Astra Sport hatch
Last Updated:
I am really exited to see in person the new Volvo C30 next week.
But I almost forgot about this car. The Opel Astra 3 door.
We are supposed to get this car under the Saturn name next year. And hopefully the 3 door will be part of the US mix.
This could be a great looking alternative to the new Volvo.
And thousands cheaper too.
I don’t think the cool extended windshield will make it over here, but it is still a very modern looking car.
I think this would be a great saturn.. and yes I don’t think the extended winshield would make it here.. and that’s fine with me. If this is priced around the old Ion it would sell A LOT!
I think Saturn just may have a chance, glad someone woke up over there and realized they do have good cars in Europe, why not use what they have!!? I think this car looks great, minus that windshield..
Does anyone know if Opel is a good handling vehicle?
Vince, talking about forgetting hatchbacks, what happen with the new Subaru Impreza?
I am waiting to see more pics. thanks.
I like this alot better than yaris , fit versa and am waiting for it arrive to buy one, i pray they dont overprice it at 15k and above, and get greedy knowing they finally have a good product to sell at saturn dealerships. also i bought a new windshield for my toyota this year for 100 bucks installed, and id hate to see the price of that windshield on the astra, so if they do bring it over here i hope its an option on the car….. also hope that GM only changes the grille on the car and leave the rest alone…
Isn’t this waaay larger than a yaris, etc? This is based on the Astra compact(?)…..The space between wheels make it look awkard, like the rear and middle belong on a Mid-sized sedan, and the front end(and hatch part) look more like something off of a compact sporty car.
Noooo,this won’t get me out of the tC anytime soon
(which is a compact).
Now, if they Fix the Mid-sized sedan meets sporty compact car(front)…look…. maybe.
See, I ah dhoped for a 3 door from Saturn, btu this is not quite what I had in mind(see Scion tC….That is sort of what I hoped for).
the rear end(hatch)…looks almost exactly like the old Malibu Maxx hatch!
A 3 -door Malibu Maxx(on a shortened platform?).
After minutes of looking at this thing,reading the various commentary,and so forth, I have come to the conclusion that this would look better as a 5- door, rather than a 3- door, due to the design of the body.
Good idea, kind of bad execution.
The body style makes it look like it is missing 2 rear doors.
Go look @ that Antique Italian car show thing Vince posted. About mid-way down, there is a 3 door car..That’s How You Design A 3 Door.
I drove one when I was in Germany. It handles great but not quite like the Golf/Rabbit. I hope GM doesnt screw up the cars handling bringing it here.
I think that windshield is optional in Europe……………….I’ve seen that car with a regular windshield. The windshield is supposed to be a bit thicker than standard as it’s to be a structural member of the car………..I wouldn’t worry too much about cracks.
The only problem with Saturn offering any Astra as an Ion replacement is that they won’t be building them in Spring Hill.. rumor has it they will be importing them from Europe until they can tool some US or Mexican plant for the next generation vehicle. So don’t expect to pay anything near what an Ion costs.. like the Euro Focus, an imported Euro Astra will cost much more.
Vince:
You say this might be comparable(but less costly) than a Volvo? Soooo, how big is this thing?
I kind of agree with one comment baout it looking like a Malibu Maxx(probably same platform, re-tuned by German engineers?).
You cannot compare prices in Europe and the US.
European prices include taxes that can go past 20% in some cases.
For instance, a Cadillac CTS 3.6 Liter can reach over $45000.
A Chrysler 300 2.7 Liter V6 is over $38 000.
A very well equiped Astra is still around $25 000 including all taxes.
It will be higher in price than the Ion because of the quality and the standard equipment, in my opinion if it is under $18k it will sell very.
The general shape kind of reminds me of the Caliber!!!!!!!!!! Check it out.
GM needs to cvoncentrate on designs to beat Toyota/Honda/Nissan/Hyundai-Kia/and maybe even soon, Mitsubishi and the up& coming Suzuki, instead of worrying abotu a “chrysler” Caliber clone, and calling it a sport hatch. The difference(besides maybe AWD availability on the Caliber vs this?)…. Caliber has 5 doors.
that is all I really see. A 3 door Astra-Caliber.
Sorry.
Maybe it’ll look better in person.
I see bits of Mazda3, Caliber, and Maxx in this thing.
From some reviews I have read(for overseas) it usuallly gets an overall 4(out of 5) star rating.
Go look at other sporty 3 doors, Tiburon, tC, even the Eclipse…None of them look like a 3 door station wagon(like this does, or more like a “crossover”, with 3 doors).
This would be an ideal car, except it looks strangle proportioned.
It could handle like a dream… but if the looks are not endearing to me…. i won’t spend the cash.
Sounds “crazy”, but if I have to look at it for 5 years…. I had better like it.
It’s like they are trying to be part Mazda3 and caliber, with a hatch from the Maxx(as stated previously).
A shame. GM could take a sharp looking Lexus and mess up the looks. Only thing they design correctly is trucks and perhpas the Corvette(I am surprised they do not make it long… and weird looking like this ugly ducklin, well, not totally horrible, but…. too short of doors, too long of ‘back end” past b pillar and the rear window is kind of long, don’t ya think, for a sporty car?).
“Go look at other sporty 3 doors, Tiburon, tC, even the Eclipse…None of them look like a 3 door station wagon”
To anon above…
So what? I’d say this is a hatchback along the same lines as the VW GTI, Mazdaspeed 3 or Audi A3. Not bad company by anyone’s measure. The three cars you mentioned are hardly fantastic examples of what this class of cars should be. As for the Lexus comment, they don’t compete in this category. But Lexus isn’t exactly known for making beautiful cars either.
Hey, the tC is set to sell 85,000 units this year…. Wonder how many 3 doors of this will sell?
