RE: Vauxhall Astra GTE (Mk1): PH Heroes
Discussion
Surprised nobody is harping on about the camshafts in these engines. The first lasted about 70k miles before it wore out leading to a horrible knock from the top end. You could buy a replacement from the main dealer for about £350 which was a lot of money back then - or get one for £80 from the local motor factors that wasn't hardened properly and only lasted 12 months. The roads of the mid 1990's were full of knocking 80's astras and cavs!
The clutch was a good design tho - could be changed without separating the engine and gearbox because it had a removable plate on the bell housing and the main shaft could be withdrawn through the end of the gearbox. Job could be done in less than an hour.
I leant a lot about spannering cars from Vauxhall.
The clutch was a good design tho - could be changed without separating the engine and gearbox because it had a removable plate on the bell housing and the main shaft could be withdrawn through the end of the gearbox. Job could be done in less than an hour.
I leant a lot about spannering cars from Vauxhall.
similar engine i believe in the 1.8 injected Mk2 Cavaliers of the time rated at 112bhp.
I had a GLi 1.8 on a D reg pre face lift and that was great to drive in an age where you very rarely came across any of the faster turbo cars so the GLi was a good under the radar motor that could beat a lot of cars of the time away from the lights when such childish behaviour was in vogue of course.
good slug of pull at exactly 4000 revs through to 6k. great engine.
loved the cosy velour interior and low down driving position too. they made great cars back in the day but as the article says the handling and braking werent at the same level.
I had a GLi 1.8 on a D reg pre face lift and that was great to drive in an age where you very rarely came across any of the faster turbo cars so the GLi was a good under the radar motor that could beat a lot of cars of the time away from the lights when such childish behaviour was in vogue of course.
good slug of pull at exactly 4000 revs through to 6k. great engine.
loved the cosy velour interior and low down driving position too. they made great cars back in the day but as the article says the handling and braking werent at the same level.
s m said:
greenarrow said:
That's a very good point which I've been musing over myself, although in the case of the E30 M3 and 964RS they were always pretty highly regarded.
In Modern Classics Magazine its interesting that the original road test winner often isn't their favourite on the day. Cars like the MG Maestro Turbo get a positive re-appraisal when revisited as classics. Makes you wonder how much badge and image influences journos when these cars are new, less important perhaps when testing years later
That is true, a lot of the older stuff was highly regarded but I remember the Sierra getting the verdict over the M3 a fair few times and the 964RS was often slated for being too unrefined, too expensive and too stiff for the road. In Modern Classics Magazine its interesting that the original road test winner often isn't their favourite on the day. Cars like the MG Maestro Turbo get a positive re-appraisal when revisited as classics. Makes you wonder how much badge and image influences journos when these cars are new, less important perhaps when testing years later
Certainly depends on the journos doing the writing and it’s interesting to see a few of the also-rans from years back being lauded. Badge helps a lot too
I remember reading Chris Harris lauding praise on (his) Ferrari FF, I'm sure influencing many people.
He then sold it, test drove a GT4C Lusso and discussed all the things that were crap about the FF...
Miglia 888 said:
Shakermaker said:
XK140 said:
IMHO the Manta GT/E,which would have sat alongside the Astra in the Vauxhall showrooms at the time, was the nicer car.
Yes, but it was a class above in terms of size etc. The Manta was the Cavalier/Ascona sized car, the Astra a smaller and cheaper option for buyers 
I went for the larger, faster, rwd Manta GT/E 2dr coupe, but did enjoy driving Mk1 Astra GTE loan cars while the Manta was being serviced, and they certainly handled better than the Mk2 Astra GTE's which replaced them, imho.
The main point is that this car was quite regarded when new, but was only on sale for a very short time so perhaps that's why it has never been remembered in the pantheon of 1980s hot hatch greats.
Miglia 888 said:
Shakermaker said:
XK140 said:
IMHO the Manta GT/E,which would have sat alongside the Astra in the Vauxhall showrooms at the time, was the nicer car.
Yes, but it was a class above in terms of size etc. The Manta was the Cavalier/Ascona sized car, the Astra a smaller and cheaper option for buyers I went for the larger, faster, rwd Manta GT/E 2dr coupe, but did enjoy driving Mk1 Astra GTE loan cars while the Manta was being serviced, and they certainly handled better than the Mk2 Astra GTE's which replaced them, imho.
never drove a 16 valve Mk2 but drove a 130 bhp 2 litre one, swapped with a mate at work for my Manta, he was nostalgic and we swapped one lunchtime, the Astra felt so fast, he said the same that the Manta felt a bit slow, old and ponderous, it was about 4 years old at the time, but felt like a dinosaur in comparison to his car which was a 1989 I think.
