2007 Holden Astra SRi coupe and hatch
April 23, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
Holden’s Astra has been one of the lucky cars in the Holden lineup which has not been replaced with a Korean made matchbox. Unlike the Holden Barina (with its 2 star safety rating) the Holden Astra is actually made in Belgium, by Opel.
Hence the Astra SRi three and five-door hatch models are not plaughed by the image and safety concerns of their Korean made counterparts.
The Astra’s come equipped with a standard six-speed manual or optional four-speed automatic transmission, whilst the majority of European manufacturers have moved onto better and more efficient Automatic gearboxes, GM has decided to keep the four speed for some time to come.
This is how you can tell the difference between a Korean and a European car, the Astra comes with driver, front passenger, front side impact and curtain airbags, plus you also get Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Traction Control and the acclaimed crash avoidance system Electronic Stability Program (ESP®) all as standard.
Feature Highlights:
- 17-inch alloy wheels (16-inch steel spare)
- Electronic Stability Program (ESP®)
- Sports chassis pack
- Semi automatic climate control
- Driver, front passenger, front side and curtain airbags
- Charcoal leather faced trim (front heated seats)
- Lower sports body kit
- Rear roof spoiler
Colour Selection:
- Casablanca White (solid)
- Power Red (solid)
- Black Sapphire (metallic)
- Moonland Grey (metallic)
- Star Silver (metallic)
Price:
- Astra SRi 3-Door Coupe (manual) $30,490
- Astra SRi 3-Door Coupe (automatic) $32,490
- Astra SRi 5-Door Hatch (manual) $29,990
- Astra SRi 5-Door Hatch (automatic) $31,990
Print it: 
don’t forget the other way to tell its not a daewoo – it doesn’t look like a turd ;)
I was told that its only the HSV Astra thats staying and the normal Astra was being replaced by the super effort Viva.
Has this changed Alborz?
I am not sure lazybones!
I dont think that change will occur for some time as Holden has revamped their Astra advertising efforts.
I think the Viva is meant to take the sales of the base model astra?
the VXR HSV Astra is one hell of a car!
The Astra isn’t going to be replaced, Holden decided to sell both small-medium cars. I don’t understand why they don’t do that with the Barina/Corsa and Epica/Vectra.
Whats with the korean bashing!?! What a dodgy GM car means that all the other Korean cars are dodgy too????
Come on what about the dodgy build quality of any Renualts does that mean that all french cars are dodgy? or even better since the mercs have had issues with quality does this mean that all german cars suck?
The Astra will stay until at least 2010 when the first of the Gamma platform vehicles start rolling out of GM-DAT.
GM has just announced a US$3.2b investment in GM-DAT over the next two years, specifically for product and drivetrain. The Gamma small car will be the major beneficiary, along with new petrol and diesel powerplants, six-speed transmissions and a design centre.
The first Gamma exports are scheduled for 2009, around the time a new Euro Astra should debut. Australia will most likely not get this vehicle.
The Viva is Holden’s small car price leader, a TS Astra Classic replacement rather than a “base” model Astra replacement. The base model AH Astra sells at a $22K price point, some $3-4K above the Viva. Astra is a 5 star Euro NCAP car and Viva is a 4 star ANCAP car.
No doubt new GM-DAT Gamma cars will be 5 star vehicles.
So Eamon, your basically saying the Astra will most likely be discontinuted after 2010? Will this include HSV also?
“Whats with the korean bashing!?! “, In a word the majority of Korean cars are cheap and nasty, not just a chosen few. And yes French cars also had their run of a bad reputation. But now look a them.
The Holden Barina is a classic example of cheap & nasty:-
http://www.caradvice.com.au/21.....en-barina/
Compare this with the smart and old Euro barina (Corsa)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju6t-yyoU8s
Hyundai are making big moves to turn around this reputation, but it will be a while before its on par with Euro imports. When this does happen, and it will. The price will increase also. So you won’t be seeing the large price gap in the future. Simply, you get what you pay for.
LB, After 2010 Holden could still sell both the Viva and the Astra but they will be built on the same platform. Or Holden could merge them as one car.
What I’d like to see on the Astra is an indicator stalk that stays in place. I rented an Astra in Europe last year and couldn’t get used to the stalk returning to the middle position when the indicators were activated. I had to look at the dash to see whether the green light was blinking.
This is a very very dangerous feature: not only does it mean you see more Astras than other cars driving along in a straight line oblivious to the fact that they’re indicator is on (which I have – several times), it also means that the driver needs to take his/her eyes off the road to check if the light is flashing.
Give me indicators on the wrong side any day before this rubbish.
I think the indicator stalk on the left hand side of the steering column makes more sense. Since you can keep your right hand on the wheel properly. Use the left hand for gear shifts, volume adjustments on your stereo, etc.
Maybe it’s just something I’m use to. But when I first drove cars with the stalk on the left, it just made sense while driving.
The stalk returning to the centre doesn’t really bother me at all. I’m not really sure what it is that bothers you about it…. not nit picking. I’m curious as to what it is that does bother you. Then again, I felt the same about BMW motorcycles that have an indicator button on the left handlebar for left turns and a right indicator button on the right handlebar. It’s quite different to Japanese bikes that have the one switch for left and right. Pushing it in cancells the indicator. Pushing it left turns on the left, etc etc.
You get use to the BMW system and then start to think it’s more logical and don’t go back… or you do, but hate it.
I recently drove the Astra Turbo Diesel. I was impressed with the power. Though it’s peaky for a diesel (the power comes on strong, then disappears). I like a nice flat torque curve. What I didn’t like about the Astra was that the buttons on the dash felt really cheap compared to other brands I’ve looked at (I’m recently needing a new small hatch, so I’ve been looking at Golf’s, Clio’s, Fiesta’s, Focus’s, etc). Otherwise, I thought it was a brilliant car. Very solid, handled and cornered great. The engine was great. I like peaky engines… correction: I liked them when I was boy racer. I did enjoy driving it, but I don’t think it’d be nice to live with day in day out. There are other more refined engines out there with similar performance.
Cheers
Steve
“What I’d like to see on the Astra is an indicator stalk that stays in place”
I’m on my 3rd Astra and this has never bothered me, because all the Euro GM’s i’ve owned have always done this. I’ve not noticed if the Toyota does this or not. So now you’ve pointed this out, it will probably anoy me :)
I was told the reason the indicator is on the left is because its designed as LHD. When they manufacture the RHD version, they switch the column but don’t reverse the controls. So now mixing a RAV4 with my Astra. I can occasionally entertain other drivers by switching on my windscreen wipers when turing left or right!
But I agree the Astra’s dash is now looking a bit low tech and basic compared to the competition.
Steve, what bothers me is that too often you need to take your eyes off the road to check if the indicator is on. Driving a normal car, when I feel the indicator stalk with my finger I register the resistance and position (up or down) which tells me whether it is activated or not. Simple! However, some overzealous techo in Opel decided that people spend too much time looking at the road, so designed an indicator stalk that stays in place once activated. When I drove a rented Astra last year – especially on multi-lane roads – I found this feature infuriating.
Phill
PS: I also prefer the indicators on the left side of the column – perhaps that’s because I’m left-handed.
Just for the record, the indicator allows pushing half way to just indicate a lane change. That’s the main reason it returns to middle – to allow this (maybe useful) feature.