I thought I'd write a quick thread about my new daily driver, that I've owned for about two weeks, a 2006 Holden (Opel) Astra CDTI.
Background: I commute 165km a day, and have used my '85 760 Turbo for that for most of the last five years, but I was starting to get a bit frustrated about how noisy it was, how harsh the suspension was (cut springs), and the fuel economy was OK but not great. I've also wanted to do mods to it that would make it unsuitable for daily driving, but haven't been able to do that.
Mid last year it developed major cracks in the head, and I decided to take it off the road for a major upgrade, with the intention being that it become a weekend fun car rather than a daily driver. Since then I've been driving a 1988 Holden Astra (Nissan N13 Pulsar with Holden badges), which is good on fuel and very reliable, but pretty unrefined, and lacks any safety or convenience features.
So, the '06 Astra is the new daily driver, hopefully for several years to come. It's a 1.9L turbo diesel four cylinder, with a 6 speed manual gearbox. It's a bit of a mix-n-match of trim and features from the Astra range, it has the stiffer springs, leather wrapped steering wheel and bigger brakes from the SRI models, but has cloth seats, manual climate control, and basic stereo from the base models. It has 16" wheels rather than the 15's of the base models.
This is actually a pretty good combo in my opinion, as I wouldn't want things like leather seats, sunroof or climate control, but it does have all the things I like to have, like power windows, mirrors, and cruise.
It also has a fair raft of safety features, with high strength steel in the body, side and curtain airbags, traction control, stability control etc.
It consistantly uses 5.5L/100km, so I've been getting somewhere around 950km per tank. The trip computer says 1050km range after filling, which it might achieve on a drive to Sydney or something like that, but would never achieve with my usual driving.
The engine is rated at 110kw/320nm, max torque is between 2-3000rpm, so it feels torquey most of the time, and goes like hell at full boost. I think it would probably beat my 5.0 manual VT pretty easily in a drag race.
Good examples of this model start at about $7k, with some people still asking a fair bit more than that. I paid $4900 for this one. Why so cheap? It has higher k's than many at 185,000, no service history, and it's a repaired write-off.
The guy I bought it from had bought it at auction with light damage to the RHR quarter, and a bent rear axle, had it repaired, drove it for a few months and then sold it, presumably at a profit to himself. The repair job is a little on the cheap/quick side and I'm sure it has a fair bit of bog in it, but that doesn't bother me.
I get the impression that it was well maintained prior to the accident damage, all the tyres, brakes, suspension etc. are in good shape. It had a few minor cosmetic and electrical issues when I got it, I have a list that I'm most of the way through sorting out.
Pics:
My only major gripe about it at the moment is the speedo accuracy, to do 110km/h actual speed, I have to be doing 119 on the gauge! I've got an OP-COM dongle for the OBD port ordered, so I'm hoping I can adjust the speedo using that.
As an aside, if anybody wants to buy a 1988 Astra, 1.6L fuel injected 5 speed, 280,000km, with 5 months Vic rego and RWC for around $900, send me a PM. It would make a great second car or car for a learner etc, it's reliable as hell and gets a consistant 7.2L/100km on 91 octane fuel.