Which? Car review Vauxhall Tigra ( ) How we test. Performance. Ride comfort. Sports/convertibles

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1 Which? works for you Which? Car review Vauxhall Tigra ( ) On sale: Sep 2004 Class: New price: Used price: From 1,595 Performance: Boot & Storage: Ride comfort: Safety: handling: Reliability: Good performance, in 1.8litre form. Powerful heating. Cute looks, and relative rarity. Poor visibility with roof raised. Noisy and unrefined, with a poor standard of fit and finish. Unpleasant gearbox and thirsty petrol engines. Total score: 48% Recommended models in the range Which? Car Top Choice Model 1.8i 16V Sport 2dr [AC] New price: Used price: 1,650 Fastest Model 1.8i 16V Sport Rouge 2dr [AC] New price: Used price: 2, mph: 9.4 secs Most Efficient Model 1.3 CDTi 16V Exclusiv 2dr New price: Used price: 4,150 Combined fuel economy: 61.4 mpg Cheapest Model to buy new New price: Overview Vauxhall s Tigra is a strict twoseater convertible with a folding steel hardtop to make it usable all year round. We d struggle to call it a sports car, though. It s based on the Vauxhall Corsa and is not much fun to drive, even if the 1.8litre version offers decent performance. The Tigra was actually built in France by minor coachbuilder Heuliez, which might explain its poor build quality and nasty plastic interior. Some aspects are good such as its active safety features but so many parts of it are off the boil that it s hard to recommend this little roadster. Vauxhall reliability is rated as average in our latest Which? Car Survey, although we didn t receive enough data on the Tigra to give it a unique reliability score. Cheapest Model to buy used 1.8i 16V Sport 2dr Used price: 1,595 Cheapest Model to Run (new) New price: Running costs: (3 years/36,000 miles) Owner s View Several defects on delivery and after. Worst was water seals allowing interior to flood. Drives well but could do with more bhp. Service and servicing poor and expensive.

2 Vauxhall Tigra ( ) On the road Peppy performance from the 1.8litre engine ands safe handling can t make up for the Tigra s deficiencies: a poor gearbox, uncomfortable ride, raucous and unrefined progress, plus dire visibility. Performance We tested the 125bhp 1.8litre petrol Tigra (there s also a 90bhp 1.4litre petrol and a 1.3litre diesel). Performance is very good as long as you keep the engine revving freely but that means things get very loud in the cabin. We don t like the transmission the gear change quality is rough, and the ratios favour performance over comfort, so motorway cruising is noisy. Acceleration (3762mph) petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) 5.6 secs Performance We use the sophisticated electronic timing equipment to record standingstart and ingear acceleration, and repeat each test several times. Ride comfort Ride comfort The stiff suspension means you get a bumpy ride and the car rattles harshly over manhole covers and the like. petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) Ride comfort is assessed by our laboratory experts who have driven hundreds of thousands of miles in a myriad of different models.

3 Vauxhall Tigra ( ) On the road continued... Handling Stability control wasn t standard on most versions of the Tigra, but it was offered as an option. Where fitted, it cuts in early and effectively to prevent wheelspin. The Tigra understeers through corners, which means it s relatively safe to drive, although not what you d call exciting. Handling petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) Brakes The Tigra s brakes bring it up sharply and responsively. Onthelimit handling is explored well away from public roads to ensure a fair test. Our obstacle avoidance test is one of the harshest tests in the industry.. Brakes Braking distance (620mph) petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) 37.5m Refinement and noise This is not a refined car, with plenty of engine and wind noise, especially at high speed. Cruising noise petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) 73dB The Which? Car braking test measures stopping distance from 620mph and is repeated ten times in quick succession to highlight any brake fade issues. Refinement and noise The Which? Car experts use a decibel meter to record interior sound levels at common UK motorway speeds, and combine this with subjective assessments to arrive at an overall score.

