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Astra 1.2 145ps

22K views 21 replies 8 participants last post by  astra2016  
#1 ·
The new 1.2 engine gets a good write up and sounds interesting with 145ps.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/vauxhall/astra/108122/vauxhall-astra-vs-ford-focus-vs-seat-leon
 
#2 ·
Not a bad result JJ , disagree about the interior being drab , I personally think after all the cars I've owned and driven it's a rather nice place to be. Dissapointed it got beaten by the focus , those journalists just love ford handling ! But not surprised it beat the Leon considering a new model is imminent. The new Leon looks like it's taking things a big step further so with the new Leon & golf i think the Astra will struggle.
Certainly a better write up than 'what cars' diesel Astra k last month which finished last , no end of issues with especially the rough 1.5 Diesel engine.
Maybe we've all spoken too early about these PSA petrol engines , so far so good in this new k.
 
#4 ·
Pompeydave said:
Not a bad result JJ , disagree about the interior being drab , I personally think after all the cars I've owned and driven it's a rather nice place to be. Dissapointed it got beaten by the focus , those journalists just love ford handling ! But not surprised it beat the Leon considering a new model is imminent. The new Leon looks like it's taking things a big step further so with the new Leon & golf i think the Astra will struggle.
Certainly a better write up than 'what cars' diesel Astra k last month which finished last , no end of issues with especially the rough 1.5 Diesel engine.
Maybe we've all spoken too early about these PSA petrol engines , so far so good in this new k.
When The Astra k when first reviewed in 2015 it did come number 1 out of the auto express review so it will be interesting to see what PSA do with the new model in 2021
 
#6 ·
Is anybody slightly disappointed with this new engine spec? Clearly the 145hp is designed to replace the 150hp. However it is very much a slower car, that is more than a little disappointing to me. I had the astra J 1.4 turbo which had a similar 0-60 time, it always felt sluggish and gave no confidence to go for an A road overtake. I can see why it's been done, because of the co2 emissions, but I am disappointed anyway. Looks like the astra k 1.4 turbo 150 hp will remain, for me at least, the sweet spot in the range.
 
#7 ·
astra2016 said:
Is anybody slightly disappointed with this new engine spec? Clearly the 145hp is designed to replace the 150hp. However it is very much a slower car, that is more than a little disappointing to me. I had the astra J 1.4 turbo which had a similar 0-60 time, it always felt sluggish and gave no confidence to go for an A road overtake. I can see why it's been done, because of the co2 emissions, but I am disappointed anyway. Looks like the astra k 1.4 turbo 150 hp will remain, for me at least, the sweet spot in the range.
Agree with above , i also had a J 1.4t and it felt slow but I livened things up a bit with a tuning box. Amazing how things have moved on though from 10 years ago , manufacturers all selling 1.0 / 1.2 3 cyl engines producing up to 150bhp.
VW now doing a 1.0 with optional hybrid which boosts power in the new golf....is this the way to go ? Can see a future Astra doing this as well if PSA group are to keep up with the rest of the pack.
 
#8 ·
I have been lucky enough to drive all the petrol engines on offer for the current version of the K.
In all honesty the 1.4t in either the 125 or 150 does not impress. I had the 1.4t engine in the J and it was ok but heavy on fuel, and all I can say about the same engine In the K is it's ok and again heavy on fuel. The 1.0T is far more fun even though it's not as quick. If anyone wants outright performance they buy the 1.6t
The thing with the 3 cylinder engines with small turbos is that they spool up quicker, no turbo lag, don't feel sluggish and offer far better economy.
If you take a look at the VW range the 1.2tsi is now getting rare with the 1.0tsi appearing in all models with various bhp options which are a lot lower than PSA's offering
in the real world the new 1.2 145ps will not feel much slower than the current 1.4t + its the mid range you really need
 
#9 ·
I seem to remember ages ago (back in the days of the 2nd gen Corsa 1.0) someone saying that small capacity 3 cylinder engines had a better toque characteristics than the equivalent 4 cylinder? In these days of turbochargers though, I don't know if it's any different?

The 1.4T ECOTEC in the Astra J was quite hopeless initially (we had a 2010 model) but in about 2012 they reworked the mapping/gearing and gave it an over-boost facility with torque going up to 220Nm for overtakes. Really was a nice engine after that.