Why they never put that engine, or the sixteen valve one in the Manta I will never know, they put the 1.8 90 bhp version in the Berlinetta, so it fitted but they persisted with the old bedford van engine.
Mantas are great, but they need some mods to fulfil their potential imho.
w824gb3 said:
Surprised nobody is harping on about the camshafts in these engines. The first lasted about 70k miles before it wore out leading to a horrible knock from the top end. You could buy a replacement from the main dealer for about £350 which was a lot of money back then - or get one for £80 from the local motor factors that wasn't hardened properly and only lasted 12 months. The roads of the mid 1990's were full of knocking 80's astras and cavs!
The clutch was a good design tho - could be changed without separating the engine and gearbox because it had a removable plate on the bell housing and the main shaft could be withdrawn through the end of the gearbox. Job could be done in less than an hour.
I leant a lot about spannering cars from Vauxhall.
The replacement OEM cam wasn't £350 (unless your talking fitted price). I did mine from Vauxhall plus new lifters for a lot less than that.The clutch was a good design tho - could be changed without separating the engine and gearbox because it had a removable plate on the bell housing and the main shaft could be withdrawn through the end of the gearbox. Job could be done in less than an hour.
I leant a lot about spannering cars from Vauxhall.
The clutch was a fantastic design
Limpet said:
I love the proper dash with the oil pressure and battery gauges. A far cry from modern cars where you're lucky if you even get a temperature gauge. It shows what people respond to now. Take my M140i for instance. No coolant temperature gauge, never mind oil pressure, but it does have gimmicky power and torque meters that serve no practical purpose whatsoever.
Whether it's a lack of instruments, or burying engines under plastic "nothing to see here" covers, it makes you realise how increasingly disconnected a driver is now with the mechanical parts in cars, and has promoted a culture of "just drive it until an idiot light comes on". It's a complete non-issue for many (most) people, but I personally think it's a shame. Most of my formative driving years were spent tinkering under the bonnet, and learning how things worked, and for me it was a big part of the overall experience.
This was a golden era of cars in my opinion. Reliable and tough, started in the mornings, but you could still get your head around how things worked, and troubleshoot and repair with a degree of confidence, and without expensive kit.
And nobody seems to have any mechanical knowledge anymore either. I'd partially include myself in that as I am hopeless in comparison to my dad and uncles but I'm definitely amongst the best in my group of friends. None of the non car guys have even the slightest interest in knowing how stuff works.Whether it's a lack of instruments, or burying engines under plastic "nothing to see here" covers, it makes you realise how increasingly disconnected a driver is now with the mechanical parts in cars, and has promoted a culture of "just drive it until an idiot light comes on". It's a complete non-issue for many (most) people, but I personally think it's a shame. Most of my formative driving years were spent tinkering under the bonnet, and learning how things worked, and for me it was a big part of the overall experience.
This was a golden era of cars in my opinion. Reliable and tough, started in the mornings, but you could still get your head around how things worked, and troubleshoot and repair with a degree of confidence, and without expensive kit.
Edited by Limpet on Thursday 22 November 09:20
I was speaking with a tractor mechanic today and he was telling me how he has 3 tractors in for replacement gearboxes. All less than 4 years old and one has less than 200 hours on it (ecu showed 100 instances of over revving in less than 200 hours!). All failed due to complete mechanical abuse and lack of sympathy. Most people driving new stuff are so disconnected that they don't even seem to realise when they are doing obviously stupid things. They just seem to think they can get in, drive it anyway they see fit and expect it to work perfectly.
Maybe if there were a few useful gauges dotted around the place they might wonder what that thing does?
My SR (tried to rotate but it insisted on rotating them back!)
Was a workhorse and went everywhere. This was in Austria about 1988. Brakes got a bit hot coming down the hill to haming.
Note the fire extinguisher in the door pocket
essential rally equipmentOhh and my dad's old 944 !
Edited by Gary C on Thursday 22 November 18:00
J4CKO said:
Miglia 888 said:
Shakermaker said:
XK140 said:
IMHO the Manta GT/E,which would have sat alongside the Astra in the Vauxhall showrooms at the time, was the nicer car.
Yes, but it was a class above in terms of size etc. The Manta was the Cavalier/Ascona sized car, the Astra a smaller and cheaper option for buyers 
I went for the larger, faster, rwd Manta GT/E 2dr coupe, but did enjoy driving Mk1 Astra GTE loan cars while the Manta was being serviced, and they certainly handled better than the Mk2 Astra GTE's which replaced them, imho.
never drove a 16 valve Mk2 but drove a 130 bhp 2 litre one, swapped with a mate at work for my Manta, he was nostalgic and we swapped one lunchtime, the Astra felt so fast, he said the same that the Manta felt a bit slow, old and ponderous, it was about 4 years old at the time, but felt like a dinosaur in comparison to his car which was a 1989 I think.
