New Vauxhall Meriva Details

Engines and transmissions

• Three new engines, including 1.3 CDTi diesel

• Range-topping 180PS VXR

• Up to eight per cent improvement in fuel economy

New Meriva sees a host of technological improvements over its predecessor, not least under the bonnet.

Three new engines are available, bringing new appeal to the model range in all areas of the market.

The first new unit is a 1.3-litre high-tech diesel, which has already proved a huge success in Corsa, Tigra and Astra.

The 75PS unit – the smallest common-rail diesel in the world, is Euro 4 compliant and features a maintenance-free Diesel Particulate Filter as standard. Despite its modest capacity, the unit develops an impressive 170Nm of torque and offers impressive refinement, even at high speeds.

It returns a superb combined fuel economy figure of 56.5mpg, (65.7mpg extra-urban and 45.6mpg urban) and accelerates from 0-60mph in 16.6 seconds, with a top speed of 98mph where conditions allow.

The second new unit is a development of Vauxhall’s 1.6-litre TwinPort petrol engine, which develops 105PS. That’s 5PS more than the outgoing 1.6-litre unit, but despite that the engine is more efficient, showing gains of up to eight per cent in fuel consumption.

That translates to a combined fuel economy figure of 42.2mpg, or 51.4mpg on the extra urban cycle and 32.1mpg urban. Performance is lively, too, with 0-60mph despatched in 12.4 seconds and a top speed of 112mph.

Third, but by no means last, is the Meriva VXR’s 1.6-litre turbo. Based on the 1.6 Twinport, the 180PS engine features an overboost facility to increase torque on demand by up to 15 per cent. The lightweight VXR engine weighs just 131kg, meaning excellent performance of 0-60mph in 7.9 seconds and a top speed of 137mph, plus respectable fuel economy of 36.2mpg combined (44.8mpg extra-urban/27.1mpg urban).

Other powerplants in the New Meriva line-up include the continuation of the popular 90PS 1.4-litre and 125PS 1.8-litre petrol engines, plus the 100PS 1.7-litre CDTi diesel.

With the exception of the Meriva VXR, which comes with a close-ratio six-speed gearbox, all New Meriva models feature a five-speed manual gearbox as standard, with optional Easytronic transmission available on 1.6 and 1.8-litre petrol models as a £500 option.

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