Astra - Petrol/Diesel

dooley44

Hey everyone, just a quick question.

Thinking on getting an Astra but not sure whether or not to go for the 1.3 Diesel or 1.4 Petrol?

Anybody able to give me a better insight into the best option to take??

Cheers!

Nissan doctor

You posted 3 threads...



Anyway, which is best depends on which you need. Its been done a million times by now but modern diesels are for higher mileage use with plenty of motorway use, petrols are more suited to lower mileage or mostly city/town driving.

Zubeneschamali

Both will be slow...

Nissan doctor

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Both will be slow...

Both will be from 90hp up to 100hp depending on which models the OP is looking at. Comparable to the majority of other standard hatches on the road.

Zubeneschamali

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Both will be from 90hp up to 100hp depending on which models the OP is looking at. Comparable to the majority of other standard hatches on the road.

14.5 seconds to 100 kph is painfully slow. A Fiat 500 with the same diesel motor does it in 11.

shamwari

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

14.5 seconds to 100 kph is painfully slow.

14.5 secs is flat out acceleration and of little relevence in the normal world. Normal driving will probably see both cars perform adequately.

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

A Fiat 500 with the same diesel motor does it in 11.

A Fiat 500 weighs a lot less than an Astra, plus is lot smaller. You're not comparing like with like.

Zubeneschamali

shamwari wrote: »

A Fiat 500 weighs a lot less than an Astra, plus is lot smaller.

Yes, that motor is adequate in a light car with short gears like the 500. In an Astra, it is underpowered.

A Golf diesel's 0-60 is 11.3 seconds. A Focus is 12.5 or 10.9 depending on model.

I know very well that nobody wrings these times out of a real car at the lights, but that's not the point. Even driven as ordinary folks drive, the Astra is painfully slow and underpowered.

MuppetCheck

The 1.3 Astra is laggy but when on boost has enough performance for what it is. I'm sure anyone could learn to drive around it. It is also an economical car to run.

Zubeneschamali

MuppetCheck wrote: »

The 1.3 Astra is laggy but when on boost has enough performance for what it is.

Seriously, is there a slower car in that class? Not from Ford, VW/Audi/Skoda/Seat, Toyota, Renault/Nissan, even the 90 bhp Hyundai i30 is quicker.

And it's not tenths of a second slower, it's a clear 1, 2, 3, 4 seconds slower than it's rivals.

Foxhole Norman

Why does the acceleration matter in real world terms? He/She is obviously not going to be tearing around Mondello in a 1.3 Diesel.

misterdeeds

dooley44 wrote: »

Hey everyone, just a quick question.

Thinking on getting an Astra but not sure whether or not to go for the 1.3 Diesel or 1.4 Petrol?

Anybody able to give me a better insight into the best option to take??

Cheers!

I have the 1.4 petrol astra and I love it, very light on petrol and I often drive to west cork on half tank (120 miles) lovely solid car to drive aswell . I hope this helps you decide on the petrol if you decide to do so .my good friend MR C will testify to this lovely car . :-)

Leonard Hofstadter

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

Why does the acceleration matter in real world terms? He/She is obviously not going to be tearing around Mondello in a 1.3 Diesel.

No but you do want to be able to safely overtake slow moving traffic, and to be up to speed when joining a motorway or dual carriageway so you can easily merge with the traffic already on the motorway, and in general the slower a car's 0-100 time is then the less useable performance there is, so the more of a pain these kind of things are. I would consider anything that takes more than about 13 seconds to hit 100 to be dangerously underpowered - overtaking slow moving traffic is just not going to happen unless you've a stretch of road a mile long!

GTDolanator

the 1.3 diesel has plenty of poke for overtaking....well in combo form anyway,engine is reliable IF maintained corectly,otherwise it tends to fall apart

MuppetCheck

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Seriously, is there a slower car in that class? Not from Ford, VW/Audi/Skoda/Seat, Toyota, Renault/Nissan, even the 90 bhp Hyundai i30 is quicker.

And it's not tenths of a second slower, it's a clear 1, 2, 3, 4 seconds slower than it's rivals.

Have you driven one? I have driven a few of the old model and newer model with the 1.3 fiat unit.

