Opel Astra
Think Opel, think turbo and you immediately think lightweight boy racer don't you? The era of the Boss and Superboss, and the good old VW GTi rivalry of the early 90's. There was the Kadett and then the Astra. The difference was simple, Astra had the boot.
Of course today things are never that simple and the Astra redebuts as a 5 door hatchback whose most obvious trait is sophistication and it makes you immediately aware of how grown up it is. Think the skateboarding, mountain biking, hell-raising kid you once knew in his new suit for his new glamorous job in finance.
The 1.4 Turbo slots into the middle of the range. The 1.6 "above it" curiously is not to be considered the top dog by any stretch of imagination. The larger, naturally aspirated engine is a good example of how technology is moving on even where our expectations and common sense understanding fall behind. The 1.6 is heavier, slower and less fuel efficient. The 1.6 produces 85kW and 155Nm for a combined claimed economy of 6.3l/100km, where the smaller but turbo'd 1.4 outputs are 103kW, 200Nm and 5.9. It also produces all that torque across a much larger rev range. The water cooled turbo is intercooled and dare I say it, all grown up. There is a 1.6 Turbo available too, with 132kW and an overboost function, going from 230Nm to 266Nm for brief bursts up to 5 seconds. Having been at the launch at Kyalami Race Track, I must say that to me the 1.4T remains the pick of the bunch at R241,470, about R40k cheaper, with the difference not being overly dramatic, even on track conditions.
The six speed box is a pleasure to use, matching the engine well. The ride is more compliant than sporty, and with a just sub 10 second 0-100 time this is not the boy racers’ choice. This one falls under the headline of sensible. The road manners and grip, while never inspiring exceed the needs of competent and confident.
The interior too, is all grown up. Upmarket, spacious and austere, but certainly not cheap- looking, the interior is highlighted by a seriously substantial amount of good looking matte "chrome". There is more than a tip of the hat to ergonomics and the levels of convenience features are high. There is a great amount of attention paid to stowage and besides cd's, even pens and coins are looked after. Curiously, and this is not a common one, the press release from these guys goes on about repair costs, this being a design feature. Easily accessible bolts, and even bumpers designed to survive up to 15km/h upsets and not to overshoot the typical rear end incidents, with the diving front end of the rear car slipping under the bumper of the braking front car's rear end raising up under braking. The beams in front are a little higher, and the rears a little lower.
Clever engineering, and that is the feeling you are left with by the returned Astra 1.4T
