astra gsi turbo or civic type r

[lee1610]

i'm in the process of selling my 172 clio.

i will ahve 9k to spend and want either a type r or astra gsi

driven both and can't decide, astra may have the edge due to it being a slightley rarer sight on the road.

need comments on either if poss to help me decide

many thanks

[I HATE GATSO]

Type R hands down IMO Dont like the styling as the astra

[benzo]

The honda might hold its value better than the astra, but you could up the boost on the turbo if you got bored of the standard power.


I reckon i would go with the type R

Edited by benzo on Tuesday 26th September 20:37

[__LEE__]

I have owned a Civic Type R and an Astra Coupe (2.0T) and the Type R is in a different league for being a drivers car.

The Astra is a well made car and is quick but faily dull to drive and feels detached from the road IMHO.

The Civic on the other hand was hard and I found the seats quite uncomfortable after around 30 minutes of driving but I loved driving it hard everywhere. Once you 'get' the Civic and learn to get the best from it, its a hoot to drive hard.

I would have the Civic everytime.

[paul26982]

neither get a cupra R, if you want torque the astrah but wont hold its value as good as the type R, the typre r's should be dropping in price abit more too

[LuS1fer]

Astras are total shite. I had an Astra GTE 16v. Quite easily the most hateful car I ever owned. Couldn't wait to sell it. Had a Civic Type R too (2005). Fabulous piece of kit.

[AlexC1981]

LuS1fer said:

Astras are total shite. I had an Astra GTE 16v. Quite easily the most hateful car I ever owned. Couldn't wait to sell it. Had a Civic Type R too (2005). Fabulous piece of kit.

Erm.... Didnt they make GTE's about 20 years ago?

My mums Viva was a rust bucket so I'd never go near a Vauxhall.

[astec815]

can I ask why you are moving away from the 172? as the cars you are looking at are not that much faster and fwd..

[mackie1]

Civic every time, it's just a better car.

[deadlym]

I've heard of turbos blowing on the Astra; a very costly fix. No doubt nothing goes wrong on Civics.

Depends if you want a smoother cruiser than your Clio though. As already mentioned, if you're considering the Astra GSi, you should also have the Leon Cupra R on your list.

[lee1610]

astec815 said:

can I ask why you are moving away from the 172? as the cars you are looking at are not that much faster and fwd..

my clio is a x reg, i fancy something a little newer.

as for the seat cupra, not to keen on them tbh.

i'm getting alot more people saying the civic, seems like its the better option

[qwertyford]

lee1610 said:

i'm in the process of selling my 172 clio.

i will ahve 9k to spend and want either a type r or astra gsi

driven both and can't decide, astra may have the edge due to it being a slightley rarer sight on the road.

need comments on either if poss to help me decide

many thanks

Type R. My mate had one and hes just switched to a 182 but in my oppinion he made a huge mistake. Fair enough the clio is said to be the better handler with more feedback etc, but the civic as an experience, especially with his modified exhaust sounded amazing.

[Saied]

As a long standing owner of one, the CTR ain't perfect but the engine / gearbox combination is the best of any car i've driven. The throttle response is instantanious and iVTEC gives the car a real Jackal and Hyde character. The gearbox has a very short throw with a precise, mechanical action.

Throw in Honda reliability and the choice over the Vauxhall becomes pretty clear.

[AlexC1981]

I'm finding this a little disappointing as I have just bought a 53 plate Astra coupe turbo (not the current shape)

I paid £6500 for it. I did not want to spend as much as £9000, which seems the be the very cheapest Civic Type R's go for. It's done 71K miles and is still almost like new inside.

It's not all bad for the Astra as although they have the same bhp, the Astra has 250NM torque as opposed to the Civic's 196NM.

I don't know about the Civic's tuning capability, but I'm lead to believe that another 35 to 45 bhp is easily obtainable for the Astra via a re-map.

And it doesn't look like a bread van

Edited by AlexC1981 on Thursday 28th September 17:58

[__LEE__]

AlexC1981 said:

I'm finding this a little disappointing as I have just bought a 53 plate Astra coupe turbo (not the current shape)

I paid £6500 for it. I did not want to spend as much as £9000, which seems the be the very cheapest Civic Type R's go for. It's done 71K miles and is still almost like new inside.

It's not all bad for the Astra as although they have the same bhp, the Astra has 250NM torque as opposed to the Civic's 196NM.

I don't know about the Civic's tuning capability, but I'm lead to believe that another 35 to 45 bhp is easily obtainable for the Astra via a re-map.

And it doesn't look like a bread van

Edited by AlexC1981 on Thursday 28th September 17:58

I have had both the Astra and the Civic and well the Astra is a good steady car and has many plus points, it lags some way behind the Civic. One of the best bits about the Astra is the mid range grunt and the torquey delivery.

The Civic though is a car with passion, once on cam it flies and makes a glorius noise. The grip levels, 6 speed gear box (the best I have experienced on any car), the way it corners and provides lift off oversteer make it a stunning car to drive.

I never really rated the Civic Type R until I drove it and then I new I had to have one!

[pjskel]

CTR - no ifs, ands, or buts.

[Fire99]

I've driven both at various times and to be honest they are quite different animals.
If you want ultimate straight line pace, get the Astra as, as a few have said, you can boost them up by significant bhp levels without spending alot of cash and the torque from the Turbo lump will be very strong.

Its also the better motorway cruiser in my opinion as its quieter, a bit softer and you can ride the torque of the engine in high gears.

The Civic is a totally different beast. It made me want to drive like a loony all the time. When the Cams switch and you get that rush in the high rpm area you feel like a touring car driver..

As an Out n Out hot hatch i think the Civic is the kiddy but i think it depends on how hard you like to drive on a daily basis.. The Astra may be the more relaxed drive.

Hope that helps..

[rsvmilly]

CTR

Vauxhall make good reasonably sporty motorway cars but CTRs are great.

BTW When I bought my Clio 172 I tested a CTR. The Clio has a more torquey delivery which is a boon for day-to-day towb work.

If they'd been the same cost then I'd have got the CTR but at the time I could get the Clio for £5K less.

[AlexC1981]

Hmm..but with the Astra's rapid depreciation they are around £2500 cheaper than the CTR.

With the spare £2000 Courtenay Sport will stage 3 tune the Astra to 265-270bhp.......

This leaves £500 to go towards replacing the front tyres every week

[gaz1234]

AlexC1981 said:

Hmm..but with the Astra's rapid depreciation they are around £2500 cheaper than the CTR.

With the spare £2000 Courtenay Sport will stage 3 tune the Astra to 265-270bhp.......

This leaves £500 to go towards replacing the front tyres every week

Bar the straight line speed the rest of the car (apart from looks too) is worse than the CTR.