Who owns a new shape Astra?
- Thread starter BeatMaster
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Soldato
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The indicator sounds exactly the same as that in the new Passat. I found it really good on a motorway.
As ive mentioned i drive a 8 month old Astra Sportshatch 1.6sxi.
Its got the 120ps i think vvt engine but the flatspots do my head in. The handling is very planted but evidently boring - no feel, Sportshatch is stiffened and lowered from factory and can be quite harsh at time. The one thing that gets up my nose everytime i drive it is Clutch judder. Ive driven 2 or 3 of these and they all do it. I took it back to vx and they could feel it apparently.
If you ignore the flatspots the power aint bad for a 1.6, though you really have to drop a gear or 2 to make progress and overtaking is hit or miss
The sxi stereo is nice, has mp3 and a aux input in the center console for ipod etc. Interior is solid wiith no rattles or creaks.
The model was facelifted just before i got mine so maybe this fixed a few issues. I can see what you are getting at with the brakes. Very over assisted and when the abs does kick in it feels quite unnerving.
If i was in the same position again (Mobility Car) I would have chose the Focus sport i drove. I aint saying its a vastly superior car, just feels more together. Focus just felt right, where the Astra feels a bit odd at times
Sorry for waffling.
Its got the 120ps i think vvt engine but the flatspots do my head in. The handling is very planted but evidently boring - no feel, Sportshatch is stiffened and lowered from factory and can be quite harsh at time. The one thing that gets up my nose everytime i drive it is Clutch judder. Ive driven 2 or 3 of these and they all do it. I took it back to vx and they could feel it apparently.
If you ignore the flatspots the power aint bad for a 1.6, though you really have to drop a gear or 2 to make progress and overtaking is hit or miss
The sxi stereo is nice, has mp3 and a aux input in the center console for ipod etc. Interior is solid wiith no rattles or creaks. The model was facelifted just before i got mine so maybe this fixed a few issues. I can see what you are getting at with the brakes. Very over assisted and when the abs does kick in it feels quite unnerving.
If i was in the same position again (Mobility Car) I would have chose the Focus sport i drove. I aint saying its a vastly superior car, just feels more together. Focus just felt right, where the Astra feels a bit odd at times
Sorry for waffling.
Er, hardly things that should particularly influence your buying decision...
...I spent £10,000 buying a POS Astra because it had an anti-dazzle rear view mirror and autowipers because I didn't know how to activate the wipers otherwise!!
Not sure whether you're referring to build quality or design/quality/touch/feel/aesthetics but if its the latter, the Golf V interior is lightyears better than the horrible grim interior of the Astra. Even the Alfa 147 interior is lightyears nicer than the interior of the Astra.
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All very much in your opinion, go and find me some credible mainstream reviews that indicate this.. because time and time again, at launch the Astra was praised for having an interior that in places was better then the golf.. And I certainly agree with them, I find the Focus/Astra/Golf all nice enough in their own ways.
It's fine that you find it 'horrible'..but the fact is that when it's compared side by side with the Focus/Golf impartially, it seems to more then hold up..
My quote is in response to someone saying how they steer you into ditches.. And I agree it's nice to have more feel etc, but , well for me at least, it's not essential or we'd all be driving the old mini, nothing comes close to that for 'feel', everything is blunt in comparison..
Vx 'tune' the suspension according to power/engine size etc, a 1.9 CDTi 150 for example, is much more entertaining them a smaller petrol engined version of the SRi.
I guess it's down to the individual, For me, as long as it has enough feel, good levels of grip, and I can drive it on the limit, then I have fun, I don't get excited about having a little more feedback through the wheel.. Now, when I've driven a VX220/Elise, then OMG, it's a vastly different experience which I love, but the Focus/Golf/Astra are so far removed from that, they just feel largely the same..
As are Ford/Renault/VAG, etc, etc, from all the company cars we have, and the issues with dealers, everyone seems to have an equally bad experience with main stream dealers, but hey, if it's trendy to join the anti-vx herd, you go girl..
