Vauxhall Vectra Saloon (1995 - 2002) 2.6 V6 GSi 4d Owner Review

I've owned my GSi for 15 years now, and has probably been the best car I have ever had up till now. Because this version of Vectra is old now its hard to write this review and compare it to more modern cars, therefore I will base this on cars of similar age I have owned and driven. The GSi was the flagship of the Vectra range, and is basically an upgraded SRi with mods to the engine and body styling. There are plenty of sources online to go more in depth on the GSi specs for anyone who wishes to look them up. MSD (Motorsport Developments) carried out all the tuning and mods for Vauxhall. Performance ... Quite good for the year with acceleration excellent and smooth, sounds nice with the standard exhaust and V6 note. These loved to be revved and the V6 blocks are solid. Comfort ... The Recaro seats really make a difference and are very comfortable. Suspension very stiff, you will feel all the bumps. If you are tall, and need to put the seat all the way back, then the steering wheel can be quite far away and can take some getting used to. Economy ... Not the best, on average 24 mpg. If you drive hard you would be looking well under 20 mpg. Handling ... Lowered sports suspension does the job quite well, but could be improved with an aftermarket kit. When pushed to the limit can be a little difficult to handle on the twisty's. Brakes could also benefit from an aftermarket kit, but are adequate and of police spec with cooling ducts for the front discs. Reliability ... Excellent. The worst problem it had was a leaking old cooler which is located between the both cylinder blocks in the coolant. Check if this has been replaced to a new version because the old design are prone to corrode then contaminate the water coolant with engine oil ... labour intensive to fix so can be expensive. Various sensors have failed over the years, this is expected with all cars as they age. Watch for oil leaks around the rocker covers. Bodywork has a few small rust patches, but is in excellent condition for its age. Overall its been a perfect car for me, and it why I have kept it for so long. I would recommend you look for one thats been owned by an enthusiast and left pretty much standard. If you are after a sporty classic, then the Vectra GSi could be the one.