AUTO CAR ZONE

 Meanwhile, inside the model has a dark, sports leather steering wheel, sport seats with fabric variant Competition in red-black or black-red, and all topped with red stitching.

Specifications prices Modifications and Image 2011 Opel Tigra
 If you were to ring Harrods and say you wanted to spend £100,000 in their luggage department, I wouldnt be at all surprised if they sent a car and gave you a genuflecting personal assistant with a PhD in obsequiousness.

But if you were to ring a car dealer and say you wanted to spend £100,000, they’d put you on hold for half an hour. After which you’d be put through to a disinterested yob with nasty hair and a cheap suit who would explain that they have no demonstrators at the moment so maybe you could pop in some time later on the off chance.

When you do, you’ll be told there are still no demonstrators, that the windscreen wipers are optional extras, that you can have it in a choice of only five colours — all of them ghastly — and that delivery is expected some time in 2008.

And this is for a car costing £100,000, so I dread to think how shabbily you are treated if you “only” want to spend £15,000. Frankly, I’d be surprised if you could get out of the showroom with your life.

Let me give you an example. Last week, while driving around in Vauxhall’s little Tigra, I ran over a screw. This meant the tyre went flat, which in turn meant I had to pull over and change the wheel. Hard, because there was no jack, and doubly hard because despite what it said in the handbook there was no spare wheel either.

All you get is a can of foam and a set of instructions that explain what to do with it. Step One, apparently, is to remove whatever it is that caused the tyre to go flat in the first place.
EXTERIOR
The Vauxhall Tigra offers excellent driver appeal, from sport suspension, low profile tyres to 15 or 16-inch alloy wheels, the Tigra provides a very enjoyable ride. It’s not a sportscar, but performs very well for a vehicle in this sector. The 1.8-litre Sport, has a chrome tailpipe, and a pleasantly sporty feel during acceleration. The car is able to 125bhp and has a 0-60mph time of 9 seconds.

This is not a family vehicle. The Tigra lacks the space necessary to be a practical family car. It could be used as a sedcond car, or an expensive teen car.

The Tigra would make a good first car. In many ways the Tigra would make an ideal first car. The majority of buyers are likely to be female, despite the fact that the Tigra is more masculine than the 206 CC or Ford Streetka. Image conscious young buyers on a limited budget will find the car’s blend of style and personality at an affordable price irresistable. Insurance rates will run high though.

Past generations of Vauxhalls have been boring and too predictable, leaving the newer more exciting generations the burden of countering that image. The cara are well made and cars like the Monaro, VX220 and now the Tigra coupe/cabriolet will definitely win more than a few buyers over. The lack of quality in the cabin will hurt matters even more though. The car might age quickly and ifso, that will lower resale values for the little Tigra.

INTERIOR
The drive & handling of the Opel Tigra wins an 8 on 10. The steering is firm and has a decent grip. There is no body roll, even around sharp corners. The ride is quite comfy at the same time has a twinge of peppiness to it. If over-assisted, the steering is sharp and quick. This is probably one car that you can enjoy roof down as well as on top. (That is if you don’t mind the wind blowing through your hair!).

I would probably rate the interiors only a 3.5 on 10, simply because you wouldn’t expect something that looks so great on the outside to be so old fashioned on the inside. The cabin is a bit drab, plasticy and looks aged. The driving position is not too great either, though it’s not completely unbearable.

My lowest score of 2 on 10, would easily go for the space & practicality of the Tigra. But then again, you wouldn’t select this car as a family wagon. There is very little space in the car even if you compare it to rivals in the same segment. The boot is super tiny and practically unfeasible.
ENGINE
In terms of the engines, I would give the Tigra car a 7 on 10. The only reason I have cut points is because of the minimal options. Performance wise, both the 90bhp 1.4 and the 70bhp 1.3 CDTi, are great. But if I had to choose, I would pick the 1.4 petrol as the better option. That’s honestly because I personally prefer the roof on top and the petrol version just adds that zing to a cabrio.

In terms of performance, I would give the Tigra only a 5 on 10. now, I have no particular complaints against the performance so much as I have against the speed. The Tigra is promoted as a sports car; but the 1.3 CDTi takes 15.5 seconds to reach 100km/h while the 1.4 needs about 12.4 seconds. I assure you no racers or adrenaline pumping youngster is going to opt for this car.
SAFETY
ABS, driver, passenger and side airbags, active head restraints, seatbelt force limiters and a pedal release mechanism are all thrown in to help you out in the event of an accident. Those with young children will be disappointed to note the absence of a passenger airbag cut-off switch, making it dangerous to fix a rear-facing child seat in the front. The roll bars and strengthened A pillars should be more than strong enough in the event of a roll over. Steering wheel-mounted audio controls eliminate the need to avert eyes from road to fiddle around with the stereo.
source:www.motorguidance.com,www.buyyourcar.co.uk,www.theaa.com

