Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra

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Thu 29 Aug 2019 16:40
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - Brit_in_Germany

Are those the Peugeot Citroen Puretech engines?

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Thu 29 Aug 2019 17:16
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - catsdad
HJ covers that in the review. All GM.
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Thu 29 Aug 2019 19:23
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - Brit_in_Germany

Must be my eyesight failing or maybe HJ added that to his review.

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Thu 29 Aug 2019 21:20
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - RT

Must be my eyesight failing or maybe HJ added that to his review.

HJ's review simply states "GM developed"

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Fri 30 Aug 2019 02:43
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - SLO76
“There had been rumours that the new engines are from Peugeot but that was exaggerated. In fact, they are a 1,199cc belt in oil petrol with 110, 130 or 145PS; a 1,342cc chain cam petrol with 145PS; and a 1,496cc diesel with 105PS or 122PS. All GM developed”

Strange then that the 3cyl 1.2 belt in bath motor matches PSA’s 3cyl 1.2 belt in bath motor exactly in specification as does the 1.5 diesel exactly match PSA’s 1.5 diesel. Hmmm... me thinketh they be indeed two off the shelf PSA motors and neither are bad at all so where’s the harm in Vauxhall showing a little honesty?

I get why they used to deny the Fiat diesels in previous models were anything other than their own work or at least were a joint effort but in through they were just bought in designs from the Italians and shared all the same woe as the miles piled on.
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Fri 30 Aug 2019 09:54
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - Brit_in_Germany

The German motor magazines also emphasise that the engines are GM-developed and date from before the takeover. The fact that the figures are so similar to those of the PSA engines is a "pure coincidence".

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Fri 30 Aug 2019 12:26
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - daveyK_UK
Worth adding the 1.2 Peugeot/Citroen petrol engine and the 1.5 Peugeot/Citroen diesel are both excellent engines.

The 1.2 pure tech has been solid since release, does great mpg and is lovely to drive.

The 1.5 diesel comes from the 1.6 diesel which despite being named the diesel of death underwent a few changes in its life cycle and was much improved until the end of its life (I actually drove one in a hire van of a 19 plate new shape Peugeot Partner - presume they were using up all the 1.6 diesel before installing the 1.5 units - easy to tell the difference, the 1.6 only came with a 5 speed where the 1.5 is 6 speed as standard),

The 1.5 is much more refined than the 1.6 and the extra gear makes a big difference if your travelling at 80mph (autobahns obviously), sits comfortably at 80 with no strain on the engine and plenty of poke to speed up if needed.


The Astra relatability wise will be much better served by these changes.

There is a wide spread problem with the GM/Fiat 1.6 diesel (GM and not Fiat used a different clutch Slave cylinder that universally failed within first 3 years, GM never offered a fix but Peugeot soon did once they recognised how much they where spending in warranty repairs).
Everything you need to know about GM should be clear when they were changing Fiat components for cheaper alternatives.
There is also question marks over the GM 1.0 turbo petrol engine which has had a few different failures; I don’t know enough to comment in detail.
The GM 1.4 and 1.6 petrol engines non turbo form are generally solid no issues but becoming a bit dated in the modern turbo world. The GM 1.4 turbo engine had issues at first (head gasket failures) but they did get resolved and has proven to be a good engine.

The Astra should benefit from improved sales as no doubt these engines will make for a far better ownership experience

One other thing , despite the weak pound PSA can still buy and import the Viva and Viva Rocks from GM to the UK and Make a considerable 4 fighters per unit; they remain astonished at how cheap GM Korea can build cars.
Are the Korean government subsidising their car industry?

Edited by daveyK_UK on 30/08/2019 at 12:30

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Fri 30 Aug 2019 13:23
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - nick62

The German motor magazines also emphasise that the engines are GM-developed and date from before the takeover. The fact that the figures are so similar to those of the PSA engines is a "pure coincidence".

I would compare that with our current PM on his reasons for making certain decisions of late maybe?

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Fri 6 Sep 2019 16:33
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - SLO76
I read the Diesel was a 4cyl, looking at other reviews I see that was incorrect. Concern is that GM don’t have a great reputation for designing Diesel engines, or 3cyl engines for that matter with past attempts at either both fragile and mostly unrefined. I’d rather they used PSA motors. Surely it wasn’t beyond their capabilities to re-engineer them to take the same engines and thus make large scale savings?

I wouldn’t buy any Vauxhall that uses a new and untested engine especially one that was designed while the firm was effectively bankrupt and desperately trying to cut costs. Shame as I’ve often recommended Astras in the past as good basic no nonsense used motors but sadly I fear this will not be the case with the new model.

