The colour I would have is the teal green,asteroid grey and power red And I love the wheels and how it looks and it's my dream car ever and my favourite car in the world
As an Opel fan I really like this car so much in every way, except the fact that Opel still didn't make this car with the seven speed DCT new trans that GM holds patent to, hopefully soon they do it's really important for more refined driving and pleasure, and again thank you so much for making car reviews in English from Germany, greetings from Saudi.
Great in-depth review. Considering English isn't your native first language I think you guys did a terrific job. Next time I would suggest when you're demonstrating the interior whatever it is be it the infotainment system or dash I would have the cameraman sat in the opposite seat rather than outside near to the presenter as it was a little bit difficult to see what the presenter was trying to show. But this is my only negative. The car looks stunning by the way and you've gone into a lot of detail regarding available interior trims wheels etc Good job and keep up the good work! Looking forward to your video on the first drive of the new Opel/Vauxhall Astra now
I have just ordered mine and will be with me in a few weeks. It reminds me of the merc a class. And this is why I got mine. In red as well. Thanks for the up load.
Great stuff. Probably the best on youtube. I really like to see the Lord of the recording. Always you are describing something exactly the same new automobiles such as the new Skoda Superb. And the quality of the recordings in technical terms is sensational. I'm curious what camera you use. Greetings.
Speaking about the interior. The seats in combination Cloth/Vinyl Athena and Jet Black/Cinder Gray are of a warmer tone in both the DE and UK web configurators and I think also much nicer then in reality.
Thanks Thomas for the review. I like the Green color (the last one) and 17 inch alloys. Think 17 inch would save the alloys from damage and also comfort would be better.
I do think it's a really nice interior, much better than its predecessor's and even more beautiful than any of the VWs or Skodas etc. I see your point regarding the finish and quality, but does that really concern customers, if the dashboard is soft touch or not? How often do you stroke the dashboard or the middle console? More important in my regard is the build quality.
Great thing they done with chassis. Engines too I presume but starting price in Germany is a bit too high. If you could tell us more about the AC powering source in future reviews that would be usefull. Cause as you know some of the cars has independent powering source for AC today (golf 7, mazda 3, psa compacts etc) and it is a feature most of us want to have in cars cause when AC is turned on it does not use any engine power.
Nice review again Thomas, Autogefühl became lately my favorite car's review channel. Thanks for your good work and always looking for new reviews. Wish that you could do a review of the new Hyundai Tucson with dual clutch transmission, I know there is already one, but not enough detailed. Thanks ;-)
manufacturers need to stop using piano black trim on the outside of their cars until they can make the surface more durable. there are so many swirl marks even on this new car and it only gets worse after a very short time. thanks for the review.
+altern8ive Its how its cleaned that introduces the swirls. They probably washed it with a sponge which is a known grit magnet. If you use a lambs wool or micro fibre wash mitt, you dont get swirls.
Beautiful new car , still the plastics could be different kind in front of the passenger's dash board, that piano black finish will create problems for driver during sunny days and also in the summer time, the use of crome lines onto the gear changer will also be a problem when the car will stay under the sun and the gear changer will become hot( see the problem with new 308 from Peugeot). All in all, it's a great new Opel Astra. Hope some day to be able to change my old Astra G with a K! Well done Opel!
Not bad, we'll see how it ages through the years. Exterior design is ok to me and interior is attractive especially considering Opel interiors were dull and cluttered as crap until the Adam came out. I personally dislike the offset navscreen and that irritating plastic chrome trigger under the gearshift lever. Many people whining about interior finish without having seen the actual car in person but at least Opel took the time to cover the inner door frames which VW didn't, and let me tell you that leaving the naked structure visible (mostly in bright or light colors) is what looks cheap. I hate those fake (unidirectional) vortex 18" wheels, multispoke 17" looks more balanced. If you want beefier stuff wait for OPC drama. Finally, you complained about seat bottom length but that car on display featured manual thigh support extension you didn't use. ;)
Good thing they use 17 inch wheels with tyre size 225/45/17. Tyres are much cheaper and largely available in that size. I have the astra gtc with 18 inch wheels and tyre size 235/50/18 which is a pain to get at a decent prize.
