At the same time as Opel Corsa, Opel Astra has become one of the important pillars of the Opel Auto lineup. Launched in Europe in 1991, the car successfully captured its place in the automotive market and was soon exported to China, Australia and even the United States, despite using different names.
This car was later launched in 2016 and was quickly rated as the car of the year in Europe - so three years later, it is more than enough to occupy the latest car market - in July 2019, the latest Opel Astra facelift was released. This redesigned car has only slight visual changes in appearance, but it brings many aspects and levels of improvements in the power system and high-tech system.
From the appearance, the main goal of Opel engineers designed the new Opel Astra is to reduce carbon emissions, as European cars need to comply with stricter traffic regulations every year, so in terms of design language, it needs to drop in aerodynamic data.
Although the new Opel Astra looks no different from the 2016 car from the side, it has improved the resistance coefficient level in terms of some clever accessories such as the engine cover, rear axle control and window and door styling.
We can see that the hatchback resistance narrative of the all-new Opel Astra is 0.26, the same as the 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-class two-door sports car , while its sedan has a drag coefficient of 0.25, which is comparable to the Tesla Model X. The main innovation of the new Opel Astra is on the front gate, which can automatically turn on and off the upper and lower parts respectively to meet the demand for front-end airflow, which also depends mainly on the driver's driving style.
From the interior, the layout of the refurbished Opel Astra remains almost the same as the one it replaces, whether in terms of passenger space, cargo space, or in terms of material input. However, there are still some innovations worth mentioning - the first is the addition of new front seats, which have customized ventilation and massage functions. In addition, the Opel Astra also has a brand new heated windshield. Not only that, the lead glass of the new Opel Astra is also full of invisible thin wires, and its function is to ensure the windshield is always clean, no matter what conditions it is.
Perhaps the biggest change in Opel Astra's "plastic surgery" is the things related to its auxiliary and convenience technologies. The new Opel Astra inherits all the systems used before, while adding and improving a lot of new gadgets. Unfortunately, these changes require additional costs. For example, the front and rear cameras of this car have been improved - we can see that the camera in front is larger now, which can detect pedestrians and vehicles, and the same is true for the rear camera.
In terms of power, the 2020 Opel Astra is equipped with two gasoline engines and a diesel engine, which provide different levels of power output. The gasoline range includes a 1.2L and a 1.4L engine, the former has three power levels (82KW, 96KW and 108KW), while the latter provides a maximum power of 115KW. In terms of diesel engines, the Opel Astra uses a 1.5L diesel engine, equipped with different power systems that can generate maximum power of 78KW or 108KW, and this engine can be matched with Opel's latest 9-speed automatic transmission. Overall, the new Opel Astra motor sequence has reached the future "Euro 6d" emission standards, reducing CO2 emission levels by up to 19%.
The new Opel Astra has the same safety features as before, including the latest driver assistance systems: adaptive cruise control, follow-up distance indicator, forward collision alarm with automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition and lane keeping assistance, etc. Optionally, the new Opel Astra offers a sport chassis option, which comes with a harder damper , a more direct steering, and a link to a rear axle finish. Additionally, an emergency call system is optional, which starts when it detects that the seat belt tensioning device or airbag is deployed and an emergency response alert is issued.
Overall, the Opel Astra brand has a better life in Europe. In the past few years, the sales of this model have generally remained below 200,000 units, considering the ongoing uncertainty of ownership at the enterprise level. But sometimes the brand sells three times that number. The new version of the Opel Astra is likely not to recreate its past glory, and Opel may not bet on this new car.
