Astra already in Portugal and on sale from €25,600 – Observer
After unveiling the new Astra on September 1st, the first to be prepared using the Stellantis organ bank, Opel took it to our country to show this one of its most important models. Despite being two pre-series units, since production will only start at the end of the year, we cannot see everything the model will have to offer to national drivers.
Designed on the EMP2 platform, specifically a 3rd version of which is known internally as an Efficient Modular Platform 2, the same one that also serves as the basis for the recent Peugeot 308, the new Astra obtains from a complementary seat to a traditional offer of combustion engines , both petrol and diesel, with plug-in hybrid units (PHEV) and 100% electric. this being the first time that the German brand’s compact saloon, without the most important segment of the market, will offer low-obtained versions (PHEV) and zero offer (EV).
Novo Astra bets on aesthetics
With a similar length (the new generation is just 4 mm longer), the new Astra uses the new platform for grow 51 cm in width (1,860 m) and 13 cm in wheelbase, which allows for more space for those sitting in the back. The luggage compartment should also grow, compared to the previous 370 liters, but the brand has not yet announced the definitive values, knowing that the PHEV versions will be even less generous due to the presence of the battery.
But the big difference in the new Astra is the bet on aesthetic, more attractive and modern, with an obvious sporty connotation. This is visible in the fender flares, both front and rear, in the more design-sophisticated bumpers, and in the wedge-shaped bodywork defined by the glazed surface, which is more evident in the versions with the black painted roof. .
Headlights are LED in all versions, but in the more sophisticated and expensive ones come the Intelli-Lux LED Pixel Light, with 84 elements per headlamp, inherited from the Insignia. More complicated was adapting the grille that Opel calls Vizor to the Astra, essentially a black “band” that unites the headlights and that in Mokka, Crossland and Grandland does not have air intakes. However, on the Astra, because the front is lower and the air that enters through the bumper is not enough, four tears appear on each side that spoil the effect intended by Vizor, despite a brand trying to hide it in all photos officers.
Bigger inside and the Pure Panel
Once seated at the wheel, the driving position is correct and in front appears the Pure Panel, with the instrument panel in front of the driver linked to the central touchscreen, facing the driver. A set of buttons allows more users direct access to functions, saving time and preventing eyes too much time away from the road.
banks are good, certified by the German experts in ergonomics at the AGR, which Stellantis also uses on Peugeot and DS. But the gain in space is more evident for those sitting in the back, in width and legroom. You materials are good and the finishes too, despite the fact that we are dealing with pre-series units.
Two PHEVs and van in 2022. Tram in 2023
With production starting in December, the first units of the new Astra will reach customers who order, starting next week, at the end of the 1st quarter of 2022. This includes as versions with a six-year manual or eight-year automatic, Aisin, of Japanese origin, and 1.2 Turbo and 1.5 Turbodiesel engines. The first with three cylinders and 130 hp – interestingly and unlike Peugeot, in the new 308, Opel does not offer the 1.2 with 110 hp as the entry-level version in the range – while the diesel is a tetracylinder with 130 hp.
If these more traditional engines represent 2/3 of sales, according to Enrico de Lorenzi, the new brand manager for our country, the the remaining 33% of sales are in charge of the two PHEV versions, which Opel is offering for the first time on the Astra. The combustion engine is the 1.6 supercharged with four cylinders, which we already know from Peugeot, DS, Citroën and Opel’s Grandland. It doesn’t work on Miller cycle, which would favor consumption, but it can provide 150 hp or 180 hp, depending on the version.
The gasoline combustion engine is associated with a 110 hp electric motor, installed inside the EAT8 automatic gearbox, in place of the torque converter, powered by a battery with a capacity of 12.4 kWh, the brand not having revealed the useful capacity of the accumulator , waiting for you to guarantee a autonomy in EV mode of 60 km. The two versions of the combustion engine will allow the Astra to offer two PHEVs, one with 180 hp of accumulated power and a second with 225 hp, but always with the same torque of 360 Nm, in a solution similar to the one wielded by the Peugeot 308.
If the Astra PHEV are also expected to arrive in Portugal at the end of the 1st quarter, together with the petrol and diesel versions, there is another version of the Astra that will be made available to national drivers still in 2022, more precisely in December. We refer to the van, a version that is traditionally preferred by the Portuguese, the assessment based on the results of previous generations, since, without major losses in terms of weight or aerodynamic performance, it achieves a more versatile luggage compartment.
The last Astra to hit the market will be the 100% electric, potentially called Astra-e, for which it is only known which part of a platform designed for combustion vehicles, adapted to the installation of a package of batteries, as will happen in the 308. It is not the best solution from the point of view of efficiency, but it allows to avoid higher costs and investments.
Prices from €25,600
The most affordable version of the new Astra will be that mountain or tricylindrical 1.2 Turbo engine, with 130 hp manual and gearbox, which the brand will sell from March for €25,600. This value is identical to that practiced by the previous generation, an advantage compared to the greater equipment content it has.
Compared with the also new Peugeot 308, rival and brother Opel Astra, with whom it shares chassis, mechanics and equipment, the French model appears in the local from €22,800, despite requiring financing through the bank associated with the brand. Still, it’s a differential greater than 10%.
There are no values for the remaining versions. But in relation to the PHEV, as the 308 has already announced that a Hybrid 180 version will trade for €34,450, the Astra with the same mechanics shouldn’t demand much more.