Opel Zafira Turbo - German Express

If you couldn't look at the smudged makeup of the current Zafira, then Opel gave you a gift in the form of an upgrade to this model. By the way, many modern solutions that have not been enough so far have arrived on board.

The minivan market in Europe is already so small that more and more manufacturers are abandoning it for fear of profit. Peugeot is moving to crossovers, and Seat is making similar announcements. Renault is moving in the same direction, albeit quite gently. The latest incarnations of the Scenic are still minivans, albeit with larger wheels and higher ground clearance, like the Espace. Opel, after five years of producing the third-generation Zafira, decided it was too early to give up.

The controversial front apron was to give way to traditional styling, modeled after the latest Astra, which introduced a new style language to the Opel family. It is unlikely that anyone will cry after the "smeared makeup" - he did not become the face of Opel, did not make the Zafira an exceptional beauty. Now the front end is clean and, although not very characteristic, but the minivan is not bought in order to stand out on the street. The rest of the bodywork is unchanged except for the LED taillights, but these can only be seen when the lights are on.

The exterior shape of the Zafira is slender and can be said to be typical of single-body vehicles. Opel hasn't been afraid to push the windshield far forward, making for a slimmer silhouette than its domestic rivals. There is a large side window in front of the front door, which, combined with two rather thin pillars, gives the driver a very good view, especially when turning left. Slightly worse is the situation with rear visibility, which, unfortunately, due to stylistic measures, is almost standard for modern cars. However, the options list still includes a panoramic windshield that rises above the heads of the front seats. It is equipped with a retractable panel thanks to which we can cover an additional surface if, for example, we are blinded by the sun.

The body is ordinary, so you will not find sliding doors, as in the Ford Grand C-Max, but this is not a drawback. Access to the second row of three seats is excellent as the doors open to a wide angle. There are two extra seats in the trunk, which fold out to make the Zafira a seven-seater. In practice, Opel provides comfort to four adults and three children, provided that the latter do not travel in large child seats. The disadvantage of this solution is the lack of a trunk. There is still room behind the third row of seats, for example, for two small bags, but the floor is uneven and it is difficult to close the hatch without damaging anything.

There is plenty of legroom and headroom, but in the first two rows. Two additional chairs are smaller and will comfortably accommodate not too tall teenagers. Worst of all is the legroom - long trips in the trunk are certainly not pleasant. An additional obstacle to reaching the last row is not a very comfortable fit.

Zafira with four passengers is a coffee machine with business class seats. The middle seat in the second row is a real transformer. It can be moved, folded or additionally transformed into a large comfortable armrest for two passengers. The side seats in this arrangement move slightly inward, giving more shoulder room on the side of the door. With the third row unused, the Zafira offers a huge trunk of 650 liters. If necessary, the space with two seats can be increased to 1860 liters.

The center console, hidden between the front seats, has remained unchanged. Its design is multi-storey, which made it possible to use all this space. On the “basement floor” there is a locker with a hinged lid, above it a coaster for two cups, and at the very top there is an armrest with another, albeit tiny, compartment. The handle can be inserted under the armrest, and the latter can be moved to suit the needs of the driver. Unfortunately, there is no height adjustment, and the forward shift range could be more.

A complete novelty in the interior was the dashboard, completely redesigned. The previous one had a button for almost every function, which made it hard to find the right button and some of them were never used. The new idea of ​​how the onboard systems work is much better. The seven-inch IntelliLink touch screen, surrounded by several highly sensitive touch buttons, plays a big role. In the first kilometers, the lack of a button that allows you to go to the radio screen can be annoying, but after a while you get used to the fact that you can get from the navigation map to the list of radio stations by pressing the Back button button.