Why they never put that engine, or the sixteen valve one in the Manta I will never know, they put the 1.8 90 bhp version in the Berlinetta, so it fitted but they persisted with the old bedford van engine.
Mantas are great, but they need some mods to fulfil their potential imho.
I take your point though but you have to remember that the 130bhp 2 litre didn’t appear in the Astra/Cavalier till the early part of 1987 and the 2.0 16v appeared in the Astra GTE 16v in April/May 1988.
Alongside that timeline GM had pulled the plug on the Manta around May 88 ( just as the 2.0 16v XE appeared ), the very last ones you see were 88 F plates so it probably wasn’t worth the development costs as the GT 1.8 and GTE were already a refresh of an old design in 82/83, the 1.8 engine appeared in autumn 82 and the injected version of the 2.0 CIH coming out in 83 ( plus they’d had injected versions of the 1.9/2.0 CIH in European Opels for ages before )
They never intended the old Manta to soldier on as long as it did but it remained a good seller even up to the end so to have stuck the 130bhp 2.0 engine for the last 12 months of its life wasn’t really worth it. Even in 1987 they sold more Mantas in UK than the GT86 achieved in the first three years on sale here but probably not worth rehashing for a few thousand cars
Plus you could get the Irmscher i200 ( 134bhp ) , i240 ( 160bhp ) and i300 Manta ( 175bhp ) through certain dealers if you really wanted a faster Manta and a while before the Ascona/Manta 400 road cars had been available from dealers too with an extra 34bhp over the GTE and nigh on Lotus Sunbeam acceleration
Coupes were a dying breed in the mid to late 80s - Ford had axed the Capri, another old design, and it was all about the hot hatches for a few years apart from the Jap cars
I agree though, a 2.0 XE engine in a GTE would have made a great fun car - 150-155bhp in 1050kg.
I always found mine was a pretty good handling car cross country - used to soak up the bumps very well compared to some of the hot hatches of the time that tended to skip and bounce around a bit. They were long geared, really a 4+E rather than a proper 5-speed as top speed was achievable in 4th as opposed to 5th but deceptively fast. There weren’t many 110bhp-ish hatches around in 83/84 that could outstrip a GTE to 100 off the mark or on top speed which was a genuine 120
Get caught in the wrong gear though and you were toast - the i200 gearset was a lot better
s m said:
They sort of did put those engines in the Manta though Jacko.........only it was renamed as the Calibra as that was the car that took over from the Manta in essence and it got both the 2.0 8v and 2.0 16v engines
I take your point though but you have to remember that the 130bhp 2 litre didn’t appear in the Astra/Cavalier till the early part of 1987 and the 2.0 16v appeared in the Astra GTE 16v in April/May 1988.
Alongside that timeline GM had pulled the plug on the Manta around May 88 ( just as the 2.0 16v XE appeared ), the very last ones you see were 88 F plates so it probably wasn’t worth the development costs as the GT 1.8 and GTE were already a refresh of an old design in 82/83, the 1.8 engine appeared in autumn 82 and the injected version of the 2.0 CIH coming out in 83 ( plus they’d had injected versions of the 1.9/2.0 CIH in European Opels for ages before )
They never intended the old Manta to soldier on as long as it did but it remained a good seller even up to the end so to have stuck the 130bhp 2.0 engine for the last 12 months of its life wasn’t really worth it. Even in 1987 they sold more Mantas in UK than the GT86 achieved in the first three years on sale here but probably not worth rehashing for a few thousand cars
Plus you could get the Irmscher i200 ( 134bhp ) , i240 ( 160bhp ) and i300 Manta ( 175bhp ) through certain dealers if you really wanted a faster Manta and a while before the Ascona/Manta 400 road cars had been available from dealers too with an extra 34bhp over the GTE and nigh on Lotus Sunbeam acceleration
Coupes were a dying breed in the mid to late 80s - Ford had axed the Capri, another old design, and it was all about the hot hatches for a few years apart from the Jap cars
I agree though, a 2.0 XE engine in a GTE would have made a great fun car - 150-155bhp in 1050kg.
