Following its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year, Opel’s slinky Astra GTC has now been launched in South Africa. It is without doubt one of the sleekest designs in its class with very attractive styling details all round. The curves and creases play neatly with shadows to always give a muscular, yet flowing shape.
The new GTC is longer, wider and lower (by 15 mm) than the five-door Astra giving it a purposeful, squat stance.
Only two versions will presently be launched, the Enjoy and the Sport. The Enjoy uses the 103 kW 1,4-litre turbo engine delivering 200 N.m while the Sport has a 1,6-litre engine with 132 kW and 230 N.m of torque. A six-speed manual gearbox is used on both models.
Powerplants aside, the differences between the two models are minimal. The Sport adds leather seats (cloth on the Enjoy), an electronic parking brake and heated seats. It also has a different style of alloy wheel but retains the 18-inch size. Hill start assist, dual-zone climate control and some chrome detailing are other enhancements to the Sport package. Six airbags and stability control can be found on both models.
On the road we were impressed with the smoothness of the engine. Unlike most four-cylinder turbos, the 1,6 emits a very pleasing and sporty sound when accelerating. There is not much difference in performance between the 1,4 and 1,6 versions with the main gain being the extra kilowatts at the top-end but not that much added torque. The ride quality was superb and soaked up some poor quality Free State roads in excellent comfort. The suspension set-up incorporates a Watt’s linkage at the rear and special struts in the front.
Another surprise is the rear seating. At first sight, it looks very cramped back there, but get comfortable in the driver’s seat and then sit behind yourself and a 1,8m tall male has sufficient leg-and headroom for comfort over long trips. The rear seat can take three occupants but of course it will be more comfortable with two. The boot is a bit less spacious than the interior with a double floor for stowing laptops and the like and a space-saver spare wheel below.
Specifications
Model: Opel Astra GTC Enjoy/Sport
Engines: 1,4-litre, four-cylinder turbopetrol/1,6-litre, four-cylinder turbopetrol
Power: 103 kW at 6 000 r/min/132 kW at 5 500 r/min
Torque: 200 N.m at 3 600 r/min/230 N.m at 2 200 r/min
0-100 km/h: 9,9 seconds/8,3 seconds
Fuel consumption: 5,9 l/100 km/6,8 l/100 km
CO2: 139 g/km
Top speed: 201 km/h/220 km/h
Price: R287 000 (Enjoy) R304 000 (Sport)
Service plan: 5 year/90 000 km
Service intervals: 15 000 km