I just don't get the Anti-VX hate campaign on here, as far as mainstream cars are, they seem exactly on par with everyone else, all the journo's agree with this, the sales figures agree with it, however, it just seems trendy to go with the crowd.. Everyone has an opinion, but can people back it up with facts.. if people are going to say it handles dangerously and understeers everywhere compared to the Focus/Golf, can people back up these night and day claims with some proof? surely when all the mags rate the cars, if it was that deficient in comparison to it's peers, they'd have no issues telling us about it? but they don't, and I wonder why that is (And lets not make up conspiracy theories about advertising etc).. My opnions are in line with the mainstream publications, so you can guess I'm amazed at the response on here..
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Ive got an 05 astra estate 1.7cdti 80bhp
i bought it for its cheap running costs, cheap tax, and insurance. it cost me £4k + my tired old pug 106.
It has loads of boot space, and is a comfy run about. It isnt quick by any stretch of the imagination, but then i knew that when i bought it, and had no requirement for it to be, as i have this for my fun car
i bought it for its cheap running costs, cheap tax, and insurance. it cost me £4k + my tired old pug 106.
It has loads of boot space, and is a comfy run about. It isnt quick by any stretch of the imagination, but then i knew that when i bought it, and had no requirement for it to be, as i have this for my fun car
Ive got an 05 astra estate 1.7cdti 80bhp
i bought it for its cheap running costs, cheap tax, and insurance. it cost me £4k + my tired old pug 106.
It has loads of boot space, and is a comfy run about. It isnt quick by any stretch of the imagination, but then i knew that when i bought it, and had no requirement for it to be, as i have this for my fun car
Ohhh yes...
Oddly I've had GSXR 1000's along side my cars for the last few years, and ever since I've been riding sports bikes and had a go in some epic Lotus Exige's/M5's/RS6's, I just find all main stream stuff a bit 'just adequate'..
I suppose there is a factor of relativity in it all, if you only experience main stream stuff, you pick up on these 'difference' which seem quite tangible.. go and blast around in/on something proper 'exciting' for a while, and then go see how your razor sharp 1.6 family hatchback suddenly feels..
Ive had the misfortune of trying 3 different Ford dealers, and my god they are rubbish, Pug,VW ime are no better, the only ones I can say ive never been let down by, are Honda.Superb.
I'll not disagree with the rest of your post, but as the OH has had both a new shape Astra and a Mk5 Golf i've got to disagree on the interior, to compare them and say the Astra is similar in terms of interior trim quality is ludicrous.
I'm not on an Astra bashing spree here but the build quality and materials are far from good quality and the actual fit of them is poor at best. I don't want to insult anyone's chosen car but in terms of trim/dash quality they are below average. Anyone who has driven a standard trim Mk5 Golf back to back with the latest Astra in standard trim and says the interior in the Astra is better should be shot for crimes against motoring. I feel so strongly i'd then donate blood to said victim so they could then be revived and shot again.
The Astra's centre (cheap plastic badly fitting squeaky) roof console would fall out regularly despite all the clips being in tact, the plastics are, well we'll get to that in a moment. The roof rail runners corrode up within two years (common problem). The indicators are a PITA compared to everything else I/We've driven. The steering wheel is still fractionally off centre to the seat and has been for the last however many generations. The dash plastic is cheap plastic combined with more cheap plastic with added badly textured thin cheap plastic and a little more cheap plastic painted cheaply with very cheap silver paint put together by monkeys, the door seals and window rubbers made me wonder how on earth anyone ever checked the car before delivery and dared to sign it off. It's not well put together (squeaks and rattles from the day she got it to the day it went), it's not well designed and it certainly doesn't make you think the car is a nice place to be compared to other cars in the class. Like the rest of the car it's distinctly average at best, i'm not saying that's a bad thing, it was a reliable car, it got from A-B without any fuss but the interior is not the point to use to convince Astra's are a worthwhile buy.
The fact that you can get them very cheaply, they are generally reliable and reasonably cheap to fix and they don't look bad would be the main selling points I can think of. The interior is best overlooked .... Vauxhall clearly felt the same way
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
I must say that judging a car on its dealer service is rather pointless - I will stick up for Vauxhall here and point out that almost all dealers are franchised and service is entirely random. Many dealer groups sell Ford AND Vauxhall and most are awful.