I always found mine was a pretty good handling car cross country - used to soak up the bumps very well compared to some of the hot hatches of the time that tended to skip and bounce around a bit. They were long geared, really a 4+E rather than a proper 5-speed as top speed was achievable in 4th as opposed to 5th but deceptively fast. There weren’t many 110bhp-ish hatches around in 83/84 that could outstrip a GTE to 100 off the mark or on top speed which was a genuine 120
Get caught in the wrong gear though and you were toast - the i200 gearset was a lot better
So they really didn't put those engines in a Manta then - a Calibra was just a "pretty" Cavalier with FWD that really didn't handle very well based on my experience of my sister's one!I take your point though but you have to remember that the 130bhp 2 litre didn’t appear in the Astra/Cavalier till the early part of 1987 and the 2.0 16v appeared in the Astra GTE 16v in April/May 1988.
Alongside that timeline GM had pulled the plug on the Manta around May 88 ( just as the 2.0 16v XE appeared ), the very last ones you see were 88 F plates so it probably wasn’t worth the development costs as the GT 1.8 and GTE were already a refresh of an old design in 82/83, the 1.8 engine appeared in autumn 82 and the injected version of the 2.0 CIH coming out in 83 ( plus they’d had injected versions of the 1.9/2.0 CIH in European Opels for ages before )
They never intended the old Manta to soldier on as long as it did but it remained a good seller even up to the end so to have stuck the 130bhp 2.0 engine for the last 12 months of its life wasn’t really worth it. Even in 1987 they sold more Mantas in UK than the GT86 achieved in the first three years on sale here but probably not worth rehashing for a few thousand cars
Plus you could get the Irmscher i200 ( 134bhp ) , i240 ( 160bhp ) and i300 Manta ( 175bhp ) through certain dealers if you really wanted a faster Manta and a while before the Ascona/Manta 400 road cars had been available from dealers too with an extra 34bhp over the GTE and nigh on Lotus Sunbeam acceleration
Coupes were a dying breed in the mid to late 80s - Ford had axed the Capri, another old design, and it was all about the hot hatches for a few years apart from the Jap cars
I agree though, a 2.0 XE engine in a GTE would have made a great fun car - 150-155bhp in 1050kg.
I always found mine was a pretty good handling car cross country - used to soak up the bumps very well compared to some of the hot hatches of the time that tended to skip and bounce around a bit. They were long geared, really a 4+E rather than a proper 5-speed as top speed was achievable in 4th as opposed to 5th but deceptively fast. There weren’t many 110bhp-ish hatches around in 83/84 that could outstrip a GTE to 100 off the mark or on top speed which was a genuine 120
Get caught in the wrong gear though and you were toast - the i200 gearset was a lot better
My 1981 Capri Injection had 160 bhp and RWD and was so much quicker than her Calibra, or the OP's 110 bhp Manta - I bought it because I wanted something quicker than a 110ish bhp hatch!
And if you needed more grunt a Capri Tickford Turbo was probably cheaper than an Irmscher Manta.
Mr Tidy said:
s m said:
They sort of did put those engines in the Manta though Jacko.........only it was renamed as the Calibra as that was the car that took over from the Manta in essence and it got both the 2.0 8v and 2.0 16v engines
I take your point though but you have to remember that the 130bhp 2 litre didn’t appear in the Astra/Cavalier till the early part of 1987 and the 2.0 16v appeared in the Astra GTE 16v in April/May 1988.
Alongside that timeline GM had pulled the plug on the Manta around May 88 ( just as the 2.0 16v XE appeared ), the very last ones you see were 88 F plates so it probably wasn’t worth the development costs as the GT 1.8 and GTE were already a refresh of an old design in 82/83, the 1.8 engine appeared in autumn 82 and the injected version of the 2.0 CIH coming out in 83 ( plus they’d had injected versions of the 1.9/2.0 CIH in European Opels for ages before )
They never intended the old Manta to soldier on as long as it did but it remained a good seller even up to the end so to have stuck the 130bhp 2.0 engine for the last 12 months of its life wasn’t really worth it. Even in 1987 they sold more Mantas in UK than the GT86 achieved in the first three years on sale here but probably not worth rehashing for a few thousand cars
Plus you could get the Irmscher i200 ( 134bhp ) , i240 ( 160bhp ) and i300 Manta ( 175bhp ) through certain dealers if you really wanted a faster Manta and a while before the Ascona/Manta 400 road cars had been available from dealers too with an extra 34bhp over the GTE and nigh on Lotus Sunbeam acceleration
Coupes were a dying breed in the mid to late 80s - Ford had axed the Capri, another old design, and it was all about the hot hatches for a few years apart from the Jap cars
I agree though, a 2.0 XE engine in a GTE would have made a great fun car - 150-155bhp in 1050kg.
