2008 WHITE Astra SRI Coupe

[tomtom]

Hey guys I've been looking around on this forum for a few months now and thought it was time for me to join!

Little background on my car:

It's a 2008 white astra sri coupe (non turbo) and bone stock. I ordered it back in early feb and waited till around mid june before i got it because apparently, they don't stock white sri's! Twas a loooong wait haha.

That's all i've got to share atm. I'm not really much of a tuner or a massive petrol head but I am hoping to eventually mod up my AH a little so I look forward to learning from the guys on the forum!

I've put some pictures up that I took for fun a little while ago - car was a little dirty both times haha.

Thanks guys :)

I'm bringing it into service on tuesday and will ask the guys there but just quickly - does any one know why @ exactly 20km/h + there is a clunking or "locking" sound from...somewhere? It is 10/10 consistent so i'm not sure if its a fault or not.

http://www.rdycreative.com/tom/AstraSRI/astra2_SMALL.jpg
http://www.rdycreative.com/tom/AstraSRI/small1.jpg
http://www.rdycreative.com/tom/AstraSRI/small2.jpg

http://www.rdycreative.com/tom/AstraSRI/small3.jpghttp://www.rdycreative.com/tom/AstraSRI/small4.jpg

[mr corsa]

white rocks in the astra/h and welcome

[OPC]

looks like a nurburg ;)

looks awesome, I LUB IT... heated seats aswell i see

and does this clunk happen when you only just take off after starting the car ?

if so it will only be the ABS kicking in, nothing to worry about

you should get a VXR front end and it will look sweet as

[tomburke7]

I'm not really much of a tuner or a massive petrol head but I am hoping to eventually mod up my AH a little so I look forward to learning from the guys on the forum!


Best mod is to get rid of the restrictive rear muffler. Just put in a 2 inch straight through. $100 fitted is what I paid. On steady cruise on the freeway I saw at least 1 L/100km improvement on the instantaneous consumption readout. With fuel costing so much this is very worthwhile mod. (the car gets a sporty note as well, but retaining the stock CAT & front muffler means it is not loud)

[tomtom]

Yer the clunk only happens when I've just started the car. It's a strange sound. When i first heard it i thought i'd rolled over something haha.

I was looking at a kit (vxr replica on carmate) but I'm considering having the silver on the grill and air dam painted black and the chrome sprayed white.

@tomburke did you replace your shocks after you switched to lower springs or just left them? If so, hows the ride? I only ask because I've been told that putting lower springs on shocks that weren't designed for that ride height can induce excess wear on them?

[tomburke7]

.

@tomburke did you replace your shocks after you switched to lower springs or just left them? If so, hows the ride? I only ask because I've been told that putting lower springs on shocks that weren't designed for that ride height can induce excess wear on them?

I kept the stock shocks, as the SRI already came with 'sports' suspension. The lowered springs seem to work well with the stock shocks, but I guess if I get premature ware I'll put a set of Koni's of Bilstein's in.

The ride/handling with my current set up is great.

[glider]

very nice in white

i like

[EL BURITO]

nice mate.

ask OPC if he is nice enough to give you his VIN and go order the real VXR front bar. with Fogs given the cost of the TS Sri bar with fogs will prob come in @ just over 1K.

[kz_11]

it is beauty~

i saw a white SRI the other day in melb...n i juz love it!!!!

[tomtom]

thanks mate :)

It's good to hear that people like it in white. I was actually very skeptical after i signed off on it for those few months I was waiting. When i finally saw it though...I knew i was in love hahaha.

I'll hopefully be taking some new pics soon during the week after I wash it - that is, IF i wash it :P. Going to try and find some nice locations so i'll post them up if theres anything neat looking.

[kz_11]

shame that I couldnt get a 3dr...if I knew that 3 dr was gona release juz few months after..i should hv to wait!!!

[Ishley]

Wow man. Looks awesome in white. I wish they had white in the SRiT range.

And it looks good with the chrome on the front grill and air dam.

[GreyRex]

Hi and welcome.

