Umognog's Astra Sports Tourer 2.0 CDTi SE

[umognog]

Recently we bought one of these:



It quickly became apparent that the Vectra-C hatchback and the Yaris hatchback where not cutting the mustard for this beast.

Therefore I decided that we needed to buy one of these:



On going to view a Passat estate, I spotted this well priced Astra Sports Tourer and quickly decided, this is the car for us.

So this is what we bought, in its completely no-mod state:








This car was bought for its function to transport a dog better, it was function over features and style but still really happy to have had parking sensors, auto lights, wipers and so on, unlike the Passat which was considerably more expensive & a  sluggish 1.6tdi

Reading posts here, I started to wonder all of what I had missed out, when I spotted some ambient lighting showing in a picture.

Whilst test driving, tried to find out if bluetooth was fitted. pressing "phone" just muted it, pressing config I did find an option for "BT AUDIO" in the menu but I dont think i was paying attention to the level-up display and following a proper pairing process. Either way, it was purchased with the thoughts that this was a car without factory fitted bluetooth and fitting one of the semi-crap android aftermarket units.

I have a significantly long list of adaptations I want to make to this car, from de-badging (including the griffin, which will be replaced with a fictional conglomerate badge instead (Our business is life itself) to getting decked out in a blue & green LED theme. dammit that rhymed!!

I love the half-leather trim, feels great whilst the cloth gives a familiar comfort that I prefer.

I already have a fitted boot mat on order, along with a bumper sill guard - I felt it was essential. Might not look great, but it will look better than dog paw scratches (the lazy git is a scrambler.) I am also picking up some genuine VX Astra J rubber mats tomorrow for the winter months, as I will have mucky wellies getting in and out.

A white SMD LED interior kit is on its way too, covering:

Front dome
Front reading x2
Rear dome x2
Glovebox
Boot light
sun visor x4

I know this goes against the blue & green theme I mention earlier, but these are function lights. IPC, switches, ambient, puddle lights etc. will all be going down the green/blue route.

The other progress threads here have made my head spin on some things, so a spreadsheet has been opened up, not least to track the various SMD LEDs I need to purchase as I would prefer to just spend the £30 in one go!

More to come