Edited by SLO76 on 06/09/2019 at 16:34

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Fri 6 Sep 2019 19:55
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - RT
I read the Diesel was a 4cyl, looking at other reviews I see that was incorrect. Concern is that GM don’t have a great reputation for designing Diesel engines, or 3cyl engines for that matter with past attempts at either both fragile and mostly unrefined. I’d rather they used PSA motors. Surely it wasn’t beyond their capabilities to re-engineer them to take the same engines and thus make large scale savings? I wouldn’t buy any Vauxhall that uses a new and untested engine especially one that was designed while the firm was effectively bankrupt and desperately trying to cut costs. Shame as I’ve often recommended Astras in the past as good basic no nonsense used motors but sadly I fear this will not be the case with the new model.

GM Powertrain Torino, which has developed all Opel/Vauxhall engines over the last couple of decades was included in the sale to PSA - so certainly not bankrupt in any form.

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Fri 6 Sep 2019 22:00
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - SLO76
“GM Powertrain Torino, which has developed all Opel/Vauxhall engines over the last couple of decades was included in the sale to PSA - so certainly not bankrupt in any form.”

Now but I’m talking about before PSA bought it. GM were losing money hand over fist and have been desperately trying to turn their European arm around for years. It was effectively bankrupt, they had to go cap in hand to the US tax payer for a bailout.

Their flawed approach is best seen through the demise of Saab. In the 80’s and 90’s Saab’s were fantastically solid prestige cars worthy of rivalling the best Europe had to offer. The 9000 was a superb big exec but the sad poorly built Vectra based 9-5 that replaced it was nothing like. They thought they could cut their way to profit while rivals were pouring money into their products and the sad end was unavoidable with the Yanks in control.

Like I said, I wouldn’t want to buy anything they developed during the final years (as these new engines must have been) just like I wouldn’t recommend a late model Saab either.

Edited by SLO76 on 06/09/2019 at 22:04

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Fri 6 Sep 2019 22:38
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - Chris M

SLO. The Astra K has been around for approaching 4 years with the 1.0T 3 pot. I haven't heard of any reliability issues. Have you?

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Fri 6 Sep 2019 23:20
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - SLO76

SLO. The Astra K has been around for approaching 4 years with the 1.0T 3 pot. I haven't heard of any reliability issues. Have you?

Not from anyone I know with one but a quick flick through owner forums, particularly related to the Cora shows a fair number of failures. Not anywhere near the rate of Fords ecoboost but concerns me enough.
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Sat 7 Sep 2019 03:50
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - Kekettykek

i believe early 1.0 and 1.4 engines could suffer piston damage due to low-speed pre ignition, that was apparantly solved by a new oil formulation and an ECU remap.

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Fri 6 Sep 2019 23:17
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - RT
“GM Powertrain Torino, which has developed all Opel/Vauxhall engines over the last couple of decades was included in the sale to PSA - so certainly not bankrupt in any form.” Now but I’m talking about before PSA bought it. GM were losing money hand over fist and have been desperately trying to turn their European arm around for years. It was effectively bankrupt, they had to go cap in hand to the US tax payer for a bailout. Their flawed approach is best seen through the demise of Saab. In the 80’s and 90’s Saab’s were fantastically solid prestige cars worthy of rivalling the best Europe had to offer. The 9000 was a superb big exec but the sad poorly built Vectra based 9-5 that replaced it was nothing like. They thought they could cut their way to profit while rivals were pouring money into their products and the sad end was unavoidable with the Yanks in control. Like I said, I wouldn’t want to buy anything they developed during the final years (as these new engines must have been) just like I wouldn’t recommend a late model Saab either.

GM were deliberately bleeding money out of Opel/Vauxhall for decades - charging them IP rights for FWD products developed with Opel/Vauxhall funds, a form of double accounting used by other multi-nationals - the US federal bail-out was because their US operations were bankrupt.

GM wrecked Saab, just like it has with Holden - thankfully Opel/Vauxhall was "dumped" although GM had already raided the Opel/Vauxhall pension funds

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Sat 7 Sep 2019 03:47
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - Kekettykek

Disappointed that there isn't a decent performance version of the Astra K now the 1.6 200 bhp motor has been dropped.

I owned a 1.4 150bhp version for two years and it was excellent, a real pleasure to drive which is something I'd never thought I'd say about an Astra.

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Sat 7 Sep 2019 09:30
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - Chris M

Autocar tested the updated Astra this week and were overall quite complimentary. Especially so considering it isn't a VAG product.

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Sun 8 Sep 2019 09:41
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - daveyK_UK
Astra van would sell in good numbers
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Sun 8 Sep 2019 11:25
Vauxhall Astra K 2020 model - New GM drivetrains in Vauxhall Astra - badbusdriver
Astra van would sell in good numbers

I don't it would have, otherwise it would still be being made. After all, it wouldn't cost that much to develop, just an Astra estate with blanked rear side windows, heavier duty suspension and two fewer doors. It was a good looking thing for a van, but ultimately not that practical due to the lack of height, lack of rear side doors and relatively small payload. Unless you need the extra length of load bay, the Corsa van will do most of what the Astra did (the payload is only 15% less). If you need more, whether it be length, height, or payload, that is what the Combo is for.

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