Looks perfect. The rear reminds me a bit of Alfa Romeo Giulietta. What is more important - they reduced the weight of the car. In the end the central panel with 100+ buttons replaced by modern solution with touchscreen. This is good that climate control in this car is not to be set from touchscreen like it has been designed in 308 - unsafe to adjust the temperature while driving. Great car - is it going to be produced in Poland? Hope so!
Thanks for another gut rieview. After 12years having german lessons, I prefer to watch video with english still :-) One of popular polish car bloger always doing 2m behind 2m, how tall u are? Many of new car have very little rear legroom spaces.
I'm not sure about the design, maybe when I will see it live it will impress me more. The Astra J looks prettier to me and I loved the bigger wheels, I have 19-inch in my GTC and they make the car look more premium. Smaller wheels is a step back for me. 15-inch? They will look funny with this body design. The chrome bar above the windows is taken from the current GTC.
Ciao Thomas! I forgot to ask this... I like the interior mock-ups provided by Opel. Do you typically see this from the manufacturers?? It's the first time I've seen them. Thanks!
Mario Dalla Riva hey Mario, indeed that was quite cool. Sometimes it is used in the presentations, but not always. Tried to use the chance and I think its quite good to have that overview
Study the subject design a little better. The grille and headlights are not meant to go together, then you lose the interaction between them, they should only harmonize. The first design of the back door from Mazda is Ryuga Concept 2007, the first from Opel is Flextreme 2007, Flextreme is identical to the concept in Astra - the Mazda Ryuga is not. And the “leather” seams on the console could have been noticed. The rear lights identifies it as an Opel, this form has existed since 2006. This is interesting knowledge you can very easily find out - do it!
***** Yes but I suspect he did put it unclear and tried to simplify the subject, unfortunately Opel designers do that all too often.Very often they describe their own design in a very sloppy way.
Dear Thomas & Autofefuhl team, thanks a lot for a detailed review it was very clear and intutive , we are interested in buying a easytronic 3.0 model of the Astra , but i don't find any reviews or test drive for this car model , even a handler does not have this model to be shown at :(, it would be very grateful if you could give us a review or a test drive how the new generation easytronic 3.0 really works. thanks
Thanks Thomas. That's a very attractive car especially with the fancy alloys and low profile tires. I noticed one of the bridgestones was mounted backwards on the rim as the word "Inner" was showing on the sidewall! Oops Question: for a model to be considered a compact does it have to fit within certain dimensions or is that at the discretion of the manufacturer?? Nice job as always! Not so much a feeding frenzy this time :)
Mario Dalla Riva wow, you are really looking into the detail :) That compact thingie, well, there are those car models which have been fitting to that very class since ages and so they kept it. Sometimes, cars also move in between those classes like the Skoda models do
Interesting side profile! Good interior accommodation, but the boot appeture is small and the loading lip excessive. Dash design is nothing special and if that is the quality going into production, the material quality will fall short! The best alloy wheel size are the 18" but design is too fussy, making thrm difficult to clean and as you pointed out, the curbs will bite into them! As for the exterior colour, i would choose the coconut but interior will never be the lighter colour, far too easy to leave stains!
Interior looks cheaper than last generation when you look at it more in detail, this interior on first glance looks newer, but the more you look at it, it leaves an impression of a cheaper non-premium car. For example if you look at the plastics on the door panels, looks cheaper than before, where Astra actually used the same type of soft plastics as Insignia. Or if you look at the instrument gauges, they look cheap and simplified, whereas old ones had a lot of detail to it, with metal ring around it, a lot of nice details on it, etc. Just looked more expensive. Especially bad is that horrible black shiny plastics all over the place and the fake chrome parts, which replace the very nice and very soft touch plastic in the old car on the upper part of the console. You can tell this car will rattle like crazy after a year. Looks like Opel used too much of GM's philosophy of trying to make a car as cheap as possible to manufacture but to make it look nice on surface but without actual real quality. Opel should leave GM. Americans simply don't have a clue about what makes a high quality car and they're taking Opel in the wrong direction, to them it's all about as many shiny parts all over the place, even if they're cheap plastic imitations, it's all about looks and not about actual quality of materials...not to mention their care for build quality and attention to detail is the worst, even Cadillac's are all squeaky and rattly in the interior, even when still brand new.