The new 1.4T on paper looked like an ideal replacement for my 1.6T ECOTEC Sport Hatch - but in reality it's nowhere close with a flat spot under 2000rpm and a very linear delivery.

Changed mine for the 1.6T and it's so much nicer to drive with a lazy slug of torque from about 1500rpm all the way through to about 5000, even when you're not racing about.
 
#10 ·
nsanderson said:
I seem to remember ages ago (back in the days of the 2nd gen Corsa 1.0) someone saying that small capacity 3 cylinder engines had a better toque characteristics than the equivalent 4 cylinder? In these days of turbochargers though, I don't know if it's any different?

The 1.4T ECOTEC in the Astra J was quite hopeless initially (we had a 2010 model) but in about 2012 they reworked the mapping/gearing and gave it an over-boost facility with torque going up to 220Nm for overtakes. Really was a nice engine after that.

The new 1.4T on paper looked like an ideal replacement for my 1.6T ECOTEC Sport Hatch - but in reality it's nowhere close with a flat spot under 2000rpm and a very linear delivery.

Changed mine for the 1.6T and it's so much nicer to drive with a lazy slug of torque from about 1500rpm all the way through to about 5000, even when you're not racing about.
Your correct regarding the torque characteristics of the 3 cylinder compared to 4 👍
 
#12 ·
Yeah I come at this from driving all the petrol engines Astra's also. Sorry but the 1.0 is not a patch on the 1.4 although I will admit the 1.0 punched well and I was impressed with it and it's economy (on a run from London to Manchester). For the premium of the 1.6 at the time I purchased, on paper it was not really that much quicker. If I were to replace my astra I would admit to plumping for the 1.6 this time. But it's a big if, a testament to the current car I feel.
I have driven all the PSA units also 85hp, just don't, 110, better, 130 is good fun with plenty of power and useable torque, all seems to be delivered in one, so quickly out of ideas. But I don't enjoy the PSA gearboxes I seem to regularly miss gears with them.
 
#13 ·
astra2016 said:
Yeah I come at this from driving all the petrol engines Astra's also. Sorry but the 1.0 is not a patch on the 1.4 although I will admit the 1.0 punched well and I was impressed with it and it's economy (on a run from London to Manchester). For the premium of the 1.6 at the time I purchased, on paper it was not really that much quicker. If I were to replace my astra I would admit to plumping for the 1.6 this time. But it's a big if, a testament to the current car I feel.
I have driven all the PSA units also 85hp, just don't, 110, better, 130 is good fun with plenty of power and useable torque, all seems to be delivered in one, so quickly out of ideas. But I don't enjoy the PSA gearboxes I seem to regularly miss gears with them.
Would agree on the gearboxes, I've often found them a bit mushy with odd bite points. Although I think the bite point aspect might be a french thing as the Renaults I've driven have all had really narrow high bit points.

I'm not a fan of downsizing engines as in reality I've never found the real world economy that impressive unless on a flat motorway run, in particular the 1.0 options. This is likely down to them being on boost more often than not when you touch that right pedal and the engine block being under more stress. In my view Mazda have the right idea sticking with higher capacities as the engines are under less stress at higher speeds, VW/Audi have replaced their 1.4 with a new 1.5 unit in the search of greater efficiency.
 
#14 ·
The whole concept of modern petrol turbos is to drive them with the turbo spinning..that's how you get your economy..if you keep the revs below the point the turbo kicks in you are not going to get as good economy.
Regarding the 1.0t not being economical unless on the flat then all I can say is you haven't driven one in mountainous Yorkshire..still get 42mpg driving local even in this weather and that's without trying and using sport mode quite a lot too.
The 1.4t in the K gives the same mpg as the J that I had before which is low thirties, but at least the only issue the J had was the gearbox and not the engine which is a ticking time bomb. For Anyone buying one of these second hand it's like playing Russian roulette as you have no idea what oil was used from new and even the dealers still try and sell you dexos2 and look at you stupid when you mention LSPI.
 
