AH SRI-T....Will I be happy with one?

[DaveM]

congrats on the new car..but seriously, u thought the vxr didnt have torque steer and the interior of the astra was better than a golf or mazda...LOL... I think the cheaper price tag somehow influenced your decision by a fair bit...(and the sri-t is cheaper than a gti for a reason)

Hope you enjoy the car though! The AH coupe looks really sexy.

Torque steer? It has a bit when hard on boost in 2nd and 3rd. Happy to prove all the "omg jeremy clarkson said it ams teh torque steerz lol" brigade wrong with a hands off steering wheel video if it will stop them going on about a review that contradicts just about every other review of the VXR out there.

VW golf interior was nice. No doubt. Is the overall car worth 8k more than the VXR... nope. VXR finish is pretty close, it whoops the Golf in every other aspect that counts apart from cargo space.

MPS interior was rubbish. Door panels that moved when touched, nasty plastics, cheap leather on seats, dark and boring. Its the same interior with different seats to the SP23. My business partner has a SP23 with leather, he can see the obvious quality difference between the SP23 as can I.

For me it was the VW Golf vs the VXR. Price was a factor sure, but I was also looking in the 70k mark with the R32 and S3 so its not like I only had 40k to spend and all I could afford was a SRi-T.

The SRi-T is a budget hot hatch, and for what it is, its a great car. Not as good as a golf as a package,but not far off the mark.

To put this in perspective, I have owned in the past a holden, a ford, a mazda and two toyotas. I wasnt even considering a VXR until I drove it, it won me over regardless of price.

[USC]

Torque steer? It has a bit when hard on boost in 2nd and 3rd. Happy to prove all the "omg jeremy clarkson said it ams teh torque steerz lol" brigade wrong with a hands off steering wheel video if it will stop them going on about a review that contradicts just about every other review of the VXR out there.

VW golf interior was nice. No doubt. Is the overall car worth 8k more than the VXR... nope. VXR finish is pretty close, it whoops the Golf in every other aspect that counts apart from cargo space.

MPS interior was rubbish. Door panels that moved when touched, nasty plastics, cheap leather on seats, dark and boring. Its the same interior with different seats to the SP23. My business partner has a SP23 with leather, he can see the obvious quality difference between the SP23 as can I.

For me it was the VW Golf vs the VXR. Price was a factor sure, but I was also looking in the 70k mark with the R32 and S3 so its not like I only had 40k to spend and all I could afford was a SRi-T.

The SRi-T is a budget hot hatch, and for what it is, its a great car. Not as good as a golf as a package,but not far off the mark.

To put this in perspective, I have owned in the past a holden, a ford, a mazda and two toyotas. I wasnt even considering a VXR until I drove it, it won me over regardless of price.

I think the interior of the sri-t or VXR has LOADS of plastic and leather on the driver`s seat gets wrinkles very easily. The centre console is squared and boringly silver everywhere. The interior of the astra is also dark and very claustrophobic...dash lights look like street lights... everytime, u move ur seat, it loses its position. my sri-t also had rattles in the dash board that resonated with exhaust note! the gear knob was NOT comfortable to hold. there is no cup holder. door is EXTREMELY heavy. sports button was a gimmick as i couldnt drive without it on...too slow throttle response. squeaky suspension at times. rubber trims around windows looks cheap. the centre console is a pain in the ass to use. NO aux in for radio, no MP3 support, audio trebble will change for no reason at times.. rear lights loves getting foggy... centre console computer went crazy at times...rear visibility sucked for me...had defects in paint finish...chassis of the sri-t felt way too stiff for me (no real engineering there just electrics)....

"door panels that move when touch" ..sorry dont understand that one.

I could add heaps more to that list but i cant be bothered right now.

"a vxr whoops the golf in every other aspect"...LOL....and you also thought the VXR was better than a S3...LOL

Ive had this argument before and getting tired of it...if u go to a golf forum, u will get a different opinion, or if you go to a mazda/ford forum, they might tell you Holden is crap..blah blah

anyways..in the end, what counts is whether you are happy with it...looks like u really r

[DaveM]

*sigh*. Every car has its pros and cons. Where did I say the VXR is a better car than a S3. Dont make up stuff from stuff that isnt posted.

