Test drive Opel Astra Sedan 1998 - 2008 Sedan

How much is romance?

or panoramic Opel Astra GTC from the point of view of a business woman
 
Are the ladies in nature are located for rash expenses and consider worse than men? Nonsense! If they are not on the provision of equally wasteful men, then they add up and take away no worse than Sofia Kovalevskaya. Sometimes it even seems to me that some pretty heads are built by nature a calculator. And the fact that they can not always resist a beautiful thing is sweet weakness. But here is the girl Yana, who met with the beautiful coupe Opel Astra GTC - but not with a simple one, but with a panoramic roof - first asked: how much will it be worth replacing such a non -standard huge glass?
 
Admire - do not count
 
The pretty girl Yana, I note along the way - knowing several foreign languages \u200b\u200band recently mastering the profession of an advertising manager, earns a living on his own, and therefore her question is quite explained and reasonable.
 
“The glass itself will cost one and a half thousand dollars, plus work - another hundred,” I answer. “But it’s easier to insure the car and not think about troubles.”
 
- It's right. And the roof is really a miracle! she said when we sat inside, and I pushed the ceiling, or rather, a large curtain that moves along the guides and is fixed in any position.
 
“How nice,” Yana continued her thought, “to see a blue sky above my head in the summer, admire the falling snow in winter or look at the stars of a cloudless autumn night!” Romance! True, when the bright sun, I want to put on a cap - too much light, let it not bake.
 
It should be said that Yana is a motorist with experience. In the city, she moves daily to Ford Focus with a 2.0-liter engine and an automatic gearbox. It explains its choice simply: there are no problems with the service, it is not expensive to maintain and travels decent.
 
And she really liked Astra GTC. The appearance was especially liked, in which, despite the sports notes, there is special elegance. It's nice that the car is moderately aggressive, but at the same time friendly to the driver. Two doors are funny, although the parking space is required more. But, despite the rather modest dimensions, which are just ideal for Moscow, it is spacious inside. Convenient seats, the only problem with which is that Yana was not able to find all the adjustments, sitting behind the wheel. But the fact that lateral support is good, and the steering wheel has a small diameter is very good. The central console is understandable, and with the audio system and all the main problems of the problems of problems are no. Even to the sensory switches with whom most of the majority have problems, Yana is accustomed quickly.
 
That's what AKP is not to think
 
The first thing that embarrassed Jan was a start from a place. It’s just that the programs of a 4-speed machine switch quite significantly, which it is not used to. I note that Opel has other, more modern automatic transmission in all respects, but for some reason it does not yet offer them on Astra GTC.
 
“However, there is an automatic transmission for that so as not to think about her too much,” the girl summed up after ten minutes of the trip. Later, sharing the impressions of the test drive, she noted: it is especially pleasant that there were no problems either with management or the dimensions, although I cannot be called a too sophisticated driver. It is quite a worthy dynamics, and if you press the Sport button on the central console, the car becomes truly frisky. True, at the same time it becomes too noisy, as if they were taken away a little comfort. Maybe this is somehow connected with the automatic transmission?
 
Of course, connected. And the box itself is not quiet, and when, in addition, it seeks to promote the engine and the tachometer arrow crosses the mark of 4000 rpm, the interior is filled with the voice of a 1.8-liter power unit. Not very pleasant tonality. Although there should be no complaints about the sound insulation of the coupe. We can say so: the automatic transmission is thoughtful, and therefore part of the power of the motor goes into sound. This feature was noted by Yana, when she rather aggressively decided to bypass the right row of some summer resident. The maneuver was a success, but not as fast as she wanted: it’s bad for her: how the programs switch - you feel, and if you need to accelerate sharply, then she understand, thinks! Do not go constantly in Sport mode - no smoothness, no silence, everything happens sharply - why do I need this when you crawl from work on traffic jams? Maybe there is nothing to do, although from many versions of Astra to choose a car to your liking is not a problem.
 
But the highest score was put up by Opelian engineers for settings of pendants. I can confirm that the controllability and tenacious Astra GTC really is a well -balanced, predictable car in behavior. The IDS Plus suspension copes well with the task assigned to it to ensure maximum contact of all four wheels with asphalt. As a result, Yana laid quite dashing turns a couple of times, and did not even notice the speed. Later, when I said that the turn was passed quite quickly, she was sincerely surprised and said that she was driving as usual, simply not noticing the speed. Also, and therefore, I want to add that Astra GTC is almost the standard of handling in the classroom. The settings of the steering deserve the highest rating.
 
Along the way, I noted the extra thing that the car is extremely loyal to the driver, even forgives such, not very pleasant mistakes as inhibition in corners. By the way, the brakes themselves are able to stop the car very quickly, and standardly installed on the ABS model and various other assistance systems for the driver guarantee the most effective slowdown on any surface. In addition, the ESP electronic stabilization system is always guarded, which is not so easy to turn off. I won’t say how to do this - girls have nothing to do. But the fact that there is no zummer about not fastened seat belts in the car is somewhat surprising.
 
Rather yes than no
 
“So you would pay extra for such a roof?” - I ask Jan.
 
- Now - no, but in principle - yes. This, you see, as an expensive decoration in the window - you can’t immediately see and buy, you need to think, and then return. The car is not cheap.
 
True, not quite. Since Astra GTC is offered with almost all power units that are available on simple Astra, you can’t call the prices too high. Thus, the most affordable version will cost $ 16,890, and the modification with the 1.8 engine and the automatic transmission will cost $ 21,090. The car we tested - with a panoramic roof, a leather salon and almost all possible options - is sold at a price of $ 34,270, which is already Really expensive. However, I will give a majority in Russia, and there are many romantically tuned men. So the panoramic Astra, perhaps, is not for long to steal a girlish age in show rooms.
 
 
Text: Daniil Smirnov


Brief technical characteristics of Opel Astra GTC 1.8
Engine volume, cubic meter. See 1796
The number of valves per cylinder 4
Power, l. With. at about./min. 125/5600
Max. Torque, NM at about./Min. 170/3800
Acceleration to 100 km/h, p. 10.7 (11.7)
Maximum speed, km/h 200 (190)
The average fuel consumption l./100 km. 7.9 (8.3)
The volume of the fuel tank, l. 52
Car mass, kg. 1278 (1310)
Dimensions, mm. 4290x1753x1435

* In brackets are given data for the version with automatic transmission

Source: Newspaper "Automobile Izvestia" [No. 19 (108), 2006]