Wednesday 8th September 2010

Revealed: Astra Sport Hatch Successor

Paris show concept is teaser for next Vauxhall hot hatch/coupe

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Vauxhall will reveal this new concept at the Paris motor show on Sept 30th, giving what it calls 'the strongest hint yet' to the Astra Sport Hatch's successor.

Vauxhall/Opel's design chief Mark Adams describes the GTC Paris as, 'bold, pure and iconic', and it's being said that a production version will not stray far from the lines of the concept.

At 4.46 metres, the GTC Paris offers ample space for five people, yet still maintains a svelte and sporting appearance, the blurb we received today maintains.

"Vauxhall's signature blade mimics that on the Insignia and creates a fine, tense crease along the rocker panel," it says. "This combines with a second line running from the door handle to the rear of the car, emphasising both a fine undercut and broad shoulder. A third line following the silhouette of the roof is finished in fine brushed aluminium accentuating the window graphic and leads to a sharply accented integrated spoiler.

"Slim, eagle-eye shaped headlamps, flanked by LED running lights with chrome surrounds dominate the front of the GTC Paris. A sharp centreline crease runs down the bonnet (a trademark styling cue from Vauxhalls of yore) and leads to a dramatically low trapezoidal grille incorporating a chrome emblem bar.

"At the rear, the imposing features of the concept are enhanced with LED tail lights, showcasing a long, stretched 'wing' night time graphic."

Underpinning the GTC Paris is a specially designed chassis with an extra-wide stance, and we know there's an electronic limited slip differential and an updated version of Vauxhall's FlexRide adaptive damping system.

A four-cylinder, 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, with direct petrol injection and Start/Stop technology is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox to complete the package, and more details about the GTC Paris Concept will be revealed before the Paris Motor Show.

[JulianHJ]

Quite like that - looks like an Alfa Romeo.

[Emubiker]

To be fair to them, they have made the current (all ready old looking) Astra look not too shabby.

edit for failure of "f" key

Edited by Emubiker on Wednesday 8th September 08:21

[fathomfive]

Very Megane.

[Dodgey_Rog]

Alfa Brera from the back and a VW Scirocco from the front?

[Danny S]

fathomfive said:

Very Megane.

All hatchbacks are morphing into the same shape

anyway, what happened to the 1.8 turbo lump they promised? Was looking forward to that as i thought the euro 5 killed the old VXR's Z20leh engine?

[JulianHJ]

fathomfive said:

Very Megane.

I've never liked any generation of the Megane, and I think the new one is hideous. The Astra on the other hand is pretty decent.

[daemon]

So an astra three door hatchback then?

Great

[bencollins]

looks pretty handsome to me

[HellDiver]

Looks very Fiesta with hint of Megane.

Hope it's better than the Mk5 Sporthatch - they're rubbish.

[fathomfive]

JulianHJ said:

fathomfive said:

Very Megane.

I've never liked any generation of the Megane, and I think the new one is hideous. The Astra on the other hand is pretty decent.

I don't particularly like the Megane either. The Astra is Ok I guess, but as has been said above, they're all morphing into pretty much the same design.

[MrTappets]

They're becoming the same shape to make them safer, I think. Eventually the EU will legislate that they must all be perfectly spherical to be as safe as possible.

[Plotloss]

And the conversion into the Seat Leon is complete.

[Agoogy]

fathomfive said:

JulianHJ said:

fathomfive said:

Very Megane.

I've never liked any generation of the Megane, and I think the new one is hideous. The Astra on the other hand is pretty decent.

I don't particularly like the Megane either. The Astra is Ok I guess, but as has been said above, they're all morphing into pretty much the same design.

#

Going badck through the generations they always have....each segement of car share 'design trend' similarities.... each generation has it's winners and losers, aestheteically the Astra is normally a winner...dynamically its always been behind...
I'm surprised they've called this a concept.... looks 100% production to me....not like the 2 door Insignia GTC thing, you could tell it wouldn't look quite that good come production...

[Beefmeister]

Looks nice, but as has been said, very derivative apart from the swage line running from the door handle backwards.

I can see a lot of Megane and Kia Pro-Ce''ee'd in that design.

[tim200sx]

fathomfive said:

Very Megane.

That's exactly what I thought - particularly the rear 3/4 view.

[kambites]

Quite a pretty thing as mundane hatches go.

[nsmith1180]

I'm sorry, I disagree with the statements that its very megane.

Everyone, and I include this forum was saying that the new megane was very Astra when it came out. So why dis Vauxhall for developing its last model. Its a logical development of the trend.

[Carparticus]

Looks like its taken strong design influence from the Alfa Brera for the back ( a car which probably influenced the current Megane too) and the front looks a bit like the Honda civic.

But as Vauxhalls go it actually looks pretty good.


I wonder if they're thinking of producing a EV/Hybrid drivetrain carried over from the long awaited Volt / Ampere too …

[Deranged Granny]

Looks bloated, bland and boring to me...

Though I suppose they can't really help it with the EU regs.

[TimmmyT]

Is it not just a natural development of the 5 door Astra they already have? I was expecting it to look pretty much as it does which I reckon it pretty nice. As the 5-door has been on the road for a good few months now surely we all knew this was going to be a slightly sleeker looking version as it clearly is. How can everybody now be saying 'oh it looks like the Megane' it look's like the bloody Astra. They weren't going to launch a whole new Astra were they!

As for them all looking the same it does have a big part to do with pedestrian safety etc. As mentioned before the EU is screwing everything as usual. Several years ago, a friend working for a manufacturer showed me a list of the new design regs that were being put in place and just how restrictive they are. Manufacturers really don't have much room for manoeuvre anymore.