derbigpr500 I have to agree with everything you said. This new Astra seems to have fallen behind most of the competition to the point where it is no longer even comparable to a VW Golf or even a Focus. Opel always gives this feeling that the accounting department has more influence on the design process than the engineers. I don't think the new look is that good either. The previous car seemed to be more refined, while this just goes with sharp creases and angles to achieve a modern look, which is bound to be dated in few years (Astra H is a good example of this). What is more, it may be that the style is getting in the way of practicality, I imagine the rear and especially rear 3/4 visibility is rather limited. This new Astra and the recent "new" Corsa give the impression of financial hardship within the company which in turn hurts the brand image and sales. In my opinion if Opel wants to stay around in the future it should try to produce cars that surpass the competition, not undercut them. All in all, not impressed so far, but looking forward to a full review and driving impressions to see how that stack up to other cars in the segment.
Povilas Svedas I think the issue is in GM's politics of making cars interfering with Opel too much, it just doesn't feel like a German car anymore. GM is trying to do with Opel what they do with their American brands. They're trying to cut the costs of development and produce cars that are cheap to manufacture but won't last long, which will enable them to develop new cheap cars and sell them again very soon, instead of trying to make high quality cars that will last for a long time. What Opel is doing with Astra is typical for US car markets. Family cars there are designed to be relevant for a year or two, then they get redesigned and within 3 or 4 years a new model already comes out. That's why you see that an average car generation in US lasts for 2-4 years maybe and a new model comes out, whereas in Europe one car remains the same for 7-8 years with a minor redesign at half of the age. Again that works in US because that market obviously cares more about quantity than quality, but that is not the case in Europe. Making a car that will last for a long time is harder and more expensive, and also brings less profit than making a cheap car that will look and feel good for 2 years and then you will want to replace it. For example, even if you that the Golf 5, which is not very old, it still looks high quality inside, it still has solidity and attention to detail inside, and feels more expensive than a 2 year old Chevrolet Cruze for example. They're not focusing on actual quality, they're just trying to add this fake visual quality to the car with a lot of shiny parts, lot's of fake aluminium and chrome all over the place, etc. Again, this is something American market likes, but Europe not so much, we don't care for shiny black plastic or chrome all over the place, unless it's actual piano finished real wood or real metal, we'd rather have nice quality matte finished soft rubbery plastic that feels solid and will never rattle or squeak. That fake part looks attractive for a few days when you own the car, but it gets annoying when it starts to rattle, dust and fingerprints are all over it all the time, etc. It will be interesting to drive the new Astra though. We just got a couple of Astra J's in our company, and I never drove one until a few months ago, but was very surprised with how good the car feels and how well it held up, it feels better than many new models in the segment.
Great review Thomas. Nice looking car and a good idea by Vauxhall \ Opel to stop with the 19" wheels nonsense. Range of colours is appalling though and Id like to see how much glare or reflections are on the touch screen in real life use. Hope they've improved the rubbery gear change Vauxhall \ Opel are known for and dumped the 40,000 mile cambelt change! £400 additional service item every 4 years, ouch!
The car looks good until you see the back doors, I don't like the way the glass line turns up and the rear of the door comes to a point. The tailgate is a bit over done with the recess running across the whole door. How ever the front and the interior of the car are first class, as long as they will give you a light head lining and not the black. That makes it a bit too depressing.
Well astra it was always ond of my favourite car , but they should really start making some difference on it , those wheels are not looking that good on it , the steering wheel is quite big . And of course the price will be fawking high ( a cheaper price would be perfect ) but opel is always better than vw so this is quite good car ! P.s that dark blue color is brilliant
It just looks like they just copied some parts fom other brands: the front spoiler is exactly the same as the VW Golf SV; the C pillar and the profile is exactly the same as the Nissan Murano or Sway; and the front headlights look very much like a Mazda2. WHAT THE HELL??? WHEN DID THE CHINESE BUY OPEL ???
the astra used to be a great looking car. After the boring mk4 gave way to the mk5 they had one of the prettiest hatchbacks on the market. The 3 door sport hatch was much nicer than its rivals and has dated brilliantly (bar the interior). now with the newest one it just seems vauxhall / opel has lost its imagination. The new corsa and astra aren't that attractive and almost look Korean. Go back to the drawing board I say.
