 |
The only derriere that will fit
snugly in the new Astra seat will be like J Lo’s. PHOTO: nymag.com |
The 1 595 cc makes 85 kW and 155 Nm, while the blown 1 364 cc makes
103 kW and 200 Nm.
We drove the 1,4T along the N3 to where the GP plates come from and
found the sedan to be like J Lo — flawed in the all the right places.
Consumption
Opel claims 5,9 l/100 km for the 1,4T in combined driving, but even
after firmly keeping the rev needle near the 2 000 mark over a distance of
1 200 km, I only managed 6,0 l/100 km (16,6 km per litre) on the open road and
while dodging the toll roads this dropped to 15,8 km per litre. Still, these are
consumption figures I would not mind on a motorbike.
Driven to be as fuel efficient as possible, the new Astra is as
memorable as a wet ball of yarn, but allow the turbo to kick in and the little
German turns into a ball of fire. With all 16 valves screaming and caution
thrown to the winds, you will understand why Opel has been the mechanic’s car of
choice all these years. Until you get to the fuel pumps, that is, and realise
again why it is mostly worth slowing down a bit too.
 |
| In terms of price, Opel is pitching its willing little 1,4 manually-geared Astra against 1,6 automatics in South Africa. |
Cabin
Making a car seat is a tricky business. Make it wide enough to fit
all butts and some hacks will moan the seat does not provide enough lateral
support.
Give the seats body hugging contours and this scribe will be the
first to complain the seat is meant only for svelte young bodies.
So seat designers just shrug and build a seat that will fit the
butt they fancy best at that time — and in the case of the new Astra sedan, this
seems to have been the lovely rounded derriere of Jennifer Lopez.
The squab in the front requires long thighs in even longer boots, the
kidney support is too firm for any but the tiniest middle and the deep recess of
the seat itself requires two ample cheeks that resemble in shape a luscious
pear.
Being more the saggy banana shape, I kept adjusting the seating and
steering in an effort to match my average legs and butt to the see the dials
under the steering wheel and the nose of the car over it, but the only
comfortable position had me laid back like a gangsta driver, steering from
behind the B-pillar.
Compatibility
Then there is the CD400 Plus system with radio, USB and —
apparently — Bluetooth.
Whereas the stripped-down system in the Opel Corsa Enjoy provided the quickest car to phone pairing we experienced this year, the CD400 system in
the Astra sedan refused to even acknowledge the same phone. Go figure. The USB
at least worked seamlessly, sparing one the same songs repeated on pop stations
from the East Coast to the Jacaranda city.
Suspension
Unlike other cars in this price range that sport a cheap rear
suspension in the form of a torsion bar, Opel has a Watt’s Link.
This adds two struts to the bar that are pivoted in the middle of
the car, with the ends bolted to the lower wheel carriers, all to exploit
Newton’s third law.
Or as Opel states: “The result is that any lateral impact on one
side is immediately compensated by an equal amount of force on the other side,
increasing stability.”
All we can add, it’s smooth on the straights and a bit of all right
around the bends, wot, wot!?
Safety
Apart from a rigid safety cell and crumple zones, the front
seatbelts have pretensioners. These are little explosive devices that do a very
good job. The Astra also comes with seven airbags, which are big explosive
devices that don't, being basically a Yank’s solution for a problem that did not exist.
For those who like expensive explosive devices lurking near their
faces, there are seven of them, including side and curtain airbags that will
create a momentary cushion when the occasion demands.
Cost
The new Astra sedan 1,4 Essentia costs R250 900.
That may sound like a lot for a 1,4 drivetrain, but compared to the
other cars in this price range and you’ll see Opel has pitched their willing
little fire breather into the 1,6 automatic league, where even the bigger 1,6
engines cannot match its power output, while its real world economy figures will
rival the consumption from any of the auto boxes.
A
few price competitors
R237 500
Honda Civic sedan 1,6 Comfort auto (92 kW/151 Nm)
R244 000
Ford EcoSport 1,5 Titanium auto (82 kW/138 Nm)
R239 995
Kia Cerato sedan, 1,6 auto (95 kW/156 Nm)
R247 100
Mazda3 sedan 1,6 Dynamic (77 kW/145 Nm)
R250 000
Audi Sportpack 1,4 TS (77 kW/250 Nm)
R250 900
Opel Astra 1,4T Essentia (103 kW/200 Nm)
R253 600
Nissan Sentra 1,6 Acenta auto (85 kW/154 Nm)
