RE: Shed Of The Week: Vauxhall Astra Coupe

[Brompty]

What is it about the most recent SOTWs and putting air in the tyres? Surely a dealer of the most sullied reputation would blow the tyres up before taking photo's wouldn't you think?

[kellyt]

I hate that.

[Escort Si-130]

I always wanted one of these when they came out, seeing it at the London Motor show in that blue. Seems like yesterday.

[Liggle]

I had a MK4 Astra 2.0 SRi briefly and despite the wheezy engine I found it quite pleasant to drive, handled really well. I drove a 2.2 as well but actually preferred the 2.0.

At the same time a company I worked for had a fleet of 2003-2004 Astra's petrol and diesel which were all perfectly reliable running to 180-200k miles so they can't be too bad of a buy. I couldn't part with my own money for one again after several Vauxhall company cars, 99% of them are completely lacking in any form of character imo.

[MorganP104]

kellyt said:

I hate that.

You hate underinflated tyres, or you hate Astra Coupes?

[designforlife]

these were proper st....Astra G was easily the worst car i've owned.

[Plug Life]

I'd rather spend that £800 on booze.

[kambites]

s m said:

... but Euro NCAP 5,....

Personally I couldn't care less, but it should be pointed out that Euro NCAP 5 then was a very different prospect to Euro NCAP 5 now. I doubt it would even score 2 now.

[cannelldocam]

marshall100 said:

Driving down the A30 into Cornwall last night and some bogo standard astra of this generation passed me in the outside line, my immediate thought was 'you don't see many of those anymore' followed by 'they must be terrible, even in a high spec' still for £800, I've had worse.

Will the 2.0 turbo become 'collectible'?

You clearly don't live in Bedfordshire if you don't see many mk iv Astras any more. I think they must have thrown them out like confetti to workers at the Luton factory as there are bags of them around our way.

[cannelldocam]

Jimmy Recard said:

Interesting what they say about the styling compared to the Puma and Celica - at the time I think I would have agreed as those two looked more modern, but I think the Astra Coupe has aged better than either.

I can't get too excited about this one, but a decent looking coupe with a good turn of speed (the turbo), which seats four easily and is cheap to run? I can't see that as a bad car at all

If you mean the celica with the massive square headlights, it always has and always will be fuglytastic. I think this has aged quite well.

[s m]

kambites said:

s m said:

... but Euro NCAP 5,....

Personally I couldn't care less, but it should be pointed out that Euro NCAP 5 then was a very different prospect to Euro NCAP 5 now. I doubt it would even score 2 now.

Safer than some then...but not as safe as others!

[VX BlackRat]

I've been using the 3dr hatch version of this as a daily driving track day tool for a couple of years.
Some mild modifications and it's giving far more expensive stuff a hard time, vastly underrated IMO
Recent trip to Spa for example....

https://youtu.be/6q472uQHtOI

[Jimmy Recard]

VX BlackRat said:

I've been using the 3dr hatch version of this as a daily driving track day tool for a couple of years.
Some mild modifications and it's giving far more expensive stuff a hard time, vastly underrated IMO
Recent trip to Spa for example....

https://youtu.be/6q472uQHtOI

Out of interest, what have you done to it?

I wonder if it's worth doing anything with my H sometimes

[Davie]

Bit of a Vauxhall man myself... 90's stuff mainly but a few years back I bought my sister a red 1.8 Coupe, lowered 30mm and on nice 17's. Fitted leather and that was it really and it was an excellent car. She ran it for 5 years and it never once let her down... and the wear and tear stuff was stupidly cheap to replace. She changed it last year to an Astra GSi Turbo (standard aside for a slight suspension drop) and touch wood, thus far it's been superb too. She definitely avoids the "chav" tag but yes, a lot of these did find their way in to such hands but these days, much like the Saxo and other such chav wagons, nicer clean examples are starting to get that borderline rare stage... yet can be had for pennies. They're not brilliant, but they're pretty well put together and the running costs are about as cheap as you can get for a car of that size and spec. As for this Coupe, not sure it'd be my money given the half arsed modified stuff but plenty original examples out there in tin top and convertible guise for around a grand.

[VX BlackRat]

Jimmy Recard said:

Out of interest, what have you done to it?

I wonder if it's worth doing anything with my H sometimes

Bilstein B8's
Eibach Springs
308mm brakes
Astra-H VXR rear axle
Vectra Supertouring wheels.
Removed all the easy weight (appox 80kg)
all in including car.....£1200.

The H is heavier than the G but shares some of the fundamental underbody / chassis structure so I wouldn't track it, stick to a G!

[kyza111]

Hi Everyone. This Astra Bertone - I bought this car new and im the person responsible for putting on the Irmscher kit that was imported from Germany, invoices was given on the sale of the car,
It was a fantastic car when i had this and YES it really did moved fast as hell, The acceleration it had was unbelievable It was a very good car at the car and with all the modifications that was done to it it stood out of the crowd really well,
Ive noticed the mirrors have change and the front splitter is not there, that might be due to when it was lowered it couldnt get over speed bumbs proper. lol
Ive been looking for this car abit now and if anyone knows where its is or if its for sale again please message me or email me on [e-mail]
Thanks Dave

[Rich Boy Spanner]

Hmm, had a previous (1995) 2 year-old Astra 'F' CDX (2.0 16v ECOTEC) from Network Q, and it was horrendous. Wouldn't idle. Had... 3 idle air control valves, 2 camshaft speed sensors, 2 crank shaft speed sensors, a new engine wiring harness, a new stereo, the sunroof rattled, the hatch leaked and so on. After 6 months of ownership (and 3.5 of them back at the dealer) they gave up and we did a deal on a 1997 2.0 16v Sport. That was great for 110,000 miles and then the engine electronics went into the same pattern, engine management light almost always on, numerous sensors etc. To this day the word ECOTEC makes me mildly st in my pants with fear.
Back then I liked Vauxhall's but I was never going to buy another. We did have a 1.8 Astra 'G' at work and I couldn't believe how much fuel it used, was a proper guzzler.

[designforlife]

The astra G was terrible...had one as my first car and it pretty much put me off Vauxhall for life.

[anonymous-user]

designforlife said:

The astra G was terrible...had one as my first car and it pretty much put me off Vauxhall for life.

In their defence they don't rot like the contemporary Focus. This matters when you're shed shopping.

[designforlife]

i mean, if your only requirements are that it has 4 wheels and goes, then i guess they are ok...but i would put my shed money elsewhere for better VFM and driving experience.