Photo: CarPix
The new Opel Astra is ready to be delivered around the world and we just came back from a special event where we got to see it in the metal before making its world debut in front of a live audience in Frankfurt next month.
While it may look different from a distance, when studying it up close you get a distinct feeling. The thing is, the car looks better in person than a Golf or a Focus if you’re to ask us and inside, the materials received a serious bump in quality.
Even the fit and finish seems more on par with modern times, of course, still within the pricing and usual Opel limits. However, you just get a sensation that everything has been recycled when sitting inside the new Astra.
Admittedly, we only got to check out the hatchback and our spy photos here are of the Sports Tourer or ST for short, but other than offering a bigger body, things will be roughly the same inside.
Our photographers even sent over a rendering of how the car might look like when ready for production and we have to say that’s exactly how we’re expecting it to show up.
As for the technical tidbits, the car has been made 200 kilos lighter according to Opel will have the newest engines under the bonnet. Don’t expect GM’s V8s though but more decent plants for eco-conscious Europeans.
There’s a new 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder in the works which could be offered in two different guises, a 125 HP version and a 150 HP one. On the diesel front, the choice will be down to a 1.6-liter diesel in three guises: 95, 110 and 136 HP.
While the old model was also available with performance versions, both on petrol and diesel fuel (a 1.6-liter 200 HP petrol one and 195 HP 2-liter twin-turbo unit), we’re not expecting the new one to follow the same path. We'll see the new Astra and its ST version unveiled at Frankfurt next month.
Even the fit and finish seems more on par with modern times, of course, still within the pricing and usual Opel limits. However, you just get a sensation that everything has been recycled when sitting inside the new Astra.
Admittedly, we only got to check out the hatchback and our spy photos here are of the Sports Tourer or ST for short, but other than offering a bigger body, things will be roughly the same inside.
Our photographers even sent over a rendering of how the car might look like when ready for production and we have to say that’s exactly how we’re expecting it to show up.
As for the technical tidbits, the car has been made 200 kilos lighter according to Opel will have the newest engines under the bonnet. Don’t expect GM’s V8s though but more decent plants for eco-conscious Europeans.
There’s a new 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder in the works which could be offered in two different guises, a 125 HP version and a 150 HP one. On the diesel front, the choice will be down to a 1.6-liter diesel in three guises: 95, 110 and 136 HP.
While the old model was also available with performance versions, both on petrol and diesel fuel (a 1.6-liter 200 HP petrol one and 195 HP 2-liter twin-turbo unit), we’re not expecting the new one to follow the same path. We'll see the new Astra and its ST version unveiled at Frankfurt next month.
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