and just label everything "GM" but they can't due to local attachments to names. Ford does not have that problem though.
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i have to be honest, "General Motors" is probably one of the worst names ever, im amazed the name alone didn't kill the company, don't get me wrong i like some of what GM companies have done over the years, but the name is rediculous, would you want to go to a pet store named "General Animals" ?
 
Ottobon said:
i have to be honest, "General Motors" is probably one of the worst names ever, im amazed the name alone didn't kill the company, don't get me wrong i like some of what GM companies have done over the years, but the name is rediculous, would you want to go to a pet store named "General Animals" ?
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It is called "General Motors" because they used to make almost everything. Trains, planes, buses, appliances, etc.
 
I've had a chance to drive an Aura - the Epsilon platform is really not as bad as JC made it out to be. In fact, I drove this car on our local race track and found it quite enjoyable for what it is; if you turn off the traction control, it will plow around like the Vectra did on TG. If you turn it on, its really not that bad - its just another example of why you should take everything on TG with a grain of salt.

It isn't a performance car by any measure; as a daily driver, however, I think it is really quite good, rivalled only by the Honda Accord.

jetsetter said:
It is called "General Motors" because they used to make almost everything. Trains, planes, buses, appliances, etc.
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They still make just about anything with wheels and an engine - locomotives, buses, heavy trucks and military vehicles. In fact, GM is the largest manufacturer of military vehicles in the world.
 
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controlspecimen said:
What are you people talking about? The Aura is NOT a Vectra with Saturn badges. They ride on a somewhat related set of components, but the Aura is on a longer wheelbase, and shares much more with the Pontiac G6 and new Malibu that just debuted at Detroit than the European versions of that platform. The exteriors may look similar, but the platform, powertrains, and interiors are completely different. The next generation Vectra will be exactly the same as the next generation Aura, however.
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Uhm...the Aura is precisely a Vectra with badges. Saturn is, per Bob Lutz, going to be American-built Opels. Other GM brands within the US will make changes as you've said, to some extent, but Saturn will be purely badge engineered.

And my point is that it's tragically sad that the best car we can come up with in the States is so perfectly..."white good" by European standards.

Steve
 
The cars of the year chosen in Europe are bloody awful too, so it's not a national thing don't worry.
 
Steve Levin said:
And my point is that it's tragically sad that the best car we can come up with in the States is so perfectly..."white good" by European standards.
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I was literally 3 seconds away from mentioning that; if I hadn't gotten to page 2 then I would have felt like a dork.

Honestly, does the entire collective nation not know what a car is, and we fellow brethren are the freaks of society?!
 
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^ Er, as said above this does not just afflict NA but also us. Vested interest + apathy = 'Rubbish' cars of the year. No getting away from the fact that usually the awards have bugger all to do with the real best car of the year and all to do with money I am afraid, sometimes by pure accident good cars have been picked.
 
Dsemaj said:
Yes, but the Aura is basically a Vectra in a hat ;)
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Saabs 93 or is it 95? is basically a vectra in a fancier hat

platform sharing is what GM do best, infact GM are so good at it they sometimes dont even bother to change the design of the body ontop of the platform (Holden monaro = vauxhall monaro = pontiac GTO)

VW and ford do it lots too and mercedes pawn off their old platforms to chrysler (crossfire = old SLK, 300c = old E class)

anyway, here at least, the vectra looks badass when its slightly lowered and riding on the big factory rims.
 
jetsetter said:
So? The phrase is still correct. I am trying to get people to realize that companies like Holden and Opel are not separate and unconnected. They are all General Motors so in turn they are really all US brands. More than likely GM would like to eliminate all the names and just label everything "GM" but they can't due to local attachments to names. Ford does not have that problem though.
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OK so GM own lots of brands. but does that make them american? i think not. its like that company that took over tetley tea.

technically you wouldnt call it tetley, but they are still called tetley and they still make their own stuff.

yes opel, vauxhall, saab, holden, chevy etc are all under the GM umbrella, that makes them american owned, but an american company? i dont think so.

saab, vauxhall, opel make cars much different to US cars, they were doing this even before GM bought them. all GM do now is own them, they still operate as they used to with regards to designs and cars produced.

just because GM own soemthing doesnt make that company american, american owned yes, but not concieved in america and not american in terms of its values and ideas (ie the things that make something american or european or chinese...values, ethics, ideas, engineering)

proton own lotus, that doesnt make lotus a malaysian company, malaysian owned yes, but the good old values and mentalities that colin chapman laid down in the early days are still there, lotus is still a british company. same with jag, landrover, aston who are owned by ford.... becuase of their values and their philosophy they are not viewed as american in the slightest...they are seen as the best of british.
 
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^^about saab - gm doesn't just own saab, its killed saab off.

In 2005, GM decided to shift the future production of 9-3 and 9-5 to Opel. It's also already lost its R&D facility so saab is really just a shell. a marketing tool.
 
Steve Levin said:
Uhm...the Aura is precisely a Vectra with badges. Saturn is, per Bob Lutz, going to be American-built Opels. Other GM brands within the US will make changes as you've said, to some extent, but Saturn will be purely badge engineered.

And my point is that it's tragically sad that the best car we can come up with in the States is so perfectly..."white good" by European standards.

Steve
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In the future, yes. All Saturns starting with the new VUE/Antara will be almost identical. However, trust me on this, the current Aura and Vectra are NOT the same. Similar platforms, almost no other similarities. The next generation coming out in a year or two will be identical.
 
 
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controlspecimen said:
In the future, yes. All Saturns starting with the new VUE/Antara will be almost identical. However, trust me on this, the current Aura and Vectra are NOT the same. Similar platforms, almost no other similarities. The next generation coming out in a year or two will be identical.
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Can I ask what your source is? All the press and GM seem to disagree with you.

Steve
 
Steve Levin said:
Can I ask what your source is? All the press and GM seem to disagree with you.

Steve
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Steve If you read my Wiki link above it shows that the 2007 model year Auria is part of the Epsilon platform but does not mention the 2006 model year. So I think it is only the new model will be a "Vectra".
 
Steve Levin said:
Can I ask what your source is? All the press and GM seem to disagree with you.

Steve
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I don't think they disagree, but here's your proof:

http://img329.imageshack.**/img329/6012/00031c110bk.th.jpg
http://img442.imageshack.**/img442/2485/gmc2006061967120pv5ln.th.jpg

http://img442.imageshack.**/img442/2249/00031c199cb.th.jpg
http://img442.imageshack.**/img442/476/gmc2006061967241pv6lc.th.jpg
 
personally, the only cool vectra would be the DTM version. THAT I'd drive in a heartbeat. the aura, wel, the only way i'd get behind that is if i was forcibly installed after i'd died from cardiac arrest.
 
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