FIT FOR FUN
If you are the kind of
person who likes hot chili
sauce on his toast and you
are in the market for a
sensible yet spicy five-door
hatchback, the Opel Astra
with the all-new 1.6-liter
BiTurbo diesel engine is the
car for you (NEDC combined
cycle fuel consumption: 4.14.0 l/100 km; 109-106g/km
CO2). The Astra 1.6 BiTurbo
CDTI sprints from zero to
100 km/h in 8.6 seconds;
accelerates from 80 to 120
km/h in 7.5 seconds; and
keeps loping on to a maximum
speed of 220 km/h. This
blend of high performance
and modest fuel consumption
makes the twin-turbo Astra
one of the most fuel-efficient
cars in the compact class
gasoline engines. The highlight in the Astra
engine portfolio is the all-new 1.4 ECOTEC
Direct Injection Turbo, a four-cylinder unit from
the same family as the smaller but nonetheless
powerful one-liter, three-cylinder engine. The
all-aluminum engine will make its debut with
110 kW/150 hp. It impresses with dynamic
responsiveness and high performance while
curbing fuel consumption. The engine delivers maximum torque of up to 245 Nm very
early. Maximum power is available between
2,000 and 4,000 rpm – perfect conditions
for driving pleasure in combination with efficiency. Based on its construction, the new 1.4
ECOTEC Direct Injection Turbo also adds less
weight to the car. The aluminum engine block
alone weighs ten kilograms less than the castiron block of the current 1.4-liter turbo.
THE PERFECT SYMBIOSIS
The design of the new Astra clearly depicts
the efficiency at the heart of the car. The evolution of the Opel design philosophy ‘Sculptural
Artistry meets German Precision’ ensures that
the new Astra conveys a lighter, more athletic
appearance.
The front headlamps flow seamlessly into the
grill aperture forming a distinctive graphic. The
most significant design cue is the ‘breakthrough’ C-pillar, which creates the impression of a
floating roof. The dramatically sculpted rear
deck lid graphically links the rear tail lamps to
create a leaner, wider and lower impression,
again reinforcing the Astra’s core efficiency.
The Astra does not just look smaller… it is
smaller: with a total length of 4.37 meters it
is almost five centimeters shorter than its predecessor. With a height of 1.46 meters it is