4 Vauxhall Tigra ( ) On the road continued... Cabin and controls One of the most disappointing aspects of the Tigra is its poor build quality. Panel gaps are wide and uneven, there s lots of cheap and unpleasant hard plastic, and a basic lack of class. To fold the top, you need to release two (rather stiff) clasps, then an electric motor takes about 20 seconds to lower the roof. However, you can really feel the body flexing when the roof is down. It s easy to drive, though, with wellplaced controls. petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) Visibility and parking With the roof raised, visibility is a real problem. The slanting windscreen pillars and massive rear pillars obstruct your view, especially at junctions and traffic lights. It s not easy to guess where the front and rear ends are, and for such a small car the turning circle is surprisingly wide. Turning circle petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) 11.2m Cabin and controls We penalise cars with difficult controls, and we look for things like backlit light switches and easytouse heating and ventilation adjustments. Visibility and parking Visibility is a major issue for motorists today, so each car gets a 360degree swivel view test to reproduce the driver s eye view and any obscured areas.

5 Vauxhall Tigra ( ) Comfort and practicality Convertibles aren t really about practicality, but you d expect two passengers to feel comfortable and this isn t really the case: the cabin is cramped and getting in and out is awkward. The boot is tiny if you have the roof down, too. Getting in and out With the roof up, entry and exit are rather difficult. You can t open the door wide enough if there s a car parked next to it, the door stops are too weak when you re parked on a hill, and it s too easy to crack your head on the window frame. Lowering the roof makes things much easier! petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) Seat space and comfort While it s possible for someone 1.90m tall to fit in, they will feel very uncomfortable in such a cramped cabin. Elbow room is a problem, as is the proximity of the windscreen and roof to your head. It s difficult to find a relaxed seating position, although the seats themselves are wellcontoured. petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) Getting in and out We take measurements all around the driver and passenger s door apertures and note the height of the seat, door sills and step down onto the car floor. The best cars don t require too much bending or stretching to get in and out. Seat space and comfort We assess seat comfort subjectively, using our road testers expert knowledge and experience from thousands of different cars. And we measure the head, legand elbowroom on offer in every seat, to see how well the car caters for people of all shapes and sizes.

6 Vauxhall Tigra ( ) Comfort and practicality continued... Boot and storage You don t buy a convertible for its practical boot, which is just as well since the Tigra s holds a meagre 140 litres if you have the roof down (when raised, the boot offers a more acceptable 290 litres). It s awkward to open, and a very high sill makes loading a real pain. Boot space (seats up/down) petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) 290 litres / litres Heating and ventilation Not all Tigras have air conditioning, but the version we tested did. It heats up the small cabin quickly. petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) Boot and storage Carmakers give official stats for boot space, but our tests are more realistic. We load the boot up with measuring blocks only as far as the rear window line, so that luggage is well secured and won t obscure rear visibility. We repeat the test with the rear seats up, and folded down (where possible). Heating and ventilation Feel sorry for the tester who has to warm each car up from a frosty 10 degrees in our climate chamber. Starting with a cold engine, we measure how long it takes to warm up the front and rear of the cabin. Diesel cars usually take longer. We also check the effectiveness of air conditioning, where fitted.

7 Vauxhall Tigra ( ) Running costs and depreciation Fairly low depreciation is the result of the Tigra s trendy looks and convertible roof. Fuel economy from the 1.8 engine is disappointing. Fuel consumption Fuel consumption Our test of the Tigra 1.8 returned an average of 39.2mpg not great. If you want miserly consumption, Vauxhall built a 1.3 diesel version with claimed fuel economy of 61.4mpg, while the 1.4 petrol would make a good halfway house (claimed 46.3mpg). Petrol (combined mpg, claimed) Diesel (combined mpg, claimed) petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) 36.7 mpg 47.1 mpg 61.4 mpg 61.4 mpg Urban (claimed/measured) 25.9 mpg/29.1 mpg We test fuel economy under strict lab conditions using realistic test cycles to reveal the facts behind the figures. Our figures rarely match manufacturer claims as, unlike the official mpg test, we measure economy with both a hot and cold engine, and on the motorway. petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) Extra urban (claimed/measured) 48.7 mpg/50.4 mpg Motorway (measured) 37.7 mpg Combined (claimed/measured) 36.7 mpg/39.2 mpg

