Hello and welcome to the CarRanger Review. Today we take a joint look at the Opel Senator B 3.0i 24V of 1991 Intro The Opel Senator, what kind of car is that? You see this car very rarely. These are the questions we want to answer today: What is this car capable of what its design like we are going for a ride and we will finally answer to the question for whom the Senator is suitable for. A car which was so special that Opel decided to deliver a “Senator Card” to every owner of this model. It offered discounts for examples for hotels but had no payment function. This is the B variant, which was built from 1988 to 1993, its predecessor was the Senator A. The development of this vehicle began already in 1981 and actually, the engineers had development goals which are still taken seriously today for example the environmental friendliness. This is the reason why the drag coefficient of this design was reduce to 0,30 whereas the coefficient of the senator A had been 0,39.
Back to the late eighties this was a very special value. Very special was also the engine because we have here the 24 valves version, we will take a closer look later on this engine. But first let´s have a look at the design of the round about 70.000 built Senators. It is striking that it is a standalone car, although the technical basis is the Opel Omega A. The biggest design difference we already saw at the front: the radiator grill. Some describe this grill as a "waffle iron", some of the journalists also called it "ice cube" grill. Probably that grill can be really modify to it. But of course it is the honeycomb grill which marks traditionally the 6-cylinder models of Opel. If you have a look to the successor of the Senator B, the Omega B, you will also recognize that only the 6-cylinder versions have a honeycomb grill. This is the striking design element which distincts the Senator from the conventional Omega. Its the same with the head lights.
While the Omega A has an indicator integrated into the headlight, the indicator at the Senator B was placed below that bumper which also have that beautiful chrom clasp. This design element reminds me personally of the Audi V8 which was launched one year later, namely in fall 1988, to the market. It was 2 cm longer and has similarities in its design compair to the senator. And yes everybody agrees that the AUDI V8 belongs to the top class. But what would be the answer for Senator B ? Does it belongs to the top class or yes similar to the Omega A to the upper middle class? I think this is exactly the question where the opinions differ.
If you look at the side view you will recognize that the Senator is longer than an Omega A yes to be exact 15 cm longer. We have here a car of 4,85 m in length, 1,76 m wide and 1,45 m hight. As i already mentioned it is 2 cm shorter than a Audi V8, that means that the Senator is in the same size category. But a BMW 7-series (E32) or Mercedes s-class (W126) were even longer and even more expensive.
Concering its price the Senator has to be compared to a BMW 5-serie (E34), as you can also seen at the published comparative tests of that time. Yes its a big topic and looking at the interior later we will also see where we have to rank the Senator. Beautiful for that time is especially that cross spoke design of the rims. As one of the other knows i drive a E32, what kind of rim got my car? Yes exactly the same just with a logo of BMW.
This was the must have for members of the management board, cross spoke rims. Typically for Opels from that time were these flushed rear view mirrors which were changed in later modell series. I like very much that this ledge around the windows is thick because most cars just have a very small and thin chrom line, this one is significantly more massive. Yes and then more differences to the Omega. Correct, we have here roundly cutted wheel housing instead of horizontally cutted. This feature has only the Omega for reason to reduce the air drag coefficient. At the Senator the design of the wheel houseing was realized more elegant and to reduce the drag coefficient even lower was not that important anymore And yes exactly here at this spot there would be a critical view while checking a used car.
How does the rear wheel housing really look like? At this car this was already done once, but at many other Senators there is rust. Why is there rust? There are two sheets which leads into one another and what is between these sheets? …Water. And at that point the pleasure for this car stops suddenly. Especially if you open the rear doors you will notice at many cars lots of rust And to find body spare parts is not that easy at all. At this point the Senator share his fate with the Opel Kadett, which i showed you aready in one of my previous videos. Concering the rust topic you actually should have an eye on every part of the chassis. No matter weather its the side or the cross beam you have to look at every part of the howl car, except of the roof which is one of the safer parts concering rust issues…. if there was not the long wheel based version which was 15 cm long than the standard Senator.
