Car Reviews > Vauxhall > Zafira Tourer > Vauxhall Zafira Tourer Car Review
Prices: £24,000 (estimated)
Engine: 2.0-litre diesel Power: 161 bhp 0-60 mph: 9.8 seconds
Top Speed: 125 miles per hour
Economy: 52.3 miles per gallon
The highly luxurious and brand new Vauxhall Zafira Tourer sets out to take on the Ford S-MAX.
The latest addition to the Zafira family is the Vauxhall Zafira Tourer, which boasts a much more modern design, extra space, and a considerably more luxurious cabin. The two vehicles are set to go on sale together to start with but the old model is very likely to be phased out before too much longer.
The Zafira retails at prices starting from as little as £13,995, while the Zafira Tourer begins at upwards of £21,000, which is a big jump in cost from the old vehicle. That being said however, the Tourer has been specifically designed not just a replacement for the older model but also as a direct challenge to the Ford S-MAX, which it is still cheaper than by as much as £1000.
Practicality, as is the case with any MPV, is extremely important. The Vauxhall Zafira Tourer certainly does not disappoint on that level, with as many as five seats in position as well as a boot space of as much as 710 litres, while the load area is a simply enormous 1860 litres when only the driver and passenger seats are in place.
Passengers also receive much more space in the new car, with the Flex7 seating arrangements allowing individual chairs to be folded flat. The cabin can also be arranged in a number of different ways because all of the five seats are now individual. The middle seat of the second row can even be folded away entirely, allowing the two outer passengers to have a convenient armrest instead, which can also slide back and forth. The two seats in the third row are fixed, but they can still be simply folded down and then lifted back up again, while there is plenty of room back there for either children or even smaller adults.
The engine range consists of a 1.4-litre turbo with a bhp rating of 138 and a naturally aspirated 1.8-litre engine that produces precisely the same level of power. There are also three diesel engines as well, in the form of 2.0-litre units which bhp ratings of 109, 128, and 161. The 161 bhp proved to be an extremely good engine, quiet, refined and with plenty of shove too. It takes as little as 9.8 seconds to go from 0-60 miles per hour, but the impressive thing here is undoubtedly the in-gear punch.
The brand new chassis offers front suspension that has been copied straight from the Insignia, while the rear suspension is a considerable improvement on that of the standard Zafira. Another available option is adaptive dampers. When turning around corners, it is immediately obvious that the steering is very sharp, so much so that the nose actually darts into the apex. However, from that point the soft suspension does rather mean that it feels a lot less precise and a lot less fun than the S-MAX, while also feeling every inch of its size. The dampers can be stiffened as much as you like, but at the end of the day, the Zafira is designed more with comfort in mind, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
The Vauxhall Zafira Tourer can be ordered from November 2011, with deliveries expected to begin from early next year
by Autoweb
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