Vauxhall Carlton GSi 3000

The Carlton GSi 3000 was introduced in 1987 as a spiritual successor to the Opel Monza GSE. The GSi was released with a 3.0i 12V engine mated to either a 5-speed manual gearbox or optional automatic transmission. The 3.0i 12V engine was used in the GSi until October 1989 when the 3.0i 24V engine was introduced to compete with (and beat!) cars like the Mercedes 300CE and BMW 535i Sport. The 3.0i 24V engine was used in the GSi until the Carlton was replaced in 1994. Minor styling changes were applied in October 1990 for the 1991 model year which included new 10-spoke alloys, revised interior, smoked rear lamp clusters, larger front indicators and improved in-car entertainment.

Interior Features

The following details were as the range stood in October 1993. The Carlton GSi 3000 was only produced as a 4-door saloon.

Seats

• Arizona cloth in combination with leather trim
• Open-type adjustable front & rear head restraints
• Fully reclining sports style front seats with valances
• 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
• Front seat centre armrest
• Split-folding rear seat back
• Fold-down rear seat centre armrest with load-through facility

Facia, Instruments and Controls

• 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
• Leather covered gear knob and gaiter (with manual gearbox)
• 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 for audio equipment
• Radio data system (RDS EON) with Travel Programme
• Cassette storage area
• Rear screen aerial

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
• 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
• Cut-pile velour carpet

Exterior Features

Mechanical

• 5-speed gearbox
• Power assisted steering
• Catalytic converter
• Electronic anti-lock braking system (ABS)
• Limited-slip differential
• 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 pushlock with handle
• Body colour door handles
• Body colour polyurethane front air dam and rear valance. Dark grey bodyside mouldings
• Body colour door mirror housings
• Body colour sill mouldings, specific front grille and rear aerofoil
• Dual rectangular exhaust tailpipes

Wheels & Tyres

• 205/65 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

Colours & Trims

The following combinations of exterior colour and trim colour were available in 1993 on the Carlton GSi 3000.

Options

Being a model which was approaching top of the range, the Carlton GSi had very few optional extras available. The following options, however, were available on the GSi.

• Liquid crsytal display (LCD) instrumentation with oil pressure gauge (no cost option)
• Full air conditioning including glovebox
• 4-speed automatic transmission with economy, sport and winter driving modes
• 2-coat metallic paint (no cost option)

Technical Specifications

Engine

3.0i 24V (2969cc) Cat generating 204 PS (150kW) @ 6000 rpm and 199.2 lb.ft. (270Nm) of torque @ 3600 rpm. 6-cylinder, dual overhead camshaft, 24 valve alloy cylinder head, Dual Ram intake system, hydraulic tappets, 12 crankshaft counterbalance weights and thermostatically controlled engine oil cooler. Motronic M1.5 engine management system. Computer controlled fuel injection and mapped ignition with selective knock control. Activated charcoal evaporation control canister. Two metallic monolith 3-way catlytic converters and Lambda sensor. Compression ratio 10.0:1.

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. Lowered and uprated suspension with multi-link system at rear.

Brakes

Dual circuit, servo assisted.

Front: 11.7 inch diameter discs

Rear: 10.6 inch diameter discs

Ventilated front discs. Deceleration 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

66 Ah maintenance-free battery

Load Capacities (VDA method)

Performance & Fuel Economy

Weights & Towing Data

Wheels

7J x 15 ten-spoke alloy wheels

6J x 15 steel spare

Tyres

205/65 R 15 low profile

Fuel Capacities

Saloon - 16.5 Imperial Gallons (75 litres)

Steering

Power assisted recirculating ball system.

Energy absorbing steering column.

3.0 turns lock-to-lock.

Turning circle - 10.15m (33.3 ft)

Body

Aerodynamic drag co-efficients:

GSi Saloon - Cd 0.30

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, 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 and rewind
• Removable display for added security
• Separate 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