Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: marrus69 on 15 January 2012, 21:41:17
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Omega offers assured handling, good power units and spacious, comfortable interiors. Engines are the efficient Ecotec units. A better proposition than elderly executives like Scorpio and Rover 800 and it's almost an affordable alternative to the old BMW 5-Series. It's just a pity that it's not visually more attractive. However, if you're looking for a great car and you don't care what anyone else thinks then this could be just what you're looking for. No-one will dislike your car they simply won't notice it If you need more proof of its credibility as a driving machine, traffic police loved Omega.
only because its sleek and fast
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Don't see a problem tbh. TAXIIII. ;D
Some people like the anonymous understated shape. And not looking like one of Clarksons "co*ks" :y
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Sounds and honest-ish review
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Yeah, that's the desc. from the Parkers guide isn't it? They don't know their arse from their elbow.
I'm actually quite glad that the ignorant masses don't rate our cars! :y Makes them so much cheaper. While they're paying £££££s every month to drive around in a fashionable fwd shitbox with shiiiiite build quality that won't last longer than their finance repayments, we have the luxury of an Omega, or two! Everything taken into account, I don't think anything compares! :y Shamonnnnnnnnnn
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Don't see a problem tbh. TAXIIII. ;D
Some people like the anonymous understated shape. And not looking like one of Clarksons "co*ks" :y
I like that aswell! :y
Although it wasn't understated when I was getting funny looks after blasting 'Heal the world' through the Bose! RIP Jacko!
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That was probably much more to do with your "taste" in music Geoff than anything to do with your car. :P ;D
I think the assesment in the original post sounds pretty accurate and fair tbh. Most of us like them but they arent really anything particularily special. A lot of car for the money though,which is the main attraction for most people I would imagine.
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That was probably much more to do with your "taste" in music Geoff than anything to do with your car. :P ;D
I think the assesment in the original post sounds pretty accurate and fair tbh. Most of us like them but they arent really anything particularily special. A lot of car for the money though,which is the main attraction for most people I would imagine.
Yeah i think you're right about my music Albs! It just feels so right though! I think Omegas are special though, only as someone said, in an understated, non flashy, discerning, knowing manner! The thinking mans luxury car; after all, what's age but a number; what's a badge, but a symbol.
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Have to agree, all things considered it takes some beating last 3 previous cars where a Jaguar XJR BMW E46 330ci and a Merc C320 W203. Whilst I am not going to say the Omega is a better car it is not so far below in terms of comfort and drive quality that the above three warrant the extra expense associated with them. The XJR was a lovely motor to drive with near 400 bhp on tap took some beating but at 15mpg on a good day was to much at todays money, loved the gearbox and 3.2 engine in the Merc but the front suspension was absolute rubbish really spoilt the motor it was like that from the day I bought it and at that point it was only 18 months old with 14,000 miles on it. The BMW was the best all round and when I sold it (the offer was to good to turn down) I bought the Omega as a stop gap while I searched for a BMW 540 Sport for which I had a budget of £6000. The Omega (3.2 Elite 03 65,000) cost me £1700 and grew on me at a rapid rate and as stated all things considered I kept the Vauxhall and the £6000. The only thing that gets up my nose is the auto box which is by far and away the worst box I have come across in this class of car :-X, considering talking to Daz about it with the view to putting the manual box in.
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Have to agree, all things considered it takes some beating last 3 previous cars where a Jaguar XJR BMW E46 330ci and a Merc C320 W203. Whilst I am not going to say the Omega is a better car it is not so far below in terms of comfort and drive quality that the above three warrant the extra expense associated with them. The XJR was a lovely motor to drive with near 400 bhp on tap took some beating but at 15mpg on a good day was to much at todays money, loved the gearbox and 3.2 engine in the Merc but the front suspension was absolute rubbish really spoilt the motor it was like that from the day I bought it and at that point it was only 18 months old with 14,000 miles on it. The BMW was the best all round and when I sold it (the offer was to good to turn down) I bought the Omega as a stop gap while I searched for a BMW 540 Sport for which I had a budget of £6000. The Omega (3.2 Elite 03 65,000) cost me £1700 and grew on me at a rapid rate and as stated all things considered I kept the Vauxhall and the £6000. The only thing that gets up my nose is the auto box which is by far and away the worst box I have come across in this class of car :-X, considering talking to Daz about it with the view to putting the manual box in.
