1990 Vauxhall Astra GTE 16v 2.0 16v DOHC

Summary:

A high performance bargain

Faults:

Alternator belt snapped, got sucked under the cam belt cover and demolished the valves.

Power steering rack failed - needed replacing.

Electric windows switch failed, replaced then failed again!

Started motor starting to go.

General Comments:

Very very fast car, in fact the fastest non turbo hot hatch ever made with a 0-60 of 7.2 seconds. The engine is one of the best 4 cylinder normally aspirated engines around.

In standard form the handling is a little scary, so it is recommended that the springs and shocks be upgraded.

The interior is good for the age. Includes digital dash, check control, leather steering wheel / gear knob, Recaro seats, tilt and slide sunroof... the list goes on.

For a 1990 car it is surprising that it has a CAT, ABS and PAS.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th February, 2001

1990 Vauxhall Astra GTE 2.0i petrol

Summary:

Very fast

Faults:

Usual wear and tear. Such as brake pads and discs, new tyres etc.

Nothing else at all.

General Comments:

Great performance, good, powerful and capable engine with plenty of torque.

Goes through tyres really quickly.

Can be quite demanding to drive in wet conditions as the wheels will spin in almost any gear at almost any speed!

Attracts the wrong kind of attention. The kind that leaves you walking home with a large insurance claim to make. So get an alarm and immobiliser straight away.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th January, 2001

1990 Vauxhall Astra SXi 1.8 petrol

Summary:

Fantasic car... if you can find one in good nick!

Faults:

Quite a few small intermittent electrical faults - electric aerial, wipers, stereo.

So far so good though, nothing major... touch wood!

General Comments:

Bought the car in excellent condition even for its age, and I love it to bits!

Appears to be fairly rare, don't see so many of these on the roads as SRI's & GTE's. Maybe not as quick as a GTE, but can certainly hold its own against many other hot hatches.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 12th December, 2000

1990 Vauxhall Astra GTE 16v 2.0i 16v DOHC petrol

Summary:

All in all a great car which can well exceed your expectations

Faults:

Steering rack came off the bulkhead.

Starter motor locked up - constantly engaged and caught fire!

General Comments:

A great car that is now quite affordable with prices around 1000-2000.

Insurance is reasonable for this type of car (mine is about 450 Third Party, Fire and Theft).

Blistering performance if you keep the engine well serviced and maintained. I have found it best to tune the engine every 4500 miles and use Mobil 1 oil and BOSCH 4's. It can get a bit wheelspinney due to the power going to the wheels but if you can control this there are not many cars that can beat it!!

There is plenty of cabin space and the LCD dash is brill but can be a bit of a bugger when the sun is behind you and then you can't register a thing!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 7th December, 2000

22nd Nov 2001, 09:39

How did you manage £450 for insurance?? How old are you?

20th Dec 2001, 09:15

I've got a modified 16v GTE, my insurance is £440 with Herts Insurance out of the back of Maxpower. I am 23 so it's not too bad, worth it just for having such a quick car that looks like mine does now.

1990 Vauxhall Astra GTE 2.0L 8v petrol

Summary:

Cheap speed but frustrating

Faults:

Clutch went.

Welding to the back sills.

Suspension bushes and ball joints.

Track rod ends and starter motor.

They all went at the same time.

Goes through tyres like nobody's business.

General Comments:

Good overall car, handling is crap round corners, at speed the back end goes.

Lowered 30mm which gave it a better feel for the road and a K&N filter gave a slight improvement in top end speed plus a nice sound.

I found the car to be pretty quick, but nothing compared to a turbo. It's a good car to try as it's cheap speed.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 24th November, 2000

18th Jan 2004, 04:55

I don`t agree with every ones comments about the GTE eating tyres/rubbish handling on corners. The car has massive low down torque. Because of this and being front wheel drive - yes it is very easy to spin the front wheels which leads to tyre wear. But if driven correctly around corners - not throttle floored - it handles like it`s on rails. The front tyres on my 2Lt GTE cabbie are standard 15" and have done well over 20,000 miles...