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By
EWAN KENNEDY
6 August 2007
As petrol prices continue to fluctuate an increasing number of buyers
are looking to smaller cars as a way of keeping their budget under
control. In an interesting move, Ford Australia has announced it will
build its Euro-based Focus in Australia, a move that would have seemed
absurd only a few years ago when big Fords and Holdens ruled the roost.
Holden currently imports its Astras in ever-increasing numbers
and won’t confirm or deny it has any plans to build the European
model here. Astra is a vital model in the Holden lineup, a lineup
that sees most of its imports now coming from South Korea rather
than Europe.
The latest Holden Astra, the AH series, which went on sale here
in late 2004, is slightly larger and heavier than the model it
replaced. This makes it not only roomier, but gives it an
additional feeling of quietness and refinement. Indeed, the
refinement isn’t far short of that of a large family car of a
decade or so back, another reason for trading down from a large
car if you don’t need one.
Styling of the Astra is excellent, with the nose treatment
being particularly neat and adding to its European flavour. The
roof slopes sharply to the rear to improve high-speed
aerodynamics, yet this doesn’t adversely affect rear seat
headroom. The large tail-lights don’t look like everything else
on the road, an important feature in this day of computer designed
cars that can have an air of blandness to them.
Front seat space in the Holden Astra is fine thanks to the
space-saving front-wheel drive. Legroom in the rear is marginal if
those in the front want a lot of space. Moving the front seats
forward a few notches on their runners improves legroom and means
the Astra can be used as a full four-seater for adults. Try it for
yourself, though, if you are moving down from a Holden Commodore
or the like.
The extra weight of this latest generation compared to the
previous Astra shows in straight-line performance. Less demanding
drivers may be happy with the way the cars go, others may have to
fork out a fair bit more money to get one of the sporting
variants; Astra SRi is offered in both turbocharged and non-turbo
versions and provides quite a bit more grunt.
Talking about variants, the Astra range is awash with them.
Body types are five-door hatch, four-door sedan, five-door wagon
and three-door coupe. The latter has a particularly impressive
rear-end shape that looks very sporting, yet is actually quite
spacious in its back seat. Spacious for a coupe, that is. Then
there's the open-top convertible with a folding hardtop that
rejoices under the name of Astra TwinTop.
Engines are offered in petrol, turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel
format and transmissions are five- or six-speed manual and
four-speed auto. Not all transmissions are available in every
model.
We suggest a visit to your local Holden dealer to sort out the
permutations on offer. There's certainly something for just about
everyone.
Our test Holden Astra for the past week was of one of the
mainstream models, a mildly upmarket Astra CDX with a 1.8-litre
petrol engine and a four-speed automatic transmission.
Fuel consumption from the 1.8-litre engine was generally around
eight to ten litres per hundred kilometres in country driving,
rising to an acceptable 10 to 12 litres per hundred kilometres
when working reasonably hard in city/suburban use. A manual
gearbox would probably pull the consumption down by somewhere
between five and ten percent.
Enthusiastic drivers will just love the way the new Holden
Astra holds to the road with a minimum of fuss. It has excellent
feel through the steering wheel and answers commands to the
throttle promptly and precisely.
Ride comfort is generally very good, though some rough surfaces
can set up a judder through the car at times. We began by
suggesting the Astra may make an ideal economy car for those
considering trading down from a Holden Commodore. But if you’re
driving is generally done in harsh bush conditions, the big-six
Commodore is likely to remain the better way to go.
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
CD 1.8-litre five-door hatch - $21,990
CDX 1.8-litre five-door hatch - $24,490
CDXi 1.8-litre five-door hatch - $28,990
CD Coupe 1.8-litre three-door hatch - $23,990
CDX Coupe 1.8-litre three-door hatch - $26,990
CD 1.8-litre five-door wagon - $23,790
CDX 1.8-litre five-door wagon - $26,490
CDTi 1.9-litre diesel five-door hatch - $29,990
SRi 2.2-litre three-door hatch - $29,990
SRi 2.0-litre turbo three-door hatch - $34,990
FEATURES
ABS Brakes: Standard in all models
Air Conditioning: Standard in all models
Automatic Transmission: Not offered in SRi turbo, $2000 option in
all other models
CD Player: Standard in all models
Central Locking: Standard in all models
Cruise Control: Not offered in CD, standard in all other models
Driver Airbag: Standard in all models
Passenger Airbag: Standard in all models
Side Airbags: Standard in all models
SPECIFICATIONS (Holden Astra CDXi 1.8-litre five-door hatch)
ENGINE:
Capacity: 1.796 litres
Configuration: Transverse, four cylinders in line
Head Design: DOHC, four valves per cylinder
Compression Ratio: 10.5:1
Bore/Stroke: 80.5 x 88.2 mm
Maximum Power: 103 kW @ 6300 rpm
Maximum Torque: 175 Nm @ 3800 rpm
DRIVELINE:
Driven Wheels: Front
Manual Transmission: Five-speed
Automatic Transmission: Four-speed
Final Drive Ratio: 3.94:1
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 4249 mm
Wheelbase: 2614 mm
Width: 1753 mm
Height: 1460 mm
Turning Circle: 10.6 metres
Kerb Mass: 1249kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 52 litres
Towing Ability: 630kg (1300kg with braked trailer)
SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:
Front Suspension: Independent, MacPherson struts, coil springs,
anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension: Compound torsion beam, twin trailing arms, coil
springs, anti-roll bar
Front Brakes: Ventilated disc
Rear Brakes: Disc
PERFORMANCE:
0-100 km/h Acceleration: 10.9 secs
Standing 400 Metres: 17.5 secs
FUEL CONSUMPTION:
Type: Petrol 91RON
Combined Cycle (ADR 81/01): 7.8 L/100km
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Three years/100,000km
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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