Opel factory navigation is not the pinnacle of technology, and besides, no car manufacturer offers navigation as fast and accurate as independent manufacturers. Added to this is the problem with updating maps. The upgraded Zafira debuted in September of this year, and maps still don't include all the roads put into service last year (such as the Rashin bypass). However, the advantage of Opel's solution is the OnStar system. This is a service that allows you to call a consultant who will help you find interesting places, using a special button in the car, without connecting to the phone. It is not limited to the standard objects known to all navigation, because the consultant can find much more for us, and then remotely upload the route to the on-board navigation. In practice, it might look like this. You are in Germany and have not forgotten that you can visit a chain store that is not available in Poland? Or maybe you're looking for a liquor store that's open XNUMX/XNUMX? No problem, you call and ask for help, and the consultant looks for such places in the area or near the intended route.

The new Zafira can be equipped with a range of the latest comfort and safety solutions. From the first group, it is worth highlighting AFL LED adaptive headlights and adaptive cruise control, and on the other hand, a very sensitive collision avoidance system or a traffic sign reading system displayed on a small on-board computer screen.

A few years ago, a gasoline engine in a car of this class, especially with high power, would not have made the slightest sense. However, when buying a car for personal use, when the annual mileage is low, the purchase of a diesel unit becomes less and less profitable. Therefore, a 1,6-liter supercharged engine that develops 200 hp is an option that makes sense.

The advantage of this drive is the high torque value (280 Nm) available in the range of 1650-5000 rpm. In practice, this means more flexibility and less need to reach for the shift lever, at least on the road. You just have to be careful with the throttle because excess torque can break the clutch even in second gear. The six-speed manual transmission has no alternative to competitors where the most powerful petrol engines are combined with automatic transmissions. This is not only a problem for fans of automatic transmissions, because the one used here does not correspond to such high power and does not have some accuracy.

The Zafira can be equipped with driving mode buttons. They affect assist power, accelerator pedal response and performance of the FlexRide adaptive dampers. In sport mode, the chassis is quite stiff, but nicely cushioned in tour. Comfort mode suits the Zafira much better, because despite the high power, this is not a sports car and the driver does not enjoy fast aggressive driving.

The same engine installed in Astra does its job well and consumes little fuel. Zafira is heavier by almost 200 kg, which affects fuel consumption. In the Astra, even when driving hard, exceeding 10 liters is a challenge, here it is not a problem. Even reducing the torque from 300 to 280 Nm did not help. On the highway, the consumption was 8,9 l / 100 km, and in the combined cycle, an average of 10,3 l / 100 km. This is a lot - both objectively and in the context of the data provided by Opel. According to the manufacturer Zafira should consume an average of 7,2 l / 100 km.

The practical interior with plenty of storage space and well-thought-out solutions is convenient for large families. The Zafira is available in two specs and comes with quite a bit of equipment as standard, though you'll have to pay extra for OnStar or AFL bulbs. It is a good idea to collect all electronic assistants in the form of a lane assistant or a sign reader in one package. Instead of disabling individual systems that many drivers have on board their cars, you can choose not to order them. A powerful engine can be appreciated when overtaking, but its fuel appetite could be smaller. All in all, Opel has done its job and the new Zafira stands up well to the competition.

The Elite test version with the most powerful petrol engine costs PLN 110. By going directly to car dealerships, we can catch the promotion that accompanies the launch of the model on the market, which in each version will give us PLN 650. discount. If you do not care about the top version of the configuration, then by choosing Zafira Enjoy, you can save almost 3 thousand. zloty. What does the competition say? Volkswagen Touran 16 TSI (1.8 hp) in the Highline version costs PLN 180. In the top configuration, it is more expensive, but faster, has a DSG gearbox and a larger trunk. The not-so-beautiful Ford Grand C-Max 115 EcoBoost (290bhp) also comes standard with a dual-clutch transmission and a sliding tailgate. Unfortunately, it is clearly slower. The Titanium version costs PLN 1.5. Citroen Grand C182 Picasso 106 THP (700 hp), also only available with automatic transmission, has similar performance to Opel with lower fuel consumption but slower on-board electronics. In the most expensive configuration, Shine costs PLN 4.