OPEL Astra GTC Review

The Astra GTC is that kind of girl that was born cute and worked her way up to a “superb” status. To be a bit more precise, we have to forward Opel’s words, explaining you that the GTC doesn’t share any body panel with the five-door Astra.

While it was predictable for the GTC to be wider and lower, you’ll probably be surprised to find out that it is also a tad longer than the five-door Astra. And while the designers did their job on top of the car, the engineers followed a similar scheme under it, as both the wheelbase and the tracks were also increased compared to the normal hatch.

Speaking of girls, the GTC never gives one that unpleasant surprise of seeing sides that come in conflict as far as the eye is concerned. In fact, the front and the rear of the car battle for the “most beautiful part of the car” title.

And she’s not just beautiful, she’s also well-dressed. You see, the shapes of the car have something that draw one to it and they’re assisted by the little details that matter. Take a good look at the rear hatch, for example - many cars use a gentle spoiler to make this more attractive, but the GTC tops that with some side blades that promise to also have a functional role.

This is a car that slaps all those faces who say that nowadays it’s almost impossible to create a car that comes with a unique identity in a mainstream segment where pricing and practicality are high on the list of priorities.

Behind Closed Doors

So, you’ve met her, one thing led to another and now you get to throw the clothes out the electric window. Well, this is the point where the GTC leaves you lusting for more, as it doesn’t bring too many changes compared to the cabin of the five-door model. So, while the interior is not bad, it looks like what you saw during driving school.

However, the already low driving position of the regular Astra was taken even closer to the road, so once you get in and find a comfortable setup, which takes a moderate amount of time, you really feel like you’re playing with a sportscar. Even the seatbelts are difficult to grab like in a sports car.

Unfortunately, this is where the sunny days end, as the rest is borrowed from the standard Astra and while the cabin makes a pretty nice show in the latter, its world is not enough for a car with sporting ambitions.

When you first enter the car, the raked windshield and small glass area give you the impression that you’re going to be in for a cramped ride, but this is far from being true. The only disadvantage brought by the coupe-ish shape is the poor of rear visibility, which, if mated to the lack of parking sensors, like in our test car, will result in frustrating parking maneuvers.

Space up front is more than enough and even the rear seats offer decent accommodation. And to keep on surprising you, the car comes with a luggage compartment that’s 30 liters  larger compared to that of the five-door version, being able to swallow a total of 380 liters (13.3 cubic feet) of your stuff.