It sounds like you had a SRi-T and didnt like it, and by the looks of it, sold it. If you werent happy with it then thats fine, its a budget hot hatch as I have pointed out numerous times. But the SRi-T isnt a high end hot hatch, and isnt as a good as a golf or focus, which I have plainly stated. Bang for buck its not bad though.

I have had a few issues with the VXR... boot light didnt work, CD player died and had to be replaced, vacuum pump return line on the turbo came off which seems to be a common fault. The other stuff you have mentioned, I dont have any of those. No rattles, no treble issues, no crazy computer. And most cars with leather get wrinkles, its the nature of leather to form peaks and troughs, its a low tensile strength material. Car seats get it, sofas get it, clothes get it.

Numerous Mazda MPS and SP23 owners have reported poor quality interiors, especially leather on seats tearing and stretching. The mazda leather is known for being cheap and thin.

It all boils down to what you like and what makes you happy. I have been a long time VW and Audi fan and I surprised myself with the VXR purchase... I was 99% buying a GTI or R32 before I drove it. Having driven the SRI-T and the VXR one after the other, the SRi-T was not satisfying if you want a seriously fast hot hatch, as it seems you have found out. Its more of a friendly every day car that has power on tap if needed.

The VXR isnt perfect and I am the first to admit it. Its chassis isnt as refined as the Golf. Its a car that requires some level of skill and patience to drive, the golf doesnt. Which probably explains where there are so few VXR's out on the road and every second car is a GTI.

[poita]

*sigh*. Every car has its pros and cons. Where did I say the VXR is a better car than a S3. Dont make up stuff from stuff that isnt posted.

It sounds like you had a SRi-T and didnt like it, and by the looks of it, sold it. If you werent happy with it then thats fine, its a budget hot hatch as I have pointed out numerous times. But the SRi-T isnt a high end hot hatch, and isnt as a good as a golf or focus, which I have plainly stated. Bang for buck its not bad though.

I have had a few issues with the VXR... boot light didnt work, CD player died and had to be replaced, vacuum pump return line on the turbo came off which seems to be a common fault. The other stuff you have mentioned, I dont have any of those. No rattles, no treble issues, no crazy computer. And most cars with leather get wrinkles, its the nature of leather to form peaks and troughs, its a low tensile strength material. Car seats get it, sofas get it, clothes get it.

Numerous Mazda MPS and SP23 owners have reported poor quality interiors, especially leather on seats tearing and stretching. The mazda leather is known for being cheap and thin.

It all boils down to what you like and what makes you happy. I have been a long time VW and Audi fan and I surprised myself with the VXR purchase... I was 99% buying a GTI or R32 before I drove it. Having driven the SRI-T and the VXR one after the other, the SRi-T was not satisfying if you want a seriously fast hot hatch, as it seems you have found out. Its more of a friendly every day car that has power on tap if needed.

The VXR isnt perfect and I am the first to admit it. Its chassis isnt as refined as the Golf. Its a car that requires some level of skill and patience to drive, the golf doesnt. Which probably explains where there are so few VXR's out on the road and every second car is a GTI.

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[Apex]

Hey guys,

At the moment I drive a 03 TS 2.2 SRI.

Its just gone through its 90,000km service and I want to upgrade in to the hot hatch sector. I will be selling the car shortly.

So when my car was in for its service I took an AH SRI-T out for an hour.....but I fear I am being a bit harsh in my judgement of the car because after I took the car back I promptly went to the Ford place next door and took an XR5 out for an hour....

A few questions and observations on the Astra..

Interior fit / finish seems to be massively improved...what will it be like in 50,000KM though?

Is the central screen, control centre easy to get used to?

The engine felt very sluggish and unwilling to rev so it barely felt any quicker than my 2.2....however the car has less than 100KM on it and the salesman filled the tank with 91? It also sounded very thrashy?

