Test drive Opel Astra Sedan 1998 - 2008 Sedan

Hatchback for the metropolis

Whatever skeptics say, the middle class in Russia has already appeared and stronger. And car traffic jams in large cities grow every year. This gives a reason to pay attention to golf class cars with an ideal body of hatchback and an automatic gearbox for the metropolis. Moreover, the new Toyota Corolla has recently appeared in this sector, a traditionally strong player on the golf field.
When choosing a car, our person is primarily conceived about the sedan body. So Toyota dealers, which recently had a new Corolla, are counting on the Turkish assembly sedans primarily, offering a wide selection of configurations and very attractive prices (the lower bar $ 12900). At the same time, the hatchbacks (by the way, they are produced at the factory in England) so far are supplied to us only in a five -door version, with an engine 1.6 and an automatic box. It remains only between two equipment options. At the same time, the basic version (for $ 17400) is far from poor. And the top version that has been on our dough, like good cabbage rolls, contains more minced meat than cabbage. The station wagon is also proposed in the average configuration with the 1.6 engine and mechanics. They ask for him $ 18400.
Another policy is pursued by Opel in Russia. It also supplies only gasoline versions (engines with a volume of 1.6 and 1.8), while four body options (including a three -door hatchback), three sets, and each engine is combined with both mechanics and automatic. The pricing policy of the Germans is the most aggressive. For example, prices for five -door hatchbacks start at $ 13250. It is the active pricing policy of the Japanese and Germans that clashes Corolla and Astra in the golf class sector. But who will be the third? After all, what to hide there, Opel is a solid burgher car, very correct and balanced. And the Corolla hatchback is not like that. There is a light in it. Yes, and quality and ideology are all aimed primarily at the European market. And who rules the ball in the European golf class? Guessed. And if you want something you are eager? Maybe the southern Golf Seat Leon? In addition, in Russia, it is the version with motor 1.6 that can be equipped with a automatic. And there are three options for equipping, like Opel, and also has a diesel engine ... That's it, take it!
Moreover, the indisputable design leader in our three is, in my opinion, Seat. A very dynamic roof line, an aggressive face ... Really memorable appearance makes you forget for a while even about the notorious all -Volkswagen platform. Bravo, Walter de Silva, Bravo, Barcelona sketches! Against the background of the Spaniard, Toyota is somewhat lost. An interesting face with a slightly upturned nose of the emblem, a profile that reminiscent of Yaris (which, by the way, was also developed in the European design studio of the company), the rear in the style of the Audi A3 looks pretty, but somehow average, or something. Opel stands apart. Its strict appearance, as if drawn along the pattern, is outside of fashion and time. Even five years later, this design does not look obsolete, although the new Vectra, apparently, shows the key to the next generation of Astra.
With the inner world, the situation is different. Here the new Corolla is knocked out into the leaders. Very laid interior, and the quality of materials is on top. A combination of Optitronic devices (could Lexus owners think a couple of years ago that their baubles will appear on the most massive Toyota!) And inserts for matte aluminum in combination with all kinds of options like a leather steering wheel and a complete electric package create the illusion of a car with a class (and even two ) higher. It is all the more disappointing that the ergonomics of the driver's place is not successful in everything. And the case is not enough for the longitudinal adjustment of the steering column. Now, if the steering wheel was a little closer ... However, you get used to it quickly enough. Of the little things, it is worth noting not a very logical scheme for heating the seats. Firstly, it is single-stage, while on Opel you can choose one of the four positions, and on the Seat even one of five. But the main thing is that Toyota includes either heating only a driver's seat or a driver and passenger at once.
The true essence of Seat is manifested only inside. After the violent enthusiasm about the exterior design in the cabin, a feeling of deja vu suddenly arises: a convenient three -spoke bagel from Golf lies in his hands, a familiar front panel from the Audi A3 ... however, in vain, I am so. Partial unification of an urgent need for all automakers. Moreover, from this, in principle, everything, and first of all the consumer, only win. After all, the ergonomics of Leon is thought out and calculated to the smallest detail, and in the range of various adjustments the Spaniard surpasses both competitors. In German, hard and comfortable seats, even if not as beautiful as on the Japanese, provide acceptable comfort and the necessary side support. I also liked the block, the head of the windows and mirrors (the latter, by the way, are folded using an electric drive), which is located on the door not horizontally (as on the same Volkswagen), but at an angle. In Opel, the interior, perhaps, is most in harmony with the appearance of the car. Its design is also strict and calm, drawn by the right lines. Each time, sitting in Astra, I usually tune in to a calm, unnecessary ride. Everything is comfortable here, everything is at hand. Perhaps this should be the interior of the car for every day that is not annoying and does not force to get used to it. True, one stimulus after a long stay behind the wheel still appears due to a short pillow of the seat, legs get tired. But here, perhaps, the most convenient microclimate management scheme, a good and roomy glove compartment ...
The role of a passenger in the back seat is preferable to be in Toyota or Opel. Even tall people feel quite freely there (Corolla with her high ceiling is especially good). The only claim to the Germans is the lack of space under the front seat, you can’t stick a foot there. In the Spaniard is more difficult. The rear seat in it is most convenient (though it is better not to take the third one with you), but here is the roof! The falling line, which so pleases the eye outside, eats the lion's share of space above the head, and the side also presses a wide stand. In general, if your height exceeds 175 cm, consider that the landing formula Seat 2+2. Now about sled impressions. Automatic transmission and small dimensions suggest that the element of these machines is a city. The whole trinity feels in the stream quite freely. Leon and Corolla burst forward on acceleration. At the same time, the SEAT numbers are slightly faster, but thanks to the engine with the VVT-I system (changing the phases of gas distribution) and a first-class machine with soft and quick switching, Japanese is perceived as a faster car. Opel rests for a couple of seconds, but if you use the sports mode of the machine, then acceleration is accompanied by tear -off engine singing, which also accelerates the process. In general, in terms of noise, Astra loses somewhat to competitors, especially quiet Corolla. In the Spaniard, the engine soloes, which, of course, is preferable to external noise.
Since we are talking about noise, let's say about the second component of comfort of the suspension. Toyota turned out to be surprisingly collected and even a little harsh, at least against the background of other participants in the dough. However, you can’t call it a stool, and the clarity with which the car obeys commands even at maximum speeds allows you to easily forgive it for a small shake. But crossing the Seat, you understand that the Germans created a reference chassis of a golf class. Comfort here is combined not with exquisite, like the French, but pure and correct handling. After the Spaniard, Opel seems like a dense rubber ball. The suspension in it is very elasticly repelled from irregularities, creating a complete illusion of impenetrability. As for the controllability of Astra, the impression of it, in comparison with other participants in the dough, is not so bright despite the excellent effect of the electro -hydraulic steering wheel and clear reactions, there are more rolls and scouring at high speeds. Generally speaking, these cars, as you already understood, are quite similar in terms of their consumer qualities. The difference, as always, comes down to the nuances. Obviously, in the absence of a persistent commitment to a particular brand, it is these little things that will play a decisive role when choosing a car.
 
