OPEL Astra Review

Back in 2009, General Motors experienced what it can be easily considered one of the most difficult periods in its history, with chief executives asking for financial backing from governments around the world. A significant cost-cutting programme was absolutely necessary, so chief executives within the American-based giants scratched their heads and sketched a plan to see what they have to do to stay alive.

Scrapping or selling certain brands was probably what shocked most of us. Pontiac and Saturn were both killed, HUMMER was sold to Chinese entities, while Opel, the European brand based in Germany, was supposed to be ceased to Magna International. After a long negotiation process during which German officials pressured GM to sell Opel while the Americans played hard to get, General Motors decided to keep Opel and use the money it received from the government to revive the company. CEO Fritz Henderson resigned, Ed Whitacre took his role and a new era started for Opel.

Many believe that staying under GM's ownership was actually a good decision and point to Opel's Insignia, the 2009 European Car of the Year that also made it to the US as Buick Regal. The Insignia has been considered one of the best models ever sold by Opel, but the Germans had even more to offer to the Old Continent.

The new Opel Astra was officially launched at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show and was developed on the Delta II platform, borrowing a lot of things from the Insignia series. Codenamed Astra J because it follows the same designation methodology adopted by the first Astra (F) in 1991, the new model steps into what could be easily called a very exclusive crowd: Peugeot 308, Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Auris and some others that are all competing against Opel's new hatchback.

While Insignia managed to snatch the grand prize in 2009 at the European Car of the Year contest, Opel Astra was close to take the same award in 2010, but only reached the third place on the podium, after Volkswagen Polo and Toyota iQ.

Just like its predecessors, the new Astra is sold in multiple areas around the world, obviously as a rebadged model, such as Buick Excelle XT in China, Vauxhall Astra in Great Britain and Chevrolet Astra in certain markets in Latin America. It is no longer available in the United States, as Saturn bit the dust after GM's Chapter 11 recovering process, and in Australia, were Holden discontinued the model in 2009 due to exchange rates.

Since it has to face so powerful competitors, Astra has to hide something special beyond that sporty appearance. Because we wanted to see for ourselves the new things Astra has to offer, we decided to take one for a spin. Read on to find out whether the J-designated model has what it takes to become a Golf rival.
Comparing the old and the new Astra would be just a waste of time, it's just like throwing your grandpa in the ring to fight against Arnold Schwarzenegger. And we're not claiming that your grandpa has no fighting skills but Alois (yes! Schwarzenegger second name is Alois!) probably learned a thing or two from the “Terminator” series.

To get back to the point, the new Astra is offered with many, many improvements, regardless if we're discussing about the exterior, the interior or the technical bits fitted under the body.

In terms of exterior styling, Astra J looks a lot sportier, with a more aggressive design that follows the same language started by Opel with the debut of the Insignia. A new grille, extended headlights and a coupe-ish silhouette contribute to a combination of what Opel calls “sculptural artistry with German precision”. Although we won't go so far and swallow Opel's marketing bulls**t, the new model is indeed a lot more attractive and the aggressive stance on the road seems just what the Astra lineup needed for its hatchback configuration.

To continue the comparison between the old and the fresh model, it's worth mentioning that Opel has changed the hatchback's dimensions a little bit, thus gaining increased stability and better driving dynamics. The wheelbase is 71mm (2.8 inches) longer, while the front and the rear now measure 1544mm (60.7 inches) and 1588 in width (62.5 inches), respectively. Both the front and the rear tracks have been modified, being increased by 56mm (2.2 inches) and 70mm (2.7 inches), respectively.

A closer look at the Astra clearly shows that Opel has paid a lot more attention to details and it just seems that minor things make all the difference. The new grille, surrounded by chrome accents, chrome strips along the side windows as well as more elegant lines at the back of the car make the new Astra a much more appealing vehicle on the road.

Of course, refreshing the exterior design is not at all a bad thing, especially when talking about more elegant and modern lines. Let's just take Megan Fox for example. She was astonishingly beautiful before plastic surgery but she's now absolutely gorgeous. This is what happened to the Astra, too. It looked good, but it's even better now.
The interior of the car, although it seems pretty spacious, is very crowded. At least this is what you could feel from the driver position, especially when looking at the center console.

Astra's interior borrows many things from the Insignia and this pretty much makes sense given the fact that most customers considered the interior design a clear evolution from the previous models. Both the center console and the instrument panel comes from the 2009 European Car of the Year and, although they look good, there are a few things to be mentioned here.

First, the center console holds way too many buttons (around 40 if we're not wrong), all of which let the driver and the passenger browse among the car's functions. Which were only a few on our test drive car, but we'll talk about that a little bit later. The gauges are decorated with the same chrome rings as the ones on the Insignia, while the three-spoke steering wheel is identical with the one found on the German sedan.

Just as we told you earlier, Opel has paid a bit more attention to details and, after all, it's the little things that count. For example, a red diffused light at the base of the center console creates a pretty nice ambient lighting during night, while special air vents mounted on the inside of the A-pillar are especially introduced to help defrosting and defogging.