The gear shift quality is vastly improved...until I went for 5th and it kept baulking. I guess it could be me not being used to the new shift pattern or it could be normal?

Tyre noise was horrendous...not sure on the tyres fitted but I assume they were the OE, anybody else suffer with the noise?

I'm not sure about the front seats...they felt very hard and not very generous in their support. They also felt like the lumbar support was pushing in my back even though it was wound right out. I didnt discover the seat tilt handle until I returned the car though.

The salesman said they can get a brand new car in my chosen spec in 3-4 weeks or they can get an ex-demo from anywhere in the country in 1-2weeks.....is this true?

Other than that I did like the car....its refinement and build quality seems to be leaps and bounds ahead of the TS and believe it or not it is slightly better equipped than the Focus (leather, climate control, cruise control) and has a favourable price tag....but then the Focus....My god its a stunning car!!!
It felt like an $80K Audi inside and the engine, transmission and brakes are stunning....but I still wonder if I am being to harsh on the Astra

Oh another question...anybody ever take their Astra out on track? I would be aiming to do maybe half a dozen trackdays a year. I used to have an MR2 for that but just purchased a house so can only afford one car now!

It comes down to you?? Im not sure if you will be happy.

I think they are fantastic cars for the money and ours has done us well as nothing has gone wrong. You get what you pay for. Had we had the budget we would have most likely gone for something different but at the time the Astra SRI-T was the best car in our price range.

I have tracked mine a few times and it has feared really well holding its own against some “impressive” opponents. If you are into track days I would say go for the Honda Civic Type-R.

[Wraith]

Coming in a bit late on this, but I have been through the same thing as the OP of late and heres my story.


Was time to trade in the trusty 7yo corolla levin with a whopping 57,000km on the clock. Awesomely reliable car, it just wasnt exactly inspiring to drive. And no cruise control was a real pain for highway driving.

Havinig been a car enthusiast since childhood, and now in the age bracket where turbo cars arent insane to insure (29 :boohoo plus no kids on the horizon, I was in the market for something new and somewhat impractical if need be.

I did the maths and worked out my best way to run my cars was to turn them over every 3 years, so if the car did work out to be impractical then it would only be relatively short term.


So, I made a shortlist. Firstly, I was buying new, so that ruled out japanese imports etc. Secondly, I wanted quality build. Doors that closed like bank vaults, door trims that didnt move when pushed, that sort of thing. And 0-100 at or under 7 secs with fuel economy at under 10L/100km. This would be my daily driver to the office and back and so economy was somewhat important.

I ended up with the following cars on my list...

* VW Golf GTI
* Focus XR5 Turbo
* Mazda MPS3
* Golf R32
* Audi S3


So I set out to drive these cars and make an informed decision. Heres a summary...

* Golf GTI - fantastic to drive, though a little too "coddling". No matter what you did, the electronics would sort out the mess. Felt fast but not that fast. Came to almost 48k on the road with leather and DSG.

* Focus XR5 - handled great, bucketloads of torque, felt slow and heavy. And ford dealers were real morons... one told me "the only way you will get a test drive is if you sign a contract to buy it first". Lack of cruise sucked.

* Mazda MPS - Wickedly quick. Wickedly torque steery. Wickedly painful clutch. Couldnt be bothered fighting it as a daily driver. And interior fit and finish was rubbish.

* Golf R32 / Audi S3 - awesome to drive, couldnt justify the expense.


So I was all set on the Golf GTI. Was walking back from Mazda to VW to start haggling the deal and stopped just out of fairness to look at the SRi Turbo and the VXR. I have to admit, I had watched the Top Gear review of the VXR and based on that, I had discounted anything holden, so the VXR wasnt on my list of things to drive.

So I drove the SRi-T. I was amazed at the build quality and finish and the level of equipment. Performance was OK too... it had a bit of turbo lag but pulled nice and strong, handled pretty well and brought a smile to my face. It felt fast enough, about the same as the Golf GTI or Focus.