Anyhow, if you like this, fine. Some people like wagons, some don’t, and this fits into the “wagon” look,in my opinion.
Others may like it.
As long as I am not making the payments, buy what you like.
No need to get all riled about what one guy likes and others don’t.
Hi i am from sweden and i have a opel astra gtc with turbo 200 hp 7,5 sec to 100 kmh and 240 kmh topspeed.
Great on road superstable to topspeed and comfortable beacause of the sportbutton.Press it and the car get more agressive faster steering harder supension and more response from engine nice,and let the button out and the car flats out it feels like in a citroen with hydroactive system suspension.And its a lot sheaper than a c30 volvo if you compare if you whant to have same performance.
Hi i am from sweden and i have a opel astra gtc with turbo 200 hp 7,5 sec to 100 kmh and 240 kmh topspeed.
Great on road superstable to topspeed and comfortable beacause of the sportbutton.Press it and the car get more agressive faster steering harder supension and more response from engine nice,and let the button out and the car flats out it feels like in a citroen with hydroactive system suspension.And its a lot sheaper than a c30 volvo if you compare if you whant to have same performance
You people are retarded. This is comporable to the VW Golf, both in price, content and size. That means it should be roughly $16,000 to ~$22,000 fully tarted up. Underneath the body (which normal people call a ‘3 door hatchback’, not to be compared to a coupe) the Astra is more or less a Chevy Cobalt/Saturn Ion/Pontiac G5/Chevy HHR etc.
5 door model and compares it to Cobalt, HHR, etc, and has a 3 door(old model?)… says Ford Foucs(small family car)… so not quite what one could call “Fit” sized.I know what irks me abotu this thing, the doors are short, and make the rear end look (too) long.maybe move the doors back 3-4 inches(lengthen the hood) and make shorten the rear section(like I sadi, go see Scion tC: That is a sporty little car that looks good, and not “wagon-like”, like this car does. Fix this one minor issue, and I’ll go look).In fact, even the Tiburon looks better, and may be larger(and less MSRP).
Sounds good, except the price!Sorry, guys….. the base model is nearly 15L(pounds?)…. that’s what, 28-30K USA dollars? I was close….http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=what+is+15%2C000+pounds+in+US+dollars28,875 for this car @ 15,000 pounds.No Thanks….Maybe if Kia brings out that 3 door sporty car based on the (just hitting dealerships)…Rondo….for 16-19K? Yeah, I can live with that, lol.Unless GM makes these things in Mexico, and lowers the price by 5-6K MSRP.
rftVince, I saw this, and was nearly ready to buy, until I read about the price of around 28K+ U.S. Dollars(I posted the review and the pound vs dollars for a base model link)….Saturn used to be “the inexpensive(sort of) car company, to win back import buyers…. at Starting 28K… won’t win me back(can’t afford it, unless I wait 5 years, and get a used one at 13K).The reviews are good about the thing, except rear room(ok for “avg” adults, 2, but tight for taller adults)…Figures. GM may send this here, and i can’t afford it( all I can afford is the wonderful G5 or Cobalt, maybe HHR at 19-20K).No thanks.I noticed in pounds, this car is around 15K to around 20K-pounds….If they sold it here for 15-20 thousand Dollars… they would not be able to keep them on lots(or even say starting at 20K to 24-25K tops)… but 28-38K Dollars?Ummmmm….. that Might be stretching it a bit, even more than Hyundai with the V8 RWD large vehicle you have posted.The engines are varied, up to 170HP, etc….but are I-4’s(correct?).Vince, ya should post warnings: This is more costly than it looks! lol.No wonder Mazda3 sells…. very good deal vs this(sorry).If ya just need 3 doors, and room for 4… a tC will do just fine, and can be turboed, if ya need it, to 200HP.Maybe they should rename Saturn to reflect the higher MSRP’s of their vehicles? Maybe “Costly” cars? lol.The used price in Dollars for low cost is nearly 18K !I dunno.Seems a bit costly for a “Saturn”.Maybe if they did a deal like they do with their Equinox(Chevy) V6…. have Shanghai make the engines, and other parts, to lower cost, and assemble it in Mexico(or S Korea)….I’d consider a 20K base model(MSRP) to start.
of no new product to be built at Saturn by Spring of 07(says they may be in the running for something, but it does not sound too optimistic).Anyhow, I posted this because it says that the Opel(sedan, astra? Think that’s correct, the new “Saturn” Astra?) will/iu sbeing built in Mexico(to make the MSRP alittle less costly, and perhaps boost GM’s bottom line on profits).Maybe this ,too, will be built in Mexico(personally, as long as it is solid, reliable, etc… I do not care where they build it)……and save us cash, like some of GM’s other vehicles( and Ford, and Chrylser, Nissan, etc…).
———————————–Petrol engines, and diesel( we in the USA will most likely get the “petrol”).From converting KW to HP( I was told one, take the KW, multiply it times 3, then divide that total KW-after multiplication by 3-by 2 and this would = the HP. The 1.8=138HP/125 torque”approxiamtely”, and 62.5 MPH @ 10.7 seconds( seems slow?…about what, 10.2 for 0-60, if this is correct?).The 170HP “Turbo” 2.0 L ecotec engine= 8.5 seconds to 62.5 MPH(correct? ?)….or about what, 8.3 or so for 0-60?that is about automatic Scion tC speed(w.o turbo). 160HP(not 170).Anyhow, it is not too bad looking, and sounds like it is around VW Rabbit sized( that is a tiny bit worrisome for me… as I like more”crunch-room”, in case of an accident, especially with the 4+ ton SUV’s that still roam the roads here in the USA).Guess we’ll have 2 wait & see.