WWW.’.eastlancashireonline.co.uk 32 Clltheroe Advertiser & Times, October 4th, 2001 ! S |sggg 1 * 0 4 " s ^ J V „


Jilera 'Runner 125 Scooter


T & T, low mileage, ridin suit, helmet, gloves, Goretex boots


V a u x h a U ’ s d r i v e ^


| A n o p e n l a n d s h u t


convert the sceptics T H


bv Andy Enright


AVING exhausted the patience of the Vauxhall press office with end­ less hairdresser gibes, it is perhaps


time for a less flippant appraisal of the


Astra Convertible. The car examined


here, the entry level 1


range. I t offers all of the


open top benefits and sleek styling a t a price that will, have many


' Granted, the 1.6-litre engine is not the most charismatic unit in Vauxhall’s range. How­ ever, costing more than £500 less than the 1.8- litre version and enjoy­


roadster owners crying into their bank state­ ments.


ing significant tax advantages, it could well establish itself as the most popular way to get your name on the V5 of an Astra convertible. After all, convertible sales are still on the up


and although it is tempting to look through the rain-spat­ tered window and ques­ tion why, it is still a fact that we buy more open top cars here than the Spanish and the Italians


combined. Call it the stiff upper


lip, the saturated leather upper or the hypother­ mic upper cortex, but us Brits do like to be jolly i n


cold and wet. The Astcra


.6-litre version, looks set to be the pick of the


slightly portly Astra Convertible, this engine is good for 11.5 seconds to 60 m.p.h. on'its wa y to a top speed of 125


m.p.h. Buyers of this sort ot


car are rarely looking for absolute performance, which is just as well as in this department the Astra is absolutely com­ petent and nothing


more. With an average fuel


consumption of around 38 m.p.g., the Astra is


far kinder on your pock­ et than the 1.8 and 2.2- litre versions', and the engine note is inoffen­ sive if a little bland. One of the abiding


joys of owning a con­ vertible is the sound of your engine fruitily drowning out the sounds of the countryside, and an aftermarket exhaust pipe may be the first


indulgence for many Astra 1.6 Convertible owners looking for more


aural pleasure. The hood is properly


concealed beneath a metal cover behind the rear bulkhead. This opens and closes hydraulically to swal­ low both the roof and the glass rear window.


Convertible allows us to ' The whole process is whfle-


■ ■


retaining a healthy dose with no clips, catches or of urban chic.


As plumbed into the In addition, you can


completely automated P°PPers to worry about.


£18,995


FREILANDER V6 S i AUTOMATIC ONLY


BRAND NEW 5 DOOR *»ip P R I C E I N C L U D E S : n l 7 P c , 1989


This Golf is far better than par


the Golf Turbo Diesel range, VW shuffles the pack to keep you on


J


your toes. With the 90 b.h.p.


base model consigned to history, the opening rung on a ladder that stretches up to the bahnstorming 150 b.h.p. version is the Golf TDi


100. With an enviable rep­


utation for superb diesels tha t make sound financial sense, is the entry-level turbo-diesel the best of the bunch? After all, if you are in


the business of saving a bob or two but cannot countenance life without soft-textured plastics and the comforting sight of a VW badge beaming benignly from your steering wheel, the Golf TDi 100 looks the most


logical bet. Those after the latest


in diesel technology buzzwords may be slightly disappointed by


the 1.9-litre power plant. But although you have to do without com­ mon rail engineering, there is a healthy dose of common sense that


means few buyers will feel in any way short­


changed. The previous 90 b.h.p.


unit was a respectable engine in its own right, if slightly lacking in the sort of torque that attracts drivers to diesel cars in the first place. The 100 b.h.p. engine


which replaces it deliv­ ers a creamy slug of pulling power across a broad swathe of the rev


T b.h.p. Golf TDi is good h. with rest


band. Flat out, the 100


■ n


for 117 m.p.h. with rest to 60 in 11.3 seconds, yet users should record


UST when you think you are get­ ting to grips with


by Jonathan Crouch^


an average fuel figure that will often exceed 50


m.p.g. The performance fig­


ures may sound impres­ sive on paper, but on the road the Golf feels even quicker. Because of a generous 210Nm of


Storque, the pulling power makes overtaking as easy as it is in an equivalent 2.0-litre


petrol GTi. There are a few


caveats, but nothing tha t will be overwhelm­


ingly surprising. If you discount what


is undoubtedly premi­ um pricing (you pay from £14,265), then the only real problem is the noise. To be fair, the problem is not too bad when you are barrelling along an open road. I t is only a t idling speeds tha t VW still has a little


more work to do. I t w o u ld b e e a s y t o


say tha t this is a legacy of the VW Group deci­ sion we mentioned earli­ e r - to delay its switch to common rail technol­ ogy until the second generation of those engines appears in a few years time. Aside from residual


value, you would not put the VW Golf TDi 1 0 0


a t the top of the


class in any particular area. A Ford Focus is


more fun to drive, a Toyota Corolla will probably be more reli­ able, while SEAT and Skoda counterparts boast equally good cab­ ins for far. less outlay.


Where the Golf wins §OTpRs7)l1 THE INTERNET: WWW.eastlancashireonline.co.uk/fisn4cars


is in the overall picture, • consistently scoring good marks in every event and applying the coup de grace by being the car with the most prestige for your pound.


