General Motors Europe has released full details of the new three-door Astra ‘Sport Hatch’ which goes on sale on the Continent, badged as an Opel, this spring.
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It is being built only at GME’s assembly plant in Antwerp, Belgium; five-door Astras are also built at the Vauxhall plant near Liverpool in the UK.
As usual, the new model line will be badged Vauxhall for the UK. There’s no official word yet, but if such European-designed Opel models are exported further afield (or built locally), they are usually sold under the Chevrolet badge in Asia, Far and Middle East markets, and are badged as Holdens for Australia and New Zealand. Therefore it’s possible the stylish new three-door Astra will, in due course, become another near-global market model for GM.
GME said the Sport Hatch “offers a radical reinterpretation of the more traditional ‘five minus two’ design of a three-door hatchback and expects the model to appeal more to younger buyers.
In the UK, the new range on sale from April will ‘mirror’ only the sporty trim levels of the five-door Astra hatchback range – the SXi, SRi and Design.
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By GlobalDataIn addition, Vauxhall will again use its well-proven ‘race-on-Sunday, sell-on-Monday’ approach to exposing the new model to potential buyers by contesting this year’s British Touring Car Championship with a VX Racing version of the Sport Hatch. Meanwhile, the road-going VXR, which the automaker describes as “searing”, will go on sale later this year.
The production Astra Sport Hatch is based on the well-received 2003 Geneva show GTC Genéve concept. The roofline is 32 mm lower than that of the five door Astra and almost every exterior panel is different. With low mounted sports seats, its cabin is said to match the sharp exterior styling, yet remains practical with a 302 litre boot and claimed full five-seat capacity.
Arguably the most interesting feature is optional and very innovative ‘panoramic windscreen’, a 1.5 metre long sweep of glass to the middle of the roof, without the distraction of any bars or pillars. Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Smart and Peugeot all offer some models in Europe with an all-glass roof but the GME design, effectively combining the windscreen and the front half of the roof is unique and the automaker says the experience is like sitting in the cockpit of a fighter jet.
Styling, portal count and glass roof aside, the three-door Astra is pretty much identical to its five-door cousin in terms of engine and transmission choices. UK buyers will choose from four petrol and three diesel engines from the April launch.
The petrol engines, all with 16 valves, are the 90ps 1.4i, 105ps 1.6i and 125ps plus GME’s recently launched 170ps two-litre turbocharged unit.
Developed under GME’s diesel engine partnership with Fiat, the three CDTi common-rail diesel engines all meet the stringent new Euro IV emissions regulations and are claimed to deliver “outstanding frugality” in their class. The entry-level engine is the 100PS 1.7 CDTi and there are two 1.9-litre turbodiesels tuned for either 120ps or 150ps.
The 2.0 petrol turbo and both 1.9 diesel engines come with the standard six-speed manual gearbox now fast becoming common with such engines from all major European automakers. GME’s ‘Easytronic’ clutchless transmission is also available with the 1.6-litre petrol engine while a conventional four-speed automatic is optional with the 1.8-litre unit.
All versions sold in the UK will have air conditioning and a CD player and, like other Astras, the audio options include DAB digital radio and MP3 compatible disc readers.
Other standard or optional items include a ‘sport switch’ that enables the driver to select so-called “more dynamic” settings for steering assistance and throttle mapping, an interactive driving system, electronic climate control, rain sensitive wipers with automatic headlamps and adaptive headlights.
The Sport Hatch shares the crash protection system that won the five-door hatch a top five-star Euro NCAP rating and all models have six airbags as standard.
GME said its own testing had proved that cars fitted with the panoramic windscreen have the same levels of safety and composure (in other words, body rigidity) as those without.
The Astra Sport Hatch will be priced from £13,795 in the UK, the same as equivalent five-door models. The panoramic windscreen is an £850 option.
Graeme Roberts
