Advantages: Performance, Cost, Looks
Disadvantages: Common car, petrol and SUSPENSION!

...What do I think of the 1.8 Sri mk4 Astra? Well, those of you who might have read my review of my own 1.6 Sxi will already understand why i like the Astra However, would i swap it for the 1.8? the answer is NO! For the extra money you don't get an Awful lot more, the engine is more torquey i'll give it that. acceleration is only slightly quicker but I cant make £35 pounds worth of petrol last 400 miles in the 1.6, in the bigger 1.8 it takes around £45 to do this...... go figure. Then there is the insurance which is boosted up a whole group or two meaning you'll be spending a lot more money than you need to be able to enjoy a sporty astra. Okay, its not all bad and if money isn't a problem, then go for the 1.8. they all come optional with the OPC bodykit (which you could get for the 1.6 SXi anyway), it goes a little quicker (top... Read review

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Advantages: Affordable, good alrounder
Disadvantages: Cambelt change every 40000 miles (expensive)

...Revised, edition. Intro A solid, reliable, practical car all round I must say! The performance is good and the suspension serves the car well, it is light and very easy to drive, with good steering and a good ride, maybe a little firm for some. The SRI is a little more expensive than the base models but for that you get a larger engine and considerably higher spec, more gadgets. Engine and Drivetrain The 1.8l 16-valve ecotec engine has a very smooth and responsive power delivery. It can be a little thirsty if you ring it’s neck The gearbox has an average set of ratios, first is a bit too short, basically you have to change into second a little sooner than you would want to, and a sixth gear or a longer fifth would not go amiss. Gear selection can be a little stiff on cold mornings but that is fairly commonplace with any car... Read review

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Advantages: Great handling, Cruise Control, 125BHP
Disadvantages: Wheel spin with heavy acceleration.

...So firstly this is my 2nd car, moving from 1.6 litre Peugeot 306, and boy was I blown away by the vast improvement in switching cars! The handling in the Astra ( SRi 1.8) is excellent, and takes coners with a breeze. From start to 60mph in 9 seconds. And is a surprisingly nippy car, Now for the boring stuff... The gear shift is short and well positioned. The pedals are sited without any offset from the driving position. There is adequate clearance beside the clutch pedal to rest your foot. The pedal weight on the clutch is perfect although the resistance of the accelerator pedal is a little light. The instruments are clear and attractive, and have like a brushed aluminiuim thing around them which compliments other details on the dash and interior, which is rather spacious, than say the corsa, or other vauxhalls, exculding... Read review

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Advantages: Sexy design, sporty look, good on boot space
Disadvantages: Cheap interior appearance, not comfortable

...*~*~Introduction~*~* This review is based on my experience of using the Vauxhall Astra each week for regular motorway journeys down South every week for work. The Vauxhall Astra has been said to have been developed to offer technical sophistication and exceptional comfort, I wonder if my review will agree with that…read on if you wish to find out. *~*~Exterior Appearance~*~* The Astra SRi looks tasty I am definitely not a fan of the Vauxhall's but even I have to admit this model is a pretty attractive car. The model I am reviewing is the 3 door hatchback complete with a sleek spoiler, body colour bumpers, mirrors and tinted glass. My absolute pet hate is the black plastic on the Vauxhalls and the SRi has definitely skipped on this. The standard black trim on the car is replaced with colour coded trim which gives it a much... Read review

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Advantages: Fun, Pratical, Stylish....
Disadvantages: None to be honest!

...After someone crashing into the back of my Mitsubishi Galant V6 & writing it off, I was looking for a replacement car. I already own a 52 reg Corsa C SXi 1.2 16v but wanted similar power to the Galant, thats when I saw the 1.8 SRi & fell in love with it instantly. I bought a SRi 2004 1.8 in Ultra Blue for £6995 with 15k on the clock. First looks of the SRi: Looks very sporty but very under rated in my opinion & looks can be deceiving when it comes to the performance of this car. Driving the SRi: The SRi is a great car to drive, you can drive as normal getting great mpg (35) & comfort all day long. But when you want the evil, fun side of the SRi............Simply put the foot down and the fun begins. The acceleration is unbelievable of this little car, mines is 7.5s 0-60mph, Top speed is 130+mph Driving at high speeds... Read review

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Advantages: Very reliable car
Disadvantages: fuel consumption not great

...... Read review

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Advantages: Performance, spec, reasonable insurance
Disadvantages: Some think the looks are too conservative

...Please humour me as what I am going to do here is actually a review of the Astra 2.0 SRi 16v, but hopefully you will still find it useful. This is the model I have and Ciao don’t seem to have included it on their list of Astras so I’m sticking it under the 2.2 ok?!! Anyway it is basically the same car as the 2.2, just with an ever so slightly smaller engine. I purchased my Astra SRi about a year ago. This was from a Vauxhall dealer I found in Slough after doing a used car search on Vauxhall’s very helpful website. I had decided on the Astra as both the Golf GTi and Peugeot 206 GTi had very similar performance as the Astra but much higher insurance groups. (The Astra 2.0 SRi is Group 11). The price of £11,000 I thought was quite reasonable for a sports model that was just over a year old and only had 8,000 miles... Read review

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Advantages: Looks, performance, comfort
Disadvantages: none

...Purchased a '99T Astra CD 1.8 16v as my second ever car and I am very impressed. Used to have a Rover 214. Mine is in dark blue and has the Irmscher spoiler and alloy wheels. Looks are excellent espesially with the Irmscher 17" wheels, makes the car look wider and more ballanced. Dark metalic blue looks great but needs to be kept clean!! Black trim is starting to fade (a problem with all Vauxhalls) but is easily sorted with some back-to-black. Interior looks good and is plain and simple with everything easy to reach whilst driving. Mine has the wood effect dash and gearknob. Could do with having better seats, (maybe the "sports" seats from the sxi or sri models) especially on long journeys, but overall it is comfortable. Build quality seems good, mine is approaching 5 years old and has no major marks or rattles. Interior light... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap insurance, handling, speed
Disadvantages: ride comfort, fuel economy

...The Car *Purchased 2nd Hand *2004 54 registration *1.8i Club Automatic *5 Door hatchback My Situation The car was purchased from BCA last October as an Ex-Motabilty car with only 4000 miles on the clock! Cost to us was about £6500 Looks I must admit, the semi-new shape (they've released newer now!) Astras are quite sexy looking. I have mine in midnight blue and I think this is a great colour for the car. 16" Alloys are standard and they look real good too. Interior Build Quality So far I cannot pick any faults with the actual build quality of the car. No rattling, all doors, glove box etc... hinges are smooth and don't feel like inferior quality. Obviously as a Vauxhall, the interior will still feel a bit 'plasticy' but it doesn't look that bad and the 3 Spoke steering wheel looks very sporty... Read review

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Advantages: Looks great, quick!
Disadvantages: Can leak, back window can be 'cloudy'

...to this therefore we go by what we have. We saw an R reg basic 1.8i for 12,500. WHAT! The Parkers price guide suggested around £10,000 for A1 condition - this certainly was not! Dodgy paintwork & the seals around the window were coming of slightly (something you must check). You have to know there are 3 different models. The 1.8i, the 1.8i steptronic and the 1.8i VVC. What does the VVC have that the others don't? Well for a more expensive model you would expect some extras. With the VVC you get 5 spoke alloys instead of six. PAS as standard rather than an option, ABS as standard rather than an option. Leather seats, and of course the Valve system, this is similar to a V-Tech engine (if you know what one of those is!) I'm not too techie with cars and don't really know what that means apart from where the standard 1.8i starts tailing off... Read review

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