Vauxhall Carlton Diplomat

The Carlton Diplomat was introduced in October 1991. The purpose of this car was to provide a more tax-efficient luxury alternative to the Senator and to compete with the Ford Granada Scorpio. The majority of Diplomats were produced on 2.0i guise although the much rarer 2.6i is an eligible vehicle for membership into the AutobahnStormers. The Carlton Diplomat was only produced as a 4-door model.

Interior Features

The following details were as the range stood in October 1993.

Seats

• Leather seat trim
• Open-type adjustable front & rear head restraints
• Fully reclining front seats with valances
• Electrically heated front seats
• Height adjustable driver's seat
• Height adjustable front passenger's seat
• Front seats with two-way lumbar adjustment
• Height adjustable inertia reel front/rear seat belts and centre static lap belt
• Net pockets on front seat backs
• Front seat centre armrest
• Split-folding rear seat back
• Fold-down rear seat centre armrest with load-through facility

Facia, Instruments and Controls

• Wood veneer insert on centre console
• Rev counter, trip odometer, water temperature gauge, low fuel level warning light
• Multi-function check control warning panel
• Seven-function trip computer
• Leather covered 4-spoke sports steering wheel
• Tiltable steering column. Steering column lock
• Lockable, illuminated glovebox. Instrument panel light dimmer
• Quartz clock (within trip computer) and cigar lighter

Heating and Ventilation

• Air blend heater with 5-speed fan and illuminated controls
• Side window demist vents and adjustable face-level air vents
• Rear passenger compartment heating ducts

Audio Equipment

• 4870 stereo radio/stereo cassette/compact disc (CD) player with removable display, boot mounted 10 disc autochanger & 6 speakers
• Security code protection fr audio equipment
• Radio data system (RDS EON) with Travel Programme
• Cassette storage area
• Rear screen aerial (saloon)
• Flexible roof mounted aerial (estate)

Interior Lighting

• Interior courtesy light operated by front and rear door switches
• Courtesy light with delay cut-off and integral, adjustable map reading lights
• Illuminated glovebox, load area and engine compartment

Additional Interior Features

• Tiltable front and rear assist handles with rear coat hooks
• Carpeted rear parcel shelf (saloon). One piece soft touch moulded headlining
• Fully carpeted boot/load area with sill protection. Carpeted rear seat back
• Spare wheel cover (saloon). Provision for luggage retention straps in boot/load area
• Retractable load compartment cover (estate)
• Cloth door trim panels, front door pockets, continental-style front and rear door armrests
• Front ashtray with one touch opening and two rear ashtrays
• Height adjustable dipping rear view mirror, passenger vanity mirror, twin sun visors
• Illuminated passenger vanity mirror with cover
• Illuminated driver's vanity mirror with cover
• Wood veneer inserts on door panels
• Cut-pile velour carpet

Exterior Features

Mechanical

• 4-speed automatic transmission with economy, sport and winter driving modes
• Power assisted steering
• Catalytic converter
• Electronic anti-lock braking system (ABS)
• Semi-trailing arm independent rear suspension
• Manual rear suspension levelling system
• Cruise control

Exterior Lighting

• Halogen headlamps
• Lights-on warning buzzer
• Twin reversing lights
• Twin rear fog lamps
• Dark style rear lamps
• Hazard warning lights and parking lights
• Side repeat indicators
• Electric headlamp levelling system
• Integral halogen front foglamps
• Long range halogen driving lights with headlamps
• Headlamp wash/wipe

Exterior Styling

• Boot/tailgate pushlock with handle
• Bright insert to bumpers and side protection mouldings
• Aerodynamic sill mouldings in grey
• Body colour door handles
• Body colour door mirror housings
• Twin coachline on front and rear wings

Wheels & Tyres

• 195/65 R 15 low profile tyres
• 7J x 15 alloy road wheels

Additional Exterior Features

• Laminated windscreen with graduated tint shadeband
• Green tinted glass all round
• Electrically operated front and rear windows with one touch operation
• Auto-reverse safety facility for electrically operated windows
• Central locking (doors, boot/tailgate, fuel flap) with security deadlock and torch key
• Electrically operated sliding/tiltable glass sunroof with interior blind
• Ultrasonic security alarm with immobiliser
• Heated rear window with automatic timed cut-off and manual override
• Heated twin jet windscreen washer nozzles
• Twin electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors
• 2-speed windscreen wipers plus intermittent and flick wipe. Electric screenwash
• 2-tone horn
• 2-coat metallic paint
• 2-coat pearlescent paint

Colours & Trims

The following combinations of exterior colour and trim colour were available on the Carlton Diplomat.

