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Automotive Marketing at its beSt i m a g ^ ^ e d □ 1 S a S 4 4 S 4 5 0
Automotive Marketing at its best im a g e r e d d lS B S 4 4 S 4 6 0
www.motorstoday.co.uk motors t o d a y -33 ......................... '■ riTH:158bhp:anclj COMEjahd ioin;the paily andbnn
(viable ifqmily along tolpuf^^ rthe'iartjMINh^ June (Sth^^.TKe fiiri starts fr6m ;na .m.
!*IKs our official bj^ning ,WMkend: and ios£tKe ■
i^rfert spb^^ ’adveiifurei?cheek\qutithe:whole M
: diesel engine, the Vauxhall, Insignia ccoFLEX is a little : more inspiring on paper than
Ws
: the majority of these eco- special family cars. . • I t looks good as well, with
its lowered ride height and sleek lines, giving buyers the option of doing their little bit for
the.planet without feeling like they've sold their soul to Bill Oddia • - We'd all like to drive a car
fond usM cors;ond o u r ^ iwtch seiyice; f fokiififies^ean^M^^^ =test^eai« Som’our MINI tfoined^t^
;|;Fun'fpr oil agesjs;guaronl^ FME^ntryrand.Oiwhi^^^
;a t^ (1 io n s m e lb d in g '^ .^ j j? ^ ^ ;^ ^ %iA veiy'speciallCelebrity guest, who definitely has the^'X" Factorl^ > ®GiantWiigame" »
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® Bouncy Castle ® Face Painring
J® Thefanrous."R^
Sihrerstone trip for showroom staff T
H E Mini car is 50 this year - and staff from Colne’s new Mini showrooms took part in celebrations at the Silverstone race circuit. A convoy of 17 Minis travelled from the Crown
ed” weekend, which was attended by thousands of people from all over the country. . There was live entertainment and DJs to keep, the crowds in a pa r ty mood as well as games
Way showrooms to the track for the “Mini Unit- . including a giant human football table, frisbee golf. Make sure it’s a MINI adventure
go-karting, bungee trampolining and the Mount Mini climbing wall. .• ■ There was plenty of racetrack action too with ■ Mini Challenge racing, classic Mini racing, Mini stunt driving and taxi rides in a Mini racing car.,
;'l® Refreshments including Hot Dogs, 4'i® 2BR Roadshow. wM'giyeawciys and interortve games Don'f miss it!,You'll alw ^ ’veiy.jv®!'-
come^toi browse^around our display of: all the latest fun-loving M I N I S . > See you Saturday!, ^ . - ‘
that runs on grass dippings and puffs nothing but atom ised Channel No5 from its exhaust, bu t u n til the world's car manufacturers get their acts together on that one, the work of saving the planet will need to be done by more prosaic means. The growing glut of cars
like Vauxhall's Insignia ecoFLBX might not be the last word in environmental friendliness, b u t th ey do offer real-world improve ments and you can go out and buy one today. That's got to count for something.. There's no bigger issue fac
ing the automotive industry today than the gre at big green issue. I t wasn't th at long ago, however, when many manufacturers were still content to pay lip serv-
f ;up to 380Nm from’; ■ its 2.0-litre CDTi
economy
By STEVE WALKER
ice to it and hope it would - go away. .
'
Legislation has changed' all that and today, waiting-
for hydrogen fuel cell cars to arrive and save the planet at a stroke is not an option., Manufacturers have been, forced into looking at short. term ways of reducing emissions and saving fuel by a combination of new legal requirements and pub- - lie demand.
• ■ ■
■ Cars like the Insignia ecoFLEX from Vauxhall are the result. Relying on simple engineering ingenu-, ity rather than major tech-: nological advances, th e y . might not be planetary sav iours but they are a step in,, the right direction.
