11
REVIEW
Opel Astra GTC 2011 Review - International
Opel's Astra isn't even here yet and they're already offering up a sexier, sportier two-door version in Europe. So, which version, if any, should we be waiting for?Opel Astra GTC: First drive
Mallorca, Spain
Mallorca, Spain
What we liked
>> Taut coupe-style looks
>> Tidy handling
>> Awesome headlights
Not so much
>> Fussy dash design
>> No thumper engine – yet
>> Very long third gear
Let’s get this out of the way right now: the Opel Astra GTC is not a Golf GTI rival. Emphatically. That’s what Opel Europe says anyway. And it's probably what the local Opel burgers would say too – if the three-door coupe-cum-hatch had been confirmed for Oz… But it hasn't… Yet.
The reality is that with its squat stance and visual promise, the hot-shot VW is exactly what people will think about when they look at the GTC. But the reasons it doesn’t work as a GTI rival are obvious as soon as you start to have a proper look at the newest Opel. Actually, they should be obvious as soon as you look at the body, because not only does it not yet have enough engine to match the Golf, but you can only get it with three doors.
Unlike the GTI, it’s also heavily modified from the standard car – indeed, the only body parts it shares with the standard Astra five-door are the mirror shrouds, the door handles and the fin antenna on the roof. And, also unlike the GTI, nobody quite knows when it’s coming to Australia -- even if it is high up on Opel Australia’s wishlist.
It should be, too, because the Astra GTC is pretty darn good. The GTC is a range on its own in Europe, with a collection of three 1.4-litre turbo petrol motors (ranging from a 74kW poverty pack to a 103kW machine), the 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine, upon which hang many corporate hopes, and a 2.0-litre turbodiesel. There are more turbodiesel variants waiting in the wings.
At 132kW, the 1.6-litre four is shy of the GTI, but if you’re obsessed with humbling Golf drivers, a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol version will make its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March. That will be an OPC (Opel Performance Centre) variant with a whopping 206kW and 400Nm. It's good for 250km/h. Be warned.
For the moment, Opel has aimed its fastest launch petrol version beneath the Golf GTI for a reason, and that’s to ensure people appreciate the GTC for its own character -- of which it has plenty. The 1.6-litre engine is smooth and willing, if not dripping with torque at low revs. It spins happily beyond its 5500rpm power peak and the 230Nm of torque peaks at 2200rpm and sticks around at that level until 5400rpm (just 100 revs shy of the power peak).
Those figures indicate a flat, torque-rich, punchy mid-ranger, but it doesn’t quite pan out like that. Instead, you get a four-pot that idles smoothly, sounds like an honest trier and spins with impressive freedom across the entire rev range.
It mates to a six-speed manual gearbox that is accurate in its work, without ever quite managing to feel intuitive or tactile. It’s not without its issues, though, and they relate mainly to the brake and accelerator pedals being a touch too far apart for neat heel-toe downshifts. Third gear is problematic to boot -- it is so tall it dulls the GTC’s in-gear acceleration. Ironically it is presumably so it can sneak through to 100km/h without an extra gearshift in the 0-100km/h thrash.
Open quotes 0-100km/h in 8.3 seconds -- which it feels like it will do all day, every day -- and a 230km/h top speed. It feels a lot more flexible and willing in the mid range in every gear other than third, but spinning hard without any unsettling vibration is really its forte.
The engine is stronger than the 1.4-litre petrol motors but it’s also thirstier. Where the 103kW 1.4-litre engine uses 5.9L/100km, the 1.6 uses 7.2 and emits 168 grams of CO2/km. It is 1.6 seconds faster to 100km/h than the 103kW 1.4 version, and a whopping 6.2 seconds quicker than the slowest of the GTC offerings.
For all-round performance, you’re probably better off with the 2.0-litre turbodiesel under the nose of your GTC. This is Opel’s flagship four-pot diesel, and they’ve a right to be happy with it. It powers everything from the Astra to the Zafira peoplemover and it boasts 121kW and on overboost 380Nm. Normal peak torque is a still impressive 350Nm.
