Achtung Baby!. Review on Opel Astra Club - Petrol

I usually hate writing log reviews but when it comes to cars I cannot stop myself. I mean there are some many features and aspects to explain to do the justice to the amazing pieces of machines. So please bare with my extended long automobile reviews.

The automobile market in India is on fire!

Back when I was in school and Junior college, the king of the roads used to the Ambassador and the Fiat Padmini – now used as taxi’s in Mumbai. Things changed with MUL launching the M800, the M1000, Esteem, Omni. My favourite Indian car then was the Contessa – solid car! I would be awed when I would see any foreign make, mostly Merc or Toyota or Nissan. Just look at the options available now –

Simply amazing! Now they even offer free first year insurance.

Competition apart, one name that I purposefully omitted from the above list is the Opel Astra - Club. This one does have its place in the competition. General Motors revamped the smaller Astra to make it slightly bigger and better, and I must say that they have done this job very well. Sometime back when I was driving Maruti I had a test ride from the local dealer. From that and some experience I had driving friends Opel I would like to share you my opinion on it.

Just one look at the car is all it takes to fall in love with it. Compared to others in its class, it looks quite smaller – both lengthwise and width wise, probably also height wise. The car looks sleeker and very sporty – more racy. It has elegantly sloping hood that terminates in the front grill. On either side of the grill, it has thin rectangular strips – the lamps, of course. The rear is equally impressive. The taillights are on extreme edges and a major portion of it is on the sides of the car then the rear. The flanks are slightly higher. The sides of the car have gentle curves. One can’t miss the circle with a streak of lightening, the opel emblem, that shines at the rear and on the grill in the front. Astra Club looks absolutely stunning in black with the lower portion in silver – the catfish look! See it sideways from a distance and you will feel that it is all set to dart. One another thing is that all the windows look remarkably clean. I can’t quite describe it in words, but I guess the thick glass does not come fitted with the anti-glare sheets and yet has a pale greenish tinge, like anti-glare spectacle glasses.

The interiors! See it to believe it. No it ain’t as cheap as my Ikon or Esteem. The Astra Club is not a budget car, it falls in the premium category. The plastic has class curves and moulds. The upholstery is a class apart. The seats look like luxurious sofa sets. Try seating on it and you will agree that it is a sofa set. You just sink nicely in the seat – pretty soft and yet it does not loose shape. The leg space in front is divine. The rear seats are slightly raised, so even from the back you have good view of the road. But like I earlier mentioned, the car looks smaller than other sedans. The charity in front seat is at the cost of leg space in the rear. Not that it is not comfortable, but Mr. Bacchan may have to seat in the middle if he has to sit behind, so that his long legs find some space. Probably that is the only disadvantage. Cooling is first class. The Astra Club has some special features to boast about – one is that it comes equipped with pollen filter that leaves out all particulates outside and fresh dust free air in the cabin. The second is that it has a Sun Roof. As with the Zen, the driver’s seat is the hot seat. It is specially designed and can be moved back and forth to adjust to the driver dimensions. The clutch/brakes/accelerator, floor gears, hand brake are superbly positioned. I would add a pinch of salt to non-Astra owners by saying that it comes equipped with Blaupunkt car audio system.

Engine and Mileage:

Club is truly a pleasure to drive. The car is extremely smooth. The pick up, acceleration, gear ratios are like a scotch. Believe me, you don’t feel the rash roads in this baby. The suspension is a delight. The Club boasts of a top speed of 175 Kmph. I never got to test that though! The 1600 cc, 4 cylinder engine surges from 0 – 100 Kmph in 13-14 secs. The braking is good and reliable too. Not bad! But this is enough to justify the pleasure some driving.

The driving spirit is dampened because of two major hurdles. Had these not been there, this car was PERFECT buy. The first problem is that while potholes are not a threat, the Indian roads are characterized by irritatingly high speed-breakers. If you don’t spot it early enough, consider that Opel is gone to the garage, cause it is a low car. I always steer it at an angle, one wheel at a time approach. The other problem is that the car is a fuel guzzler. It gives a very low average of 8-9 Kmpl for city driving. Never been on highway in this car but my guess is, it can’t be above 12 Kmpl. So high investment cost + high running cost too.

But the club has some special features:

1) The car has sturdy steel plate to protect the engine and other underbody parts.

4) The car body is made of fully galvanized thick steel. So it is a bit safer in the event of crash and the gloss paint implies rust protection and longer life.

So at the end, I will say that the car is awesome and extremely pleasurable to drive but Opel Astra Club is an expensive proposition.