White = :dance:

Definately looks good

The clunk you hear is completely normal. It's the ABS doing a check on itself, and it only happens once you get to around 20kms. Nearly all cars i've driven do it to varying degrees, but I feel that's what's happening with yours

Also, the VXR and SRi Turbo front bumpers are identical, apart from the lower lip (same with the rear... different lower skirt but same upper bumper). So if you have trouble with VXR parts, the SRi T bumpers may be an option

[kabel]

Hi and welcome.

White = :dance:

Definately looks good

The clunk you hear is completely normal. It's the ABS doing a check on itself, and it only happens once you get to around 20kms. Nearly all cars i've driven do it to varying degrees, but I feel that's what's happening with yours

Also, the VXR and SRi Turbo front bumpers are identical, apart from the lower lip (same with the rear... different lower skirt but same upper bumper). So if you have trouble with VXR parts, the SRi T bumpers may be an option

And add the VXR 19in rims !
Do like it in White...good choice.

[KingOfAstras]

White is probably one of the more rare colours for the AH... Great choice :)... Just wondering, did you get the rear without the Holden badge?

[MatsHolden]

Wow man. Looks awesome in white. I wish they had white in the SRiT range.

And it looks good with the chrome on the front grill and air dam.

Used to be a special order option a short while back.

[OPC]

nice mate.

ask OPC if he is nice enough to give you his VIN and go order the real VXR front bar. with Fogs given the cost of the TS Sri bar with fogs will prob come in @ just over 1K.

he shouldn't need it, but if he does ill be more than happy to give him my VIN

shoot me a pm if you wanna get the vxr front end and stuff

[tomtom]

White is probably one of the more rare colours for the AH... Great choice :)... Just wondering, did you get the rear without the Holden badge?

Nah i debadged it myself. I had asked the dealer about it. The sales guy said that the cars actually come with Opel badges (I. KNOW!). When i requested that they get left on, he said it was a contract they had with Holden that they had to remove and destroy the badges and then rebadge with a holden set. :(

If you're wondering how to debadge it it's really easy:

1. Leave your car in the sun for a bit so the glue warms up a little. The longer the better. I left it for 10 minutes and it was...ok.

2. Get some dental floss - do a few loops of this because 1 line isn't strong enought.

3. Just stick it between the badge and the surface and just "sawing" away at the glue until it finally peels off.

4. Clean and polish. They'll be some black gunk on the surface after. Just peel and peel and peel and it should come off easy. Little speck remains I just used some surface cleaner and it came right off.

Don't know if thats the BEST method but it worked for me :)

[tomtom]

he shouldn't need it, but if he does ill be more than happy to give him my VIN

shoot me a pm if you wanna get the vxr front end and stuff

Yer I went to Parts today @ my local dealer after dropping my car off for service and asked them about pricing for some stuff. I inquired about the SRI-T front bar. I was told its a:

3 Piece kit (Grill, Bumper, Lower Bumper) - $1200 Unpainted and unfitted.

He also said that if I ordered it, they don't guarantee that it'll fit.

That's pretty steep. I didn't ask about the vxr front because I didn't want to keep my lift home waiting but I'm guessing I wouldn't need the VIN.

Thanks a lot for the offer OPC I shall shoot you a PM if i decide to go for the vxr front and need a VIN :)

[lithium]

welcome to OpelAus :) your SRi is an absolute stunner in white!

do the astra H SRis go well? i know the old ones were fairly pokey

[Tigra]

Welcome to opelaus. Gezzz it looks nice!

[tomtom]

thanks for the welcome guys! Geez people here are friendly haha :D.


welcome to OpelAus :) your SRi is an absolute stunner in white!

do the astra H SRis go well? i know the old ones were fairly pokey

I haven't driven the SRI-T so I can't compare to that but I do have a 5 door CDX (mk1) and all i can say is my new SRI > CDX.

The 2.2 has a lot of low down torque so for day to day driving it's very comfortable. Theres not much more surge near the higher end of the rev band tho (i think torque peaks @ 4200rpm I can't remember) so the excitement you got from between 2500-4000 runs away like a little school girl from a dirty old man. I don't think this engine was made as a PERFORMANCE engine, rather an all rounder for those who can't bare the 1.8, like me :P.

