Practical Motoring. Astra 1.8 SRi 5 Door.

[dragonheart]

Picked up this Astra today as i decided i needed some cheap practical family motoring. Have to say i am rather impressed with it. OK it's never going to set the world on fire with it's performance, but it's fine for me. I know it's an Astra and will not be to everyone's taste but i like it. Will be interesting to hear all you positive/negative comments.

Edited by dragonheart on Sunday 25th November 19:35

[jaacck]

I like it, I have a 1.8 Sri corsa I black. Good amount of performance but the engine drinks petrol for what it puts out I find,

[C.A.R.]

These are lovely cars in my opinion, yes the 1.8 isn't the best flavour they came in but it's certainly got adequate power. One thing we always found was that the ride on the SRi was quite 'crashy' on those same wheels. Looks the part though!

[spaceship]

Looks very nice mate.

Will probably be getting something similar for the other half in the next 6 months. She quite likes them and we'll need something practical, etc. More likely to be an SXi or Energy model as those wheels will take a beating with the driving about town.

Ticks all the boxes.

Edited by spaceship on Sunday 25th November 22:06

[Max M4X WW]

Always liked these with the XP

[InsigniaSRI]

Nice motor, and even nicer to see something NOT in resale silver, black really suits it.

[BorkFactor]

Nice looking car, the XP really sets them off. I remember a mate briefly had one of these with the 1.8 VVT engine (same as yours?) and it sounded surprisingly good over 4500 ish rpm.

[dragonheart]

Cheers for all the comments guys, nice to hear what you all think. In response to some of your comments, fuel consumption is not really an issue, coming from an E36 M3 Evo followed by an Alfa GTV V6, this little Astra is positively frugal. It is a little crashy with the large alloys and low profile tyres, but nothing i can't live with. Agreed the XP kit and the black paintwork do make the car stand out, the XP kit transfers the look of the whole car in a very subtle way. Something i missed yesterday but i found today, it has a SPORT button, never had one of those before.

[Challo]

dragonheart said:

Cheers for all the comments guys, nice to hear what you all think. In response to some of your comments, fuel consumption is not really an issue, coming from an E36 M3 Evo followed by an Alfa GTV V6, this little Astra is positively frugal. It is a little crashy with the large alloys and low profile tyres, but nothing i can't live with. Agreed the XP kit and the black paintwork do make the car stand out, the XP kit transfers the look of the whole car in a very subtle way. Something i missed yesterday but i found today, it has a SPORT button, never had one of those before.

If you think the ride is crashy currently, try it with the sport button on.

[02joe]

Watch out for coilpacks.

I have a 2001 astra coupe 1.8 on 97k and it works perfectly. Touch wood.

[dragonheart]

02joe said:

Watch out for coilpacks.

I have a 2001 astra coupe 1.8 on 97k and it works perfectly. Touch wood.

I will keep my eye on the coil packs.

[SE2]

BorkFactor said:

Nice looking car, the XP really sets them off. I remember a mate briefly had one of these with the 1.8 VVT engine (same as yours?) and it sounded surprisingly good over 4500 ish rpm.

Yeah, having had a straight-6 as my first car, I was particularly snobby about mere 4-pots, but there's a pleasant gruffness to the Z18XE that has grown on me in the time I've owned it.

One thing, don't fit Bosch Super 4 spark plugs. I did and it hated them. After getting the ECU checked, I read online some Vaux engines didn't work well with them.

[dragonheart]

Small update. 2 weeks into ownership some things i am liking and disliking about the Astra.

likes.
The styling of the car, IMHO this is one of the better looking 5 door hatches, the XP kit really sets it off.
The interior is pretty good, lots of kit as standard makes it a nice place to be.
The engine for a 1.8 is willing little unit, pulls well and sounds good.
The black paintwork really suits the car, looks great when cleaned and polished and you don't see many in this colour.

Dislikes.
The driving position, although ok for me, my 5ft wife finds it difficult to get comfortable.
The ride is a little crashy, worse with sport mode engaged.
Fuel consumption could be better.
The tyres although brand new are appalling. Runway Enduro 916's.Terrible road noise and very unpredictable in the wet.
Standard speakers are awful.

Plans for the future.
Replace tyres.
upgrade all the speakers.
possible remap. If anyone has had this done let me know if the results are worth the cost.

So on the whole very pleased with the car.

[Max M4X WW]

Glad to see an update, I don't personally think a remap will make a lot of difference. You should have bought a 2.0 Turbo or 1.9 CDTi!

Does the SPORT button really firm up the suspension?

[dragonheart]

Max M4X WW said:

Glad to see an update, I don't personally think a remap will make a lot of difference. You should have bought a 2.0 Turbo or 1.9 CDTi!

Does the SPORT button really firm up the suspension?

Didn't really want the 2.0 Turbo as past experience tells me most turbocharged cars live a hard life leading to increased maintenance cost. I am planning on keeping this car for 3 years, covering about 25k miles per year so if i had bought the 2.0 Turbo i would undoubtedly end up having to replace or rebuild the turbo. CDTi would have been nice but couldn't find any within my 3k budget.

Remap may or may not happen, would like to get some more feedback on it before i make a yes or no decision.

As for the SPORT button, yes it does firm up the suspension(if the car is fitted with IDS & CDC), also sharpens the steering and throttle response.

Also if you hold the SPORT button down for 5 seconds it also turns off the ESP,

[Max M4X WW]

Superchips doesn't seem to list your engine, but if you base the results on the 1.8 VVT 148bhp unit the increase is 7bhp and 10lkb/ft for £235 (on offer).

I guess for the cash its worth a go as it will make some difference, just not much.

[Jimmy No Hands]

Remap will quite probably not be worth it, but suppose its personal preference. Friend has one of these and I was in it today and thought it made a quite decent noise actually!

[dragonheart]

Fitted a K&N panel filter today, not expecting much from it but i needed a new air filter and the K&N was only £20 on eBay so i thought why not.

Apparently there is a mod you can do to the standard airbox in order for it to flow more air. Anybody done this? does it work? and is it difficult to do?

Still enjoying the car.

[Shenanigans]

All i know of is to drill holes into the top of the box....thought it was done just for some extra noise.

[dragonheart]

After 6 months of ownership,i thought i would post a small update.

Life with the Astra has been fairly easy going, in the 6 months i have had it i have put 9k miles on it and it has been faultless.

The crap Runway tyres have lasted longer then expected, however the noise they are making now is really beginning to get on my nerves so i will be replacing them soon.

Fuel consumption, i do a mix of driving with a mix of driving styles, on the whole mpg figures are not great for the 1.8 engine with a combined figure of no more then 30mpg. Was expecting more from the smallish engine.

So other then everyday running cost, so far the Astra has cost me nothing.

Things i have done and future plans. Mechanically nothing other then a K&N panel filter. Styling wise i have only debadged the rear and added a little red pistonheads sticker. I plan to vinyl wrap the door mirrors, the rear chrome strip and the front chrome V strip, this will be done in matt black 3m carbon wrap. I am also going to remove the chrome SRi badges from the doors and replace them with a pair of old skool red SRi badges from a Cavalier SRi.

Due to the unexpected nice weather, i spent the day cleaning it. Machine polished with Meguiars Mirror Glaze 105 Ultra-Cut Compound, Machine polished with Meguiars Mirror Glaze 205 Ultra Finishing Polish, then finished off with Collinite 476s Wax. Came up pretty good.