I agree the old one looks x10 better than this shit the coupe in yellow 2015 looks great I think if they want to change the Astra fine but they should keep the old design for the coupe because it looks good
kola252 Res? Si se že peljal v obeh? Če si, potem veš, da se opel po kakovosti in po motorjih še zdaleč ne more primerjati s VW. Glede izgleda pa se s teboj strinjam in priznam, da golf izgleda dolgočasno, dokler mu ne dodaš malo lepših platišč, zatemnjenih stekel, led luči in R line opreme, potem pa izgleda fantastično.
Only complaints and displeasure, and yet, this car is custom built to give you just the car you asked for in 6 years. Whatever you are unhappy with - your fault and not Opel. You have asked for this and now you get it. The old car was condemned for being too heavy and too complicated. No praised it ever to be well-built and well executed. You kept your mouths closed. None informed Opel on the fact that they made a good car. Why would they continue? Where were you before? You are good at complaining afterwards. You seem to think that you can build a car that weighs like paper - and that cost absolutely nothing - and yet you seem to think you shall not be able to notice this any ware. you are incredibly stupid. You seem to think that you can build a Rolls Royce that cost absolutely nothing. A demand from you on this Astra has been that it should be cheap... All require that it should cost nothing... At the same time you require it to be extremely expensive and filled with expensive materials and expensive solutions - that you want without paying for them... You are the big problem and not the car.
Holy crap! It's the ugliest car i ve ever seen! The previous two generations were very good but this car is crap. They completely ruined it especially the exterior. I wonder if it's going to sold in European market.
19:07, that tyre, Bridgstone I would say is not mounted properly, you can see an "inside" writing...
The colour I would have is the teal green,asteroid grey and power red
And I love the wheels and how it looks and it's my dream car ever and my favourite car in the world
Thanks Thomas, i always look forward to your car reviews....
Marko Horvat thanks Marko!
As an Opel fan I really like this car so much in every way, except the fact that Opel still didn't make this car with the seven speed DCT new trans that GM holds patent to, hopefully soon they do it's really important for more refined driving and pleasure, and again thank you so much for making car reviews in English from Germany, greetings from Saudi.
Great in-depth review. Considering English isn't your native first language I think you guys did a terrific job. Next time I would suggest when you're demonstrating the interior whatever it is be it the infotainment system or dash I would have the cameraman sat in the opposite seat rather than outside near to the presenter as it was a little bit difficult to see what the presenter was trying to show. But this is my only negative.
The car looks stunning by the way and you've gone into a lot of detail regarding available interior trims wheels etc
Good job and keep up the good work!
Looking forward to your video on the first drive of the new Opel/Vauxhall Astra now
Hassan Ahmed thanks for the feedback!
I have just ordered mine and will be with me in a few weeks. It reminds me of the merc a class. And this is why I got mine. In red as well. Thanks for the up load.
Paul Capel thanks for the feedback!
Great stuff. Probably the best on youtube. I really like to see the Lord of the recording. Always you are describing something exactly the same new automobiles such as the new Skoda Superb. And the quality of the recordings in technical terms is sensational. I'm curious what camera you use. Greetings.
obodziog love to hear that! We re using Panasonic GH4
I like that first 17" @ 18:17 and graphite black color
Speaking about the interior. The seats in combination Cloth/Vinyl Athena and Jet Black/Cinder Gray are of a warmer tone in both the DE and UK web configurators and I think also much nicer then in reality.
I bought this car today, got to wait 8 weeks to be built though! Can't wait
Thanks Thomas for the review. I like the Green color (the last one) and 17 inch alloys. Think 17 inch would save the alloys from damage and also comfort would be better.
Umang Goel thanks!
