Family cars used to be worthy, great-value transport, but a recent trend for luxury and style in the class has led Vauxhall to take its Zafira upmarket – enter the Zafira Tourer. The £24,565 entry-level Exclusiv version couldn’t match its rivals in our road test in Issue 1,202, so does this £27,415 top-spec Elite model appeal more?

It’s expensive, but not short on kit. There’s a panoramic sunroof and windscreen, leather, heated seats, climate control and stylish ambient interior lighting. It all feels really well built and upmarket. If outright load space is a priority, the Ford S-MAX has the upper hand, but the Zafira is better at seating five people – which is how it will be used most.

The third row of seats in the Tourer is cramped compared to the Ford’s, and there’s 162 litres less maximum boot space, at 1,858 litres. On the plus side, Vauxhall’s new Flex7 seating system makes switching between five and seven-seat layouts easy. All the seats in the middle row slide independently. The middle seat can be folded down and its sides lifted up to make armrests for those sitting in the other seats.

Under the bonnet is the flagship 163bhp 2.0 CDTI diesel, which has plenty of in-gear punch and is well isolated from the cabin. Acceleration from 0-60mph takes 9.1 seconds, but there’s an initial hesitation as you floor the throttle, which makes the car feel more sluggish than the figures suggest. This Zafira also has stop-start as standard, which helps it to return 54.3mpg fuel economy and emit 137g/km of CO2 – identical figures to the lower-powered 2.0-litre diesel.

The Zafira Tourer will appeal to keen drivers. There’s very little body roll in corners and the quick steering gives an agile feel. We’ve previously driven a Tourer with the optional adaptive dampers (Issue 1,187), and the ride was more forgiving. It settled quicker, too – our Zafira Elite bobbed up and down more on bad roads.

Vauxhall was aiming to create a family car that offered style, luxury and practicality, and it certainly delivers the first two. But it lags behind rivals in the final and most crucial aspect.
Read more: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/firstdrives/278401/vauxhall_zafira_tourer_elite.html

The Opel Mokka and the US version the Buick Encore was revealed at last month’s Detroit Motor Show are one and the same with the only differences concerning the design of the front grille, the interior trims and the available engine choices.

Developed to compete against the Nissan Juke and the upcoming Ford EcoSport in the B-segment crossover market, the 4.28 meter long Mokka promises to be able to accommodate five adults in comfort.

Available with a choice of front- or all-wheel drive, the Mokka will offer European customers three engine options including a 1.6-liter naturally aspirated petrol with 115PS, a 1.4-liter turbocharged petrol delivering 140PS and 200Nm of peak torque and a 1.7-liter turbo diesel with 130PS. Both the 1.4 Turbo and the 1.7 CDTI can be combined either with six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmissions.

The Mokka will make its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show in March and hit dealerships across Europe this Autumn. For more see the Mokka Forum.

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Use the form below or email; info@zafiraowners.co.uk 

December 2000: Potential fuel leak (cars built Jan 2000-Dec 2001).
August 2002: Possible contamination of brake fluid (chassis W0L0TGF7522 199742- W0L0TGF7522229096

• Engines: all powerplants can use large amounts of oil, especially during the first 10,000 miles or so – Vauxhall says up to a litre of oil needs to be put in every 1,000 miles. Make sure this has been done. Check for signs of a smoking exhaust.
• Interior: check the condition of the interior trim – these cars are often used for carrying children, so the upholstery is likely to have taken a fair amount of abuse. Dirty marks will be easy to fix, rips and tears less so.
• Spare wheel: it has been known for spares to have been stolen – they are mounted under the back of the car behind the rear axle.
• Brakes: rear brake can seize. The best way to check them is to jack up the back of the car with the handbrake disengaged, then try to turn the wheels by hand. Any resistance will need attention.
• Footwells: the front footwells can fill up with water due to the bulkhead springing a leak, thanks to poorly fitting seals. This needs to be fixed by someone who knows what they’re doing – so a trip to a Vauxhall dealer is on the cards.

So it is a good idea to keep your car in good condition, with regular maintenance and treating it well. It is so important to have good car insurance too but that doesn’t always mean expensive insurance. It is possible with some time and research to access comprehensive cheap car insurance.

Vauxhall cars are generally known as affordable and reliable and the Zafira combines this with a stylish design. This compact MPV is relatively new to the market, being first introduced in 1999 and now only in its second generation. The car is seen as a family car due to its spacious interior, so the insurance bracket is lower than with similar models from other makers. This means that cheap car insurance is a real possibility if you compare the deals offered by insurers.

When looking for insurance remember that it is a competitive marketplace and companies want your custom, so as a potentially new client you should be offered a good price and additional benefits. Gone are the days when insurance was simply that alone, because as firms want to stand out from their competitors, they offer additional benefits. It is worth working out the value of these benefits, as to purchase them separately could be more costly. If an insurer offers you cheap car insurance for your Vauxhall Zafira along with free breakdown recovery, it could be very worthwhile.

