Early Drive: More power and dynamism in the next Opel Astra

We're threading along narrow forest roads that criss-cross between France and Germany. Every 10 minutes or so, the signs change from one lingua to the other. Our convoy comprises a current-generation Astra GTE up front as sweeper, two pre-production test cars of the new model, the equivalent outgoing version of the new car and another current Astra to close the convoy. In the quiet border town of Bitche, heads turn when the oddly camouflaged test cars pass through.

The bodywork is masked not only with an overlay of stickers covered in marker scribbles but also some padding to mislead those opting to take a closer look at what the final shape of the 11th generation of Opel’s family hatchback may look like.

Admittedly, fewer buyers are taking the hatchback route these days. This segment of the market has steadily declined of late and is expected to be just 20 per cent of the market by 2020. That’s still one in five new cars, so it’s nothing to be sniffed at.

In an age where tech product life cycles are shrinking to a matter of months, it’s worth remembering the contrasting timeline involved in producing a car. Our four test cars were part of a batch of a few hundred prototypes built between November and December 2013. That means many of the major parts and designs were initially signed off for pre-production testing more than 18 months ago. This is for a car that will not make its public debut until autumn 2015 and will probably not be seen on Irish roads until it’s wearing a 161 numberplate.

While the engineers won’t reveal the R&D spend on this latest model, we are assured the end sum has enough zeros to make your eyes water. Car firms have been known to invest more than €1 billion in bringing a new family hatchback to market. And with such long development and validation timelines involved, car firms still need to place a lot of faith in the art of predicting future tastes and trends.

Lost weight

So what’s the new Astra like? Well, the first thing to note is that the car has lost weight – and it feels like it. The outgoing model was rightly criticised for being relatively heavy and also managing to be too large on the outside while being too small in the interior. Thankfully,

Opel

engineers have got that situation turned around this time.

The weight savings are substantial: depending on the engine variants, engineers have dropped between 120kg and 200kg off the car. That's the equivalent of removing both Rob and Dave Kearney from the car. Much of the saving has come from the outer surfacing. Meanwhile, the dimensions have been adjusted to give it a sleeker stance. The overall length has dropped 49mm, the wheelbase 23mm, and both front and rear overhangs have been reduced. Height is also down 26mm.

Despite this reduction in size, rear-seat legroom is noticeably better, with an increase of 34mm, while headroom front and rear is improved. The boot does seem a little smaller, however, though there are no figures for this as yet.

There are other smart features to the car. The fixed window in the A-pillars – always an issue in the current model, given the bulky format of the pillar itself – has been overhauled and integrated into the front door. Similarly, the rear C-pillar window is now part of the door.

Drivetrain improvements

Underneath the metal there have been improvements to the drivetrain as well, with lighter materials, though the Astra still uses the Watts-link X-member in its rear axle set-up. In total, the engineers managed to drop 50kg off the chassis.

The other big news is under the bonnet. In what the firm is billing as the “greatest powertrain offensive in Opel history”, the big news is the addition of the firm’s recently introduced three-cylinder one-litre turbocharged petrol engine into the range. And whatever reservations or concerns about its size should be parked: this little warrior annihilates the previous 1.6-litre entry-level model. Opel has also added the new four-cylinder 1.4-litre Ecotec direct injection turbo to the range.

We got the chance to hop from old to new on the same roads, and the difference was clearly evident: at every turn the outgoing Astra struggled to keep up with the new model. I spent most of the time in the outgoing model standing on the accelerator and wringing out all the power the 115bhp engine could muster. In the three-cylinder, the power was always there at the slightest tap of my right toe.

The three-cylinder should be a lot noisier than it is, but various tweaks and the addition of a balancing shaft reduce the vibration and engine noise. The balance shaft in the three-cylinder unit cuts out a lot of vibration, while the soundproofing muffles out the rest of the noise well.

On paper, you would think the larger engine should have more power, and officially it does, putting out 115bhp against 105bhp in the one-litre unit. Yet the reality on the road is very different and the extra torque and quicker delivery of the power to the road makes it clearly a faster and more powerful car to drive.

The other significant engine change on test is the new 1.4-litre, 145bhp petrol unit up against the outgoing 1.4-litre, 140bhp version. The difference between these two is perhaps less dramatic but still noticeable.

More responsive

The new engines are far more responsive, and most of this is down to the weight savings across the new model range.

The lighter bodyframe does lend itself to much nimbler handling, although the ride can be slightly choppier on badly surfaced roads. That’s always a trade-off when a car sheds the kilos, but it’s merely something to note, rather than an annoyance or problem. The car feels a lot more dynamic all round, the way dieters reportedly feel after shedding the spare tyre and working out for a few months.

Inside, and while the finishing touches have yet to be completed, we can expect the centre console to be a lot cleaner than the imposing wall of buttons in the present version. Even on entry models with a standard radio, the controls have been dramatically decluttered. With the addition of touchscreens comes a much cleaner facade.

That’s not to say there aren’t issues. The dials on the test cars were small and a little cluttered, the gear knob was bulky and unsuited to the general slim and sporty theme of the car, while the seats were firm to the point of resembling a park bench. But things may change for the final car, so it’s too early to prejudge these features.

A significant new feature that will certainly make it into the new Astra is OnStar, Opel’s latest whizz-bang connection that combines 4G-quality in-car internet connection with touch-button assistance from the OnStar call centre. Already well established in the US market across General Motors products, OnStar is being rolled out on new Opel models from this autumn.

Real-life assistant

Three little buttons on the rearview mirror connect the motorist to a real-life assistant, who can help with entering a location into the satnav, locating the nearest dealership, finding assistance in the event of a breakdown or even calling in emergency services in the event of a crash. In the European versions – thanks to our wariness about Big Brother – there is also a privacy button that prevents the car from being tracked and will only send out the GPS location if a crash occurs and the airbags have been deployed.

To sum up, the new Astra offers sleeker styling with a much lighter body, smaller engines, a decluttered cabin and new in-car connectivity. Whether it will topple the dominance of the VW Golf and Ford Focus in the hatchback market remains to be seen, but it's a marked improvement on the current model, which always seemed to trip up on a few major points: it was small on the inside while seemingly rather bulky on the outside, it was relatively heavy and the cabin aged quickly as rivals removed buttons in favour of touchscreen systems.

All of these have been addressed, along with a far more appealing styling that will be on clear view this autumn. Suddenly a one-litre three-cylinder Astra doesn’t seem an oddball proposition.