Text Alexander Bochkarev
Photo Alexander Nozdrin
How do they look:
Nikita Rozanov

OUTSIDE:
It may seem that for the complete objectivity in the test, the culprit of the Time of VW Golf, doomed to be a tuning fork for each car that has been found in the European class S. However, this does not mean by no means that this does not mean that the current Golf would take a leading position. Time flows, and the changes affect even the celestials of Olympus. They press their own and assertive representatives of the East. This is especially noticeable when the entire tested trinity is built in a row. Here in the most unexpected way it surrenders the closest to Golf Seat, which looks like a veteran. It is by no means the age of the Spanish car for only 4 years, but the main volume of form for some reason looks archaic. It’s the fault of this and the hidden Hatchback Siluet (especially in the back of the body), and old -fashioned flat sides. But in general, the image remains characteristic (I risk assuming that in many respects due to the associative similarity of the face of the Seat with the cult features of BMW). Competitors have both the forms and the details are already different. And despite the fact that Opel is even older than the design for 5 years, his body of the hatchback type has been equipped with a ultramoded, a little protruding trunk, and a windowsill, which is bucks up by a characteristic roller, behind which passive safety elements and side body amplifiers are hidden. Corolla is very close in architecture to Opel, and looking at the cars from the side, they can be confused. But for recognition from the face, the highest score, and it is very difficult to single out someone in this connection. Toyota and Opel are very elegantly playing a plastic key found recently for the whole family, and the SEAT style is simply characteristic of every detail, not to mention the form behind, where Leon is just out of competition: to confuse the thoughtfully surprised look of his rear lights with someone else simply impossible!
Results:
Opel Astra, although the age of five, is designed so high quality and with such professionalism that the car still looks cheerful and quite modern. However, time ...
Seat Leon is a bright and original style that is difficult to confuse with the style of any other manufacturer. But the problem is the same age, therefore, the introduction of adjustments to the main architecture of the body is increasingly required.
Toyota Corolla is difficult to call this design bright, but in all respects it is a modern, obviously promising style of a car in which there is both recognition and the basis for further development.
INSIDE:
Moral aging of the design is tangible inside. And Opel cannot hide his 5-year age due to the acuity of angularity and a bulky six-story central console overloaded with details. The Seat of the City, in which the angularity is already replaced by soft flowing surfaces and the relief of the instrument panel smoothly switches to the upholstery of the doors, which is why the inner space of the car seems more than it really is. But the design of the new Corolla is clean and laconic and, in this quality, it may be compared with the Scandinavian laconicism of the latter Volvo. The rudlers of all three cars are three -spoke and obviously sports in their style. And here again the leads Corolla, whose silver inserts on the door and the central console are very elegant and modern. Toyota control and measuring instruments are also clean and concise and laconic and graphics of the combination of instruments, and, for example, the Astra devices are also buried in small wells of a decorative mask that covers the scales.
Results:
Opel Astra qualitatively executed, but outdated solution of the entire interior. The overload of the central console and the lack of a plastic connection door panel, without a doubt yesterday's design.
Seat Leon is a very characteristic solution made in the same plastic manner as the appearance of the car. Expressive disposition and sports of setting the entire style are also very delicately expressed.
Toyota Corolla designed all signs of today's style, but at the same time retained the eastern identity, which is professionally integrated into the European automobile fashion of the beginning of the new century.
 

 

A source: Cars