Stowing luggage can also really eat into holiday time, with over half of those surveyed (56 per cent), taking between 11 minutes to an hour packing their car. Further problems caused by inefficient packing include obscured vision - 32 per cent of drivers said they have driven with something blocking their view on their trip.

With 69 per cent of those surveyed saying they would be driving up to 400 miles on holiday this Christmas, this could lead to serious road safety problems.

As the car with the biggest load capacity in its class - 2m of load length - Vectra has teamed up with 'Car-Packing' expert, David Sanderson of Pickfords, to offer a few helpful suggestions when packing for holidays and weekends away over the festive season:

1 General loading and packing: Pack heavy items such as a stereo system into cartons, with more fragile items such as crockery at the top. Balance the weight of all items evenly throughout the car. For best results, the FlexOrganiser system available in the Vectra Estate offers defined storage compartments and stops items moving around.

2 Fragile items and presents: Cartons and small boxes are best for packing fragile items, marked Very Fragile! Pack with towels, pillows, bubble wrap and paper and do not load high. Pack bubble wrap around breakable Christmas gifts; you don?t want to turn up on the day with broken packages.

3 Ski and winter clothing: If driving a car with extended load length such as the Vectra Estate, it is best to pack valuable items such as skis lengthways inside the vehicle, otherwise secure items to the roof rack. Winter footwear to be placed into black sacks if wet. Clothing should be put into holdalls or bags. Items should be loaded tight to avoid movement.

4 Clothing: Suitcases are ideal for clothing but, for weekends away the alternative is to use a linen carton for folded clothes and place shoes in white paper, on the top of the carton. Avoid wrapping items in newspaper as it can mark and leave imprints on clothes and light coloured shoes.

Vectra's Richard Hughes says, 'The Vectra range is the ideal solution for taking trips away, providing much needed comfort for all the family; as well as a huge amount of space for all those essential items.'

Vauxhall Vectra details:

- New Vectra hatchback, saloon and estate models raise the game with enhanced levels of refinement. Dramatic new styling, significantly improved driving dynamics and increased interior quality all combine to set new standards of comfort and control. The car's chassis is entirely in tune with UK roads and with an improved engine line-up that includes V6 petrol Turbo performance, alongside advanced common rail turbo diesel technology, New Vectra is more rewarding to drive in every sense.

For more information visit www.vauxhall.co.uk

New Vectra Hatchback and Saloon offers 500 litres of load volume under the luggage cover and the rear seats in place, and 1050 litres with the rear seats down and the luggage cover removed.

New Vectra Estate offers 530 litres of load volume under the luggage cover with the rear seats in place. With the rear seats down and the luggage cover removed, it offers a class leading 1850 litres of volume and a 2046mm long load space.

You Gov survey details:

- Research was undertaken between 15th-19th of September 2006

- 2,868 participants took part in the survey

Further You Gov findings include:

- Obscure items taken by students to University include a dead pig, a bale of hay, 12lb of Salmon, 14 live chickens, 40 bags of horse manure and a life size cut out of Tony Blair.