Options and Prices

The Carlton Diplomat is the top luxurious Carlton and virtually every required item was fitted as standard, although three options were available.

• Ascot velour trim at reduced cost
• 5-speed manual transmission (no cost option)
• Limited-slip differential

These are the prices of the Carlton 2.6i Diplomat saloon and the dates that they were valid from.

Technical Specifications

Engine

2.6i (2594cc) Cat generating 150 PS (110kW) @ 5600 rpm and 162.3 lb.ft. (220Nm) of torque @ 3600 rpm. 6-cylinder, cam-in-head, Dual Ram intake system, hydraulic tappets and temperature-controlled viscous drive cooling fan. Motronic M1.5 engine management system. Activated charcoal evaporation control canister. Two ceramic monolith 3-way catlytic converters and Lambda sensor. Compression ratio 9.2:1.

Transmission

Hydraulically operated mechanical asbestos-free single plate clutch. Rear wheel drive.

Suspension

Front: Independent. MacPherson struts with damper cartridge, coil springs. Anti-roll bar. Negative scrub. Gas pressure dampers.

Rear: Independent. Semi-trailing arms and progressive rate miniblock coil springs with telescopic gas pressure dampers. Anti-roll bar. Manual rear suspension leveling.

Brakes

Dual circuit, servo assisted.

Front: 11.7 inch diameter discs

Rear: 10.6 inch diameter discs

Ventilated front discs. Decelration controlled proportioning valve on estate cars. Asbestos-free brake pads. Handbrake-on and low brake fluid warning light. Front brake pad wear warning light. Electronic antilock braking system (ABS).

Electrics

90 amp alternator

44 Ah maintenance-free battery

Estate Load Space

Load Capacities (VDA method)

Performance & Fuel Economy

Weights & Towing Data

Wheels

7J x 15 five-spoke alloy wheels with lockable centre caps

6J x 15 steel spare

Tyres

195/65 R 15 low profile

Fuel Capacities

Saloon - 16.5 Imperial Gallons (75 litres)

Steering

Speed sensitive power assisted recirculating ball system.

Energy absorbing steering column.

3.2 turns lock-to-lock.

Turning circle - 10.1m (33.1 ft)

Body

Aerodynamic drag co-efficients:

Saloon - Cd 0.28

All steel body with extensive anti-corrosion protection. Safety crumple zones, front and rear. Rigid passenger safety cell. Concealed windscreen wipers. Flush fitting glass all-round. Flush door handles. Concealed rear towing eye. Single two-way key operated locks and ignition. Burst proof door locks. Child-proof rear door locks. Polypropylene front bumper/valance and rear bumper capable of withstanding impacts up to 2.5mph without permanent damage.

Anti-Corrosion Protection

Partial use of zinc-coated sheet metal, zinc phosphated bodyshell primered electrostatically (cathodic). All weld seams and joints sealed with special compound. Areas prone to stone damage on underbody coated with stone-impact primer. Anti-corrosion primers used extensively on bonnet, boot lid, tailgate, doors, wings and other panels. Paint finish applied electrostatically. PVC coating applied to wheelarches and other underbody areas. Polymer reinforced anti-corrosion wax pumped into door sills and other underbody cavities. Plastic front wheelarch liners.

Audio

4870 stereo system

• 4 figure security burnt in memory chip
• Fader & balance controls
• Maximum output 20 watts per channel
• Microprocessor-controlled quartz tuning
• FM, MW, LW and SW reception
• 6 preset buttons
• Automatic search tuning on all wavebands
• Autostore function for FM and LW
• Cassette standby facility
• Radio reception during fast forward abd rewind
• Removable display for added security
• Seperate treble and bass controls
• Radio Data System (RDS EON)/Traffic Programme
• Autoreverse function
• Cassette programme search
• Dolby B and C noise reduction
• Automatic volume control
• Soft touch cassette controls
• Compact disc player with boot mounted 10-disc autochanger
• Loudness control