New Vauxhall Zafira from Geneva to Luton...

After being previewed as a concept car at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, Vauxhall has confirmed the Zafira Tourer will go into production and MPV buyers can expect to see it in UK showrooms by early 2012. Before then, there will be a preview of the production version at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September and it promises not to deviate too much from the eye-catching concept that was revealed in Geneva.

The concept version is definitely a step up from the current crop of Zafiras on the road today in terms of improved design, luxury and more bells and whistles.

The three rows of seating offer flexibility with the back row folding flat and multiple options for configuring the middle row - the drawback being you may be asked to help whenever a mate is moving house but the good news is there’s plenty of ways to configure the car for passengers, pets and luggage.

Load volume is 710 litres with the seats up, a 65-litre improvement on the current Zafira. Fold the back two rows down and there’s 1,860 litres, a 40-litre improvement.

The wheelbase is 190mm longer than the current Zafira and Vauxhall’s FlexRide adaptive suspension system, which improves ride comfort, will be option for buyers of the Tourer, a rare addition to the MPV class which sometimes has a reputation for rattling the bones of the occupants.

Two new engines will be on offer, a 1.4-litre turbo petrol and a 2.0-litre diesel, as well as the 1.8-litre petrol engine. The six-speed manual, always good for fuel economy, will be standard on all 1.4-litre and 2.0-litre diesels. The 1.8-litre version is available with the old five-speed manual and a six-speed automatic transmission, which offers pretty decent economy as well, will be on offer with certain models.

It’s almost compulsory now for cars to come with different settings and the Zafira Tourer is no exception with Standard, Tour and Sport modes available at the press of a button.

New features to help the driver have been added to the Tourer such as traffic sign recognition, blind spot alerts and parking assistance. Safety features will also be plentiful on the family-friendly Tourer with adaptive cruise control, a system to engage the brakes if a car or object gets a bit too close to the front, lane departure warning and alerts to inform the driver how close the car in front is and visual and acoustic warnings if a collision is imminent.

Vauxhall/Opels’ design vice president has declared the Zafira Tourer a “lounge on wheels” and it looks set to add to the already strong competition in the MPV sector.

















By Georgia Lewis

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