Other than that, the Astra comes with quite a welcoming cabin, but don't expect too much from it. Even if you're ready to spend some extra cash for a bit more comfort. Sport seats, dual-zone air conditioning system, leather-wrapped steering-wheel, on-board computer, front armrest and many others are only available on the Sport trim which, in most markets, is regarded as the top of the range configuration.
If there's a thing to praise when talking about Astra's way to interact with the urban environment, it's the steering system. With a little effort, you can make the steering wheel spin like the wheel of fortune and trust us, the comparison is not at all exaggerated. Opel has used a rack-mounted motor, rather than a steering column-installed one, which eases the steering wheel movements by reducing its whole assembly weight.

Visibility is clearly among the best in the class, while the driving position mostly reminds of a truly sports cars, rather than a compact hatchback. The suspension system is based on Opel's already-popular Flex Ride system that provides three predefined modes, each to be used depending on driving style and on-road conditions.

Normal, Sport and Tour do nothing more than to change the setup of the suspension configuration, thus backing the way the car performs in any given conditions. In Normal mode, Astra does a pretty good job to reduce shocks and shakes caused by uneven roads or speed limiters thanks to a rear combination for a compound crank with a Watt link. Not only that this setup improves comfort, but it also enhances stability and cornering, without affecting other technical features of the car.

The Sport mode is what sets the car apart. Pressing the Sport button on the dashboard turns the instrument panel into red which gives a special sporty feeling to the driver, although some of you think that it's rather a more romantic atmosphere, somehow reminding of Amsterdam and the Red Light District.

Fuel consumption, at least on paper, is impressive. But don't expect the same to continue in real life too because, as most of us already know by now, there's a pretty big difference between what carmakers and drivers express through the term “efficiency”. If you're asking its papa, Opel Astra should burn somewhere around 8.8 l/100km (26.7 mpg) in urban traffic conditions, while real figures go in between 10.5 and 11.0 l/100km (22.4 and 21.3 mpg). Of course, this is only some sort of estimate because our test car had no on-board computer, so we just had to use our basic math knowledge to see how much fuel Astra burns to cover 100 kilometers.

Although Opel has introduced the Astra as a technologically-advanced model, there's no start-stop function that would contribute to the overall fuel consumption figures.

The transmission system is what makes the whole city driving session less pleasant. The transmission setup, clearly optimized for sporty driving and shifting is hard from and to any gear. Sure, it could be a little easier if you're ready to push hard on the stick shift but you ladies won't be too happy with it. An automatic transmission is also available across the range and, although it could affect efficiency more or less, be sure to consider it when buying the new Astra.

The toughest exam was definitely parking, as the car was not equipped with parking assistance systems so the only way to get into a parking spot was to rely on our skills and, of course, on prayers. A little help comes from the options list, where a special package is available for those who're looking for a safe parking maneuver, obviously for some extra money.
180 horsepower on a compact hatchback is pretty impressive and how else could you test the full amount of power if not by getting out of the extremely crowded places we use to call cities? Outside the city, the Astra feels as good as a fish in the water and every strong acceleration proves that the 1.6-liter Turbo engine deserves every cent. Unfortunately, the engine is among the select group of features that manage to raise to the expectations.

Without referring at all to its competition, Opel Astra seems to provide a decent stability but don't expect too much help when it comes to over and understeering though. It does offer you ABS and Brake Assist, ESP, CBC and EBD, but, as a general advice, don't rely too much on them, especially on icy roads. They don't do wonders at all.

A longer journey with the new Astra will surely give you a great feeling, mostly thanks to the engine and the amount of power it provides, but could certainly leave you a bad taste in your mouth from many point of views.

Comfort is definitely not one of the aspects that could be considered Astra's ace up its sleeve and paying around EUR20,000 for the new German compact doesn't bring you more than cruise control, MP3 audio system with 7 speakers, electrochromic interior mirror, light and rain sensors, front power windows, manual air conditioning and power mirrors. Instead, you won't get the mandatory on-board computer, a very comfy front armrest, a mix of leather and textiles for the seats, dual-zone air conditioning, sport seats and many others.

We're not claiming that Astra falls behind competition in the standard equipment race, because Opel has always emphasized that its models are better equipped and more affordable than the other vehicles in their classes, but you might have to take a look on the options list for a lot of features.

The trunk should basically be large enough for any of you, as Opel offers buyers the possibility to adjust the volume depending on their needs. The luggage compartment has a capacity of 370 liters up to the cover, 795 liters with the rear seats backs folded forward (up to seats backs) and 1235 liters with rear seats backs folded forward (up to ceiling).

Leaving all these things aside, the revised Astra is certainly better than its predecessor and the 1.6-liter turbo engine could be the secret weapon that might steal some clients from Volkswagen's portfolio. The maximum speed, 221 km/h (137.3 mph) and the 0-100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration in just 8.5 seconds make it a really powerful contender in the compact hatchback class.

Fuel consumption outside the city is, at least on paper, 5.6 l/100km (42 mpg) and our math skills proved that reality doesn't go too far from this point. The best we could get was somewhere around 7.0 l/100km (33.6 mpg), in Tour mode and without letting our heavy foot touch the throttle pedal too often.