At those versions is seems that the welding point at the roof causes also some problems. But let´s get back to the beautiful side of life for example the design. If you look at the back of the car you will find a design element which every car manufacture in 2019 or 2020 tries to persue: a continuous back light strip.
It is here interrupted by the black plastic panel. And yes we recognize it is definatly a 24V version because down here we have the squared exhaust tailpipe which marks this special engine. To continue the sportive spirit at the back we have above the boot lid a spoiler which enclose the side bodypart, so by closing the lid the spoiler might pounce onto the paint and leaves there one or the other poor mark. But its easy to overlook this fact at such a car At the facelift version the rear head light have been shaded. And typically for that time we find at the rear lights little black strips which are called "external light protoced" at the Opel price list pf that time. Most people won´t notice this element of the rear lights just like the chrom strip of the spoiler. The Opel Senator is 15 cm longer than an Omega A, so do i have also more space ? This a 530 liter trunk, that is 10 liters more than i get at an Omega. This space should be more than sufficient. The special feature of the Senator campaired to all other limousines of the top class is that the backrest can be folded.
With my BMW 7-series i look like a proper Charlie especially since i have 30 liter less volumen although there is full spare wheel integrated at the left side of the trunk. This is relativ simple fils, now one of the other would think, in a car of the top class i m expecting more, and yes that is the point. this car is "just" a Senator and not a Senator CD. Because at a Senator CD which is the excective line the inside of the trunk would be covered with solid fabric trim. But you are rarely travelling in the trunk 😉 Let´s have a look to the differences at the interior. We have here a car of a stately size with only 10 liters more volumen of trunk space compair to the Omega A. That is why it comes to the question where all the space is realized? Yes exactly the additional space can be found by people who sit at the back and get chauffeured. And the first impression you get from the interior is if you sit down for the first time.
How i cave into the fond and how soft those rears seats are, this you will never find in modern cars, also because of safety reasons. And safety is an important topic of the Senator, we will talk about it in a moment. But first we have a look at the legroom and here i have no chances to reach the back of the front seats, also the space to the roof is more than enough. And to sit next to each other in pair should not be a problem at all. I even notice that i have rear seat heating and an extra ventilation. The engineers of opel have been very proud of the climate controle, because it was able to pump over 200 liter of air per minute throw the interior, whereas the deareation took place at the trunk, that means that in the end my trunk is also air conditioned Additionally i can pull up the sun visor at the rear so that im also protected by the sun.
As i already mentioned i have the rear ventilation and also heated seats. If i had a Senator CD i would also have electric windows, but in our case they operate manually. What i really adore is the colour and the material which are used at the interior. In which modern car you would find this colour mix of beige, beige…..wood combination and especially these different fabrics of fils, they feel good and at CD they would be a bit of a higher quality. I like it very much that this strip below the window is chromed, that is typically also for the highest modell series of Mercedes and BMW. And you have also this big window area. For reason of space the fond of this car definitely does not dissappoint at all. But we have here the 24 valve version, so the place in the sun is not at the rear seats but at the seat behind the steering wheel.
Thats why we go together to the front. So we take now a seat into the business class of Opel. What did i get for my money at that time? That i m not sitting in a CD version i can recognize by two characteristics. Frist on the front fenders there is the "CD" badge missing and second the seats have vertical stripes whereas the seats of the CD are horizontally striped, as well as the leather seats. But of course i still get in a standard version very beautiful metal entry strips and these unbelievable soft seats. So if we begin with the door we will notice that the air vents are fix to the door. Additionally we have an other vent which is always directed to the window so that there will be nothing steamed up or freezed. These are special and unique features of the Senator, also these different materials. What catches my eyes particularly is the illuminiated reflector at the door which warn the traffic while entering the car. This element reminds me personally very much of the Omega B and it looks just beautiful. Its the same with the combination of wood and fabric especially in this colour trim.
