Vauxhall Astra - M reg

[JBeck]

First off you won't get a 1.4 16v in a MK3. A 1.4 8v (MPI) is just as quick and even actually more responsive. Yes the interiors are not the best they but are comfortable enough and driving position is good with the steering wheel in a good position. The handling is fine if the dampers are ok (have any of you actually driven a astra with new/not worn dampers?) It's no road sticking 205 but it does the job. Ins group is 6 for the 1.4, for £800 it would have to be a mint, low mileage MPI, alloys, electrics etc...

 

[energy]

First off you won't get a 1.4 16v in a MK3. A 1.4 8v (MPI) is just as quick and even actually more responsive. Yes the interiors are not the best they but are comfortable enough and driving position is good with the steering wheel in a good position. The handling is fine if the dampers are ok (have any of you actually driven a astra with new/not worn dampers?) It's no road sticking 205 but it does the job. Ins group is 6 for the 1.4, for £800 it would have to be a mint, low mileage MPI, alloys, electrics etc...

I'm fairly sure the later facelifted models had the 1.4 16v as an option... are you sure they didn't? Though I agree that the MPI 8v unit will probably perform better at low revs and feel more responsive.

My Astra did have knackered dampers, but it did suffer from severe understeer - never, ever seen this much understeer at low speeds in any car, and it was the "swing" model with low profile 185 section michelins. I'm sure it wasn't that bad when it was new, but IMO you could tell the chassis setup wasn't good at all. The ride was quite hard too!

 

[scoobyrichuk]

First off you won't get a 1.4 16v in a MK3. A 1.4 8v (MPI) is just as quick and even actually more responsive. Yes the interiors are not the best they but are comfortable enough and driving position is good with the steering wheel in a good position. The handling is fine if the dampers are ok (have any of you actually driven a astra with new/not worn dampers?) It's no road sticking 205 but it does the job. Ins group is 6 for the 1.4, for £800 it would have to be a mint, low mileage MPI, alloys, electrics etc...

I beg to differ, you CAN get a 1.4 16v in a mk3 Astra. Checkout this page:
http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/s...odel_id=968&fueltype=&months=&spare1=&spare2=
Only available on the 96 > models but you can get it