The second generation of GTC, the one you can see in the video, impresses again by a presence you cannot miss.
It has a sophisticated but clean design, it is well proportioned and it drives as good as it looks.
However, Astra GTC still misses some few elements that could have made it a perfect car,
such as transmissions and engines.
From the first eye contact you know you are dealing with an Opel, you know that you have
in front of you an Astra. But GTC has in common with the five-door and wagon
variants only three visual elements: door handles, central rearview mirror and antenna. That is all.
The headlights and taillights are different, the hood, the windscreen. Everything is.
The interior is fully taken from the other Astra models. The difference is made by the upholstery
and a new color for the dashboard - which is not available on the car in the video.
The investments made ​​by Opel in increasing the perceived quality can clearly be seen.
The materials are very pleasant to touch and do not give the impression of a cheap compact car.
Starting with Insignia, Opel is no longer the poorest car brand in Germany.
GTC is the best example that Opel has grown young, that its cars have a spectacular design and top technologies.
For example, the tested car has suspension with electronically controlled dampers.
The FlexRide option costs about 800 Euros, but through the Tour and Sport buttons you can
have contrasting driving experiences. The duality of the road behavior depending on
what you choose, Tour or Sport, is part of the special charm of this model.
The ambient lighting is more sophisticated than any other competitor model has, with red LEDs
around the gear shifter and door panels.
The AFL technology for the headlights is a top one also.
With this dramatic design and AFL and FlexRide optional technologies you can enjoy a car that you feel nimble,
adaptable and particularly safe. It's a pleasure to drive it
in the city and on mountain roads.
Astra GTC has on all engine variants a completely new front suspension called HiPerStrut.
It is taken from the high-performance Insignia OPC. This type of joint
allows the front wheels to better put the power to the ground, and in the case of
violent accelerations the car does not tend to steal the steering wheel from your hands.
The torque steering - due to which Opel’s cars handling always had to suffer - is greatly reduced, almost eliminated.
Once the Sport button is pressed, the suspensions become stiffer and the throttle response
becomes more faster, thus the fine movements of the steering wheel and of the
right leg can be translated as a more incisive response of the car.
Unfortunately, the engine and transmission are not as expected. The engine on the tested car
is a 1.6 liter turbocharged gasoline of 180 PS/HP, connected to a 6-gear manual transmission.
Thus equipped, Astra GTC reaches 100 km /h in 8.3 seconds.
From a such good looking car you expect a great sound, but the engine and the exhaust
does not convey for a second that you have 180 PS/HP under the hood.
It sounds like a regular 1.6 liter engine.
Although Opel has solved many linkage problems of the gearbox, it is still below what
Renault and Volkswagen have to offer. The gear changes cannot be done perfectly,
but a bit unnatural and heavy. The feeling that "it could have been better done" is also fueled by
the positioning of the gear shifter, which is too far back and too low. It does not come in handy...
Opel Astra GTC has a starting price of 17,555 Euros with VAT, and a version as the tested one
costs few more than 24,000 Euros with VAT. Thereby, Astra GTC is an appetizing proposal, but not perfect.