What catches my eyes too, is this curve around the center console. What kind of material is that ? This is synthetic leather, which feels soft and also has a stitched surface which continues around the whole console. I think this is very chic and slightly reminds me of some modell series of Jaguar from the past. Those modells had also such a gently curve around the center console and wood applications at the interior. Thus you get a bit of the british charm into the Senator´s interior. And the special charm of the early 90th is transfered by these switches, the handling is very easy, no matter if its the ventilation which is electronically controlled in contrast to the Omega A, or the heating seats or the hazard lights, or as you can see above the center conole the adjustment of the air vents. The howl settings at the interior are self evident The only problem im confronted with is the controler of the electric windows.
Down here i have a little button…if i m pressing it the howl car fortunatly does not explode 😉 What ever this button does, if anybody knows, please tell me! The child proof lock of the rear windows is on the other side. From a techincal perspective you will notice that this is a manual transmission. Yes a 24V manually shifted, this combination promises lots of driving pleasure. If i enjoy too much of the driving pleasure than the consumption will rise up and this will be displayed by the bordcomputer. Instead of a bordcomputer the standard version just has a analog clock. Down here at the center consol the bordcomputer can be set. What i really like at the Senator and other cars of that time periode, is that the interior is mainly covered in fabrics. Weather its the area in front of my knees or below the glove box, everything is covered in fabrics and not with cheap plastic; thus the quality rating of a top class car is transfered into the interior.
The instruments are kept very simple. I have a rev counter and a speedometer also the tank capacity and the cooling water temperature. ..so very simple and clear. Many of the 3 liter engines and all "CD" Versions had a LCD instrument as standard. Sounds very modern, back at that time it really was. It means the instruments are illustrated by LCD elements Even today that looks is really cool and hip. You even have there a large error display, where a big red "F" letter may occur if the instrument as a malfuntion. And this one we have here is the standard view. Below the instrument i have a check control panel. One detail of that panel is particularly exciting to tell. There are two check symbols one shows an arrow which is pointing to the left and an other arrow which is pointing to the right. Both symbols you will never ever get to see in any Senator because the development of the navigation system was not finished in time. But the instruments had already been prepared to show the driver where to go.
Really interessting form the point of view of a used car expert like me is that if you try to remove the LCD display to an other car or you "accidentally" try to manipulate it, the odometer will jump to a display value of 999.999 kilometers… and honestly who wants to have or to buy a car with such high kilometers. That is really an interessting feature by which im getting motivate to own such a car. What also gives me the motivation to buy such a car is the fact, that the car im sitting in right now has car mats with little opel badges on it. This underlines that the car was loved and cared. And a bit of love and care need this modell series. You also have these materials at the doors, which i even cannot define of what they are made of.
Many modell series of Opel from the 90th have the issue that the door panels throw bubbles because the glue dissolves over the time. You have to pay attention to this point, but what i like is that you have here those chromed strips under the side windows, the synthetic leather around the center console and those comfortable seats. And the parts all around the interior which i can touch like for example the gear shifter have a great look-and-feel for a car made in that time.
Like for example the gear shifter have a great look-and-feel for a car made in that time. Yes of course the one or the other who drove BMW or Mercedes before may expect more in some areas of the interior, but you also have to take into account the big price difference. And up here you have such beautiful blue darkened stripe of the windscreen which protects you against the sun and an interior roof which material is of good quality and in this case also a sun roof.
So that means you could order the most important features of that time. Then we come to the sad stories Why was the senator not selling well? Only because you dont know whether it belongs to the upper middle or to the top class? What is the problem? It offers everything which is needed. Well this is nearly looking like a airbag steering wheel, but it isn´t and there is no airbag for the co-driver as well. That means the airbags have not been ordered? No, simply there were no airbags at all available.
Lets pretend that im a top manager and that i m promoted by my company to rechieve my own company car. then the company would not say to me "Here look, we have that death trap for you". No, they would buy the safest car on the market and yes the safest car at that time had already airbags This means for people who worked really hard for a Senator are not allowed to drive one because it was simply too unsafe. Opel has tried to fight against this bad publicity. Thats why they implemented a 490 mm long steel rope between the steering column and the transmission tunnel. Why did they do this ? Well because in an event of a crash the streeing column should not deflect to the driver side caused by the 6 cylinder engine which might smash into the passenger room in an event of a frontal crash.