I do think it's a really nice interior, much better than its predecessor's and even more beautiful than any of the VWs or Skodas etc.
I see your point regarding the finish and quality, but does that really concern customers, if the dashboard is soft touch or not?
How often do you stroke the dashboard or the middle console? More important in my regard is the build quality.
Karl R it matters the softness of plastics around you and how they are all put together.
Great thing they done with chassis. Engines too I presume but starting price in Germany is a bit too high.
If you could tell us more about the AC powering source in future reviews that would be usefull. Cause as you know some of the cars has independent powering source for AC today (golf 7, mazda 3, psa compacts etc) and it is a feature most of us want to have in cars cause when AC is turned on it does not use any engine power.
Nice review again Thomas, Autogefühl became lately my favorite car's review channel. Thanks for your good work and always looking for new reviews. Wish that you could do a review of the new Hyundai Tucson with dual clutch transmission, I know there is already one, but not enough detailed. Thanks ;-)
+Bastie Arte Great to hear that :) I will definitely do the Tucson myself next year!
Closer examination also shows that the 18 inch tire is incorrectly installed on the rim.
A protective edge of rubber is also available in 18.
Djeseret yeah not properly mounted, however such tyres exist ;-)
***** Yes, it fooled me, happened by chance to see a picture of the red car that was different.
manufacturers need to stop using piano black trim on the outside of their cars until they can make the surface more durable. there are so many swirl marks even on this new car and it only gets worse after a very short time. thanks for the review.
altern8ive thanks for the feedback!
+altern8ive Its how its cleaned that introduces the swirls. They probably washed it with a sponge which is a known grit magnet. If you use a lambs wool or micro fibre wash mitt, you dont get swirls.
Gonads1259 Yes you do - but not as many :) .
this would be a very good looking crossover , don't change the design
just jack it up
SuperNiceguy60 You are so right!
***** cars like the Nissan Qashqai still get good MPG despite being a tall vehicle
Very nice review !
Soley911 thanks!
Beautiful new car , still the plastics could be different kind in front of the passenger's dash board, that piano black finish will create problems for driver during sunny days and also in the summer time, the use of crome lines onto the gear changer will also be a problem when the car will stay under the sun and the gear changer will become hot( see the problem with new 308 from Peugeot). All in all, it's a great new Opel Astra. Hope some day to be able to change my old Astra G with a K! Well done Opel!
Not bad, we'll see how it ages through the years. Exterior design is ok to me and interior is attractive especially considering Opel interiors were dull and cluttered as crap until the Adam came out. I personally dislike the offset navscreen and that irritating plastic chrome trigger under the gearshift lever. Many people whining about interior finish without having seen the actual car in person but at least Opel took the time to cover the inner door frames which VW didn't, and let me tell you that leaving the naked structure visible (mostly in bright or light colors) is what looks cheap. I hate those fake (unidirectional) vortex 18" wheels, multispoke 17" looks more balanced. If you want beefier stuff wait for OPC drama. Finally, you complained about seat bottom length but that car on display featured manual thigh support extension you didn't use. ;)
Nice review as usual
Thanks
***** appreciated!
Good thing they use 17 inch wheels with tyre size 225/45/17. Tyres are much cheaper and largely available in that size. I have the astra gtc with 18 inch wheels and tyre size 235/50/18 which is a pain to get at a decent prize.
Looks perfect. The rear reminds me a bit of Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
What is more important - they reduced the weight of the car.
In the end the central panel with 100+ buttons replaced by modern solution with touchscreen. This is good that climate control in this car is not to be set from touchscreen like it has been designed in 308 - unsafe to adjust the temperature while driving. Great car - is it going to be produced in Poland? Hope so!
Looks nice, will it be available with a sunroof or panoramic roof?? Great and informative video as usual!! Thanks
Thanks for another gut rieview. After 12years having german lessons, I prefer to watch video with english still :-) One of popular polish car bloger always doing 2m behind 2m, how tall u are? Many of new car have very little rear legroom spaces.