When you want to have a bit of a "spirited drive", the steering and chassis for me is more responsive than the CDX (feels stiffer) but it seems to suffer from a bit of understeer. It's nothing fatal tho and very manageable so it's still quite quick and fun to corner.

From what I've heard the IDS from the SRI T stiffens the shock thats getting the most force to flatten the car out. I'm not sure but in theory that seems to me like it would cause MORE understeer.

I've been told by my mate who had a barina (corsa?) SRI that my car felt surprisingly simliar to drive. I don't think he drove long enough to get a full impression though so yer.

Sorry haha I can't help but write a lot. I just finished a stint as a sales rep for telstra. PRODUCT INFORMATION AND REVIEWS IS MY LIFE NOW.

[kabel]

Down the track look at adding some Eibach springs and a rear sway bar.
Big improvement for little outlay !

[tomburke7]

Down the track look at adding some Eibach springs and a rear sway bar.
Big improvement for little outlay !

I found that the springs improved the car aesthetically (I think Astra's looked silly perched up so far in the air - they almost look like a 4WD), but only improved the handling marginally. The biggest improvement came from dialing out understeer by adding the whileline shims to the rear suspension. And that was a low cost change.

[kabel]

I found that the springs improved the car aesthetically (I think Astra's looked silly perched up so far in the air - they almost look like a 4WD), but only improved the handling marginally. The biggest improvement came from dialing out understeer by adding the whileline shims to the rear suspension. And that was a low cost change.

Not sure how much different the spring rates are between Eibach`s and Pedders, I made my decision based on Eibach working with Vauxhall/VXR to match the springs with the IDS setup,although this may be applicable
to the VXR not sure if the same logic applies to the Sri 2.2.

[KingOfAstras]

Nah i debadged it myself. I had asked the dealer about it. The sales guy said that the cars actually come with Opel badges (I. KNOW!). When i requested that they get left on, he said it was a contract they had with Holden that they had to remove and destroy the badges and then rebadge with a holden set. :(

If you're wondering how to debadge it it's really easy:

1. Leave your car in the sun for a bit so the glue warms up a little. The longer the better. I left it for 10 minutes and it was...ok.

2. Get some dental floss - do a few loops of this because 1 line isn't strong enought.

3. Just stick it between the badge and the surface and just "sawing" away at the glue until it finally peels off.

4. Clean and polish. They'll be some black gunk on the surface after. Just peel and peel and peel and it should come off easy. Little speck remains I just used some surface cleaner and it came right off.

Don't know if thats the BEST method but it worked for me :)

Yeah I've got mine debadged for the time being... but damn they come opel badged.. and then they destroy it!?!?!?!?!?!? :'(.. bastards..

[OPC]

should have said to them "why do the VXR's have their Opel badges left on?"

[EL BURITO]

Yeah I've got mine debadged for the time being... but damn they come opel badged.. and then they destroy it!?!?!?!?!?!? :'(.. bastards..
that is a load of Bull, I have seen them on the docks in Freo no badges just the plastic on panels and the blue foam on the doors

those center caps are worth $50 each, they would not be putting them on just to rip them off

[tomtom]

that is a load of Bull, I have seen them on the docks in Freo no badges just the plastic on panels and the blue foam on the doors

those center caps are worth $50 each, they would not be putting them on just to rip them off

Not telling it as truth - thats just what I was told by the sales guy.

[btm]

didnt know you could even order it in white! looks stunning!

congrats and welcome to the site :)

[lee866]

Nice looking car ;)

Is that classed as a coupe out there?

[btm]

Is that classed as a coupe out there?
yep 3 door = coupe out here too

[lee866]

yep 3 door = coupe out here too

ah ok. we wouldn't call that a coupe just a hatchback or "sporthatch" is the astra's name

[btm]

its only the H model that got the 'coupe' name

the G was just called a hatchback

[innesi]

i hope that i see somewhere in Melb. these white beauty befor i leave country :) it's realy nice. it's same but diferent form my. it's looks really good with holden logo.

[maloo97]

Rebadge yours, Its been done!