.. . The Insignia ecoFLEX is
based around the 2.0-litre CDTi ECOTEC diesel engine which gener- atesl58bhp. That's a lot of power for one of these eco- special models which are usually focused far more intently on emissions and economy. The Insignia, with a 9.5s 0-60 m.p.h. time, a 135 m.p.h. top speed and 350Nm of torque from l,750rpm, sets out to marry'
ficient on 0.27 CD but the ecoFLEX model lowers th a t to
0.26.Tt sounds a trivial amount, but the laws of physics reveal otherwise. When you double the speed of
a.car, the amount of:: engine power necessary to
■ eight;' T h at means th a t , even the tiniest improve-; ments in aerodynamic per formance can significantly' reduce the amount of work
efficiency.with lively per formance. That torque fig ure can actually be increased to 380Nm via the engine's temporary over boost function, which means you get more pulling power than you would in a
. 3.2-litre V6 Audi TT. ' The Insignia's 2.0-litre
diesel engine is an advanced piece of kit. It-uses Vaux hall's Clean-Tech process to control emissions consis tently through the different stages of its lifecycle. The combustion process in the
cylinders is monitored up to one. million; times per, minute so the engine man agement computer c a n . adapt the volume and tim-: ing of the fuel injections to optimise efficiency. Tt's all clever stuff, but it's com mon to all 2.0-litre CDTi Insignias, so what makes the ecoFLEX special? . Aerodynamics play the
major role in the improved environmental performance of the Insignia ecoFLEX. The car is 10mm lower than a standard model, which
has the. happy side effect of giving, the car a more pur poseful groundrhugging stance. There's also a num ber of modifications out of sight underneath the car which improve air-flow and
■lower drag while the radia tor grille is partially closed off to send more air down the flanks of the car. The ecoFLEX also runs on Michelin's special - low rolling resistance Primacy HP tyres. The standard Insignia's sleek shape has a drag coef
: the engine needs to do at a : given speed, reducing fuel consumption. These aero dynamic enhancements have the additional benefit of reducing wind noise in the cabin and making the Insignia a more comfort able place to sit out long j journeys. . The Insignia's styling has to be deemed a success in the context of the often mundane medium range sector but the designers were also intent on deliver ing practicality. The car is 21mm longer than the old Vectra a t 4;820mm, and 50mm wider. The Vectra wasn't a
cramped offering itself but the Insignia improves pas senger space partly through these larger exterior dimen sions and partly through a
wheelbase that's extended > by 35mm.
. The cabin has set out to
, be as eye-catching as the exterior. The Vectra was
• overcome the'aerodynamic drag increases by a factor of ■
. always worthily_dull, but ■ the Insignia has a number of features with the poten tial to set tongues wagging. The dashboard top wraps around a t the sides of the interior in a steady curve ’ that melts into the door lin ings. The effect is that the driver feels cocooned inside \ the car. The mood is helped by adaptive ambient light ing and a massive amount of attention has also been paid to the seats which have been specially designed to set new standards for ergonomics, comfort and safety.
■
• The Insignia ecoFLEX goes up against a ra f t of eco-friendly rivals in the ' medium range sector and the battle for sales is likely to be anything but friendly. Vauxhall is obviously hop ing th a t its offering will gain an edge by virtue of its hefty performance as most of the alternatives utilise relatively weedy power- plants to make their effi ciency savings. Of course, the Insignia's
additional pace will be reflected in the price.
.•t)
MINI TEARS ALONG DOTTED LINE. REVEALS NEW MINI DEALERSHIP.
(KV
YOUR INVITATION TO THE NEW LLOYD MINI COLNE DEALERSHIP. FUN STARTS SATURDAY6TH JUNE 2009 FROM . 11AM TO 4PM
Come and join the party and bring the whole family along to our new state-^of-the-art MINI Showroom on Saturday 6th June. It’s our official opening weekend and: Justthe perfectspottostartyourMINI adventure, __
v checkoutthe whole MINI range and see the ONLY wall-mounted MINI in the North West! /
Fun for all ages is guaranteed, with FREE entry and a whole host of special attractions including -
>
o Giant Wii game o Bouncy Castle © Face Painting
0 Thefamous “Red Bull & Coke Cola” MINIS
© 2BR Roadshow with giveaways and interactive games
LLOYD COLNE Your Local MINI Dealer
_Crown‘Way,GolneBB8 9NP Junction 14 M65 01282 856793
- •
www.lloydcolnemini.co.uk
Don t miss itI- Ypu’ll also be very welcome to browse around our displayofall the latest fun-loving MINIS. See you Saturday!
rl- ■ ‘ Attractions may be subject to change, without notice, on the day, subject to prevailing weather conditions t but we hope not! All pic^res shown for fllustraUon purpose orily. ,s j. V,.’
WWW.dOV^iiVOtVO«
CO.Uk " . ' Volvo..101 lito
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