BiTurbo 2.0 CDTi 16v 195 Start/Stop 5dr Auto Hatchback

Very solid cheap and fun to drive

Dec 21 update: I have owned the car now for over 4 years, now on 51.000miles, the only thing I have replaced is the battery for a Varta one, washer motor....yep it's very common as it uses the same as VW, Audi and Ford ones and they all fail, replaced with Febi Bilstein pump, and one of the turbo solenoids is making a noise again but still works, becoming rare now, 1 of 200 made only 139 left in the 5 door version.

5 door Astra 2.0 16v diesel BiTurbo 2015, I’ve owned the car for about 15 months now, 23.000 miles now 33.000 miles, apart from a few niggles I have to say it’s a very solid all-rounder, the engine is a twin turbo 200bhp and tuned to about 245bhp and does go like a rocket even though it’s heavy, the car drives superb, feels very solid and handles very well and with confidence, I love the interior it oozes quality and a good quality feel, not like a lot of cars these days just feel cheap plastic, in fact I chose this over the Skoda Octavia VRS, Golf GTi Focus ST and the Merc 200 series the worse cheap feel of all, the Golf 220bhp was not as great as people think, cannot bare those seats and just boring and not as solid as the Astra.

The flexi ride (sports button) is fantastic, stiffens the suspension and steering well, sharpens the throttle but no were near as it did on the H which is a shame, the dials turn red awesome, half red leather and tyre print seats is very cool, I like the layout of the console much nicer than the K series, very smooth to drive and comfortable on the motorway as it is on A and B roads.
Sloppy springs & stability control unnerving when thrown into a corner, I now have Eibach pro springs and what a difference, feel much more in control.

The style just looks better than most clone cars out there now and it stands out from the crowd, I cannot tell the difference between Audi, Seat’s and some VW’s now they all look the same.

Returns a good 43-47mpg local driving and 50-55,mpg on the motorway which is good for the tuning.

Speedo has no 30, 50 or 70 printed on it? Why these are the main speed limits, just as well it has a digital speedo.

Auto wipers are great and work well, auto lights can be too sensitive for me, the front screen demist button works excellent, one of the best I’ve used, speed limiter and cruise control can be confusing, it goes on off on off before you figure out how it works……..

Traction control saved the car from going sideways one very icy morning on unsalted slip road corner.

The main let down is the sat nav (950 Intellilink) seriously it’s a pile of steaming dump! It does not work right, it sends you through every town centre it can find, it will not use A and B roads just redirects you back to the motorway, some roads just don’t exist even though they have been there for 30 years? Sends you round in circles for no reason? Even if you buy an update for like £140 it will be 1-2 years out of date, just use Google maps.

USB port charges the phone and plays music from a pen drive, bluetooth works well, hands free phone works flawless and a great sounding stereo.

Neg:
Sat Nav big time.
No lumber support?
Cannot turn off auto lights.
Speedo has 30, 50 and 70 missing from the dial really.
Stop/start is annoying.
Sloppy springs & stability control unnerving when thrown into a corner.

Cons:
Manual handbrake yay.
Digital speedo.
Front screen demist button.
Flexi ride
Sports button.
Seats
Solid quality feel.
Cheap to run, £130 road tax. £220 insurance.

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