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Astra Thrashes Golf GTi & Megane 225Cup

Fluffy

By Fluffy,
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Fluffy

Fluffy

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Taken from AutoCar 19th July Issue:

 

Britain's New GTi King : Scorching Astra thrashes Golf GTi and Megane Cup

 

exerpts from the article regarding the new Astra VXR/OPC

 

"The suspension is probably the Astra's finest moment. Thanks inpart to Vauxhall/Opel's German in-house tuning arm OPC, but mainly, you suspect, to the skills of Lotus, which was closely involved with the chassis from the beginning, this is arguably the most focused car ever to wear a Vauxhall/Opel badge"

 

"behind the 225/40 ZR 18" CSC tyres nestle the biggest front brake discs (321 mm) to adorn any Vauxhall/Opel, even at the rear, it boasts dinner plate-sized 278mm discs. There is also anti-lock, ABD and Brake Assist for good measure"

 

"on the move, the Astra is quick with a capital F, and has moves that are way beyond anything the Golf can muster, if not the Megane, a device fast enough to dispatch all but a very small number of so-called performance cars, only a well-driven Caterham or an EvoBishi with a Genuine nutter at the wheel would be quick enough to put clear air between themselves and the Astra"

 

"the Golf is nowhere by comparison, featuring neither the straight line wallop nor the heroically well-tied down chassis composure of the Astra. Critically, the Golf doesn't even ride as smoothly as the Astra over tricky piece of road"

 

"the Astra is appreciably neutral when cornering; 237bhp and fwd means torquesteer off the line"

 

 

"the Megane's ride is too hard to the point of irritation on anything other than glass-smooth roads, and to begin with the steering feels too light, too darty, not feelsome enough and nowhere near as faithful to the Astra's"

 

"there is something about the Renault that doesn't quite work overall. It's one of those strange hot hatches that's fast, very fast, but that's it. There's not really a whole lot more to it's vocabulary -- and therefore appeal-- than sheer pace. In the end, it trails the others (Golf and Astra) by some margin"

 

"the Golf is the most complete package here, true, but in this instance complete packaging can take a hike. real hot hatches, ones that we remember fondly for year to come, are meant to look good, go like clappers, handle and ride beautifully enough to make you weep-- and blow cars as sensible and complete as the new Golf GTi into the weeds. Torquesteer and all, that's precisely what the Astra does. Which is why it wins, easily"

 

 

Opel/Vauxhall Astra OPC/VXR

 

0-62mph 6.2sec

Power 237bhp

Torque 236lb/ft

power to weight 170bhp per tonne

 

4 cyls in line 1998cc, turbo

6 speed manual

 

Front MachPherson Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar

Rear Torsion beam, coil springs

Front brakes 321mm bentilated discs

Rear brakes 278mm ventilated discs

Wheels 8JX 18in alloy

Airbags Driver, passenger, side and curtain

Stability Control Yes

Traction Control Yes

Brake Assist Yes

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Edited by Fluffy
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Dh6211

Dh6211

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Coincidentally, Top Gear had a shootout between these 3 cars last week. The Astra is the fastest off the line but has massive understeer which shows that the chassis isn't good enough to cope with that amount of power. Stig further proves the point when he tries to run it around the track. JC didn't mention much about the interior except that it can't fit a cupboard and the sat nav is too complicated.

 

For the Megane, it's better around the corners and it's 0.5 sec faster than the Astra although it's less powerful (20 hp diff) but refinement is sacrificed. The comfort and quality of its interior is not up to the standards of the Golf. JC didn't mention much about the Golf as he had reviewed it before and had won the 2004 Top Gear Car Of The Year Award.

 

In the end, he said he would choose the Golf over the other two because it can do everything the other 2 cars can besides being able to load a cupboard and probably because it's a Golf GTi.

Edited by Dh6211
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Fluffy

Fluffy

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coool ! missed this weeks....sigh...... i didn;t know the VXR was tested..... for the Astra, it comes with 3 2.0L versions, the 170bhp, the 200bhp and the 240bhp! [thumbsup]

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Porker

Porker

Turbocharged

Features an M5 road and track test as well.

 

The rear differential gave way after the track test. I think any car would have suffered the same fate looking at how the car was driven and thrown around.

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