Did some informal chats on numbers, and was offered a new SRiT in power red that was in stock for 32k drive away. Very tempting for getting the car with leather and everything for 16k less than the Golf.

I then drove the VXR. Compared to it, the SRi-T is the poncy half brother. The grin on my face lasted about an hour after the drive... whether it was put there by the acceleration and gforces or the excitement was undetermined. But I knew I had found my new car.

It behaved NOTHING like Top Gears review. It went straight ahead with no hand on steering wheel and foot hard on throttle. It cornered very well and flat, twinges of torque steer in 3rd when hard on boost, but nothing I couldnt handle within milliseconds.

So I bought the VXR, it was on the showroom floor in power red, with 100km on the clock, for 38k drive away. Great value. Although the insurance was $1600 a year vs $700 for the SRi-T.


So getting back to the OP's question about will be be satisfied with the SRi-T. If you drive a VXR afterwards, then no you wont. It just doesnt stack up to it.

But compared to the Golf GTI and the Focus XR5, the SRi-T holds its own well at a price point thats hard to beat. Is it as fast as a golf gti? Marginally slower (tenths of a second). It was just as fun to drive, and a dream as a daily driver with an easy to use clutch (cough, MPS on/off switch for a clutch, cough).

If I hadnt driven the VXR or my price limit wasnt going to accomodate some of the other cars listed, the SRI-T would have been my purchase over the others that I drove. Add a flash tune and you will smoke GTI's.

Hope that helps with your decision making, and sorry for the long post!

congrats Dave and enjoy your new car

That's a very good and interesting read above, I too have driven all those except the Xr5 and must say my end result/opinions are very different from yours, especially on the MPS 3, but at the end of the day, you've done the right thing - you've made a short list, you've tried em all out and made a decision based on those results and obviously what budget you have to spend, that's all that matters...

IMHO the price you end up paying for the VXR is a top price !!! Holden/HSV is struggling to move VXR's so they're willing to come down on the price, a very different story to when they were 1st introduced...had it been the 'normal' drive-a-way price of anywhere between 46-48k I dare say that would've made you take another choice...maybe the Gti

As for flash tunes, any of the above go into different performance regimes with that application ! Gti's with DSG run 13's with a flash

As for the main topic, an AH Sri t for around 32k drive-a-way that's gotta be one of the best buys around if your looking for a 3 door hatch !!! good looks, good build quality and kit for the money, good performance and cheaper than the previous TS model turbo hatch before it too !!!

[Black Nugget]

you tried a Skoda octavia Rs (wagon) they look the biz and i think are 40k drive away. Also the Renault Sport Magne R26 F1 had a pretty good review(has LSD too)

[Apex]

As for flash tunes, any of the above go into different performance regimes with that application ! Gti's with DSG run 13's with a flash

What?? 13's?? Are you sure

[Wraith]

What?? 13's?? Are you sure

Yep, unless some of the posts/threads and timeslips shown on their forums are fudged....which I highly doubt...

FYI check out what the increases on those VW 2.0ltr DISI engines are with a flash...they are 'probably' the most de-tuned petrol engines that come over here from Europe - even the conservative powerchip Aust. flash tunes deliver a 33%+ increase in power (147-196kw) and a whopping 47%+ increase in torque (280-412nm) and I've seen other companies flash tunes that deliver well over 200kw and close to 450nm with just a flash - nothing else !

[Apex]

Yep, unless some of the posts/threads and timeslips shown on their forums are fudged....which I highly doubt...

FYI check out what the increases on those VW 2.0ltr DISI engines are with a flash...they are 'probably' the most de-tuned petrol engines that come over here from Europe - even the conservative powerchip Aust. flash tunes deliver a 33%+ increase in power (147-196kw) and a whopping 47%+ increase in torque (280-412nm) and I've seen other companies flash tunes that deliver well over 200kw and close to 450nm with just a flash - nothing else !

I didn’t doubt you I just didn’t realise how quick and what potential they had!

That’s a second quicker than a VXR