So in order to prevent this worse case the Opel engineers decided to keep those components compact together. This is surely a shirt-sleeved solution for such big safety issue, and yes for this point you can accuse the senator a little bit. On the other hand the seat belts are vertically adjustable and hold the drive in his position, and yes i have headrests. You also have to see it positively! The real highlight, the mast piece of this car, we will find under the hood and that´s why we go together now to the front. Lets get to the master piece, very traditionally i have to pull a lever a metallic "click" out of the front can be heard and then i can grab a so to speak ice cube here and then there is that special view.
This is really a beautiful engine regardless of its technical properties or its reliability, simply in red letters can be read "3.0 24V". The howl thing looks just chic. Over the time for one or the other this package of engine get too dangerous. Yes the in line 6-cylinder is famous for smashing into the passenger compartment in case of a frontal crash. But thats all about the negative attributes of this engine. For that time a lot of technology was engineered into this engine and it was a completely new development. You can see this from the fact that a "Dual Ram System" was used for the intake air. Why did the do that and what does it mean ? First of all "Dual Ram" sounds really cool.
There are two separate intake ports which flow onto 3 cylinder each. That means at the lower rpm range – for a senator that is all under 4000 rpm 😉 – the engine acts as if there were two 3 cylinders. Then above 4000 rpm the air intake is no more divided, the 6 cylinder breath out of one intake path like a classic in line six cylinder. Why is this done? Well its done to influence the torque curve, especially at low revolution range. Because most of 24 valve in line 6-cylinder have a lack of torque at low revolutions. The 3.0 24V engine of mercedes (M104) is a example of such torque characteristic. So with this system that lack of torque at low revs was solved. And that the engine is not weaken at high rev ranges, the intake port is adjustable. How much power does this engine generate? 204 horse power or 150 kw….
The one or the other would say now: "I expect more by so much technology" Well you have to consider also the insurance conditions and government regulations back then. There are accidentally many cars which produce exactly 150 kW for example the Opel Calibra Turbo 4×4 has accidentally 150 kW. A prankster who think something bad at those figures. Especially if you notice that the throttle valve is so constructed that it reduces the intake airflow a bit. By exchanging you can reach a higher airflow and the fill factor of the cylinders, hence this engine is able to produce more power than from stock. The engine generats at 3600 rpm 270 Nm of torque, which is not a bad value at all, and as we already discovered before a lot of safety features are missing. that means the Senator is relativly light. Its weight is indicated either with 1450 kg or according to the german DIN, which includes the 75 kg for the driver, with 1525 kg. Even if we say now the Senator belongs only to the upper middle class, 1,5 tonnes is shockingly light, combined with this lively engine and in this case linked with a 5 speed manual transmission you get easly of the line.
The top speed is indicated with 240 km/h and 7,8 seconds form 0 to 100 km/h. In the late 80th, early 90th you have been able to scare everyone and eveything on the road. Nowadays you will be scared that the standard consumption is specified with 9,2 l/100 km (25,5 mpg) and that you can reach it in reality. On long journeys there are many who say: "I can drive this car with 8,5 l/100 km (27,6 mpg), i can also reach a 7 infront of the decimal point." Drivers of modern 6 cylinder limousines will get green about the gills if they hear such figures and will say: "What clearly 25 mpg with such a big car and so much power?" Hence thats really a great engine and for many people one of the best engines, beside the 2.0 liter 16V engine (C20xe), Opel ever made.
But there are also some people who complain about the reliability, that some engine parts easly brake. Well you have to consider that those cars were "burned" at the end of the 90th and at the beginn of the 20th because as a used car Sentors have been cheep, offered over 200 HP, had a top speed of 240 up to 250 km/h. If you permamently use the maximum performance of this engine then it is more than logical that its getting hot near to the bulkhead and there will be problems with the cylinder head gasket And yes this engine has two timing chains. If those chains are driven warm there will be no problem at all.
