VXOC Astra-J/GTC

Hi, I am new here. I am thinking about buying an Astra J 1.6T or 2.0 Diesel. At the moment I drive an Astra H VXR. Am I doing the right thing changing? Thanks

Well it's all down to personal preference.

For me it's all down to miles on the car running costs does the current car need repairs.

I love my gtc so for me I would go for the J but the vxr must be fun I would love one but it would need to be the gtc.

Are you going for the 5 door or the gtc?

Good choice, the Astra J is well made and certainly competes with the Golf/Focus for quality

Depends what you are looking for by changing your H for a J

It would need to be 5 doors. Nothing wrong with my VXR, it's in good order. I could just do with a 5 door car now. The J ticks the right boxes for me

Hi Mark,

I have gone for the GTC 1.6t but looking back I would probably have preferred a quickish diesel (bi turbo) for the torque and cheaper running costs. The 1.6t engine needs thrashing a bit to release the horsepower, if you're coming from a VXR the lack of torque may be quite noticeable..

I'm averaging 26.8mpg out of the 1.6t engine in mine, you could probably come close to doubling that in the diesel. All comes down to preference at the end of the day, the diesel will feel quicker at low revs im sure. Good luck with it

This is my VXR at the moment...

I would stay with what you've got, I don't think a 5dr J (unless absolutely modded out) will cut it for you if you are already driving something like that. If you think you can't live without the power but need a 5dr I think you need to be considering another hot hatch like a Goff GTi, Leon Cupra, Focus ST etc.

Welcome, if you do go for a J then I would highly recommend you go for 2.0CDTI.

I still really love that vxr!! Wish I'd have got one of those lol

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Yeah the VXR is a nice car, mine is an Arctic Edition with full Turbo back Remus exhaust. I just wish it was 5 doors

I have a 12 plate 2.0 CDTi Elite.

I have driven many an H standard VXR and a couple of tweaked ones too, plus 1.8s and a 1.6 plus a 1.7 diesel.
I had a severely modded H 1.9 diesel and a modded Twintop diesel both over 200bhp.

So my background with Astras is fairly comprehensive.

My Astra J is a far superior car to all but the VXR purely on performance. I recently attempted to remedy that with a DPF removal and a re-map. I now have about 215BHP but its an eco map so it's all mid range torque through the autobox.

It also returns 46MPG even with pretty spirited driving and over 50MPG on cruise control at 70.

These cars are very good as standard but with a few careful mods they can be real sleepers and scare some top end stuff.

Throw in the heated leather and the nice toys and it's a pretty comprehensive package.

If I drove a car like that and needed to change to a 5dr for practical reasons I don't think I would like the drop in power unless I weren't bothered anymore about power. As you said, you wish it was 5 doors so it doesn't sound to me like you're ready to give up all those horses yet. Anything less than a hot hatch will leave you feeling deflated when pulling off or putting your foot down (in comparison)... are you really ready to compromise your power for practicality or do you think you need an alternative version of your VXR but with 5 doors i.e ST, FR, GTi?. The other option is stick with what you already have... I would.

I would love a GTI, but just out my price range. My fav car is the Golf R. I would miss the fun from the VXR, but deep down I know it will have to be sold or swapped for a 5 door car. I felt silly last year watching my girlfriends parents squeeze in and out the car. I do like the look of the Astra J. I nearly bought one before I bought the VXR, but the dealer would not drop down £200, so I walked away.