+Paweł Kozinski Thanks Pawel! For me its 1.86 m :)
I'm not sure about the design, maybe when I will see it live it will impress me more. The Astra J looks prettier to me and I loved the bigger wheels, I have 19-inch in my GTC and they make the car look more premium. Smaller wheels is a step back for me. 15-inch? They will look funny with this body design. The chrome bar above the windows is taken from the current GTC.
Ciao Thomas!
I forgot to ask this...
I like the interior mock-ups provided by Opel.
Do you typically see this from the manufacturers??
It's the first time I've seen them.
Thanks!
Mario Dalla Riva hey Mario, indeed that was quite cool. Sometimes it is used in the presentations, but not always. Tried to use the chance and I think its quite good to have that overview
Study the subject design a little better.
The grille and headlights are not meant to go together, then you lose the interaction between them, they should only harmonize.
The first design of the back door from Mazda is Ryuga Concept 2007, the first from Opel is Flextreme 2007, Flextreme is identical to the concept in Astra - the Mazda Ryuga is not.
And the “leather” seams on the console could have been noticed.
The rear lights identifies it as an Opel, this form has existed since 2006.
This is interesting knowledge you can very easily find out - do it!
Djeseret About the grill, what I said is the point that the head designer just stated a few mins ago at that point, so it is acutally true :)
*****
Yes but I suspect he did put it unclear and tried to simplify the subject, unfortunately Opel designers do that all too often.Very often they describe their own design in a very sloppy way.
I would love it if the interior had less glossy plastics and better quality at the bottom of the dash and the armrest.
Dear Thomas & Autofefuhl team, thanks a lot for a detailed review it was very clear and intutive , we are interested in buying a easytronic 3.0 model of the Astra , but i don't find any reviews or test drive for this car model , even a handler does not have this model to be shown at :(, it would be very grateful if you could give us a review or a test drive how the new generation easytronic 3.0 really works. thanks
+Dillibabu Pandurangan thanks, sorry no experience with that
Another good review ;)
Vitor Morais thanks!
Danke für das Video! Sehr interessantes Auto. Aber setzt doch die Kamera auf den Beifahrersitz für das Interieur :-)
Christoph Lang Vielen Dank! Werden wir berücksichtigen :)
Thought they were built in Ellesmere port on the wirral!
Thank you very much for this video
I really like the car, it looks so good from inside and outside, but what about the automatic transmission? Will it has the 8-speed duel clutch?
Ihr seit ja in letzter Zeit immer auf den gleichen Veranstaltungen wie AusfahrtTV. ;-)
makaveli9876 Liegt in der Natur der Sache, es werden eben diese Fahrzeuge neu vorgestellt :-)
nice video!
1Messii thanks!
Thanks Thomas.
That's a very attractive car especially with the fancy alloys and low profile tires. I noticed one of the bridgestones was mounted backwards on the rim as the word "Inner" was showing on the sidewall! Oops
Question: for a model to be considered a compact does it have to fit within certain dimensions or is that at the discretion of the manufacturer??
Nice job as always! Not so much a feeding frenzy this time :)
Mario Dalla Riva wow, you are really looking into the detail :) That compact thingie, well, there are those car models which have been fitting to that very class since ages and so they kept it. Sometimes, cars also move in between those classes like the Skoda models do
Diamond Blue or the silver
See the new full driving review: ruclips.net/video/kl93qLwQgFI/видео.html
Interesting side profile! Good interior accommodation, but the boot appeture is small and the loading lip excessive. Dash design is nothing special and if that is the quality going into production, the material quality will fall short! The best alloy wheel size are the 18" but design is too fussy, making thrm difficult to clean and as you pointed out, the curbs will bite into them! As for the exterior colour, i would choose the coconut but interior will never be the lighter colour, far too easy to leave stains!
