Vauxhall ADAM

What is it?

The ADAM is an entry point, in a way, to the Vauxhall family. Ok, maybe not by price as the Corsa and Meriva are cheaper than it, but as regards dimensions, maybe.

What should I know?

Vauxhall’s keen to let us know that there’s plenty of personalisation in the vehicle, whether it be inside or out. I particularly like the ‘floating’ roof effect achieved by the two-tone paint job. Going back to what I was saying about it being pricier than the Corsa and the Meriva, it’s evident inside why. The materials used are of great quality. Everything feels solidly screwed together and it genuinely feels like you’re in a more premium car than you are when you hop inside. I was pleasantly surprised when I sat in one myself.

Engines

The first thing I should point out is that you don’t get any diesel offerings, something that its main rival, the DS3, does have. Nonetheless, let’s get to the bottom of the (petrol) engines currently available in the ADAM.

• There’s one 3-cylinder 1.0 litre turbo engine which offers 115PS
• There are two 4-cylinder 1.2 litre engines both offering 70PS
• There are two 4-cyl 100PS 1.4 litre engines, and one 4-cyl 87PS 1.4

At least one engine of each size offers Start/Stop technology too.

Expect up to 57.6 mpg and CO2 emissions as low as 114 g/km. Quite disappointing that there’s no sub-100 g/km of CO2 engines!

Tech Specs

It’s important not to forget that, like most small cars these days, it only has 4 seats. But the two individual rear seats (rather than a bench seat) are very comfortable and offer adequate legroom.

The ADAM’s standard infotainment system includes the likes of steering wheel mounted controls as well as a CD player, AM, FM and DMB radios. Step it up for IntelliLink which will let you connect your Android or iOS device to the multimedia system to play music and videos, view photos and use maps. There’s even a Siri hands-free feature which requires iOS 6 or later on an iPhone 4S or later All delivered through a 7″ touchscreen which I have used, and found it very easy to use.

Cruise control, power steering, stability control, central locking, alloy wheels, air conditioning, electric windows and electrically adjustable wing mirrors are all standard across the range too. Not bad, eh?

Competitors

The ADAM is aimed at the younger market, so baring that in mind, its main rivals are the MINI Cooper (3-door hatchback), Fiat 500 and Citroën 500. Comparing its fuel economy to its rivals, they return up to 57.6 mpg (ADAM), 74.3 mpg (MINI), 76.3 mpg (500) and 78.5 mpg (DS3) on a combined journey and emit as low as 114 g/km (ADAM), 99 g/km (MINI), 92 g/km (500) and 91 g/km (DS3). It may come as a surprise to you, then, that the ADAM fares quite poorly in these tests, as it did to me!

The ADAM is offered in a convertible variant (though this means that you have to go for the ROCKS AIR trim which may not appeal to most people with its plastic cladding), the MINI too has a convertible option, though this is a completely different model. Its styling remains the same, but it’s simply called the MINI Convertible. Or there’s a MINI Roadster which is a convertible version of the MINI Coupé which, undoubtedly, takes a coupé body style. Same follows with the 500 which becomes the 500C and the DS3 which becomes the DS3 Cabrio. All keep the same body with just a fabric roof acting as a big sunroof apart from the MINI Convertible (and Roadster for that matter) which are real convertibles (albeit soft-tops.)

Pricing

There are 3 trim levels in place at present. The are priced as follows:

• ADAM Jam – £11,255
• ADAM Glam – £12,650
• ADAM Slam – £13,150

But additionally, there’s even an ADAM ROCKS AIR (one trim level) which resembles a baby crossover. Same design, but with plastic cladding amongst other small changes to give it a more off-roady look. Not my style, but it doesn’t look bad! It’s only £14,695 too.

Standard Kit

The ADAM Jam will get you:

• ESP-Plus
• ABS
• Daytime running lights
• Infotainment system with USB and aux-in features
• Bluetooth
• Steering wheel mounted audio controls
• Leather-covered steering wheel
• 16″ “Horn” alloys

Go for the glamorous ADAM Glam for:

• Electronic climate control
• A fixed glass sunroof with a sliding blind
• LED daytime running lights
• LED rear lights
• Some chrome detailing on the exterior
• Body-coloured door handles
• 16″ “Vintage” alloys

And finally, the ADAM Slam?:

• Sports suspension
• Pockets on the backs of the front seats
• Dark tinted rear windows
• Cloth/Morrocana seats
• 17″ “Hurricane” alloys

Options

A flexible cupholder for the front centre console (which is available on Glam and Slam trims anyway) will only cost you £16. Bargain!

A set of 4 floor mats will set you back £31, £41 or £51 for ‘economy’, rubber or velour mats respectively.

We already know the ADAM is a car that we can personalise… a lot! So what personalisations can we choose? An interior rear-view mirror foil for £57, a coloured logo bar for £95, a foil decal kit for £122, exterior mirror caps for £100, interior trim kits for £176, various gearsticks for £62, stainless steel pedal covers for £129, lots of alloys at various prices, and wheel clips to change the colour of individual spokes for £65! And, breathe!

Integrated DAB is £195 and an iPad cradle for the rear of the front seats is £98 (although it’ll only fit the older style iPad with thicker bezels – not the Air or Air 2).

You don’t just buy parking sensors on an ADAM. You select whether you want them for the front or rear (or both) and if they’re to be painted or not, the latter being slightly cheaper. Front parking sensors are £350 or £320, and rear sensors are £330 or £300.

My Car

I’ve been waiting for this! I spend a lot of time experimenting with the colour options and have come up with the ADAM that I, personally, would buy.

• ADAM Slam – £13,150
• 1.0 litre 12v Turbo (115PS) ecoFlex Start/Stop – £15,350
• VXR Styling Pack – £16,100
• 17-inch Hurricane alloy wheels – £16,100
• Let It Blue (two-coat Pearlescent) paint – £16,645
• I’ll Be Black front grille bar – £16,745
• Let It Blue interior décor pack – £16,745
• Let It Blue interior leather pack (steering wheel) – £16,910
• Sports pedals – £17,010
• Superheroes blue, black cloth / Morracana trim – £17,080
• Let It Blue rear-view mirror cover – £17,130
• Stars, illuminated headliner – £17,455
• Winter Pack – £17,670
• IntelliLink – £17,945
• Infinity Premium sound system – £18,245
• Sight & Light Pack 2 – £18,445

I may have made it gain over £5,000 in personalisation and technology, but don’t forget for a top of the range VXR-styled ADAM, sub £19k is not bad at all!

Not to mention the fact that the top-of-the-range Citroën DS3 Ultra Prestige will set you back just shy of £23k! The t-o-t-r ADAM Slam’s base price of £13k compares to the £13,640 DS3 DSign Plus in terms of price – the 2nd of 9 trim levels!