Ive got an 05 astra estate 1.7cdti 80bhp
i bought it for its cheap running costs, cheap tax, and insurance. it cost me £4k + my tired old pug 106.
It has loads of boot space, and is a comfy run about. It isnt quick by any stretch of the imagination, but then i knew that when i bought it, and had no requirement for it to be, as i have this for my fun car
http://www.dpdrury.f9.co.uk/IMAG0050.jpg
Nice vortx
what engine did you choose?I'll not disagree with the rest of your post, but as the OH has had both a new shape Astra and a Mk5 Golf i've got to disagree on the interior, to compare them and say the Astra is similar in terms of interior trim quality is ludicrous.
I'm not on an Astra bashing spree here but the build quality and materials are far from good quality and the actual fit of them is poor at best. I don't want to insult anyone's chosen car but in terms of trim/dash quality they are below average. Anyone who has driven a standard trim Mk5 Golf back to back with the latest Astra in standard trim and says the interior in the Astra is better should be shot for crimes against motoring. I feel so strongly i'd then donate blood to said victim so they could then be revived and shot again.
The Astra's centre (cheap plastic badly fitting squeaky) roof console would fall out regularly despite all the clips being in tact, the plastics are, well we'll get to that in a moment. The roof rail runners corrode up within two years (common problem). The indicators are a PITA compared to everything else I/We've driven. The steering wheel is still fractionally off centre to the seat and has been for the last however many generations. The dash plastic is cheap plastic combined with more cheap plastic with added badly textured thin cheap plastic and a little more cheap plastic painted cheaply with very cheap silver paint put together by monkeys, the door seals and window rubbers made me wonder how on earth anyone ever checked the car before delivery and dared to sign it off. It's not well put together (squeaks and rattles from the day she got it to the day it went), it's not well designed and it certainly doesn't make you think the car is a nice place to be compared to other cars in the class. Like the rest of the car it's distinctly average at best, i'm not saying that's a bad thing, it was a reliable car, it got from A-B without any fuss but the interior is not the point to use to convince Astra's are a worthwhile buy.
The fact that you can get them very cheaply, they are generally reliable and reasonably cheap to fix and they don't look bad would be the main selling points I can think of. The interior is best overlooked .... Vauxhall clearly felt the same way
But as Demon says, the rest of the class isnt much better, my Focus ST isnt all that special, neither is my missus' Leon.But i will agree, the current Astra/Vectra are particarly cheap with their silver centres.The new Corsa and Zafira with thier shiney centres are much better.
The Golf is better, but so it should be, its more expensive, benchmark for interiors imo was the last Golf.
Caporegime
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Ive got a brand new sport hatch 1.8 SRi and i like it.
I wouldn't go for anything less than a 1.9CDTi. The new Astra is heavy compared to the mk4 and so a 1.6 or 1.7 Diesel is going to be dog slow.
As for the indicators. I had a Vectra Life for 5 months and the indicators used to drive me round the bend. They're just bloody irritating.
As for the indicators. I had a Vectra Life for 5 months and the indicators used to drive me round the bend. They're just bloody irritating.
Caporegime
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I think the indicators are great, got used to them straight away me, think the are a lot better also, quick flick for 3-4 flashes to change lanes, or press to lock them on, nice and easy.
Sorry, I had to pick this one out, I see market share and sales figures across europe every month and I have to say you are wrong
Only exceptions? New Corsa sells more than old Fiesta (by 0.5% market share) and Meriva sells more than Fusion (by 9.9% market share) (figures are for Jan-May 2008). Otherwise Vauxhall only show up in the top 3 of VW Golf, Ford Focus, and then GM Astra. So there we have it.....The VX Meriva, best seller in its class! Also, The Focus ST beat the Astra VXR Nurburg on 5th Gear, is it a worse car than the standard VXR? Honest q.
Just to add my 2p, i drove a 1.6 hire car, hated the indicators, wasnt too bad to drive, just I couldnt get a comfy position. It is what it is, a car...to get somewhere...and thats it.
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