RE: Vauxhall Astra GTE (Mk1): PH Heroes
Discussion
MX6 said:
Very cool, I love the sporty variants of car of the mid/late eighties and early ninties (I think maybe the era was a sweet spot in car design and technology, a balance between modern automobile refinements and relative mechanical/electrical simplicity...).
Anyhow, there does seem a bit of rose tinted revisionism going on in the write-up, I don't remember these GTE's being particularly well received by the motoring press of the day. Though I do find it interesting sometimes with motoring journalism how certain models are feted and touted, and thus become fashionable, while others are dismissed over fairly minor differences.
You could well be right.Anyhow, there does seem a bit of rose tinted revisionism going on in the write-up, I don't remember these GTE's being particularly well received by the motoring press of the day. Though I do find it interesting sometimes with motoring journalism how certain models are feted and touted, and thus become fashionable, while others are dismissed over fairly minor differences.
Although I remember that for a cheap, cooking car, the Mk1 Astra (even with the Opel sewing-machine or Family 1 engines) was a very pleasant car to drive/use by the standards of its day. Despite the typically-awful German pedal layout, the clonky gearchange and heavyish, low-geared steering, it just seemed to come together in a way that some cars do and some don't. By comparison, the Mk2 seemed to be a colossal waste of a development budget, somehow.
grumpy52 said:
E65Ross said:
Alucidnation said:
8.5 to sixty from 115bhp isn't too shabby either, although weight was a lot less back then
I was kind of thinking the same....although from a different angle. This is said to weigh 998kgs, yet a modern hatch with a MUCH nicer interior (look at that in there! ), loads of creature comforts, bigger and heavier wheels/tyres (which offer far, far greater grip and stability), engines with way more power, bigger brakes, better suspension, 7 speed double clutch gearboxes, shed loads of safety features; with overall MUCH better performance and economy figures, and a small hatch still only a couple of hundred kgs heavier.The equivalent modern vehicles aren't small hatchbacks but medium sized , ie Ford focus or Honda civic .
The ones equipped as you spec tip the scales at almost 1600kg for the Focus St and 1400kg for a high spec civic .
Other factors also come into play such as rolling resistance, wide heavy wheels and tyres need more grunt to push them along .
The secrets of quick cars is almost always power to weight .
MX6 said:
Anyhow, there does seem a bit of rose tinted revisionism going on in the write-up, I don't remember these GTE's being particularly well received by the motoring press of the day. Though I do find it interesting sometimes with motoring journalism how certain models are feted and touted, and thus become fashionable, while others are dismissed over fairly minor differences.
As always on PH ( and especially with anything Ford/Vauxhall or that isn’t the right badge ) the favourable tests are forgotten and overlookedThey picked the Astra over the Golf and Alfasud in that one below
Take your point though that it depends on which journalists review the car as personal taste comes into it
I wonder if in 20 years the new Alpine will be being derided for its poor handling, lack of manual box and how it always lagged behind the Boxster
NotNormal said:
Loved my Mk1's and preferred the handling to the latter cars.
Cars of their time so looks and build very similar to their competitors and this will come as a shock to the "kids of today" but Vauxhall did build some good cars back in the day and for me certainly better than Ford for example.
Those of a certain age will remember lusting over magazine car adverts that actually had some charm and a bit of edge. I remember also going round the dealers as a kid to collect the brochures and the GTE one was special in that it had its own dedicated pamphlet which was away from the rest of the range.
Would love to get a Mk1 GTE in the garage today
Thanks for sharing these, it looks so appealing in the ads! I had a 1300s as a first car, but did end up with a mk2 GTE which was so good! I changed to a Golf 16v but much preferred the GTE fro looks, fun and interior/packaging (Dont judge me!).Cars of their time so looks and build very similar to their competitors and this will come as a shock to the "kids of today" but Vauxhall did build some good cars back in the day and for me certainly better than Ford for example.
Those of a certain age will remember lusting over magazine car adverts that actually had some charm and a bit of edge. I remember also going round the dealers as a kid to collect the brochures and the GTE one was special in that it had its own dedicated pamphlet which was away from the rest of the range.
Would love to get a Mk1 GTE in the garage today
My only memory of these was being handed the keys as an 18 year old at the garage I worked at, my task, was to take it to the car Auction in Manchester (ADT Belle Vue iirc) so off I trotted down Styal road, wasnt going fast, but the "Bee Line" bus coming the other way was on a mission and was taking a lot of the road, my choice was hit it or the kerb, I chose the latter which it hit with a hell of a bang, the bus just caught the wingmirror.
I stopped but off he went, I pushed the mirror back, it was slightly scuffed but otherwise ok but the wheel was damaged and it didnt drive the same, dropped it at the auction and said no more about it never heard a thing.
I stopped but off he went, I pushed the mirror back, it was slightly scuffed but otherwise ok but the wheel was damaged and it didnt drive the same, dropped it at the auction and said no more about it never heard a thing.
1974foggy said:
Thanks for sharing these, it looks so appealing in the ads! I had a 1300s as a first car, but did end up with a mk2 GTE which was so good! I changed to a Golf 16v but much preferred the GTE fro looks, fun and interior/packaging (Dont judge me!).
Autocar, CAR and Motor all picked the Astra GTE 16v over the Golf Gti 16v in group tests so obviously you weren't alone!Edited by s m on Wednesday 21st November 12:28
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.
I had one and thought it looked great but it was a bit of a wheezy, lolopping old thing as standard, the Astra had a smidge more power and the engine was a bit perkier all round, the Mantas was saddled with an old Iron Block lump with fuel injection on it, the Astra had a much more modern, revvy unit.The interior was nicer on the Astra, the Manta was a Cavalier from the seventies with some Recaro seats. I never thought the mantas handled or braked that well, understeer was the name of the game and it was a bit underbraked.
Nicer is subjective but the Astra was a few years ahead of the Manta, which I still have a fondness for, they look ace but I would need one modified to entertain it, standard, I found mine a bit disappointing, should have waited for a Capri Injection.
J4CKO said:
I had one and thought it looked great but it was a bit of a wheezy, lolopping old thing as standard, the Astra had a smidge more power and the engine was a bit perkier all round, the Mantas was saddled with an old Iron Block lump with fuel injection on it, the Astra had a much more modern, revvy unit.
I plumped for the Manta GTE in black too, I probably should have had the Astra in hindsight but I was towing a race car quite a bit back then.The Manta was not slouch but you knew you were flogging it to wring out every extra mph you could. The build was good (for the time and price) and the doors had a healthy clunk. I was just on the cusp of the Mk1 to Mk2 Astra GTE era, so that may also have had some bearing on it.
MX6 said:
Or possibly the IACV, if it has one...
It did kind of but it was a wax thermotime element controlled bypass valve instead of the solenid valve on the motronic version. It needed careful adjustment to tickover right from cold. There was a couple of adjustments in the airflow meter as well that most garages could never get rightGassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff