The Zafira model was introduced in 1999. The car is equipped with two-praise 16-valve gasoline engines of 1.6 and 1.8 liters. The body of the Zafira is designed for 7 passengers (including the driver), the seats are arranged in 3 rows (MPV - Multipersonnel Version). The rear seats, thanks to the Flex 7 system, fold easily to form a spacious cargo area.
From February 2000, the Astra model began to be produced with a 2.2 liter engine, and from October 2000 - in a version with a 2.0 liter petrol engine equipped with a turbocharger.
Some measurement results
| 30000 km | 100000 km | |
| Maximum speed, km/h | 187,5 | 188,2 |
| Acceleration time, s | ||
| 0-50 km/h | 3,87 | 3,98 |
| 0-100 km/h | 12,46 | 12,99 |
| 0-150 km/h | 29,87 | 31,48 |
| on the way 400 m | 18,46 | 18,66 |
| on the way 1000 m | 33,72 | 34,14 |
| 60-100 km/h (3rd gear) | 8,43 | 8,55 |
| 60-100 km/h (4th gear) | 11,71 | 11,59 |
| 80-120 km/h (5th gear) | 17,47 | 16,61 |
| Run-out, m | ||
| from 50 km/h | 738 | 816 |
| 130-80 km/h | 1124 | 1157 |
| 160-80 km/h | 1698 | 1746 |
| Braking distance from a speed of 100 km/h, m | 50,0 | 46,6 |
| with effort on the brake pedal, kg | 37,5 | 39,2 |
| Deceleration, m/s2 | 7,7 | 8,3 |
Opel Astra: 100,000 kilometers
Astra was operated intensively: daily runs of 200-250 km, long-distance business trips. Approximately half of the entire run the car was in highway modes, the rest fell on city trips. The load was usually small - most often I travel alone, occasionally with one or two passengers. And only about 5 percent of all trips the car was almost completely loaded.
The first forty thousand kilometers Astra passed without problems. I was only surprised that the plastic of some external parts became too brittle in severe frosts. In addition, during the assaults on the virgin snow "self-destructed" mudguards - metal brackets that fix them on the wings have come unfastened. Another trouble - in winter, due to the inaccuracy of the washer, who doused the car with hot water, the windshield cracked. Fortunately, the glass was later replaced under warranty.
At forty-second thousand, a small play appeared in the hub of the front right wheel. At the service of Trinity Motors, they agreed to replace the hub assembly under warranty - the design of the hub does not allow the backlash to be eliminated by adjusting the bearing. By the way, at the RM-Market service, where I passed TO-3, they refused to change the hub under warranty.
Shortly thereafter, the cold engine became "triple", and after warming up, it worked unevenly at idle. But after replacing the set of spark plugs with TO-3 (45000 km) the motor was running smoothly again. Interestingly, in the service book, the first replacement of spark plugs is prescribed only at a mileage of 60,000 km - obviously, based on good gasoline.
To the sixtieth thousand "weakened" rear suspension - a vertical buildup appeared, incomprehensible tapping was heard from behind. The reason was found out on the lift during the passage of TO-4 - the right spring of the rear suspension burst. The two lower turns of the metal bar have disappeared without a trace! And due to the fact that Astra on a shortened spring "sat down", failed and the rear right shock absorber. I am very lucky that the warranty period (one year unlimited mileage) expired in just a week. As a result, after some time, both springs and both rear shock absorbers were replaced on the Astra free of charge.
By the way, during the TO-4, the servicemen strongly recommended replacing the timing belt of the timing gear. It turns out that despite the fact that in the service book of second-generation Opel Astra cars, the timing belt replacement interval has been increased to 120,000 km (before it was 60,000 km), there were breaks at 80-90 thousand km. And for a 16-valve engine, this is especially dangerous... I agreed to a replacement. With this operation, the locksmith also combined the warranty replacement of the running rollers in the timing drive, which began to make noise even before TO-3.
Then a black streak began for Astra. First, the rear light was damaged in the parking lot: I had to buy a new one. A couple of weeks later, during the March thaw, cars parked near the editorial office were subjected to "bombardment" icicles falling from the roof. Among the victims were "trying on" Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI and, alas, my Astra. The damage is small, but offensive - the hood, the right fender are dented and the right headlight is damaged. Independent experts estimated the damage at $800, and I decided to claim this money from the local DEP. It wasn't there! I had to go to court. I am still waiting in line for consideration of the case... However, this is a topic for a separate article. And we carried out cosmetic repairs to damage to body panels on our own at the Autoreview technical center, so the unpleasant incident with the icicle is not reflected in the operating costs table.
This spring, on the eighty-fourth thousand, it is time to buy new summer tires. Although "native" Since 185/70 R14 Continental tires could still be used, we decided to try out the new Nokian NRH2 model. Unfortunately, Nokian does not produce such high-profile tires for this model, so we bought 195/65 R14 tires. The first impression of Nokian NRH2 is rather high noise level. But the developed water-removing tread pattern provides excellent grip when driving in heavy rain.
At the eighty-seventh thousand, an entry appeared in the logbook: "tapping in the front suspension on bumps in the turn". The reason is the backlash in both ball joints. Fortunately, the design of the front suspension allows you to replace only the ball joints, and not buy lever assemblies because of this, as you have to do on some other foreign cars.
During TO-6 (90000 km), in addition to planned work, at Astra, at my request, they changed the spark plugs - the second set after 45,000 km also obviously needed to be replaced. In addition, the front brake pads were worn to the limit. Yes Yes, "native" The set of front pads lasted 90,000 km! Of course, such a high resource is also explained by my habit of widely using engine braking not only in winter, but also in summer.
By the way, the fact that Astra's outdoor lighting bulbs burn out quite often is also my fault - I turn on the light as soon as it snows, rains or a light fog falls. But I think it's better to ride "afternoon with fire", rather than risk being overlooked by other drivers...
Now Astra is in good technical condition. The engine runs like clockwork, starts without problems in the most severe frosts. The oil level remains unchanged during service intervals. The average fuel consumption is low - about 7.2 l / 100 km.
"good shape" the car is also confirmed by the results of tests on a dyno road. Compared to the first measurements that we carried out last spring with a run of 30,000 km, not a single value has changed "maximum speed", nor indicators of elasticity. True, although the braking distance on Nokian tires has become shorter, it is still too big even for a car without ABS - 46.6 m from a speed of 100 km / h.
What is the result? Two years ago we bought an Opel Astra 1.6 16V sedan for $17,750. Since then, Opels have noticeably fallen in price - now Astra with a sixteen-valve 1.6-liter engine can be bought for $ 14,580, and for this money the car will be equipped with ABS and DSA exchange rate stabilization system, which are absent on our car. Operating expenses for the entire run amounted to $5165. Most other editorial cars were more expensive to run. For example, Opel Corsa 1.4 for 100,000 km "ate" $7718, Toyota Corolla 1.3-$7178.
And the resale value of the Astra cannot be called low either - now you can get at least $ 8,000 for such a car.
Reliability? Despite the breakdowns that occurred, a visit to the service station, which left me for two days "without wheels", I had to commit only once - to replace the windshield. So it's a sin to complain about too much trouble. And, very importantly, we lived with Astra all 100,000 km soul to soul. What is called, agreed on the characters.
Opel Astra 1.6 16V operating costs (mileage 100000 km)
| Mileage, km | Works and materials | Cost, $ |
| 500 | Signaling (with installation) | 604,3 |
| radio tape recorder | 200,0 | |
| Mat set | 8,0 | |
| 5000 | Nokian Hakkapeliitta tires (4 things.) | 340,0 |
| 7000 | Tire Nokian Hakkapeliitta (1 PC.) | 61,3 |
| 10900 | Repair of a punctured tire | 1.7 |
| 14900 | TO-1 (oil (4 l), oil filter, routine maintenance) | 142,5 |
| Replacing the low beam bulb in the left headlight | 23,3 | |
| 16000 | Stop cracked windshield | 4,2 |
| 30300 | TO-2 (oil (4 l), oil filter, fuel filter, air filter, cabin ventilation filter, routine maintenance) | 123,9 |
| 31400 | Trico wiper blades (2 pcs.) | 17,2 |
| 45000 | TO-3 (oil (4 l), oil filter, fuel filter, air filter, flushing fluid, routine maintenance) | 148,3 |
| Replacing spark plugs (4 things.) | 85,6 | |
| Replacing the dipped beam bulb in the right headlight | 16,5 | |
| Rear Left Door Lock Adjustment | 17,4 | |
| 54300 | Replacing the hub of the front right wheel | guarantee |
| 60000 | TO-4 (oil (4 l), oil filter, fuel filter, air filter, cabin ventilation filter, timing belt, scheduled maintenance) | 327,7 |
| Replacing the side light bulb in the right headlight | 3,6 | |
| Parking brake actuator adjustment | 13,6 | |
| Replacing the timing belt drive rollers | guarantee | |
| 62700 | Wiper blades NePa (2 pcs.) | 10,6 |
| 68000 | Fuse 20 A | 0.2 |
| 69000 | Replacing shock absorbers and rear suspension springs | guarantee |
| Replacement of a lamp of a passing beam of the left headlight | 17,8 | |
| 72100 | windshield replacement | guarantee |
| 76000 | TO-5 (oil (4 l), oil filter, routine maintenance) | 108,6 |
| Replacing the license plate lamp | 2,5 | |
| Replacement of two lamps of illumination of the central console | 8,8 | |
| 77500 | Rear left lamp | 66,2 |
| Stop lamp and tail light | 1,4 | |
| 82000 | Right low beam lamp | 10,5 |
| 83000 | Tires Nokian NRH2 (4 things.) | 268,5 |
| 88000 | ball joints (2 pcs.) | 88,0 |
| 90000 | TO-6 (oil (4 l), oil filter, fuel filter, air filter, cabin ventilation filter, routine maintenance) | 250,1 |
| Replacing spark plugs (4 things.) | 27,7 | |
| Replacing the front brake pads | 90,8 | |
| antifreeze liquid | 22,6 | |
| Petrol (7218 liters) | 2051,2 | |
| Total | 5164,6 |
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