Technical Croma info

[Radlet6]

Something else you may want to know is that the Croma is excellent in snow. Mine never got stuck once, and it's an auto.

Re the dpf, they can become clogged of you stand with the engine idling for long periods. But this is the same for all marques wiyh dpf.

 

[BrianMcL]

Got to agree with Radlet6 - they are great in the snow and ice. Don't know why as by all the accounts I've heard Vectras are rubbish but it is very reassuring that it's going to be able to make its way through most stuff, either with or without the ABS sensors.

 

[lanciaman]

There is a much more gloomy note to this Saab event.

I've never owned or driven a Saab and unlike my cold shoulder to the likes of Ford and others, they are/were a car maker that won a little respect and appriciation from me as being basically independent and different. Call it local country culture investment.

Volvo may be rubbing their hands with glee but in reality 'gloomy' must be taken seriously by everybody.

The SAAB name may live on but like Skoda will be just a brand name submember of the VW/Audi Group. Or is it the Audi/VW group.

This is all kind of possibly worrying for you motorhead purists out there.

Fiat Group - own Chrysler, Lancia, Alfa Romeo and other brands
VW/Audi - own Audi/VW, Skoda and other brands
Ford - own ??????

Bascially the global car market, espcially here in Europe is slowly and surely being consolidated into a bunch of car parts designed and sourced from who knows where.

Being a Croma owner I'm disgusted at the bad design, reliability etc. of all the GM bits that my Croma was built out of.

My Fiat history (600D,127 Sport, Strada 75CL, Strada Abarth, Uno 1.3, Uno SX, Tipo SX, Tempra 1.8ie, Punto HGT, Coupe 20V and Barchetta .... that I can quickly recall) were all pure Fiat till my Croma. From my point of view the Croma was my first step into the Brand dilution path and it has been totally awfull!.

I can't but help think that more brands/makes are going to go under in the next few years and then we will all be stuggling to find a "trusted, long term respected and reliable" to invest our money, faith and trust in.

Lets hope the New Year brings the Fiat Group renewed life and they stick to their old and traditional Fiat 'in house' design and manufacture.

I agree with your sentiments. I have had many many Fiats, Lancias and a couple of Alfa 75s. All were pure Italians. Just bought a Lancia Thesis which is probably the last of the proper Italian "big" Lancias as the Chrysler nonsense takes effect. But ultimately, commerce counts and the days of good pure Italian motors is gone. Croma, new Thema, whatever combination, we are down to perhaps 5 car makers worldwide, all using the same components......

 

[bobbyblue]

But ultimately, commerce counts and the days of good pure Italian motors is gone. Croma, new Thema, whatever combination, we are down to perhaps 5 car makers worldwide, all using the same components......

I have to agree, but as an employee of the new world order in motor manufacture (I work for Jaguar/Land Rover now owned by Tata of India), car companies have to use common platforms because development costs are so high, it would be impossible to survive without collaboration with other manufacturers, it can cost around £1bn and 3 years to develop a totally new car which is why many manufacturers evolve current designs rather than start with a clean sheet of paper...BMW is probably one exception to the joint development rule, they are highly profitable. Unfortunately you do loose a bit of individuality with shared platforms but it is possible to retune certain components to give back some uniqueness to each marque.

 

[Doofer]

...which all works fine, if the platform is of decent quality to start with.

I knew about the Croma's Vectra origins when I bought it, and thought that would mean it would be unspectacular but reasonably reliable, given that they're sold by the thousand. Only the thought of how cheap it was stops me hitting it in a rage with a tree branch sometimes.

There's also the snobbery angle. Many potential Jag owners were put off the X-Type by the fact that it was "only a Mondeo" underneath. Not that there was anything wrong with the Mondeo, just that it came from a class beneath it. IMO this car damaged the Jag brand, not for any technical reason, and not for any deserved reason either, but because Jag buyers like to imagine that it's carefully hand built using special Jag parts. I guess the magic and mystique is a good few grand of the rather large purchase price.

I'll wait for the Jaguar Nano to be announced!

 

[bobbyblue]

Usually one of the collaborators takes the lead in design, GM in the Croma's case, the other partners then have to argue to get things changed to suit their own versions with cost dictating most. The X type Jag was not actually a bad car, but Ford should have told the world that the Mondeo was a development off the Jag rather than the other way round though. As for the Nano, I don't think the wheels are big enough to cope with our potholes, I am reliably informed our roads are worse than some in India, but it would be interesting to see a supercharged Jag version or should that be a Jagtata?