Interior looks cheaper than last generation when you look at it more in detail, this interior on first glance looks newer, but the more you look at it, it leaves an impression of a cheaper non-premium car. For example if you look at the plastics on the door panels, looks cheaper than before, where Astra actually used the same type of soft plastics as Insignia. Or if you look at the instrument gauges, they look cheap and simplified, whereas old ones had a lot of detail to it, with metal ring around it, a lot of nice details on it, etc. Just looked more expensive. Especially bad is that horrible black shiny plastics all over the place and the fake chrome parts, which replace the very nice and very soft touch plastic in the old car on the upper part of the console. You can tell this car will rattle like crazy after a year. Looks like Opel used too much of GM's philosophy of trying to make a car as cheap as possible to manufacture but to make it look nice on surface but without actual real quality. Opel should leave GM. Americans simply don't have a clue about what makes a high quality car and they're taking Opel in the wrong direction, to them it's all about as many shiny parts all over the place, even if they're cheap plastic imitations, it's all about looks and not about actual quality of materials...not to mention their care for build quality and attention to detail is the worst, even Cadillac's are all squeaky and rattly in the interior, even when still brand new.
derbigpr500 Well observed, I got the same impression with the interior.
derbigpr500 I have to agree with everything you said. This new Astra seems to have fallen behind most of the competition to the point where it is no longer even comparable to a VW Golf or even a Focus. Opel always gives this feeling that the accounting department has more influence on the design process than the engineers. I don't think the new look is that good either. The previous car seemed to be more refined, while this just goes with sharp creases and angles to achieve a modern look, which is bound to be dated in few years (Astra H is a good example of this). What is more, it may be that the style is getting in the way of practicality, I imagine the rear and especially rear 3/4 visibility is rather limited. This new Astra and the recent "new" Corsa give the impression of financial hardship within the company which in turn hurts the brand image and sales. In my opinion if Opel wants to stay around in the future it should try to produce cars that surpass the competition, not undercut them. All in all, not impressed so far, but looking forward to a full review and driving impressions to see how that stack up to other cars in the segment.
Povilas Svedas I think the issue is in GM's politics of making cars interfering with Opel too much, it just doesn't feel like a German car anymore. GM is trying to do with Opel what they do with their American brands. They're trying to cut the costs of development and produce cars that are cheap to manufacture but won't last long, which will enable them to develop new cheap cars and sell them again very soon, instead of trying to make high quality cars that will last for a long time. What Opel is doing with Astra is typical for US car markets. Family cars there are designed to be relevant for a year or two, then they get redesigned and within 3 or 4 years a new model already comes out. That's why you see that an average car generation in US lasts for 2-4 years maybe and a new model comes out, whereas in Europe one car remains the same for 7-8 years with a minor redesign at half of the age. Again that works in US because that market obviously cares more about quantity than quality, but that is not the case in Europe. Making a car that will last for a long time is harder and more expensive, and also brings less profit than making a cheap car that will look and feel good for 2 years and then you will want to replace it. For example, even if you that the Golf 5, which is not very old, it still looks high quality inside, it still has solidity and attention to detail inside, and feels more expensive than a 2 year old Chevrolet Cruze for example. They're not focusing on actual quality, they're just trying to add this fake visual quality to the car with a lot of shiny parts, lot's of fake aluminium and chrome all over the place, etc. Again, this is something American market likes, but Europe not so much, we don't care for shiny black plastic or chrome all over the place, unless it's actual piano finished real wood or real metal, we'd rather have nice quality matte finished soft rubbery plastic that feels solid and will never rattle or squeak. That fake part looks attractive for a few days when you own the car, but it gets annoying when it starts to rattle, dust and fingerprints are all over it all the time, etc.
It will be interesting to drive the new Astra though. We just got a couple of Astra J's in our company, and I never drove one until a few months ago, but was very surprised with how good the car feels and how well it held up, it feels better than many new models in the segment.
Sehr gut wie immer! I'm subscribing! Vielen dank von Schweden :-)
Angus MacGyver tak tak! :>
Great review Thomas. Nice looking car and a good idea by Vauxhall \ Opel to stop with the 19" wheels nonsense. Range of colours is appalling though and Id like to see how much glare or reflections are on the touch screen in real life use. Hope they've improved the rubbery gear change Vauxhall \ Opel are known for and dumped the 40,000 mile cambelt change! £400 additional service item every 4 years, ouch!
+Gonads1259 thanks!
I hope Vauxhall will unveil the new insignia soon
bei 5:33 auf dem Plakat an der wand sieht der Astra stimmiger für mich aus.