8 Vauxhall Tigra ( ) Running costs and depreciation continued... Emissions The Tigra s CO2 figures are: 1.3 CDTi 124g/km, g/km, g/km. Emissions Petrol (CO2, claimed) 144g per km 185g per km Diesel (CO2, claimed) petrol 1.8 (125bhp) manual 2door (2008) 124g per km 124g per km Emissions (claimed/measured) 185g per km/169g per km Safety and security We d only recommend buying a Tigra with stability control fitted not all examples had this safety feature. You can t use a child seat because the passenger seat airbag cannot be deactivated. Euro NCAP score The Tigra was tested in 2004 and scored four stars for adult protection and two stars for pedestrian safety. Child occupant safety was not tested. Here is the video of the Vauxhall Tigra Euro NCAP frontal crash test. Please enable JavaScript to access this content. Adult occupant Child protection Pedestrian protection While testing fuel economy, we also collect exhaust gases to enable us to measure the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted. We also check whether particulate filters are effective at removing sooty emissions from diesel engines. Safety We rate cars for safety using Euro NCAP crash test scores (where available), alongside our own comprehensive safety checklist. Uniquely, we also feed in results from our accident avoidance test after all, it s far better to steer around a crash than rely on the airbags... Security Which? safety rating Active (crash avoidance) Passive (crash safety) Child Pedestrian Security Security scores come from the security experts at Thatcham, who break into hundreds of cars each year. Most modern cars are very difficult to drive away, but are still too easy to steal from. Theft of car: Theft from car:

9 Vauxhall Tigra ( ) Which? Car Survey results The Which? Car Survey is the UK s most robust reliability and owner satisfaction survey. In 2015, drivers told us about 58,000 cars, covering more than 484 million miles in the previous 12 months (that s equivalent to driving to the moon and back a hundred times). This unique feedback allows us to rate satisfaction and reliability for hundreds of new and used cars. Note: Star ratings below are from 15 (1 is very poor and 5 is very good). Percentages shown under Most common faults indicate the proportion of owners reporting each problem in the past 12 months. Brand Vauxhall ratings Sample size: 3,091 people Overall owner satisfaction for this brand 71% Brand reliability Dealer Sales Service Dealer Servicing & repair Model: Vauxhall Tigra ( )S Ownership ratings sample size: people Overall owner satisfaction for this range About our survey Brand ratings Everyone who takes part in the Which? Car survey tells us about their car and the dealers who sell and service it. We analyse this feedback across all cars to give toplevel satisfaction ratings for each brand, including the brand s reliability record over the last eight years. All star ratings are out of five. Model ownership ratings These show how owners score this car in 12 different areas, from performance to heating. Owners ratings are subjective so may differ from Which? Car test scores but they give a good idea of what the car is like to live with. Where relevant, cars are scored against other cars in the same class (e.g. for space). Owner s View Love the convertible roof, large boot even with roof down. Owner s View It s a wonderful toy car that gives a lot of fun and satisfaction.

10 Vauxhall Tigra ( ) Which? Car Survey results continued... Reliability ratings Overall Reliability About our survey Reliability ratings Up to 3 years old 48 years old Petrol cars Reliability breakdowns average annual repair cost Diesel cars Reliability breakdowns average annual repair cost All cars Reliability breakdowns average annual repair cost Breakdowns: Percentage of cars suffering a breakdown in last 12 months Average annual repair cost: Average annual cost of repairs (not servicing), in past 12 months We split reliability into breakdowns (including failure to start), faults (where parts need replacing) and problems (minor issues e.g. squeaks and loose trim). Where the car has been on sale for some time, and we have numerous survey responses from owners, we also split scores by the age of car and fuel type. Star ratings are out of five the more stars, the more reliable the car. Most common faults Most common faults Up to 3 years old 48 years old Want to know what s most likely to go wrong as the car gets older? These are the five most common faults reported by owners, grouped by age into new, recent and older cars. A score of 40% means four out of 10 owners reported problems with that part of the car over the previous 12 months. Engine electrics and nonengine electrics (e.g. windows, stereo) cause more headaches than mechanical parts in most modern cars. Failure rate: The proportion of owners reporting this problem in the last year