The Opel Astra GTC is the sort of car you only hear about when it's launched, but has a strong following of loyal fans. And why wouldn't it, when the past two generation have been so interesting to look at?
While Opel has mastered the art of turning small hatchbacks into fake coupes, they don't yet have all their engines sorted out. For example, the 1.4-liter Turbo model only enjoys 120 PS and 175 Nm of torque, good for 0 to 100 km/h in an embarrassing 11 seconds. Even renault have a 1.2 turbo with 120 PS, while Ford give you that much with a 1-liter EcoBoost.
So then, what's an honest Astra J owner to do? Tune it of course, and Shiftech Engineering offers an interesting solution. Their remapped 1.4 Turbo has been boosted from 120 PS to 164, while torque is up hugely to 288 Nm of torque. That's a respectable figure, above almost all factory-stock 1.4 turbo engines out there.
So then, what's an honest Astra J owner to do? Tune it of course, and Shiftech Engineering offers an interesting solution. Their remapped 1.4 Turbo has been boosted from 120 PS to 164, while torque is up hugely to 288 Nm of torque. That's a respectable figure, above almost all factory-stock 1.4 turbo engines out there.