RE: PH Blog: Astra timeline
Discussion
. The last one was a beautiful looking car too.HorneyMX5 said:
The MKII was pretty hand in the BTCC taking the class championship in 89
Nick
Not to mention the overall championship Nick
Great hot hatch - a bit tail happy like the 205 Gti could be and they were a bit undertyred...... Brilliant fun to drive which is, to my mind, what a hot hatch is all about
theres a tatty old white mk 1 rattling around Manchester somewhere, it blew me away to 60mph when i had the golf gt tdi i had at the time. It was a challenge to work out what it was for all the battered panels and lack of any obvious badging.
Looked like you could crawl into the passenger seat without opening the door for all the rust.
Looked like you could crawl into the passenger seat without opening the door for all the rust.
Edited by si_xsi on Monday 11th June 21:06
Hoygo said:
Absolutely the worst cars of their class IMO,all of them.
Really, even if yore the most senseless Vauxhall hater this does look silly coming from someone with a Mk4 Golf. Are we not forgetting the Mk4 2.0 (115ps) "GTi"? The equivalent Astra was a keen handler (certainly better than said Golf) AND a good 2+ seconds faster to 60 (The 2.2 SRi with 145ps did it in around 8 seconds).The Mk2 GTE was an absolute riot, and if you wanted to play with the suspension you could do and the great thing was that ti wouldn't cost you the Earth. OK, the Mk3 didn't set the world on fire but the Mk3 Golf GTi wasn't exactly a rocket ship either. As for the Escort; please. The RS can't even be considered in the same class due to the massive price difference.
The last Astra VXR was also faster than all of it's competition on release. I've driven one and it's a properly exciting hot hatch. Yes; it torque steers but unless you're built like a mouse you can easily drive through it, usually with a wide grin on your face. It all adds to the fun, reminding you that you're not just driving another synthesised computer game car like some of the others in it's class. It also helps that it looks great too.
There really is a whole s
theap of unjustified bandwagon jumping going on on this forum. It would be amusing, akin to watching idiots trying parkour on YouTube, but this is meant to be a place for enthusiasts who are intelligent enough to think for themselves...hence the sense of humour failure.
Loved the MK1....replaced a MK11 RS2000...was red A167SBM took it down to Spain and back didnt skip a beat, although slower than my mates XR4i. Remember getting off the boat on way only to be stopped by French police to be breath tested, then gunning it all the way down to Costa Brava....loved leaving the trucks at the toll booth then blasting it for an hour, stopping for fuel and a decent coffee at night in the warm then seeing the same trucks as you join the Autoroute....hopefully we have all been there. Happy days...st Im old
t Im old Edited by Flares&Chestwig on Monday 11th June 21:52
M666 EVO said:
Didn't they do some sort of special edition Mk2 as well? A turbo version? Or 16v?
As someone said Champion, burgundy paint, velour seats and BBS wheels. Same drivetrain.
There was a mk3 turbo version called the 200ts. Engine from the cavalier/calibra but was FWD only. I think it was sold in South Africa.
I grew up with 80s and 90s vauxhalls and never really had a big issue with them, other than the horrendous blind spot on the Mk2 !
I remember wanting a mk3 gsi but they were a bit too dear, so swapped to a cavalier gsi and then a turbo, which I finally got rid of in 2003. Had a little ride in a cav turbo about a year ago, f**k me it was scary - a-pillars and screen so close compared to todays cars.
The posert above who said the current car is unfairly maligned - I'll go with that. It ain't perfect but there is no other hot hatch of the same age I'd want to swap it for.
I had a tuned Mk2 16v GTE at 18, 172Bhp in an Astra was interesting to say the least. Loved it, total hooligan car, wheelspin & tyresmoke everywhere, and utterly bulletproof. I drove one a couple of years after I sold mine, the chassis really wasn't that good, but the XE engine really was a rough diamond.
Used to wipe the floor with most other hot hatches, cornering speed wasn't important as you were so far ahead anyway
.... I used to love the lift off oversteer as well, great cars, the Mk3 went heavy and slow, shame really.
Used to wipe the floor with most other hot hatches, cornering speed wasn't important as you were so far ahead anyway
.... I used to love the lift off oversteer as well, great cars, the Mk3 went heavy and slow, shame really. Wonder how many people would have believed you back in 1984 when the 115bhp Mk1 was out (a mate had one new back then) if you'd have said in 2012 they would have 280bhp as standard???
It's like saying in 2040 hot hatches will have about 600bhp !!
Personally I loved the Mk4.
Had a 1.8 SRi, then a 2.0 turbo GSi. Both were great cars and really economical too.
It's like saying in 2040 hot hatches will have about 600bhp !!
Personally I loved the Mk4.
Had a 1.8 SRi, then a 2.0 turbo GSi. Both were great cars and really economical too.
Edited by gsrgeoff on Monday 11th June 22:33
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