I always found mine was a pretty good handling car cross country - used to soak up the bumps very well compared to some of the hot hatches of the time that tended to skip and bounce around a bit. They were long geared, really a 4+E rather than a proper 5-speed as top speed was achievable in 4th as opposed to 5th but deceptively fast. There weren’t many 110bhp-ish hatches around in 83/84 that could outstrip a GTE to 100 off the mark or on top speed which was a genuine 120
Get caught in the wrong gear though and you were toast - the i200 gearset was a lot better
So they really didn't put those engines in a Manta then - a Calibra was just a "pretty" Cavalier with FWD that really didn't handle very well based on my experience of my sister's one!I take your point though but you have to remember that the 130bhp 2 litre didn’t appear in the Astra/Cavalier till the early part of 1987 and the 2.0 16v appeared in the Astra GTE 16v in April/May 1988.
Alongside that timeline GM had pulled the plug on the Manta around May 88 ( just as the 2.0 16v XE appeared ), the very last ones you see were 88 F plates so it probably wasn’t worth the development costs as the GT 1.8 and GTE were already a refresh of an old design in 82/83, the 1.8 engine appeared in autumn 82 and the injected version of the 2.0 CIH coming out in 83 ( plus they’d had injected versions of the 1.9/2.0 CIH in European Opels for ages before )
They never intended the old Manta to soldier on as long as it did but it remained a good seller even up to the end so to have stuck the 130bhp 2.0 engine for the last 12 months of its life wasn’t really worth it. Even in 1987 they sold more Mantas in UK than the GT86 achieved in the first three years on sale here but probably not worth rehashing for a few thousand cars
Plus you could get the Irmscher i200 ( 134bhp ) , i240 ( 160bhp ) and i300 Manta ( 175bhp ) through certain dealers if you really wanted a faster Manta and a while before the Ascona/Manta 400 road cars had been available from dealers too with an extra 34bhp over the GTE and nigh on Lotus Sunbeam acceleration
Coupes were a dying breed in the mid to late 80s - Ford had axed the Capri, another old design, and it was all about the hot hatches for a few years apart from the Jap cars
I agree though, a 2.0 XE engine in a GTE would have made a great fun car - 150-155bhp in 1050kg.
I always found mine was a pretty good handling car cross country - used to soak up the bumps very well compared to some of the hot hatches of the time that tended to skip and bounce around a bit. They were long geared, really a 4+E rather than a proper 5-speed as top speed was achievable in 4th as opposed to 5th but deceptively fast. There weren’t many 110bhp-ish hatches around in 83/84 that could outstrip a GTE to 100 off the mark or on top speed which was a genuine 120
Get caught in the wrong gear though and you were toast - the i200 gearset was a lot better
My 1981 Capri Injection had 160 bhp and RWD and was so much quicker than her Calibra, or the OP's 110 bhp Manta - I bought it because I wanted something quicker than a 110ish bhp hatch!
And if you needed more grunt a Capri Tickford Turbo was probably cheaper than an Irmscher Manta.
A Tickford was about 15k, faster than a 12k i240 for sure.......but then Courtenay would do you a 230bhp Turbo Manta which was quicker than the Tickford!
s m said:
Like I say, they never put the XE in a rwd Manta as it was being killed off ( like the Capri) when those engines came out
A Tickford was about 15k, faster than a 12k i240 for sure.......but then Courtenay would do you a 230bhp Turbo Manta which was quicker than the Tickford!
With water injection !A Tickford was about 15k, faster than a 12k i240 for sure.......but then Courtenay would do you a 230bhp Turbo Manta which was quicker than the Tickford!
f:0
The Mk1 Astra GTE was my 2nd car and 2nd Astra at the tender age of 17. Cost me a fortune to insure it and could barely afford to run it but I wish I’d kept it. Great times in that car in the days of no speed cameras challenging everything from xr3i’s to RS turbo’s to R5 gt turbos, 205 gti’s and golf gti’s .... great days. I was stopped at least once a week by the cops but it was worth it. Nice to see an article about it again. You don’t often see the cars of this era being written about but they were the start of the hot hatch culture
The Mk1 Astra GTE was my 2nd car and 2nd Astra at the tender age of 17. Cost me a fortune to insure it and could barely afford to run it but I wish I’d kept it. Great times in that car in the days of no speed cameras challenging everything from xr3i’s to RS turbo’s to R5 gt turbos, 205 gti’s and golf gti’s .... great days. I was stopped at least once a week by the cops but it was worth it. Nice to see an article about it again. You don’t often see the cars of this era being written about but they were the start of the hot hatch culture
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