|
By
EWAN KENNEDY
18 June 2007
Holden has been a longtime player in the convertible scene in
Australia, with the Astra having been offered as a topless variant since
2001. Though it carries Holden badges, the Astra range is German
designed, by Opel, and carries a fair bit of prestige because of its
European heritage.
While Astra was originally designed with a folding
soft-top, in its latest generation it has taken the
coupe-convertible path. Coupe convertibles, or CCs as they are
often known, offer greater security and insulation from the
outside world because they use folding hardtops. The downside of a
folding hardtop is that the roof takes up a fair bit of space in
the back of the car when it’s folded down. Either that or the
roof has to be rather small, which doesn’t do a lot for the
open-air feel, often the windscreen has to come so far back to
meet the folding roof that the windscreen top rail is virtually
over your head.
Some makers are now building a new style of
folding roof that’s in two sections to overcome these problems.
Holden Astra is one of this new-generation entrants. To celebrate
its two-piece roof the Astra carries the clever tag of TwinTop.
The Holden's roof is a complex unit so isn’t all
that quick in its operation, meaning we would be reluctant to
depend on the stationary time at red traffic light to open/close
it. It’s neat when closed and we felt no signs of air movement
or top wriggle on roughish roads. There's some scuttle shake on
poor surfaces, but for a car with an opening of this size it’s
pretty rigid. Wind noise is well isolated with the side windows up
while the top is down and all but non-existent with the roof in
place.
On smooth roads with the top up you could almost
be travelling in a fully closed coupe as far as body rigidity and
general feel is concerned. The Astra TwinTop really is impressive
in this regard and this is one area where its European heritage
shines.
Handling is enhanced by the rigid nature of the
body and this sporting Holden has a near neutral stance when
pushed and gives lovely feedback to the driver by way of the
steering wheel. This isn’t really a pure sports car in the
overall scheme of things, but a keen driver will get a lot of
pleasure from the way it handles and responds in moderate to hard
driving.
Comfort is generally good, though some bumps do
catch out the suspension at times.
Inside, the front seats are of a good size and
well-shaped to provide support in normal to semi-fast driving. The
rear seats, as is almost invariably the way in this class of car,
are strictly for emergency use by adults, though small children
could get moderately comfortable. Small door pockets will struggle
to meet many owners’ needs. The tiny centre console isn’t even
large enough to take a normal sized wallet, but at least there's a
decent (lockable) glovebox. The latter is an important feature in
any open-top car.
Boot space is generous with the top raised and not
too bad with the Astra TwinTop in open-air mode. The partition
that divides the luggage area between the top-up/top-down stages
can be lifted slightly to enable easier loading of bulky items,
such as medium-large suitcases.
Holden has sensibly specified the topline
2.2-litre petrol engine for the TwinTop, now in its
direct-injection form for better torque spread and low emissions.
The engine is a delight to sit behind, even in automatic form as
presented to us for our week’s test. The manual must be a real
beauty. Engine response is quick and accurate and the car pulls
off the line with ease and provides strong, safe overtaking.
Fuel consumption in the auto will generally be
around 11 to 13 litres per hundred kilometres in suburban driving,
dropping below 10 litres in country running in moderate
conditions. We would expect a manual gearbox to reduce these
numbers by somewhere around three to five per cent.
At this time most of Astra's competitors come from
the slightly upmarket European marques, Peugeot, Renault and
Volkswagen, but Ford Australia is to introduce its Focus CC later
this year. That new area of the eternal Holden versus Ford battle
promises to be an interesting one.
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
Astra Twintop 2.2-litre two-door convertible - $45,490
FEATURES
ABS Brakes: Standard
Air Conditioning: Standard
Automatic Transmission: $2000 option
CD Player: Standard
Central Locking: Standard
Cruise Control: Standard
Driver Airbag: Standard
Passenger Airbag: Standard
Side Airbags: Standard
SPECIFICATIONS (Holden Astra Twintop 2.2-litre
two-door convertible)
ENGINE:
Capacity: 2.198 litres
Configuration: Four cylinders in line
Head Design: DOHC, four valves per cylinder
Compression Ratio: 12.0:1
Bore/Stroke: 86.0 x 94.6mm
Maximum Power: 110 kW @ 5600 rpm
Maximum Torque: 210 Nm @ 4000 rpm
DRIVELINE:
Driven Wheels: Front
Manual Transmission: Six-speed
Automatic Transmission: Four-Speed
Final Drive Ratio: 3.65:1
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 4476mm
Wheelbase: 2614mm
Width: 1831mm
Height: 1411mm
Turning Circle: 10.75 metres
Kerb Mass: 1590kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 52 litres
Towing Ability: NA
SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:
Front Suspension: Independent, MacPherson struts, coil springs,
anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension: Compound torsion beam, twin trailing arms, coil
springs
Front Brakes: Ventilated disc
Rear Brakes: Disc
PERFORMANCE:
0-100 km/h Acceleration: NA
Standing 400 Metres: NA
FUEL CONSUMPTION:
Type: Petrol 91RON
Combined Cycle (ADR 81/01): 9.1 L/100km
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Three years/100,000km
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
|