Like I said, it can be laggy but on boost there is nothing wrong with the performance. It's no rocket ship but fine for most. I'm going on figures for the previous model Astra here, and the same for the Megane, Focus and i30.

According to parkers the 90ps older model does 0-60 in 12.8 seconds.

The equivalent model Megane was 12.3s, the i30 is 13.6s, the focus 12.2.

I'd like to know which mid size 90ish brake diesel hatch is posting 0-60 times 4 seconds faster than the Astra as that car would be a marvel.

If you compare the equivalent newer model focus (an not incorrectly include the 115PS model like in the quoted post) there is a gap of 1.6 seconds in favour of the focus, 0.3 seconds in favour of the 90ps i30 and and 1.3 seconds for the Megane. Still far off 4 seconds. So again, which 90 brake hatch is doing 0-60 times of under ten seconds in this class?

MuppetCheck

captainspeed wrote: »

I would consider anything that takes more than about 13 seconds to hit 100 to be dangerously underpowered - overtaking slow moving traffic is just not going to happen unless you've a stretch of road a mile long!

Overtaking in a diesel is easier often due to the mid range say compared to a petrol 1.4 for example in this case. I remember you saying previously you had only driven one diesel - you should only make comments like those if you really have the experience to back it up to be fair.

I agree with your point on poor acceleration but I'm just trying to put things into perspective here.

Nissan doctor

A cars 0-100 time can have very little connection to its in gear acceleration. Its all about the gearing and torque when it comes to overtaking and real word usability.

Sure wasn't that the old tag line about Saab turbo's in the 80's, they could accelerate faster then most Ferrari's from 40mph-70mph, the point being they were faster for real world requirements.

The gearing is long in the Astra 1.3cdti, this is for fuel economy and emissions, which is the case with many modern cars. The truth is if you use the gears properly and keep the car in the power band, it will be more then adequate for overtaking.

Zubeneschamali

MuppetCheck wrote: »

According to parkers the 90ps older model does 0-60 in 12.8 seconds.

The new one takes 14.5 to 100 kph.

MuppetCheck

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

The new one takes 14.5 to 100 kph.

I used what car figures and it seems they were wrong. But which of its rivals shave 4 second off that? I see 2.3 at the most - and unless you floor it away from the lights you will notice little difference. The one liner also implies you have no experience of driving the car.

bbuzz

I've driven the 1.3 diesel Astra, and like what most people have said It's slow out of first gear (especially when cold) but once you get up to 3rd, 4th and 5th its fine and is perfect for overtaking. Gets really good mileage on the motorway as well.

In terms of the interior, the Focus is much nicer and roomier (well at least in the last generation).

STForSale

bbuzz wrote: »

I've driven the 1.3 diesel Astra, and like what most people have said It's slow out of first gear (especially when cold) but once you get up to 3rd, 4th and 5th its fine and is perfect for overtaking. Gets really good mileage on the motorway as well.

In terms of the interior, the Focus is much nicer and roomier (well at least in the last generation).

I think the new focus is a superior car in almost every sense.
The astra would need to be a fair bit cheaper to consider over it.

Ardennes1944

what about this op? http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3326951

dooley44

Thanks for the input everyone, i'm driving a 1.2 peugeot 206 at the moment so I doubt I would notice if the Astra would be considered a bit slow would I?

Nissan doctor

dooley44 wrote: »

Thanks for the input everyone, i'm driving a 1.2 peugeot 206 at the moment so I doubt I would notice if the Astra would be considered a bit slow would I?

No your not.

1.1 or 1.4 they come in, presume its a 1.1 you have.

dooley44

Yeah its a 1.1 but for my insurance its down as 1.2 .......

Having owned both 02 1.4 petrol saloon and currently have a 1.3 diesel estate.
The diesel is a pig when its cold but its not bad.took a while to get used to it.
I wouldn't get it I was going to be carrying 4 adults around all the time as it can run out of steam and you end up changing gear alot.Overtaking is not an issue if done correctly.plenty of go in the turbo.
over 500miles out of 74euro. got nearly 600miles for 74e driving motorways.
Fact is fuel prices are only going one way so If you dont like spending money on juice the 1.3s your man.

bbuzz

STForSale wrote: »

I think the new focus is a superior car in almost every sense.
The astra would need to be a fair bit cheaper to consider over it.

100% agree