Stellantis’ Opel Brand Opens Ordering For Its All-New Astra Sports Tourer!

The new Opel Astra has begun rolling off the assembly line at the Stellantis Rüsselsheim plant. Opel has already over 500 units of the new Astra, and in the upcoming months, the plant will begin Astra’s new electrification offensive. While those initial 500 units consist of the five-door model, the new Opel Astra Sports Tourer wagon is now available for pre-ordering. 

All this comes at attractive prices: customers can order the completely redesigned Opel Astra Sports Tourer starting at €23,565 in Germany which includes VAT (or $26,777.62 USD). Numerous state-of-the-art assistance systems such as front collision warning with automatic emergency braking, pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, traffic sign recognition, drowsiness detection as well as cruise control with intelligent speed limiter are standard equipment in every version. A Heads-Up Display (HUD) can be ordered as an option so that the driver’s focus can always remain on the road.

The new wagon will be available with two levels of plug-in hybrid (PHEV) electric power, making it the German marque’s first electrified wagon. The new PHEV wagon will have a range of 60 kilometers or 37 miles (according to WLTP) purely electrically emissions-free.

For the first time ever, the new Opel Astra will over two PHEV powertrains – one gasoline and one diesel. Power ranges from 81 kW (110 horsepower) to 96 kW (130 horsepower) with the gasoline and diesel variants and up to 165 kW (225 horsepower) system output with the plug-in hybrid variants. A 6-speed gearbox is standard on the gasoline and diesel power units, while an 8-speed automatic transmission (electrified on the plug-in hybrids) is optional.

“The new Astra Sports Tourer is the all-rounder for a new era – electrified, digitized, and designed to excite”, said Opel CEO Uwe Hochgeschurtz. “This is how we combine our long tradition of compact estates with the latest innovations such as plug-in hybrid technology. We are certain that we will win new customers for Opel with the fantastic looking Sports Tourer.”

With dimensions of 4,642 mm (182.7 inches) in length, 1,860 mm (73.2 inches) in width, 1,480 mm (58.2 inches) in height, and 600 mm (23.6 inches) loading height, the Astra Sports Tourer display the brand’s typical talent for efficient packaging. However, the overall length is 60 mm (2.3 inches) shorter than that of the previous model, thanks to the particularly short front overhang, and despite the 70 mm (2.7 inches) longer wheelbase. That is even 57 mm (2.2 inches) longer than that of the new Astra hatchback.

The hatch area of the new Astra Sports Tourer provides up to more than 608 liters (21.47 cubic feet) of useful storage space with the seatbacks upright, and up to more than 1,634 liters (57.7 cubic feet) when folded. This means plenty of room to accommodate, for example, a dog kennel for a medium-sized dog. In addition, when the 40/20/40 split rear seatbacks are folded down, the floor becomes completely flat. Even with the underfloor lithium-ion battery, the PHEV variants still offer cargo volumes of more than 548 liters (19.3 cubic feet) and 1,574 liters (55.58 cubic feet) respectively.

Mechanically similar to the Peugeot 308, thanks to the two sharing Stellantis’ EMP2 platform, both cars have an interesting take in their own way on the European hatchback market. The EMP2 platform allows for the torsional rigidity of the new Astra to be 14% higher than its predecessor. Steering and lateral stiffness of the chassis are improved thanks to a McPherson strut suspension at the front, torsion bar in the rear setup, which are designed for high yaw control (damping of the movement around the horizontal axis).

Using the new Opel design language, the new Astra looks even wider thanks to Opel’s new Vizor front-end styling. The Vizor also seamlessly integrates technologies such as the ultra-slim Intelli-Lux LED^® headlamps and the front camera of the Intelli-Vision system. When looking from the side, the next-generation Astra looks especially dynamic thanks to the pronounced forward rake of the vehicle’s C-pillar.

At the rear, a centrally-mounted Blitz (the name of Opel’s logo), the vertically aligned high-mounted brake lamp, and the tail lamps are all made of energy-saving LEDs. The Blitz emblem also doubles as the latch for the tailgate, which is made of state-of-the-art composite material. This technology is not only light in weight and rigid, but it also allows the precise execution of design details such as especially slim tail lamps.

German precision applies throughout the interior as well, where the highlight is the next generation of the Pure Panel, first introduced in the Mokka. This expansive, digital cockpit features two 10-inch displays, seamlessly integrated together in a horizontal format. Thanks to a shutter-like layer that prevents upward reflections in the windscreen, the design dispenses with a hood over the displays, which further enhances the high-tech functionality of the interior.

With the physical controls reduced to the minimum in the form of finely crafted keys, the Pure Panel achieves the optimum balance between digitization and intuitive operation, without the need for sub-menus. There is no need for cables either since the new generation of multimedia infotainment systems with connected services – which can be operated by natural language voice control as well as by touch – can be connected as standard on all model variants to wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto via compatible smartphones.

A battery-electric (BEV) version of the Astra Sports Tourer will be available in 2023.