Picked up the Astra - 1 Year Review (1/22/09)

[Joe in T.O.]

Congratulations and thanks for the review. Aren't you concerned about mpg loss when you put roof racks on it?

[Quickening]

Originally Posted by drew630

The engine turns 4,000 rpm's above 70 mph?? Wow.

That car wants a 6th speed so bad.

[SirRaven]

Originally Posted by Joe in T.O.

Congratulations and thanks for the review. Aren't you concerned about mpg loss when you put roof racks on it?

Actually I had them on all the time with the old car and there was minimal if any loss. Plus with the way you hook up the roof racks on this car I would only have them on the car when I needed them. There are 4 bolts on the roof that you can bolt the stands into and done.

[RedVee8]

Good review mate, glad its all going well.

[SirRaven]

These pics were requested over a Satrunfans.com so I will add them here as well. The first 2 are pics of teh trailer hitch I added, with 2 sets of hands it is really easy, if its just you installing it is a little challenging to hold it and fasten the nuts at the same time. there are the 2 supports on each side that go to 2 locations on the rails that you just need to fish bolts/washers into the rails. No drilling or anything was required. you did need to take of the rear mount for the exhaust, which might have been one of the more challenging things.




These 2 just show the weathertech floor mats, one driver on passenger.

[member12]

I can't believe that your car turns at 4000 RPM over 70mph.

At 90 mph, my truck is barely breathing at 2500 RPM, and at 70 it's a tick under 2000 RPM.

[calgaryhhr]

Originally Posted by member12

I can't believe that your car turns at 4000 RPM over 70mph.

At 90 mph, my truck is barely breathing at 2500 RPM, and at 70 it's a tick under 2000 RPM.

Even my 4 speed automatic, 2.4L HHR only runs a little over 3000 at 70mph. I would be concerned if it was running at 4000. In fact I was concerned when it was running at 3000 or so when I first bought the car. I had only ever driven larger V6 engines before and they typically turned under 2500 at highway speed.

[gmhashope]

There's no need to be concerned. It's just the gearing.

[coaster.n3rd]

Originally Posted by gmhashope

There's no need to be concerned. It's just the gearing.

Correct. They run really high at speed on the interstate which is normal... annoying at first but, the pickup from 70mph to about 90mph is pretty slick. I would actually say the Astra held the noise down as best it could for a 1.8 liter running at 4K rpms.

Originally Posted by SirRaven

There is nothing overall I would really change significantly about his car, besides maybe changing the style of the rear tail light and added a temp gauge.

External/Internal Ambient temp or Coolant Temp?

I believe there is a mode on the BC that can access the coolant temp as well as other peieces of info.. Man, I wish I could remember this. Is there a "Mode" button or something similar on your radio face?

[Black AH CDX]

Originally Posted by bluimpala

And!!!!! figuring out the cruise control, well that was one frustrating experience. Does not have a resume function, that would have been real nice.

Actually it does have a resume function. One the cruise stalk u have the button that u press up to set, then one you have set you can press it up again to increase and down to decrease your set speed. Well if you have cancelled cruise by either brake or clutch simply press the down button again and it will resume ;-)

[SirRaven]

Originally Posted by coaster.n3rd

Correct. They run really high at speed on the interstate which is normal... annoying at first but, the pickup from 70mph to about 90mph is pretty slick. I would actually say the Astra held the noise down as best it could for a 1.8 liter running at 4K rpms.

I agree, noise wise the engine is still quite as sit in the car even while blasting away on the highway and having the engine rev that high. The nice thing like coaster said is when you hit the gas when there is no need to downshift to get some good passing acceleration going. It is closer to 3600/3700 at 70, but it is still higher than was used to seeing.

Originally Posted by coaster.n3rd

External/Internal Ambient temp or Coolant Temp?

I believe there is a mode on the BC that can access the coolant temp as well as other peieces of info.. Man, I wish I could remember this. Is there a "Mode" button or something similar on your radio face?

Its on one of the earlier pages, you just make sure you are on the main screen then hold down the settings button. Once you hear a beep then you can let go and search through the screens to find the temp after that. Its a pain to do that though when all you want to know is when the engine is warmed up enough to start blowing hot air. Also it limits some of the other functions while you are in test mode.

[Michael_S]

Originally Posted by coaster.n3rd

Correct. They run really high at speed on the interstate which is normal... annoying at first but, the pickup from 70mph to about 90mph is pretty slick. I would actually say the Astra held the noise down as best it could for a 1.8 liter running at 4K rpms.

On the other hand, I bet that gearing is what makes for the relatively disappointing 32 or 30 mpg EPA rating. For a car its size with an engine that small, the Astra should be rated 34 or 35 for highway fuel economy. I'm sure if you drive at 55 mph you can really get 35 mpg too. But with taller gearing, the car might deliver 35 mpg at 70 mph.

[blibit11]

Originally Posted by GMfan1111

i'm sure there is a way to change the clock settings to (civilian time) but if you have an army buddy that knows military time go for it

Actually, the Saturn Dealers have a kit that will change the clock to 12 hour time.