It barely sounds like a diesel when you fire it up with just a handful more vibrations sneaking into the cabin than the petrol motor and a deeper voice. It doesn’t quite rev as freely, but all that torque makes each rev count more and it’s plenty more flexible for in-gear acceleration, despite running a beefed-up six-speed manual.
The torque peak is there from 1750rpm while the power peaks at 4000. It feels a bit more like a rich, crunching, low-revving petrol motor than a diesel, and that’s a feeling helped no end by its flexibility mid-corner.
Where the petrol motor does its best work if you arrive in a corner in exactly the right gear, the diesel doesn’t seem to mind being one gear either side of the optimum, hauling from low revs or playing petrol pretend from 3500 or so. It’s an impressive unit, made more impressive by posting an 8.9sec sprint to 100km/h and using just 4.8L/100km.
Beneath the decks, the GTC has a longer wheelbase, wider front and rear tracks, a lower ride height, different rear suspension geometry and an entirely different front suspension and steering hardware to the Astra five-door.
Ask why all that is necessary and Opel insists the GTC is aimed at an entirely different buyer. Once you start rolling in the thing, it’s easy to understand that they’re not just stirring the marketing pot.
It does feel different, and in everything it does. It starts with the seats and the materials they’ve used in the cabin and it seeps through the rest of the car from there. The cabin is a bit fussier than you’d find in a Golf and the shallower windscreen angle means there’s a little support pillar at the bottom of the A-pillar, though it doesn’t seem to hamper the driver’s vision.
The seats are superb, with enormous side bolstering and lumbar support and (that big gap between the brake and accelerator pedals aside) the driving position is excellent and so is vision. In Europe, you can buy more vision, too, with the option of a panoramic glass roof that will serve to sauna-up any Australian GTCs in moments.
The cabin area is large, but has little by way of compartments or securing devices beyond a pair of hook points. Both rear seats fold flat independently, too, and full-sized adults, even Australian ones, can fit comfortably in the rear.
Security and progressive handling, rather than fizzing, giggling fun, is the order of the day when you arrive in the twisty stuff. The HiPerStrut front suspension is inordinately clever, halving the king-pin angle and virtually eliminating torque steer.
On our wet and wild time in Spain, the little Astra would happily spin up both front wheels without ever tugging at the steering wheel. It just went a touch light to tell you when things weren’t hunky-dory, just in case you didn’t pick up on the car missing the bit you aimed at. It tucks back in fluidly when you come off the throttle again.
It’s the same sort of story from the back. If it ever looks like getting into strife, it telegraphs it to you first, then gets its secretary to call and follows it up with a confirmation email before it ever asks its own stability control to recover a skid. It has all the safety nets most people expect, but it allows the driver plenty of scope to do the job him/herself before it acts.
GTC rides well, too, soaking up square-edged hits with a quiet calm and refusing to be upset even if it crunches big hits mid-corner. It’s also quiet inside; a feeling helped by the smooth spinning of its engines.
It’s also exceedingly clever, with a host of stuff that was once the province of the premium-car sector, like a forward-facing camera that provides info to everything from a safety-gap distance warning to a lane-departure warning and traffic sign recognition.
One of its systems will be particularly welcome in Australia’s wide-open spaces: the intelligent light ranging system. Opel data suggested that even when it could be used, high beam was being utilized only six per cent of the time. The new system means that, when you leave the GTC’s lights in “auto” mode, they will not only turn corners with you, but they’ll jump to high beam the instant they’re not going to dazzle anybody and they’ll drop back to low beam the instant they will.
The GTC chipped in 400,000 units for the last generation Astra and Opel hopes this one will be an even stronger seller. Will Australian buyers help boost the total – we wouldn't bet against it…
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Written byMichael Taylor
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
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