I looked at one of these cars at Lincoln Show the other day. I must say, they are very nice. As standard it had 19 inch alloys shod in Toyo T1-Rs. 200bhp out of the box 1.9cdti engine with over 300lbs of torque as standard. 0-60 appears in 6.5 secs. I believe it was Sachs/Eibach dampers with lowering springs. The interior was very nice inside. The actual car is quicker than the VXR 2.0 Turbo in the mid range. The only real down side is the price tag of nearly 18K. I think that diesel is going to be the way forward for future performance cars.

But I still prefer my VRS though!!

I think it was 5th Gear who raced a VXR against the888 diesel and it was neck for neck all the way.

The 888 is about 2K cheaper, is just as fast, a lot rarer and will hold it's value better than the VXR.

Case Closed!

The only real down side is the price tag of nearly 18K.

I'd say that was what made the whole package a total winner :confused:

How many other cars out there deliver 200bhp & 300 lb/ft, combined with a sorted suspension set up etc...... for less than

Pity it's only available in white.

Pity it's only available in white.

I could live with that !

If there were a white fabia vRS, i'd have bought it.... White is the new fashion!

Sorry, just read a review on the new astra 888 1.9 cdti.

"The cars will also wear Vauxhall’s VXR styling kit, and will be available in red, silver, metallic black and white."

Still have white though!

I'll get my coat

Still an Astra...

Oddly no mention of drivetrain, aka clutch...Good that the block will go to 200 with little or no work. Shows how agressive the Diesel market is getting.

Still an Astra...

Oddly no mention of drivetrain' date=' aka clutch...Good that the block will go to 200 with little or no work. Shows how agressive the Diesel market is getting.[/quote']

I know, companies must be ploughing millions in to the development of high performance diesels, at what cost to the developments of petrol engines though?

but its not an official vauxhall car is it?

i read a review of this in a magazine a few months ago and all the work is done on a brand new car by a third party company, i wonder how the warranty would work? :rubchin:

and it will probably be way more prone to wheel spin and torque steer than the vxr and thats fairly bad by all accounts.

but its not an official vauxhall car is it?

i read a review of this in a magazine a few months ago and all the work is done on a brand new car by a third party company' date=' i wonder how the warranty would work? :rubchin:

and it will probably be way more prone to wheel spin and torque steer than the vxr and thats fairly bad by all accounts.[/quote']

I think its all Vauxhall approved though, I also think a range of "888" performance upgrades and bolt on's (also Vauxhall approved) are avilable for all Astra's

apparently, i read, that...

you have 3 sport level buttons.

The first sport button leaves your car at the standard 140 bhp.

The second is 160bhp

Then the third is 195.

I like the sound of that...

saw a red astra 888 at Oulton park on the Vauxhall trade stand when the touring cars were on , i must admit it did look pretty good , vauxhall do seem to doing a lot of tuning parts for there cars now , something i bet all of wish that Skoda would do

Apparently any Astra, Vectra, Signum, Zafira 1.9 CDTi can be modded to this state of tune (pick your colour). Needs to have the 'Sport' button to access the 2nd (195bhp) map. This can be done either by 888 or Thurlby Motors (Lincs). Cost is around £550.

My wife runs a Meriva, our local Vauxhall garage confirmed they would happily service such a car but the air filter needs to be replaced mid-way between services and the car tends to smoke more than usual.

Also check out Celtic Tuning - 205bhp from the Zafira.

Same engine is used in the Saab 93 Sports Saloon - The official Saab performance upgrade (Hirsch remap) takes it to 195bhp.....

Seems like this 1.9cdti engine is on a par (if not a little better) with the old 1.9 TDI in terms of tuning

If you have a look at the AON (Astra Owners Network) website you'll find lots of threads on the DTUK (Diesel Tuning UK) boxes for these engine (8v & 16v). These boxes, one for more power and fuel efficiency (the 'Green box') and one for raw power (the 'CRDT'), are simple 5 min plug-in jobs for between

Holy thread resurrection Batman :eek:

A 3yr+, not bad....

these are nice and rear imo 200bhp diesel and 330lbft of torque, but rather still have a remaped furby lol

these are nice and rear imo 200bhp diesel and 330lbft of torque, but rather still have a remaped furby lol

They are quite rare as well

There were 4 more limited edition versions of the 888, that were in black and kitted out with alot of carbon and other goodies by the VXR Performance Centre. I cant remember the name given to them though.

The Fifth Gear Vid

The VXR does look as though its got the Milltek exhaust on it though (oval apposed to the sharper corner standard box)

Edited 7 December, 200916 yr by Browny_37

I think its all Vauxhall approved though, I also think a range of "888" performance upgrades and bolt on's (also Vauxhall approved) are avilable for all Astra's

They are called Thurlow Engineering who also have a Vauxhall dealership and yes the Warranty is supported by Vauxhall.

A friend of mine who is a mechanic says the 1.9CDTi is a bit of a nightmare reliability wise. Apparenty alot of these engines dont see 50k.

Hmmm, maybe they've pushed it a little far in this instance?

Or was your mate talking about the 1.9CDTi in general? Because I know of a lot of them in Astras that have easily pushed past 120k. And not easy miles either, by people who don't

really care about the car or mechanical sympathy

Steve