The Chief

Not sure which to buy next, Ok the Astra can be remapped to 240bhp with torque to mach, but the 2.2 prelude especially the manual which has 200bhp does not seem a slouch, seems almost Scooby quick.

Has anyone had experience of both on here???


ta very much

Matteeboy

Although I own an Astra, I only rate the mk5.
I'd get the Prelude I think - will last longer although more chavvy than the Ashtray.

Bodgit

I used to own an astra gsi with the same turbo engine in it. It was a good/great car. A lot of people are now putting the VXR turbo on to the Z20LET a getting very good results. I found the handling good on mine too.
Out o the 2 I would go for the Astra again. Look past the name this is a very capable engine and will make you smile when you put your foot down. Test drive one, you may be surprised.

The Chief

I have drove a slightly modded SRI Turbo and that did impress me, even the handling for a fwd, thing is i've never driven a Prelude so cant compare really

Matteeboy

The GSi is one mk4 Astra that I really liked.
Never quite understood why Astras get such a bashing.

Ours (mk5 CDTi 150) has been excellent and well beyond our (quite low) expectations.
Fast(ish), reliable, well made, comfy and genuinely handles really well.

Not keen on the look of the Coupe though - prefer the normal GSI.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

My mate has a 300 bhp 888 Astra Coupe, no quicker than his 250 bhp last one until it hooks up and gains some traction at about 70 mph.

Matteeboy

Big power alone is no good to me.
Handling first, power second.

exvaux

iTrader: (1)

astra every time for me,it is understated with the handling and as said above i dont know why they get such a bad rep,half the folk that take the p**s probably havent ever owned or even driven one

what would scooby do

IIRC the prelude was like the accord steering i.e. no idea which way the wheels were pointing !

Daz1121

Before buying the Scoob I had a Civic 1.8VTi which for what it was is a great car. Far more fun to drive than any Vauxhall I've driven one of which was a Calibra Turbo 4*4. The Honda's do need to be driven hard to get the most from them as the V-Tec doesn't come in untill about 5000rpm.
If you are at the next Unicorn meet I'll pass on more of my Honda experiences to you

The Chief

No probs.

would have been at last nights but got the dreaded lurgy at the mo.

cheers

AlexJReid

I've had two 2.2 VTEC Preludes. Still have one!

I love the shape of them and the engine is great. Handling OK, brakes no worse than a Scoob!

You can either get the BB1 model which had four wheel steering or the BB4 model that didn't. BB4 is only available as an import. Best model is the BB4 with LSD gearbox.

Matteeboy

Having said all that about my Astra, it died this weekend.
Turbo failure on less that 40k miles.

Halo well and truly slipped but luckily all under warranty.

The Chief

You have the new model as well dont you?

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

Not sure which model the astra is on, if it is the one before the current varient, i tried one and didn't like the driving position, you are sat very much to the right of the steering wheel, not just a little bit but a lot of centre. The newer one is much better.

5t.

Matteeboy

Yep - 05 reg (bought new) 39k miles - not good and left us very much stranded.
I have made it clear to Vauxhall that they now have the "opportunity" to redeem themselves, so far rather dented by them disputing the car hire we had to take out (they had no courtesy cars available so we had to hire a car).

Hmm....

Fivetide - It's now the mk5/Astra H