World premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show: Opel Combo Tour
FOR RELEASE: August 22, 2001World premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA)
Opel Combo Tour: Spacious and Versatile for Family and Leisure
- Five-seater with exceptional head and leg room
- Spacious interior with plenty of compartments and clever storage ideas
- Broad range of options and accessories
Rüsselsheim- An antique cabinet to transport home from the flea market, a drive in the country at the weekend with the kids - and their bikes - or a vacation on the coast with friends - and their surfboards: If you lead an active life, have a young family or a large circle of friends, you need a vehicle with lots of space to handle a variety of leisure and transportation needs. The new Opel Combo Tour is a versatile all-rounder with a large, practical load area and generous amounts of space for five people. Like the other two Combo variants - the delivery van and the five-seater "Combi" people carrier - the "Tour" features agile handling and low running costs. It celebrates its world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA) from September 13 - 23, 2001.
The "Combi" people carrier goes on sale in spring 2002 with the family and leisure-oriented "Tour" following in the fall. Opel's market researchers expect the two Combo passenger models together to account for a share of around 30 percent of the new model line's sales. There are three economical, high-torque engines to choose from for all models - a 1.6-liter gasoline unit and two ECOTEC 1.7-liter turbo-diesels - with outputs ranging from 48 kW/65 hp to 64 kW/87 hp.
The Combo Tour offers a great deal of interior space within compact exterior dimensions (length 4323, width 1685, height 1801 millimeters). The driver and front passenger benefit from the new model's harmonious "monocab" design. The roof flows back from the windshield in a convex form with the advantage that there is ample headroom at the front (1039 millimeters). Getting in and out is very convenient thanks to the large door openings. Due to the long wheelbase (2716 millimeters) it is just as spacious in the rear: There is a full 125 millimeters of leg room - an excellent figure in this class.
Two sliding doors are standard equipment, making the second row easy to reach. The rear bench seat is equipped with three head restraints and three lap and shoulder safety belts as standard. The anti-submarining design of the seats also ensures that the occupants cannot slip under the belts in the event of an accident. Child seats can easily be attached to the optional Isofix anchor points. The standard load area cover, the reinforced seat backs and the optional load area dividing net help to prevent luggage from endangering the Combo's occupants in a collision. The net can be secured vertically behind either the rear or the front seats, and protects the passengers in both positions.
The Combo Tour is designed to cope with a large volume of luggage. The load area is easily accessible via the sliding doors and the two hinged rear doors. Thanks to the maximum payload of 565 kilograms, transporting heavy goods does not a pose a problem: Even when all five seats are occupied, the Combo Tour offers a cargo space measuring 1.01 x 1.17 x 1.12 meters (length x height x width), corresponding to a "black box" volume of 1324 liters. With load area cover extended, the load volume is 455 liters (VDA method). If the rear seat back is folded down - the head restraints can be easily stowed in the footwells - the length of the completely flat luggage bay is 1.60 meters. When filled to half the height of the load area, a capacity of 990 liters is available, with 2700 liters if loaded up to the roof (VDA test method: 2320 liters). For more flexible use of the available space, the rear seat back and seat cushion can be split and folded (40:60). The front passenger seat back can also be folded right down onto the cushion.
A leisure and family car can never have too many storage areas and compartments. On the Combo Tour, life is made easier by clever ideas including baggage nets between the B- and C-pillars and bins in all four doors or side panels with integrated cup-holders (apart from in the sliding doors). Another cup-holder is located at the rear of the center console. A large compartment in the ceiling provides ample space for documents or road maps. There is also an optional drawer under the front passenger seat.
Versatility does not just mean a variable interior concept. An equipment program that takes the many possible uses of a leisure vehicle into account is equally important. Combo Tour buyers can choose from a wide range of practical extras, accessories and visual details, including power windows, air conditioning, a large folding soft-top, or comprehensive 'infotainment' including a satellite-supported navigation system. An easy-to-assemble roof rack system with various attachments and a bicycle rack that is secured to the trailer tow hitch for easy access help to solve even the trickiest transport problems.