Each to their own and all that, I know we all like different things. I have a manual 3.0 MV6 and an automatic 3.0 Elite. The manual just doesn't compare to the auto. Someone once said that the autobox magnifies the torque by 1.4. I'm too thick to understand all that but it does feel alot more torquey (obviously at the expense of mpg) than my manual which isn't a very good box at all.
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TBH the only thing thats been holding me back is the bad reports I,ve heard about the manuals so sort of hanging on till I get the chance to have a go with one to see how it suits. Overall I have always preferred manual boxs, it never bothered me so much with the Jag Merc and BMW cause all those boxs where superb (Merc box fitted to the XJR).
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TBH the only thing thats been holding me back is the bad reports I,ve heard about the manuals so sort of hanging on till I get the chance to have a go with one to see how it suits. Overall I have always preferred manual boxs, it never bothered me so much with the Jag Merc and BMW cause all those boxs where superb (Merc box fitted to the XJR).
Even my old w124 Merc has a cracking autobox,I thought going from a v6 omega down to a four pot would mean slow progress but somehow the Mercs box makes better use of the available pony's on offer and is quite sprightly. :y
Its also around 300 kg lighter so I suppose that helps as well
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Hi all,
The simple fact is it's a very plain looking car. And the review is completely spot on. You won't be ''noticed'' in it.
HOWEVER, if you have a Lamborghini Aventador but are a middle aged bloke who's a bit fat and quite bald why the danglyberries would you want to be noticed???
The thing is it's about love. You know when it's night time, road to yourself, climate control at a ''it can't get more comfortable than this'' 25oC and then a bit of Dire Straits or fleetwood mac comes on and you're in what JC would call driving heaven........ at 1/500th of the price.
Magic! :y :y :y :y :y :y :y
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A clearer picture from actual owners maybe:
http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/vauxhall/omega/
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Have to agree, all things considered it takes some beating last 3 previous cars where a Jaguar XJR BMW E46 330ci and a Merc C320 W203. Whilst I am not going to say the Omega is a better car it is not so far below in terms of comfort and drive quality that the above three warrant the extra expense associated with them. The XJR was a lovely motor to drive with near 400 bhp on tap took some beating but at 15mpg on a good day was to much at todays money, loved the gearbox and 3.2 engine in the Merc but the front suspension was absolute rubbish really spoilt the motor it was like that from the day I bought it and at that point it was only 18 months old with 14,000 miles on it. The BMW was the best all round and when I sold it (the offer was to good to turn down) I bought the Omega as a stop gap while I searched for a BMW 540 Sport for which I had a budget of £6000. The Omega (3.2 Elite 03 65,000) cost me £1700 and grew on me at a rapid rate and as stated all things considered I kept the Vauxhall and the £6000. The only thing that gets up my nose is the auto box which is by far and away the worst box I have come across in this class of car :-X, considering talking to Daz about it with the view to putting the manual box in.
I am surprised at your comments on the autobox. I note that you are now above the OOF recommended mileage for the autobox ATF change. Has this been done? You may find that you get a significant improvement. I have a 3.2 Elite Auto (51 plate, 50,000m) and a 2.5TD Auto, and the Elite box is superb, whereas the the TD box is a little lumpy, although well kept. :y
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I am surprised at your comments on the autobox. I note that you are now above the OOF recommended mileage for the autobox ATF change. Has this been done? You may find that you get a significant improvement. I have a 3.2 Elite Auto (51 plate, 50,000m) and a 2.5TD Auto, and the Elite box is superb, whereas the the TD box is a little lumpy, although well kept. :y
What's that you speak of?? I have found the auto box on my 3.2 to be a bit of a pain at times as it tends to change up quite early - or at least earlier than I like when I'm just pottering about. No problem with kick down when it's needed but I often find it is more comfortable driving in Sport mode just to keep the revs a tad higher. Is there a mod that sorts this?