If you have more than one car you can negotiate cheaper car insurance. Insurers should offer a dual discount if you take a policy for both cars. In some cases, if you have a different type of insurance with the insurer, whether it’s house, pet or health insurance, the insurer may offer you a preferable rate.

Other ways to access cheaper car insurance include paying in one lump sum rather than by separate instalments. Monthly instalments cost more to the insurer to administer so are priced at a higher rate. If you are able to, always pay in one lump sum to keep the costs down. Another way to reduce costs is to drive carefully! Careful drivers who don’t make claims on their insurance are exactly the type of model client insurers want to attract. Keep a record of careful driving and your premium should be lowered as a reflection of this.

• Lightweight 140PS 1.8-litre makes debut in new version of MPV best seller
• More power, reduced fuel consumption, improved flexibility, enhanced refinement

It’s a win-win-win-win situation for anyone choosing the new 1.8-litre petrol engine in the new Vauxhall Zafira, on sale in July. Compared to the outgoing model’s 1.8 powerplant, the replacement has 14 per cent more power, consumes four per cent less fuel, has improved flexibility and is even more refined!

With a power output of 140PS, the new 1.8 ECOTEC engine is one of the most powerful in this displacement class, but it’s far from being a highly-stressed race engine with peaky power delivery. Thanks to advanced valve and cam phasing technology, 90 per cent of the 175Nm maximum torque is available from 2200 to 6200 rpm. This wide range ensures lively performance and exceptional pulling power even at low engine speeds, making everyday driving more relaxed with less need to change gear.

Although most motorists will only need to know that the all-new 16-valve engine makes the Zafira great to drive, there are numerous innovations which will be of interest to the technologically minded: two continuously adjustable camshafts (DCVCP – Double Continuous Variable Cam Phasing) to make the best use of fuel; a two-step intake manifold with a rotary sleeve instead of flaps to minimise flow losses; a highly efficient oil-water heat exchanger; a map-controlled thermostat; and a deep drawn exhaust manifold with an integrated catalytic converter.

Lightweight design also contributes to the high efficiency of the engine. In spite of additional features such as DCVCP, the engineers succeeded in making the new unit three per cent lighter than the previous version while achieving increased stiffness and structural strength. The cylinder block alone is 20 per cent lighter than its predecessor due to a hollow frame concept.

Unlike conventional engines, where the crankshaft and camshaft are mechanically linked in a fixed Crank Angle (CA) via a toothed belt or a chain, this engine allows the intake and exhaust cam to twist relative to the crankshaft. This is continuously varied on the new 1.8-litre engine using an extremely compact, lightweight hydraulic vane type phaser.

Depending on the engine’s speed and operating conditions, the valve timing can be selected for optimum performance or fuel consumption. Advantages of the double camshaft adjustment include higher power output and torque characteristics over a wide engine speed range; reduced exhaust emissions thanks to high gas recirculation rates; and reduced fuel consumption using a de-throttled charge cycle.

While the advanced new four-cylinder unit will debut in the Zafira, it will spread to other models in the Vauxhall range in the near future.

At a glance data:

This ultra-low emissions figure also means that it’s one of the greenest and most fuel efficient seven-seat compact MPVs on the market.

And with its lower emissions, the ecoFLEX is the first Zafira to enter Band C for Vehicle Excise Duty – costing just £120 per year – while its BIK tax for company car drivers drops four levels to 18 per cent, the lowest taxation class for a seven-seater car in the UK.

The ecoFLEX also gains a significant improvement in fuel consumption compared with other models in the range. With a Combined figure of 53.3mpg (47.1mpg for the 1.9 CDTi), this Zafira now has a theoretical range of 680 miles, meaning fewer trips to the pumps and less damage to drivers’ wallets.

But as with Vauxhall’s other ecoFLEX models, turning greener hasn’t impacted on its performance. The 1.7 CDTi engine – which can also be found in the recent Astra ecoFLEX – produces 110PS and 260Nm of torque, giving acceleration of 0-60mph in 12.6 seconds and a top speed of 112mph. A different final drive ratio also raises the gearing, improving both fuel economy and offering a more relaxed cruising gait.

With a starting price of £17,310 for the Zafira Exclusiv ecoFLEX, buyers will pay a mere £100 premium over the equivalent 1.9 CDTi 120PS model. But since all Zafiras are available with Vauxhall’s ‘You Pay, We Pay’ deal, buyers benefit from zero per cent interest from two to four years (with no deposit to pay on the two year package) while also collecting a cheque equivalent to five per cent of the amount financed.

As well as Vauxhall’s clever Flex7 seating, allowing the ecoFLEX to be transformed from a capacious load –lugger to seven-seat people carrier in a matter of seconds, six full-size airbags, an anti-lock braking system (ABS) and radio/CD player are standard on all of its five trim levels.