But if they are cold at high revolutions that won´t last for long. This engine is definatly better than is reputation at the motor journals, and maybe so excellent as some of the Opel enthusiasts say. In any case its a great engine, how great will experience when we drive it. But the senator has many many technical highlights. I just want to name one, two or three examples. There was the so called "Ride Control" suspension which you could order right from the beginn at 1987. This suspension is able to adjust the damping rate in three stages by a switch at the interior. That system was standard at the Senator CD. Nowerdays your are perhaps glad that you didnt order it, because its spare parts like for example the dampers are really hard to get. But back then, who could offer such a system? Yes correct, the high performance car Porsche 959 had this feature, that nobody could afford back then and also from today perspective.
Otherwise i cannot think of any car form that production year where i was able to adjust electronically the dampers. How does this suspension works? There is an actuator inside the damper which can regulate the oil flow. Depending on the amout of oil flow the damper rate becomes soft or hard, all electronically controlled. As already mentioned it before, you could order the LCD display for the insturments, and so on and so on. Technically the Opel engineers put a lot into this modell series, but on the other hand measurements for crash safety like for example airbags where not on the top of their specifications. They just focused on car which drives very well. And how well the Senator drive at the road, we will look together now! Now we are together at the Senator and the first few meters you will notice how increditably "decelerate" you will get by this car. That means if you keep the engine in the low revolution range you will hardly hear it, and because of that you can focuse on other things. The manual gear box is also hardly noticeable. Of course a Opel of that time does not have the most direct gear box and the shortest gear shifts.
But this is not the standard a Senator aims for. It is also not his standard if you drive here through a curve that the body roll is reduce to a minium or that sporting ambitions would arise. No, the main goal of this car is to decouple the drive form the outside. Of course, based on today´s standard this is not perfectly solved. Due to its age, i´m hearing of course some noices from the road surface. But if you consider the confortable seats and the general drive feeling which comes up, then the speed does not matter at all. Well during the first slowly meters you take a look around and you will notice how relatively thin those pillars are. In addition you have at the C-pillar a small thrid side window which all add to a good visibility for this size of car. And we have here a car with a width of 1,76 meter, which is compared in today ´s standard really slim. For example if you compare it to the current 5-series then you will get a car which is not only 5 cm longer but also 10 cm wider.
And this is particularly noticeable if you driving in a small town like we are doing at the moment. Of course you have to abstrain form assistant systems which are meanwhile nearly standard. The Senator was one of the frist cars ever which has a speed depending power steering. It was developed together with ZF. It means that if you are driving with low speed the steering forces are very low so that i can turn the steering wheel only with one finger. But when reaching higher speed the steering forces will rise so that i get more feedback form the road. And this was really new at the end of the 80th. This steering system was introduce in parallel at BMW with a slightly different parametrisation. One perfers this and the other that system. However such discussion take a back seat here if you have a look on the dashboard. I love these two curves, one around the instrument cluster and the other around the center console. And yes the material feels really good. That one of the main things if you are driving in such a car like this. What is also noticable if you are driving for the frist few meters is that the audio system is no more state of the art.
Also if you exchange the audio system you wont get that high quality of modern systems, of course always compared to nowerdays. Back then the sound system had upper class level if you look for example at the installed boxes at the back shelf. You see Opel aimed at the upper class and everything is bit more high leveled as at the Omega. Respectively a Senator offered all the features which an Omega could only have at the highest configuration and that littel additional charm. And this charm you still can feel today.
Such like the bord computer here which displays the consumbtion at the moment. When you checked all the stuff at the interior then you can concentrate on the driving experience. Then you think "ok i´m driving at the moment 40 mph but it not noticeable at all" It just means that you forget about the feeling for speed in such a car, it is really a leisure drive limousine for long distances. The setup of the chassis is soft, thats why you always have slightly body rolling and pitching.
Not unconfortably at all because that setup fits to the character of the car. Of course the chassis should meet with the hightest safety requirements. Opel called it "DSA" dynamic, safety and action chassis. Of today´s point of view it is a soft chassis without being imprecise. Somebody of course who is now looking for a hot sedan, thinking "The 24V pushes you really into the seats". Yes indeed he does, if you looking for cornering, yes the car is light and powerful. But the chassis was not design to do so. Also if you install a coilover suspension, the senator wont like it at all. This car should be used for long distance travel and that is what his name tries to explain to us. The comfort level of the seats is really excellent, the visibility is very good and yes the Senator was avaible also with air conditioning. Concering the air conditioning there is one precularity: It was filled with the refirigiant "R12".