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What's that you speak of?? I have found the auto box on my 3.2 to be a bit of a pain at times as it tends to change up quite early - or at least earlier than I like when I'm just pottering about. No problem with kick down when it's needed but I often find it is more comfortable driving in Sport mode just to keep the revs a tad higher. Is there a mod that sorts this?
It's worth checking that you have the latest gearbox firmware which can be updated with a Tech 2. that helps immensely, but even with the latest, I find there's a band of speeds around 50-70MPH where it tends to bog down in 4th and you have a choice of sedate acceleration even at full throttle or rapid acceleration in kick down.
That aside, it's probably the best automatic gearbox I've experienced. Others have more cogs, but aren't anything like as smooth IMHO.
It is also worth keeping up regular fluid changes, as said. Every 60-80k ideally.
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Thanks, I'll PM The Boy to see if I can arrange to get the software checked and updated. I have no record of gearbox oil changes so suspect it may not have been done but looking at the maintenance guide I can see why, it doesn't exactly look easy. I'll try the software as a first step.
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when i put my foot down, i need to change my firmware.its awsome
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I loved my Mig... and I really do miss not driving it :'( :'( :'(, but even a 2.5TD held its own in a race from the M40 to the M1 across the A43 (Oxford - Northampton)... I only really lost ground on roundabouts... Had an even better run in Norwich when some Chav in his Astra tried to race me off the lights (with 3 of his mates with him)...
Truly the best car I have ever driven or owned... Sadly due to one of my delightful neighbours who decided to loosen the water cap >:( >:( >:( (without my knowledge), led to the cooking of the engine and sadly now it is burning a huge amount of oil and seizure of the turbo!!!
Driving an old Mondeo atm (due to initial cost of buying balanced with necessary work) which does pretty much the same mpg and gives me about 1/2 the space...
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Have to agree, all things considered it takes some beating last 3 previous cars where a Jaguar XJR BMW E46 330ci and a Merc C320 W203. Whilst I am not going to say the Omega is a better car it is not so far below in terms of comfort and drive quality that the above three warrant the extra expense associated with them. The XJR was a lovely motor to drive with near 400 bhp on tap took some beating but at 15mpg on a good day was to much at todays money, loved the gearbox and 3.2 engine in the Merc but the front suspension was absolute rubbish really spoilt the motor it was like that from the day I bought it and at that point it was only 18 months old with 14,000 miles on it. The BMW was the best all round and when I sold it (the offer was to good to turn down) I bought the Omega as a stop gap while I searched for a BMW 540 Sport for which I had a budget of £6000. The Omega (3.2 Elite 03 65,000) cost me £1700 and grew on me at a rapid rate and as stated all things considered I kept the Vauxhall and the £6000. The only thing that gets up my nose is the auto box which is by far and away the worst box I have come across in this class of car :-X, considering talking to Daz about it with the view to putting the manual box in.
I am surprised at your comments on the autobox. I note that you are now above the OOF recommended mileage for the autobox ATF change. Has this been done? You may find that you get a significant improvement. I have a 3.2 Elite Auto (51 plate, 50,000m) and a 2.5TD Auto, and the Elite box is superb, whereas the the TD box is a little lumpy, although well kept. :y
The change is smooth thats not the problem its the fact it cant seem to make its bloody mind up as to which gear it wants to be in (40 - 55) and also the down change from 4th to 3rd is to much of a drop. The car compares to the others in a lot of ways but so far as the box is concerned its a long long way short.
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RE AutoBox. In my personal experience, the Transmission worked BETTER before the later ECU updates.
The updates are intended to improve economy more than anything else and from what I have experienced with the latest 2 Omega's I owned, the ECU updates made the box change too early. I'm not wanting the car to hit 5k before changing, but I dont want it to wander into 4th at 35mph either, especially when I'm accelerating moderately up a steady incline on a dual carriageway.