#15 ·
JJ-Yorks said:
The whole concept of modern petrol turbos is to drive them with the turbo spinning..that's how you get your economy..if you keep the revs below the point the turbo kicks in you are not going to get as good economy.
Regarding the 1.0t not being economical unless on the flat then all I can say is you haven't driven one in mountainous Yorkshire..still get 42mpg driving local even in this weather and that's without trying and using sport mode quite a lot too.
The 1.4t in the K gives the same mpg as the J that I had before which is low thirties, but at least the only issue the J had was the gearbox and not the engine which is a ticking time bomb. For Anyone buying one of these second hand it's like playing Russian roulette as you have no idea what oil was used from new and even the dealers still try and sell you dexos2 and look at you stupid when you mention LSPI.
Can very much agree with the above. I still get 49mpg from my 1.0T and i live in mountainous wales. Get 55mpg in the summer. Don't listen to the shift indicator on the dash as it has no idea if you're climbing a hill, it just detects that you have had your foot on the throttle at the same position for more than 3 seconds so commands that you change up a gear which is no good going up hill. Keep the revs above 2k on the flat and around 3k for up hill gradients.
 
#16 ·
I'm going on my experience of a scattering of rental 1.0TSI Polo / Octavia / 1.2T 308 / 1.4T Astra & Leon vs a couple of previous gen Mazda 3 2.0 N/A. For the runs to Milton Keynes / Loughborough from Ayrshire - which means cutting cross country through hills on both sides of the border the Mazda seems to get far better fuel until you hit the A1(M) at where they all came out as very much of a muchness - obviously the Polo ahead.

Given I don't tend to drive overly enthusiastically on a long journey and shove supermarket fuel in to hire cars, what I get from that is one of two things. Either a) The Mazda with its bigger block is under less stress through the hills or b) The Turbo's encourage you to be a little more lead footed given the low down shove so you drive them in a different manner.

If you don't know the roads, that is circa 400 miles to MK if you cut across the A66 / 380 if you stick with M6 and take the toll (worth every penny).

I'm not poo pooing them as a concept btw, I really enjoy the way they drive as in my early days I was a diesel fan boy. I just think downsizing N/A engines and adding turbos vs keeping larger blocks and adding turbos is a false economy.
 
#17 ·
The modern downsized turbo engine is under no more stress than a 2.0 n/a engine found in the Mazda. (Well documented if you google it)
Turbos are now an integrated part of the engine which is watercooled unlike the bolt on turbos you use to find in the likes of the Ford Escort RS Turbos
The only issue with the downsized petrol turbos is LSPI which can destroy an engine in minutes, but with the new oils that are available this should become less of an issue + use decent fuel instead of standard supermarket fuel
If you look on Mobil 1 webpage you can see a good example of a piston with LSPI and one which has being run on oil which helps eliminate the LSPI
By the way my 1.0T has being running EDS remap for over 20k Miles giving it 130ps and 225nm torque with no issues at all
 
#18 ·
JJ-Yorks said:
The modern downsized turbo engine is under no more stress than a 2.0 n/a engine found in the Mazda. (Well documented if you google it)
Turbos are now an integrated part of the engine which is watercooled unlike the bolt on turbos you use to find in the likes of the Ford Escort RS Turbos
The only issue with the downsized petrol turbos is LSPI which can destroy an engine in minutes, but with the new oils that are available this should become less of an issue + use decent fuel instead of standard supermarket fuel
If you look on Mobil 1 webpage you can see a good example of a piston with LSPI and one which has being run on oil which helps eliminate the LSPI
By the way my 1.0T has being running EDS remap for over 20k Miles giving it 130ps and 225nm torque with no issues at all
Cheers for the info, if I could give you a green dot / thumbs up I would.
Out of interest what is the gearbox rated at in the 1.0? Have considered it in the 1.6T but quoted figures are 30nm above the M32 "limit"
 
#21 ·
Thinking of trading mine in for the elite spec 1.2t 145ps and letting wife have it.
Havent decided what I want as quite a few new models hitting the market next year.
Tried the new focus but wasn't impressed and it certainly isn't worth the money they want for them at 8months old.
Would like to wait for new Leon to hit the market and try one of those assuming they sort the issue with the new 1.5tsi engine.
 
#22 ·
Got to agree with you about the focus. I had a diesel version as a hire car a month or so ago. The ST line so a well specced model. Interior was nice and it looked good, but I was shocked with how manic the ride was. I am sure its a fine handling car class leading etc etc. Ride comfort was not great. I am currently running about in the fiesta, petrol ecoboost. Not an st line but, still all the mod cons. it's a much nicer ride and the handling is spot on also. I do love getting back into my own car however :lol: