Vauxhall ASTRA CONVERTIBLE TURBO
Heres An Oddity. A Sweetly Styled Cabrio With A Bite-Yer-Head-Off Powerplant. Andy Enright Finds Out Whats In The Water At
Vauxhall Product Planning
Soft top motoring often seems to ask much of us. For the privilege of going large with the side order of melanoma, weve traditionally had to put up with fiddly roofs, zero rear visibility, wobbly chassis dynamics, a hugely inflated price tag and the sort of wind noise that only Ernest Shackleton would have deemed acceptable. Though few realised at the time of its launch, the Vauxhall Astra Convertible changed the way we think about small cabriolets. The painless way into open top motoring now gets to wield the big stick with a 190bhp turbocharged version.
Straight away it seems an odd choice. Do the sort of suburbanites who flock to the Astra convertible really want 151mph performance? Its difficult to look the part when your coif is being torn out by the roots but that is probably beside the point. Like elderly
Kia owners opting for an extended warranty theyll probably never live to benefit from, Astra Convertible Turbo buyers are buying a certain peace of mind. Theyre buying the sort of self satisfaction that comes with the knowledge that their ride will easily chew up and spit out a
BMW 325CI Sport Convertible.
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A quicker car, around £10,000 in your pocket and the priceless smile of supreme smugness? That has to be worth the badge handicap. Make no mistake, the Astra Convertible Turbo is supremely swift. The 190bhp engine that we became accustomed to, first in the Astra Coupe and then in the SRi Turbo hatch, is a suitably exciting old-school installation, with great gales of adrenaline-pumping turbo boost that can occasionally overwhelm the traction at the front wheels, but nevertheless always feels outrageously muscular.
Vauxhall insiders claim that the 190bhp power output usually errs on the conservative side, and its not difficult to imagine 200bhp being generated.
"The 190bhp engine always feels outrageously muscular."
Capable of a sprint to sixty of 7.5 seconds, the Astra Convertible Turbo is something of a handful. Traction is reminiscent of more powerful
Saab models insofar as the sudden onset of turbocharged power can occasionally flummox the electronic control system. Whereas wed previously regarded the Astra Convertible as a delightfully benign car, the Turbo has a darker side.
The combination of the cars beautiful 17-inch wheels and that glut of power creates a slightly harsh ride which requires some concentration, especially over typically bumpy UK B-roads, if one is not to continually fight torque steer when pressing on. Not the sort of problem the
BMW driver would have to contend with. As would be expected from a range-topping model, the Astra Convertible Turbo doesnt want for standard equipment and packs in a CD multichanger stereo system, ABS and stability control. The styling job is relatively modest and apart from the somewhat Halfords-looking turbo badge at the rear and those five-spoke 17-inch alloy wheels with low profile tyres, few will spot the additional a windbreak, oval exhaust pipe, turbo floor mats or aluminium gear knob.
The Bertone lines still look fresh, and the car seems to have moved half a class or so upmarket from the doors of the old Astra Convertible, a car that now looks resolutely dumpy in comparison. Unlike the old car, theres no ugly roll-over bar to spoil the pretty lines, nor is there any need for a fiddly tonneau cover. Instead, the hood is properly concealed beneath a metal cover behind the rear bulkhead. This hydraulically opens and closes to swallow both the roof and the glass rear window plus the whole process is completely automated with no clips, catches or poppers to worry about.
Just as youd find in only of those prestigiously-badged soft-tops. In fact, Vauxhall has even stolen a march on some of those rivals by offering the owner the option of raising and lowering the roof without being in the car at all. Picture it. Youre seated beneath a canopy at your favourite roadside café and it begins to rain. But theres no need to get up and leave your coffee. You simply press one of the two central locking buttons on your remote control keyfob for more than two seconds and the roof will close automatically in just 30 seconds. The same time it will take to open if youve parked in the rain only to find that the sun has now come out.
In addition, you can lower all four windows electrically using the same remote control unit and of course, there are also switches in the car itself to perform the same functions. Vauxhall have worked hard to make this car the first true full four-seater in the class and, thanks to a long 102-inch wheelbase, theyve largely succeeded for all but the particularly long-legged. The car will easily swallow a weekends luggage too, thanks to a 330-litre boot (big enough for two sets of golf clubs). It would have been even better if the two rear seats could have folded forward to increase this but instead, buyers will have to make do with a standard load-through facility apparently big enough for two pairs of skis and one snowboard.
The Astra Convertible Turbo is probably the quickest curates egg its possible to buy. On paper it looks something of a steal, a car that generates some incredible figures and which is offered at an eye-catching price. In reality its a flawed performer. Taken in isolation, the engine is a barnstormer, but it seems less happy in the convertible body shell, and is best enjoyed by Astra SRi hatch or Coupe buyers.
If you want the quickest four-
seat convertible for sensible money, this is it. Were it not a mere £1,500 more than the 2.2-litre version, itd be difficult to make a case for. As it stands, the prospect of blowing far more expensive machinery into the weeds is just too tempting not to budget the extra grand for.
Flawed maybe, but fiendish fun.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Vauxhall Astra Convertible Turbo
PRICE: £22,145 on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 16
CO2 EMISSIONS: 214g/km
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 7.5s / Max Speed 151mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 31mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin Front airbags / ABS / DSC / traction control
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height, 4267/1709/1390mm
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