The only way I could counter this behaviour was to progressively accelerate with each gearchange. It seems ridiculous, but after doing it for a couple of weeks it becomes second nature.
The Transmission in my current car (5 Series e39 V8) is infinitely better (one of the very few things it is better than the Omega). I believe the Continent got the same box in the Omega for VERY late cars? Is this true?
Would have been immense.
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I think the shape is well balanced, and nicely rounded, and still looks smart. Where I park there is a honda, same sort of length but instead of smooth flowing curves it is made up of straight lines, honda trying but not quite there. Plus the usual assortment of things that fell out of a wind tunnel. I suspect some car designers put a lump of clay in the wind tunnel, crank it up and what ever shape it forms is what they use. I mean they are not pretty. Look at the newish passat thingy. Smoothly flowing lines, but it is just a section of changing shape, no definition. The Mig shape has a beginning, middle and end, and still looks good. I think they keep re-inventing the passat, golf what ever, but the shape just isn't there.
Where I work there is also the usual collection of economy boxes, you see various managers driving in in various economy chariots, trying to look impressive :-X.
and I turn up in a motorway crusin' machine that cost at least twice what their's cost, with a V6, and a better carbon footprint ;D ;D ;D
Oh Yes :y
Ken
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Ken, the Omega AFAIK is an extremely aerodynamic car with a lower drag co-efficiency than anything else of its time, allegedly. I believe that's why some nutter put 1000bhp or something stupid like it that in it to make a real monster. He chose the Omega shell purely because of its aerodynamic properties.
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I think the shape is well balanced, and nicely rounded, and still looks smart. Where I park there is a honda, same sort of length but instead of smooth flowing curves it is made up of straight lines, honda trying but not quite there. Plus the usual assortment of things that fell out of a wind tunnel. I suspect some car designers put a lump of clay in the wind tunnel, crank it up and what ever shape it forms is what they use. I mean they are not pretty. Look at the newish passat thingy. Smoothly flowing lines, but it is just a section of changing shape, no definition. The Mig shape has a beginning, middle and end, and still looks good. I think they keep re-inventing the passat, golf what ever, but the shape just isn't there.
Where I work there is also the usual collection of economy boxes, you see various managers driving in in various economy chariots, trying to look impressive :-X.
and I turn up in a motorway crusin' machine that cost at least twice what their's cost, with a V6, and a better carbon footprint ;D ;D ;D
Oh Yes :yKen
Right on.... living the dream bro..... living the dream :y
One thing I like about our cars (automatic anyway) is that it's got plenty of torque, accelerates effortlessly, and you don't get thrown about like you would in a manual car when aggressively changing gear. Yeah sure some modern shitty fwd Mundano type things with a manual box and a turbo dieseasel engine might be able to keep it's headlights in your rear view mirror, but at least I'm burning rubber in comfort.
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Ken, the Omega AFAIK is an extremely aerodynamic car with a lower drag co-efficiency than anything else of its time, allegedly. I believe that's why some nutter put 1000bhp or something stupid like it that in it to make a real monster. He chose the Omega shell purely because of its aerodynamic properties.
Yeah, just think, 1000BHP AND air conditioning :y :y :y ;D ;D ;D
Rock On,
Ken
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Ken, the Omega AFAIK is an extremely aerodynamic car with a lower drag co-efficiency than anything else of its time, allegedly. I believe that's why some nutter put 1000bhp or something stupid like it that in it to make a real monster. He chose the Omega shell purely because of its aerodynamic properties.
Yeah, just think, 1000BHP AND air conditioning :y :y :y ;D ;D ;D
Rock On,
Ken
According to RATS, (the nutter) the Omega B has a Drag Co-Efficiency of 0.27. He sates; "Which is one of the lowest known of a road production car ever".
It was kitted out with a Lexus V8 and made 1000BHP. As far as I know, the car was totaled on The Ring. I wonder if it is back in business??