Sind das die Matrix LED leuchten?
111gump Nope, das sind die Halogen-Scheinwerfer an beiden Autos!
The car looks good until you see the back doors, I don't like the way the glass line turns up and the rear of the door comes to a point. The tailgate is a bit over done with the recess running across the whole door. How ever the front and the interior of the car are first class, as long as they will give you a light head lining and not the black. That makes it a bit too depressing.
Well astra it was always ond of my favourite car , but they should really start making some difference on it , those wheels are not looking that good on it , the steering wheel is quite big . And of course the price will be fawking high ( a cheaper price would be perfect ) but opel is always better than vw so this is quite good car ! P.s that dark blue color is brilliant
My dream car is here
how about the sprint button?
Prima,
Bitte..Konnen Sie Insignia OPC fahrberichten?
Amr Mohamed Danke! Werden wir bestimmt machen, sobald dieser neu für den Astra herauskommt!
In thailand nowk ?
Can anyone tell me is that a xenon for main beam and halogen for high beam, can anyone answer this please.
beautefull astra
seems smaller, i prefer the old one :)
It just looks like they just copied some parts fom other brands: the front spoiler is exactly the same as the VW Golf SV; the C pillar and the profile is exactly the same as the Nissan Murano or Sway; and the front headlights look very much like a Mazda2. WHAT THE HELL??? WHEN DID THE CHINESE BUY OPEL ???
Massage seats, but no telescopic stay for the bonet...
Buy
the astra used to be a great looking car. After the boring mk4 gave way to the mk5 they had one of the prettiest hatchbacks on the market. The 3 door sport hatch was much nicer than its rivals and has dated brilliantly (bar the interior).
now with the newest one it just seems vauxhall / opel has lost its imagination. The new corsa and astra aren't that attractive and almost look Korean. Go back to the drawing board I say.
I like the interior design...the exterior I'm not sure I love...
I agree the old one looks x10 better than this shit the coupe in yellow 2015 looks great I think if they want to change the Astra fine but they should keep the old design for the coupe because it looks good
Dont like the interior materials and colors, still also dont like Opel lights and i dont fell de German air in the new Astra.
they made it cheaper than astra j .very disappointing. even the matrix leds are manually height adjusted
He cannot sit comfortably on the rear :D
Every time I see a new Opel/Vauxhall I think "surely this can't get more bland". And they always prove me wrong. This is pure garbage.
I think it looks worse than the old 1 tbh
Three years fresher than a golf, but still not even close to be there ...
kola252 Res? Si se že peljal v obeh? Če si, potem veš, da se opel po kakovosti in po motorjih še zdaleč ne more primerjati s VW. Glede izgleda pa se s teboj strinjam in priznam, da golf izgleda dolgočasno, dokler mu ne dodaš malo lepših platišč, zatemnjenih stekel, led luči in R line opreme, potem pa izgleda fantastično.
no homo, though, thomas is quite cool
stupid opel
Only complaints and displeasure, and yet, this car is custom built to give you just the car you asked for in 6 years.
Whatever you are unhappy with - your fault and not Opel.
You have asked for this and now you get it.
The old car was condemned for being too heavy and too complicated.
No praised it ever to be well-built and well executed.
You kept your mouths closed.
None informed Opel on the fact that they made a good car.
Why would they continue?
Where were you before?
You are good at complaining afterwards.
You seem to think that you can build a car that weighs like paper - and that cost absolutely nothing - and yet you seem to think you shall not be able to notice this any ware.
you are incredibly stupid.
You seem to think that you can build a Rolls Royce that cost absolutely nothing.
A demand from you on this Astra has been that it should be cheap...
All require that it should cost nothing...
At the same time you require it to be extremely expensive and filled with expensive materials and expensive solutions - that you want without paying for them...
You are the big problem and not the car.
Holy crap! It's the ugliest car i ve ever seen! The previous two generations were very good but this car is crap. They completely ruined it especially the exterior. I wonder if it's going to sold in European market.
+ubersoldier71 Ugliest car you have ever seen?!?! Then you haven't seen much....