vauxhall astra gte 16v review

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Picture courtesy of adriansaleem.

Average Ratings

Performance	9.1/10
Practicality	8.5/10
Reliability	8.7/10
Value for Money	8.5/10
Reviewer Rating	9.5/10
Overall Rating	8.6/10

91% Recommended10 out of 11 Reviews

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By Astra2 on 23rd Feb 2004

Astra2's Ratings

Year Manufactured	1989
Length of ownership	2 years
Performance	9/10
Practicality	9/10
Reliability	9/10
Value for money	10/10
Overall value	9/10
Astra2's recommendation

Good Points

Awesome engine, retro Blake's 7 dash, nice driving position, classic shape.

Bad Points

Rear arch rot, woeful handling (std), brakes adequete, but not totally confidence inspiring, unfortunate insurance group listing, not many nice examples left. GM Head porosity problems,

General Comments

Having owned 5 Vauxhall Astra GTE 16v myself now, both standard and modified, I can safely say I know a good one when I see one, or drive it for that matter.

With 156/150* bhp from the box (*=Cat fitted models) and a very lightweight shell, the Astra GTE 16v is an awesome bit of kit, and in terms of bhp/£ there is not a lot to touch it. Top whack you will pick one up for about £2000-2500 but we are talking Leather Edition Champion run-out models (250 Champion and 250 Leather Edition released).

First thing you will notice sitting in the GTE is the bright "futuristic" looking digi dash, which takes a bit of getting used to after years of analogue clocks! The seats and interior are not too bad, as long as you have a charcoal rainbow interior and not the aweful grey flannel looking ones that I have had in the past. The driving position is also quite nice, with easy adjustments made to height of seat if need be.

On driving, the engine is not the most refined, but in 1988 how many 1998cc lumps were producing 156bhp without turbos? A small trade-off. Simply flooring the car on the stock 14 inch alloys in first or second gear is not adviseable as the car has a tendancy to torque steer and spin up wildly, and you will end up killing acceleration. 0-60 is up in anywhere between 6.9 and 7.6 secs dependant on condition and who is driving. 15 inch wheels offer better grip without compromising handling. The 16v XE engine loves being revved hard, and as long as it is maintained well will keep coming back for more again and again and again. Driven sensibly you can see an easy 35mpg, which for a performance car of this kind is very good.

Unlike most Vauxhall gearboxes the F20 box is not as rubbery and as long as it is well maintained the changes should be precise.

The chassis really does need tweeking to get the best out of the lump that powers it. Bilstein sports dampers and Eibach springs are very good and tend to dial out a little of the lift off oversteer that these cars suffer from badly from the factory. Brakes are ok, but again, V6 callipers from the Vectra and 288mm discs are advised to beef things up a little.

Body rot is a major plague for the MK2. 16v models were not AS prone, might have something to do with them being turned out of the Opel factories and not from British ones???? The rear arches go easily due to a lip on the inside of the arch. Water and muck tend to stick here and unless washed regularly the catalogue of muck can eat away at the metal requiring a good bodyshop to rectify. Worst case is new quarter panels (NOT CHEAP).

Always inspect under carpets on floorpan (especially around drainage gromets). Pull back the inspection panels in the boot to inspect rear arches. You will also be able to ascertain as to whether or not the car has already had welding work done.

Avoid high mileage examples with little or no history, run a mile if there is mayo gunk in the coolant reservoir or the oil filler cap. Any tapping noises should clear in seconds, again if not, one of Vauxhall's handbuilt finest has been nailed to death! Run away!

All in all a very good car. Look carefully and find a good one and you will grin from ear to ear. Buy a pup though........................plenty of them, it is a different story.

Total Respect: +6