Yes this is no longer allowed because it added to the ozone hole. So what can you do? You can replace the refirigiant by "R134a" or the modern "R1234yf" and everything is working well. But the problem is that these refirigiant does not have the same density. And the seals here are designed for R12. That means i will loose the refirigiant in not time again. If you have to refill it every month the air conditioning will also loose its charm for what it was design for. So you have to pay attention on it. Either one took care of this topic and exchange the seals or you have no airconditioning although your car has one. But now we have an eye on things which really matters.
If we are for example close to an acceleration lane and the engine is warm then you can step on the throttle a little bit and…indeed… you get at 4000 rpm a second boost and the highway speed of 100 km/h is reached in a very short time. Under 8 seconds the senator needs form zero to 100 km/h back then when the engine was launch that figure was really insane for a car of that size. And also from the prespective of today you dont feel underpowered at all. Thats the big point of this engine: If you are here at 50 mph and around 2000 revs and you put the throttle down then you notice the spontaneously reaction of the engine. Of course if you want maximum acceleration you have to shift one gear down.
But you always have the feeling that there is in any situation enough torque Its a typical big naturally aspirated engine combined with a manual gearbox, so that power is not lost within the torque converter of a automatic transmission. If you cruise here along with 100 km/h and about 2000 revs you always have enough power, the wheel- and driving noice are quiet and thus i can completely enjoy my ride. The greathest strength of this engine is not only the quick throttle response but also the high amount of torque at low revolutions. And as we already mentioned before you get this second punch at 4000 rpm. This motor characteristic you also get at other car manufactures like for example Honda. There the system is called "V-tec", which adjust the valve timing. Here in this case its the variable air intake.
I personally find it very charming because it adds something to the car. On the one hand you can travel over long distances very comfortably and on the other hand you have at any time enough power to move forward quickly. And on top you have those technical features. As you can here form my words i m enthuse about the Senator. I love to travel with it. Probably not everybody of you guys will feel the same as i do. The one or the other might not be "suitable" for the Senator. What are the strenghts and weaknesses of the Senator? This we will find out at the following conclusion. Lets come to the conclusion of the Senator, which we reviewed today. How he is standing in front of us you could say he is a wolf in sheep´s clothing, because at the back there is no badge or sign like for example "Senator" or "3.0i 24v", not even a Opel logo can be seen.
Only the expert will recognize at the squared exhaust tailpipe the potential of this car. That is the reason why at the late 90th and at the beginning of the twenties many cars of this modell series have been "burnt". They were very cheap and combined lots of power with comfortable riding. I have a big heart for the Senator, because it is the Omega "with the certain something", it is a bit sophisticated but does not appear decadent or even arrogant. It offeres such lovely details as this thick ledge under the side window, these wide bumpers at the doors, or at the front the honeycomb grill or the indicators which have been moved down into the bumper like at an Audi V8. It has quite a few of particularities. One of them is the fact that you could buy this car as a Holden or Toyota at foregin markets with different engines.
And for everyone who say now "Alex it is nice that you showed us a 3 liter 24v" "But thats not enough for me!!!" Yes, there was also a 4 liter with 272 hp. By the way an interesting story at this point: This engine here as a power density of 68 hp and if one liter is added then exact 68 hp will be realized. You just can add those figures up, an combustion engine is just easy like that ;-).
The Senator offers for everybody something except for those who say: " i want to have a small and economical 4-cylinder engine". No this is a Senator, and Opel did not make the same mistake as at the Senator A where also small engines have been offered to the customer. The Senator B was always equiped with the befitting 6-cylinder engines. So i have a lot of car out of my money And if we reach now the Carranger Score than the question comes up: "How much money do i have to invest ? " If you searching at the popular online market places you will notice that there are only around about 30 cars of Senator A and B avaiable. And if you want to have such a car like this meaning a 3.0 24V then you will see that there are startinig already at 1000/1500 ,- Euro.
