Quote Originally Posted by Cotterik View Post
Great stuff! I will say one thing about the astra. Its incredibly smooth. I think it's the 1.6 version that you can hardly hear the engine. Amazing. I was quite impressed when i was a passenger in one. But the seating and dashboard make you feel like a dwarf i found. But a brilliant deal you got yourself! well done =)
Thank-you. I noticed the lack of noise on the petrols too, sadly though because of the ancient diesel engine in this model, it sounds like an old Transit van. It does ride and handle extremely well though - I personally find it to have the best balance of any car in it's class (based on cars I've tried so far).

I'm 6'2" and have the seat set at it's lowest setting but TBH I can't really relate to the "dwarf" feeling you mention. How tall are you by the way?

One thing I have noticed about this car is that it's pretty much the same size as the original Vectra - and that would explain why the 1.7 diesel is so useless (performance wise) here - it always was!

I've been looking at upgrading to a 2006 SRi XP 1.9CDti (150ps), so that would sort all of the "problems" I've experienced with this car so far (the condition and the performance)...but I'll have to wait and see how things are going to unfold. A neighbour two doors down owns a black SRi XP with the 200BHP 2.0i16v Turbo - it sounds refined yet menacing from the outside and it looks excellent for a 5-door hatch. I want mine in silver.