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raise and lower the roof and all four windows electrically using a remote control unit. Judged on pure com­


petence, you would always go for the 2.2- litre version, but if the real world intervenes most budgets will happi­


ly stretch to the 1.6-litrc Astra Convertible and


no further. I t is true th a t making do has rarely been such


an open and shut case and th a t the 1.6 Con­ vertible is far too nice to waste on what passes for the British summer.


l e a s e . . . by Andy Enright


h r o t t l e i>ui- lerflies. It is not a request to asphyx­ iate the nearest example


of lepidoptera, they are oily bits located in the engines of our cars. An integral piece of


engine architecture, the throttle butterfly has been held as an example of elegant engineering. BMW disagrees and


the latest 318Ci Convert­ ible has ditched the sys­ tem in favour of the patented Valvetronic technology. After a brief drive, you


have to concede that the Bavarians just might be onto something here. After all, it does not


take much in the way of slick engineering io per­ suade many folk to slip behind the wheel of a BMW 3-Serics convert­


ible. Ever since BMW took


over building its own drop-tops, the 3-Scrics version has always looked stunningly sleek with the lid off. And the 318Ci continues the tra­ dition perfectly.


All the features that


made the Coupe such a stunner have been repli­ cated here, just accom­ panied with a more


severe haircut. Although the 318Ci


Convertible looks sleek, it is by no means left field, that honour being reserved Tor the Val­


vetronic engine. We have become used to BMW 318s being fit­


ted with 118 b.h.p. 1.9- litre engines, but this is a 318 apart. With a 2.0-


lilre engine under the bonnet, the 318Ci gener­ ates a respectable M3


b.h.p. If this were any other


manufacturer you would expect a dip in fuel econ­ omy. Any other German manufacturer and possi­ bly a marginal increase. Still, it probably will not come as an earth-


shattering surprise to hear that the engineers at BMW have pulled a rabbit out of their hats and given us an average


of 39.2 m.p.g. from the 318Ci’s Valvetronic engined, compared with 35.3 from the previous generation 318. If the Germans are


not any good at football,


they can still make a cracking car engine. In reality the 318Ci


gives us the economy we would have expected from a sporty diesel and the performance of a decent 2.0-litre petrol


engine. The performance fig­


ures speak for them­ selves, top speed being raised from 129 to over 13(1 m.p.h. and accelera­ tion times taking a com- mcnsurately significant improvement.


The power delivery of


the engine feels curious­ ly flat, the engine seem­ ing to respond to the accelerator pedal in a


slightly inert way that belies quite how quickly the car is moving, but you soon get used to it and if that is the sum total of any niggles with the 318’s engine, then you can be assured it is a very special power plant indeed. You do not expect this


little lot to come cheaply. Prices start at a hefty £21,915 for the manual car or £26,165 for the automatic. It is now a five-speed


automatic as opposed to a four-ratio box, and if you feel like turning the wick up, you can zip up and down the box using the integrated Steptronic function.


£1150 o.n.o Tel. (01282) 81239


9


T Reg (Aug 9


APRILIA RS 125


Black with 11 months M 10 months lax. New tyr with lull leathers if want


£2000 o.n.o Tel. (01282) 6066


P E U G E O T S P E ED


5 0 c c , P r e g . r e d / w 4 6 0 0 k m s .


f u l l t


£ 6 9 5 o . n . o . T e l . 0 1 4 2 6 1 1 7 .


G I L E R A S .K .P . 50 S p u r p le . 4 6 0 0 k m s , t* N o v e m b e r , £ 6 9 5 o . T e l . 0 1 2 0 0 4 2 6 1 1 7 .


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LOCAL MOTORING market


your essential guide to the ^


www.eastlancashireo Commercial •


; Vehicles'--


W E 'V E G O T M O R E u s c a r s t h a n a n y o n e A n y w h e H s h 4 c a r s . c o . u k


Motorcycles/,; Scoote rs ■


1998


Y O U A R E ADV t h a t , w h e n s e l l i v e h i c l e ,


t h e


r e q u i r e s y o u t o r e a n d c o m p le t e th e o f f s l i p f r o m th e t r a t io n d o c u m e n t s e n d f u l l d e t a i l s o b u y e r


t o D V


S w a n s e a . I t i s r m e n d e d t h a t y o u k


c o p y o f t h o s e d T h e p r i v a t e b u y a l s o o b l ig e d t o


D V L A . ______________


B U S I N E A D V E R T I S E R S . T h e B u s in e s s A t i s e m e n t s ( D is c lc O r d e r 1 9 7 7 . A t t r


i s d r a w n t o th e o r d e r . T h i s la w p i i t s a d v e r t i s e


w h i c h m a y m i s le a s u m e r s in t o th e t h a t g o o d s a r e s o ld b y p r i v a t e in


u a l s w h e n t h e y J f a c t f o r s a le i c o u r s e o f a b u : A d v e r t i s m e n t s b: s o n s s e e k in g tt g o o d s t h a t a r e s o ld in t h e c o u r . b u s in e s s m u s t m f a c t c le a r t o p r o s j


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f a i l s t o d o s o i s a t o a m a x i m i £ 5 . 0 0 0 .


C A R S R IG H T U P s t r e e t . N o t f a i y o u r


f i s h 4 c a r s . c o . u k s t


1985 B VOLV


240 DL AUTO. 2 mot April 02, c.l body work very


Interior exc, 9 6 ,’ exc runner.


£325 Tel 01200 44


F Reg.


V A U X BEDF


Astra v


7 months Mo tow bar, roof service, super! runner, ready t


£4 Tel. 0120


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