Specifications prices Modifications and Image 2011 Toyota Venza
Its a wagon. Its a crossover. It has cartoony 19-inch dubs, yet has a ride your grandmother would like and a name shed confuse with a drug she saw advertised during Jeopardy! The 2011 Toyota Venza is a strange creation, one rife with contradictions and difficult to properly define. There is one thing were sure of, though; it makes a great family vehicle.
The Venza has the basic body dimensions and interior space of a midsize crossover SUV -- think Ford Edge or Nissan Murano -- but with one significant exception: The Venza is nearly 4 inches shorter in height than its rivals, and technically this puts it in the same camp as a wagon, not a crossover. Its wagon-style dimensions also make the Venza feel more like a car from behind the wheel compared to Toyota crossovers like the Highlander and RAV4, although we certainly wouldnt call it athletic. Instead, like other Toyotas, the Venza puts an emphasis on comfort and ease of driving.
The Venzas strange body style isnt the only thing that stands out, however. Unlike with most midsize crossovers, the Venza features a four-cylinder base engine. This provides sufficient power, but given that the bigger V6 achieves similar fuel economy, it would be foolhardy to not at least consider shelling out a few more bucks for the big engine. This is one of the best -- and possibly the top -- V6s in the crossover class. If that werent incentive enough, going with the V6 gets you even bigger, 20-inch wheels.
In the front cabin, the Venza is filled with a variety of innovative storage solutions. By placing the shift lever up high on the center console, space opens up for several storage bins. You dont get the same sort of versatility in back as you would in the more utilitarian RAV4, though. The Venzas rear seat doesnt slide, its not split three ways and theres no option for a third row. The backseat does recline, but thats common among its competitors.
That might be nitpicking, as would complaining that interior-materials quality doesnt quite live up to the standards of the class best. Certainly, the 2011 Toyota Venza is a strong contender whether youre in the market for a wagon like the Subaru Outback or a midsize crossover like the Edge, Murano and Chevy Equinox. The Venza is also a more likable and stylish choice than the similarly conceived Honda Accord Crosstour. When a vehicle is such an indefinable oddity, its bound to draw comparisons to such a diverse range of vehicles, but against them all, the Toyota Venza stands tall on its big wheels.
 INTERIOR

• Standard dual-zone automatic air conditioning
• Standard six-CD changer
• Standard cruise control
• Standard tilt/telescoping multifunction steering wheel
• Optional navigation system
• Optional backseat entertainment system

• 19-inch wheels standard
• 20-inch wheels optional
• Optional two-piece glass roof
• Optional power liftgate

About 50 percent of Venzas are ordered with the four-cylinder engine, a 2.7-liter that continues rated at 182 horsepower and 182 pound-feet of torque (consider torque the secret sauce of acceleration and horsepower the prime ingredient in momentum). Availability of a four-cylinder engine in a midsize crossover is a relatively recent development, though it’s becoming a trend as automakers seek to maximize fuel economy. The leading edge of the trend is turbocharged four-cylinder engines of around 2.0-liters. They provide the gas mileage of a four-cylinder with the power of a small V-6 – though at an initial purchase price equivalent to that of a V-6. Venza’s four-cylinder relies on a relatively large displacement to furnish power and torque in the upper range for non-turbo engines its size. 
The 2011 Toyota Venza’s available V-6 is a 3.5-liter again rated at 268 horsepower and 248 pound-feet of torque; both are fine numbers for engines this size.
Both Venza engines again mate with one transmission, a fully contemporary six-speed automatic. The gear lever sprouts from the dashboard just right of the steering wheel and can be moved within a separate gate for manual-type shifting. That gives the driver additional control to, for example, harness engine braking in hilly terrain or sharpen throttle response in urban freeway traffic.
Venzas with either engine are available with front-wheel or extra-cost all-wheel-drive (AWD). Venza isn’t intended for off-roading, so the AWD’s main role is to automatically redistribute power front-to-rear to maintain traction on slippery road surfaces. An antiskid system, also known as stability control, is standard and is designed to prevent sideways slides. An optional towing package allows Venza to trailer up to 3,500 pounds, same as most light-duty SUVs.
Venza is by no means a small or lightweight wagon, but the four-cylinder is surprisingly game, furnishing good go around town and adequate punch for hills and highways. The V-6 provides fine all-around performance and is in fact sufficiently muscular that you’ll find AWD a useful antidote to the torque-steer veering that afflicts powerful front-drive vehicles during rapid acceleration from low speeds.
Venzas with the four-cylinder engine come with 19-inch alloy wheels and those with the V-6 have 20s; this was the first Toyota of any sort with wheels that large. In either form, the 2011 Venza corners with reasonable poise. Its steering can feel annoyingly slow, numb, and unnatural in turns, though, oddly, these negatives seem to affect V-6 models more than four-cylinder versions. Sadly, the big wheels and tires that help give Venza its street cred detract from the ride quality, no matter the engine. Nasty bumps thump, sharp tar strips jar, and road noise infiltrates the cabin.
As for Venza’s connection to the sudden-acceleration controversy, model-year 2009 and 2010 Venzas were among Toyotas recalled for a replacement driver-side floormat that wouldn’t interfere with the gas pedal. Venza was not among Toyotas sited for a sticking gas pedal. The automaker did, however, include 2009-2010 Venzas among its first cars recalled to retrofit an electronic system that enables brake-pedal application to override the accelerator.
All model-year 2011 Venzas have the brake-override system and it’s bundled with several other features as part of a marketing effort Toyota calls the Star Safety System. Star Safety  also includes the antiskid system as well as traction control for better grip off the line, antilock brakes for more secure stops, and brake assist that automatically applies full stopping power in emergencies even if the driver fails to apply full bake-pedal pressure.
 SAFETY
Every 2011 Toyota Venza comes standard with four-wheel antilock disc brakes, stability and traction control, front-seat side airbags, side curtain airbags, a driver knee airbag and front-seat active head restraints. In Edmunds brake testing, the Venza came to a stop from 60 mph in 122 feet regardless of engine.
The Venza has not been rated using the governments new, more strenuous 2011 crash-testing procedures. Its 2010 rating (which isnt comparable to 2011 ratings) was a perfect five stars in all frontal- and side-impact tests. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave the Venza its highest rating of "Good" in the frontal-offset, side and roof strength tests.
reference:www.edmunds.com,iguida.com,www.cars.com

Building on the success of the European market Fiesta Sport + (called the 1600S in the UK and Sport S in Germany) that was launched this past February, Ford has unleashed a new Sport Special Edition that includes further enhancements inside and out.





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