My 'new' Vec C SRi and my 'thoughts' on it.

**Duncan** · 9th April 2006, 21:10

As mentioned earlier, I got an 06 SRi 2.0T as the loan car while mine is being repaired. Went out for a spin in it this evening (my first real 'proper' drive in it) and I took a few snaps at one of my favourite spots (Beachy Head).....

Oh, and I knocked off a snap of the nice sunbeams!!

My 'thoughts' on the (06) SRi.....

I don't know exactly what the previous SRis came with, but here's what this one has, and hasn't got.

Things it has got.....

Front cup holders with sliding cover
Rear cup holder (pop out from rear seat)
Twin exhausts (not sure if that was always standard on SRis?)
Chrome window strips

Things it hasn't got....

Rain sensitive wipers
Auto dimming rear view mirror / indirect night lighting.
Cubby hole under headlight switch
Rear interior light
No map lights - just the basic single light
Sunglass holder!!! Can't believe that!!
Vent on rear centre console
Cigarette lighter - just a 12v socket. Wouldn't bother me personally as I don't smoke, but sometimes the lighter is handy for other things! It still has the front and rear ashtray though, so what exactly is the £50 Smokers Pack then? Just a cig lighter!!?
Information display/matrix in the rev counter - shows warning icons/doors open etc. All those are now little symbols around the dashboard, rather than in one area.

Things I like about it.....

Seats. Give a nice hold when driving. Pity they weren't leather!
Steering wheel - tad smaller than pre-facelift and better for it.
Suspension - improvement over pre-facelift but still think it could be much better (see below).
Nice raspy noise from the exhaust.
The boot - bigger than the Signum in 'standard' position i.e. without having to drop seats down. But to move lots of gear the Signum wins hands down once you drop a seat or two - especially as they go totally flat.

Things I don't like about it....

Rear visibility (this obviously applies to all Vec C's). I found it very difficult to judge where the back end is when reversing. I found it easier on my Signum (before I had parking sensors) to judge where the back of the car was. The Vec really needs reversing sensors (IMO)
Spec - for an SRi I really expected a much higher spec. Maybe the Design model has caused the SRi to take a beating?
Handling - giving it some on a country road I was somewhat surprised. Going quickly into a corner caused the car to squirm a lot. Braking going into a corner casued the car to squirm to the point I thought the back end was going to give!!! Vx really need to tighten up that a lot!! Maybe it's because I'm used to driving mine with the Irmscher kit on, but I thought the SRi suspension on the (shorter wheelbase) Vec would have been better than that.
The silly system for adjusting the side mirrors. I sussed how it worked, but just found it more faff. I could've adjusted both mirrors quicker individually rather than the method you have to do with the new system.
Brakes - they felt c**p, but looking at the spec they have the same as my Signum - 302mm front, 292mm rear. Maybe they needed adjusting? (unusual for a car that's only done 4000 miles), but they certainly didn't pull the car up as quickly as I was expecting (and am used to).

Things I really missed on the Vec (SRi) that my Signum has.....

Leather seats!
Electric seats (with memories). What's with all this manual seat moving melarky?! Really missed it when trying to adjust my position when driving, especially forwards or backwards. With electric, just a little zip with the switch. Doing it manually inevitably ends up with seat either shooting forwards or backwards!!!
Auto dipping passenger mirror when reverse selected. Really missed this when reversing and pulling up against kerbs.
My parking sensors!
My BSR remap!! Standard 2.0T isn't sluggish, but boy do I miss it!
All the other bits and bobs you get on the Elite (Signum) spec. - climate control, leather seats etc.

I've probably missed a few things. I'll edit the post if I think of anything later!

D

**Beavis** · 9th April 2006, 21:22

if thats what you get for driving a new car I'll stick with me 03

**topline** · 9th April 2006, 21:27

i wish i had leather so i could miss it you have been spoiled duncan

**Beavis** · 9th April 2006, 21:30

i've got leather so don't miss it !!!!!!!!!

**Pendo** · 9th April 2006, 21:41

Should have asked for a 1.9 cdti.

**Duncan** · 9th April 2006, 21:44

Originally Posted by Pendo

Should have asked for a 1.9 cdti.

lol - I'd have been happy if they had given me one, but they charge extra for them (which I wouldn't have paid for anyway) but they just didn't have them available. I did ask before I got it as I wouldn't have minded saving a bit of dough on fuel while I had it, but wasn't to be.

**Steven** · 9th April 2006, 22:17

Good looking car Duncan, the facelift really suits the lightning siver IMO..

the electric seats with the memory sound like a god send

**billy12** · 9th April 2006, 22:19

hi duncan

totally agree with everything you said above before i bought my vec elite i looked at the sri and thought the spec was pretty poor having said that my elite doesnt have electric seats or dimming mirror am very jealous of that

**vectrasri03** · 9th April 2006, 22:29

So you like it then LOL.

I recognise that car park on beachy head, there is alot of head work that goes on up there LOL.

I actually find the C SRI easier to reverse park then the B SRI due to lack of spoiler even without my front and rear sensors.

M

**Duncan** · 9th April 2006, 22:43

Originally Posted by billy12

....having said that my elite doesnt have electric seats or dimming mirror am very jealous of that

I see you have an 05, not sure if that is pre-facelift or facelift? I thought the pre-facelift Elite had electric seats? Maybe they dropped in on 05?

Looking at the facelift specs, I see the auto-dimming feature is standard on Elite, but I can't even see any mention of electric seats on any spec - Vec or Signum!! Can't see it in any Plus Pack options. Have they dropped electric/memory seats on the facelift?