I have owned an Astra Twinport Sportshatch since june 2006. I also had an Astra 1.8 edition 100 convertible until recently and the convertible (a 2003 model) was by far the superior car of the two with good ride handling (contrary to so called expert reviews in magazines) and was alround a far more versatile and gutsy car. The new Astra is ok - don`t get me wrong BUT it has a really fatal design flaw - I`m 6 foot - not tall - not short - but whichever way I position the seats - which are comfortable- and the steering wheel - I cannot see the instrument panel indicator warning lights - also with these infuriating indicators you really have no idea at times whether they are indicating, have switched off or have stayed on after turning - the only way to tell is to look at the dash - which you cant`t see!!
I have a 2000 (W) 1.7 DTI 16V astra which i purchased for £2195 from wokingham police. The reason for this review is to get help from you, the reader more than anything. The car seems to Judder/hesitate throughout the rev range. i took the car to a vauxhall dealer and at first they told me that there was nothing wrong with my car and that it was probably the way i was driving it! If anyone has had a similar problem and had it repaired successfully please let me know as it is now getting expensive and taking the piss a bit! Many thanx! Dean
We currently have our 3rd Mk4 Astra in a row, and can't honestly say anything really bad about any of them. The first was a 1.8CDX 5 door, which was followed by a 1.8 Convertible, while the current one is a Turbo Convertible. The only comment I would really make is that the 1.8 Convertible is a little underpowered ( which is why we swapped to the Turbo ).
I have just brought a New Astra 1.8i Design. The Car is lovely to drive although there are a couple of niggles. 1. The Electric Mirror and Window controls are situated too close to the front of the drivers door, making it easy to open the rear windows when in fact you want to open the drivers window. When drving you dont want to be looking down at controls when you should be concentrating on the Road. 2. The auto wipres seem to have a life of their own sometimes, but its not a problem as they work!
Overall the car fantastic to drive, a comfortable driving position and plenty of power when you need it. I get on a run 38.2 MPG approx 400 to a full tank which isnt bad. (average speed on the motorway 70 - 80 mph )
I'd recommend the car to you all, as its the best small / family car out and should compet well with the New Focus.
Had a 1.8 SXi for a few months now, and have been really impressed with it. Performance is great, with the Astra coming in at below 7 seconds for 0-60. I've not been brave enough to find out where it tops out, but 90 feels so effortless that it should be able to reach the thick end of the 120s with power to spare. All in all it's very impressive for a 1.8, but I'm not sure if mine is standard, as it's ex-MoD. Also a greater degree of precision is needed on the clutch than other Vauxhalls I have driven, which makes me wonder if this has been replaced too.
Visually, the full Irmscher body kit and metallic charcoal paint make the Astra an arresting site, although the rear spoiler does cut down the visibility through the rear window, as do the three rear head-rests. I've not had any real reliability issues yet, although one of the rear wheels gives of an intermittant squealing noise which might be the dodgy calipers mentioned above.
If there was one thing I could change about the car it would be the handling. The Astra has a fair amount of grip, but when you near the edge instead of safe, progressive understeer the back end alternately slides and bites through bends. The overall effect of this is that the car will, when driven hard, 'wiggle' round corners in an unsettling manner. It is a shame, as the Astra has all that speed and you can't carry it through corners.
Note to Vauxhall: you know where you are with understeer, you don't know where you are with a wiggly car.
Recently bought a 1.8 16v SRi on a 51 plate. Lovely car that's great fun to drive - after a 1.1 Fiesta it's nice to have something that goes when you the loud pedal. Lots of nice toys. Air Con is wonderful as is the speed sensitive power steering. CD player gets louder as you go faster and has major controls on the steering wheel.
Being a 'sporty' model the ride is a little bumpy but not as bad as I thought it might be. Fine on motorways but can be a bit harsh around town. Not been in the back (and so don't care) but have been told it's pretty awful.
Bad points: Rear visibility is pretty poor and the front screen pillars can also hide quite a lot.
Light switch - hidden to the right of the steering wheel on the dashboard. When will Vauxhall learn to put it on a column stalk like everybody else!
Horn - two tiny little buttons about half an inch square. Absolutely useless. By the time you've found one of them you will probably have hit whatever you wanted to hoot at.
Price of tyres - about £120 each.I could put all four on my old Cortina for less than that!
On the whole though, I love it. It's quick, fun, comfortable and looks the part without being too 'boy racer'.
Ive just bought the Astra SRI Turbo....its unbelievably powerful! 200 BHP and can reach 0-60mph in 6.5 secs (timed it yesterday with the cars own trip computer stop watch!! LOL)...beats any honda civic type R or bmw (except M3 of course!). If u get one though might be advisable to check brakes..has a manufacturing problem that needs alteration..and the seats are quite uncomfortable at times. Besides that its an incredible ride and a real sports car ..definately on par with a subaru impreza. Try superchiping the car..it really adds power and gets rid of the flat spots in the turbo charger...go and buy one of these vehicles..its FAST!!!
Ive got the Astra mark lV 2.2 16V SRI (2001 Edition) ...and yes its definately a big jump from my last car - the 1.6 petrol engine (CD version)! But the best thing about it is that u can easily and affordably make the Astra even faster! Placing an air filter induction kit, superchip and sports cam shafts can increase the SRI's HP from 138 to about 180-200HP...all of that cost less than £1000. Plus the standard SRI sports suspension, traction control, interior gadgets and sports seats are always useful! Plus over the net u can find cheap deals on interior changes as well. Its great!
The S-reg Astra 1.8i 16v Sport 3dr is undeniably gorgeous. Full of gadgets that give this car a feeling of executivism (maybe not a word!!). The best of them being the speed responsive power steering that gives you complete feel of the road at all times, in exactly the way a sports car should. Performance is class leading and it provides its peak torque low down at only 3400rpm (better than any poxy Ford). This means it won't need to be pushed hard to scale mountains!! The twin triangular oval type thing of an exhaust pipe was designed as a one off, but Vauxhall loved it so much they adopted it. If you think I love this car then you would be right, BUY ONE!!
Owned for 1 month.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed December 2003.
Performance
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Had a 1.7td ls since i was 17 and has great mpg and performance, gonna batter on a induction kit, new exhaust and turbo performance kit 2 get maself sum bhp to go with the already gr8 torque figures, diesels the way forward, surrender to its powers!
Owned for 2 years.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed November 2003.
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Overall the car's fine. But there's two common faults: 1) The rear calipers sieze up and this will cost you around £300 to cure, and the garage will tell you that your disks are worn also so that's another £XXX. But the discs aren't worn, just buy the calipers (Vauxhall are issuing a different make as replacements) and get a mate to fit 'em. 2) As every one elso knows after only 40,000 miles they stall 10 times a day!!!
Owned for 1 year.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed February 2003.
Performance
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I have the 1.8 16v sport, the car has never let me down, the only thing i find annoying with the car is having to clean out the inlet manifold, if u have one you will notice that the car idles as though its going to stall and sometimes it does, this is due to carbon build up in the inlet manifold, clean it out yourself with some carb cleaner instead of paying over the odds at the dealer.
Its a great car has loads of gadgets, very responsive (fast) looks great.
Id recomend this car to anyone.
Owned for 1 year.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed December 2000.
Performance
Reliability
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My car has never let me down,comfortable ride,34mpg around town 1.6i 16v CDX
Owned for 6 months.
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