……but those cars are shaped by rust and can only be used to generate spare parts. There also some people who say " I want to have 15.000,- for my Senator"….. …I´m sorry you will proably never get that amount for a Senator. The reality is between 5000.- and 8000,- Euro, in this price region there are cars which are in good condition and which are worth to buy. 5000 to 8000 Euro, that is in my opinion a reasonable price for so much car. Leads to 7 points at the category "Purchase. The Senator recieves these 7 points also for "Maintance". You have this 6-cylinder which can be driven with less than 10 l/100 km (28 mpg) and additionally the quality and the balance of inline 6-cylinder engine. Today, you hardly get anything like that on the market. The prices for spare parts are not that high because it shares most of its components with the Omega A.
Therefore the avaibility of spare parts is limited and you need to consult specialized spare part dealers, who sells those parts also with a special prices The amout for tax and insurance is low because there are already special young- and oldtimer policies offered. For the category "Space" it recieves 8 points. You get over 500 liters of trunk space you get plenty of space at the font and you take a seat there like a barion. This was indeed the expression which Opel used at that time. The same can be applied for the category "Comfort". There i give him 7 points. I sit very comfortably i have everything i need.
But why then only 7 points? Well because modern cars are more dam and quiet due to areodynamic measures and foam materials. In a Senator you can hear that you driving no more and no less. So 7 points are a good result And then there is the "Resale". The Senator recieves in this category only 5 points. Actually who wants to buy a car like this? That is the question you have to ask yourself. It is a good car without any doubt and today it also persuades us of its qualities But which person has the idea to search for a Senator, thats why only 5 points.
Adds up to 34 point for the "brain". And thats exactly what people would have thought in the early 90th: "The senator is a reasonable car, because i dont care about safety." Back then and also today at the Carranger Score. The topic "heart" is always important for me. For exactly this reason im here today and i will soon review a Audi V8 because i love this seperate design for headlight and indicator and the business car flair of the early 90th. That why i give for the "Styling" 8 points, because i think that is really a pretty good looking car although the one or the other will clearly disagree with my opinion Then let´s talk about the "Driving Pleasure".
Can you experience in this car real driving pleasure? From my opinion he deserve 7 points for this category, because i have car which is really fast at that time and with whom i m still fast on the road today. But honestly i dont care whether im fast or slow in this car, because i can enjoy my ride because hardly anyone knows which car im driving. And that is a big plus i really appreciate. At the category "Equipment" it recieves 5 points, which is an incredibel high amount for such an old car. Ok, the navigation system was not finished before launching it to the market and there was also no park distance controle available.
But for the very fact that this car offered with "Ride Controle" a adjustable supension system and the fact that it has speed dependent power steering, for all this you have to pay a bit of tribut the Senator deserves. Then we reached the category "Sound". There it recieves 8 points, because you get the quality and the balance of inline 6-cylinder engine and then if he is not working as splitted 3-cylinder but as a single 6-cylinder engine then you can listen to a sonorous sound which is not artificially generated but added real character to the car. And you can´t credit him enough for this. Last but not least the crategory "Image" Thats always the question how much will something be credited to you……? Not at all Only little is credit to the Senator, thats why there are just 6 points for the image. The reason for this is not because it´s image is bad, no.
Also people dont say "Oh what an awful car is that?" No they saying "Oh what car is that?" just because they really dont know anything about this car. At the patrol station you might be approached positivily with it…… or maybe its just due to the fact that a lot of patrol ran into that tank 😉 Therefore you are hardly perceptible and you have to love this attribute. The Senator is a car which you dont drive to impress other people, but which you drive for yourself. You have to be a real "Senator" by yourself and as a real Senator you always have your Senator Card with you. And at every hotel you will show this card, you will be laughed at: "Whats that….? A Senator Card, issued 1989?? But this is an other story! I would like to know your opinion to the Senator. We will see each other next week.
Until then, drive well and Ciao! -End-.