>> - It does not appear to be possible to adjust the seats. I've never seen
>> that in any car, ever. (You can move the seats forwards and backwards,
>> but you apparently cannot adjust the back.)
>
> On Opel Corsa (as Vauxhall is a sister-company in GM of Opel), you can
> adjust the back with a knob (not a lever), on only one side of the seat.
> And that knob (which has the size of a big hand) is usually hard as hell
> to turn. (memory of Opel Corsa 1.7D... D for Gasoil/Diesel)

Isn't that how *all* cars adjust the seat back?

>> - The dashboard has two identical dials on it. Obviously one is engine
>> speed and the other is road speed. There is no way to determine which is
>> which, except that the right-hand dial has a second scale printed on it,
>> marked "kph" in almost illegibly tiny writing.
>
> So at least you know it's the second one for the speed...

Yeah, when you eventually spot the tiny writing.

>> - There is no temperature gage. Arguably you don't need one, but it
>> would be nice to know when my hands are going to stop freezing.
>
> Is there at least a heating air system ? And is it set correctly ?
> Are the traps opened ?

The heating system uses heat from the engine to warm the air. It doesn't 
work until the engine is hot. Most cars have a temperature gage, so you 
can tell when this has happened. (OTOH, usually you drive a few miles 
before the needle lifts off zero.) Not critical, just irritating.

>> - It is not possible to turn the lights off. You can have sidelights,
>> sidelights + headlights, or just headlights. But you cannot have no
>> lights at all. Even if you're driving through Death Valley at high noon,
>> you have to have your lights on, so you look like a complete tosser.
>
> just thanks the laws...

I'm not aware of any law that you have to have your lights on.

I've seen cars that turn the lights on automatically when it gets dark. 
But I've never seen a car where you just cannot turn them off.

> the tests of 1.2 Corsa (old or twinport) says; 0 to 60mph in 12s or
> 11.8s. You have to learn the gearbox to stay in the power zone of the
> engine. The fifth gear is a cruise gear, on flat ground. you might need
> to go back to fourth to get some reactivity.

I did manage to get to 60 in less than 90 seconds on time... :-P

I tried staying in 4th gear, but the car stops accelerating when it 
reaches 50. The only way to make it go any faster is to change into top 
gear. Then it will, reluctantly, accelerate to higher speeds.

> You need to push that engine so that the next gear start at least at
> 3000 rpm.

Assuming that "30" on the dial corresponds to 3000 RPM, the engine seems 
very reluctant to go that fast, and sounds like it's going to die at any 
second while revving that high.

>> The car has 5 gears. I eventually realised that when you get to a
>> certain speed, a little light comes on warning you to change up a gear
>> before you break the engine.
>
> When the light blinks, you are already too far.

Well, that happens at "25", which is presumably 2500 RPM. And you say 
it's supposed to reach 3000 RPM before you change gear?

Post a reply to this message