Opel Astra saloon Elite 130Bhp 1.7 Diesel V's Skoda Octavia 1.6 Exclusive 105Bhp

Pat Is The Baker

I'm in the process of deciding what to buy new for a company car.

Option 1
Opel Astra Saloon 1.7 Diesel 130 BHP - This is the Elite Model

Option 2
Skoda Octivia 1.6 Exclusive 105 BHP

Option 3
Renault Fluence R-Link 1.5 Diesel 110 BHP

Points to note:
- Power and spec is important
- Will be doing a lot of Motorway driving
- Don't care about residual
- Don't care about economy/running costs
- Don't care about reliability

I'm 90% there with the Opel Astra - Am I making the right choice?

Stallingrad

Yes, buy the Opel quick, before the Skoda possé arrives and tries to convince you that over rated heap is the answer to all our prayers.

Bpmull

I'd probably go for the astra. I own an older type astra and my parents own a 1.6 tdi octavia. Both are good cars. The astra is more powerful and you said power is important so I think the astra would be a better choice they are a lovely car specially in elite spec.

ba_barabus

Could you go for a Megane GT Line in 5 door format with the 1.5dci engine?

Pat Is The Baker

ba_barabus wrote: »

Could you go for a Megane GT Line in 5 door format with the 1.5dci engine?

No, It's not an option. That engine is pretty guttless when I drove it. Good torque for taking of but it runs out of puff so much earlier than the Skoda or Opel

road_high

New Astra Saloon is a fine car. Much more modern than the others, and 130bhp is a nice power engine to go for.

Leonard Hofstadter

I'd go for the Astra as well, it fulfils your requirements the best, especially the power one.

bazz26

The Octavia has now been replaced by a new model so that would rule it out for me straight away. The old model is very jaded looking now.

Astra is the most powerful of the bunch, the Elite is the top of the range model, is a fresher design and has a longer warranty than the Octavia.

Autosport

I'm biased Astra all the way

kona

3 sub 2l diesels and one of the points is power and running costs isn't a issue!? I'm confused.

ba_barabus

laurpat wrote: »

No, It's not an option. That engine is pretty guttless when I drove it. Good torque for taking of but it runs out of puff so much earlier than the Skoda or Opel

Are you sure it was the 6 speed 110bhp model and not an older GT line with the 5 speed and 90bhp engine?

There is a sizable difference between them in terms of driving dynamics.

ninty9er

With my own money and convenience at stake - Astra

With someone else's money and convenience at stake - Still the Astra but the Fluence would run it close.

Leonard Hofstadter

I've just reread the OP, if running costs aren't important, then why are you limiting yourself to diesels OP?

Why not get the 1.4 turbo Elite, it's the same price, is only €70 extra to tax a year, but has more power, will be smoother, quieter, better able to rev, will handle better because it will be lighter at the front (petrols are always lighter than diesels), and you won't have to worry about DPF or DMF problems if you do a lot of town driving.

MuppetCheck

captainspeed wrote: »

I've just reread the OP, if running costs aren't important, then why are you limiting yourself to diesels OP?

Why not get the 1.4 turbo Elite, it's the same price, is only €70 extra to tax a year, but has more power, will be smoother, quieter, better able to rev, will handle better because it will be lighter at the front (petrols are always lighter than diesels), and you won't have to worry about DPF or DMF problems if you do a lot of town driving.

The requirements make it sound like a company car, might be the reasoning behind it.

I'd go with the Astra, I'm close to buying a 2 litre 165bhp diesel GTC at the moment. I'm in two minds at as to what to do but they are a very nice car these days.

R.O.R

I haven't driven one of the newer 130ps 1.7 Astra's, but the power delivery from the older 125ps was absolutley awful. Had a demo (estate) for a couple of weeks when that came out, and the engine totally spoilt what was a very good car apart from that (helped it had the full leather, active chassis, active bending Xenon's, Nav, 19's etc).

I've driven a few Megane 110ps 6 Speeds and find that engine just a bit lacking. Strange you are turning down the Megane because of power, but considering the Fluence with the exact same engine.

Skoda Exclusive is the run out model with the built in Nav. The engine in that gets better with time and with a few miles on, is probably the best of the smaller diesels I've driven. Still needs working failry hard at low speed but cruises OK, with a bit of power left for overtakes.

Worth condisering the Jetta 1.6 Comfortline? Not as high spec as the rest, but around the same price. Focus 1.6Tdci 115ps Titanium is surely worth a look too? In and around the same price to buy, or from the left field - the Citroen C4 VTR+ - had one of those for a week and was very impressed.

Mazda 3 (same engine as Focus & C4) is also very good value for money. Decent specification and around the same size as the others. Coming to the end of it's life and the interior isn't quite up to the standard of the others, but I think it's one of the best looking in it's category.

Few other options to consider, but if it's down to the original 3, then I'd test drive the Astra (if you can get a go in a 130ps) and see if the power delivery is acceptable.

Pat Is The Baker

Thanks everyone for the input... It's a company car so I have a limited list that I can choose from.

As for the 110bhp in the fluence - That was the engine/car that I drove. It really runs out of puff way too early. I don't know if it's as a result of short gearing or why, not for me.

On the other hand the gearing is very long on the Astra, while it may be great for motorway driving it could be crap on b roads.

The Focus and Mazda 3 are also option but I thought they were both a tad on the small side. The Mazda 3 is available in the executive model and the focus is the 1.6 edge.

I'm taking out the Astra later so we'll see how it gets on. Thanks everyone for the feedback