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High rev 5th gear?

I have a 5 door XR stick and I've noticed from my previous cars (which were all stick btw) that the Astra seems to be revving high in 5th gear... 3500/4000 RPM's when driving over 100km/h - 60Mph... anyone else notice this?

Almost seems to me that it should have a 6th gear....

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Permalink Reply by Joe Astra on September 22, 2008 at 3:34pm: Hello Boudj,

My XR Coupe with stick revs in the same range you mentioned. I hope that when I am ready for my next Astra in a few years it will come with a 6 speed.

One thing I have noticed about the 5th gear - when you are in the 60+mph range, this car has a lot of "scoot." I go up some pretty serious hills here in Colorado and I never have to downshift, nor do I ever have to floor it to stay at the posted speed. It feels good knowing that you have some power in reserve.

Joe Astra; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Boudj on September 22, 2008 at 8:30pm: I hear you - I really hope they come out with a 6th gear in time for my next Astra as well... Turbo would be nice too.

You're right about the peppy 5th gear in the 60+mph range, I've noticed this myself.

I guess they have a different gear ratio on the auto versus the stick...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Michael Wayland on September 22, 2008 at 8:17pm: I don't even drive the stick, and the auto has 4 gears, but I ride 70 mph at around 3000 rpm in 4th.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cole Fawcett on September 22, 2008 at 9:32pm: Totally agree with you.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rondosa on September 24, 2008 at 5:31pm: I'm totally with you - the speeds I like to cruise on the highway put me into the 4000rpm territory and at that fuel consumption, I should have just kept my V8 Mustang. Plus, the noise - it makes me tired for the engine just listening to it. Guess I'll have to learn to slow er down on the highways now...grumble...

Kristina; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Michael Wayland on September 24, 2008 at 11:48pm: You know Kristina, I never hear any engine noise at any highway speed, it's the road noise from my Hankook tires that came with the stock wheels on the 3 door. Has anyone else noticed THIS?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rondosa on September 25, 2008 at 8:55am: I don't notice this, sorry...I have the Dunlops on the OEM 18"s...in about 2 years I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune - apparently these tires drastically change after a couple of seasons. For the worse.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Hector on September 24, 2008 at 7:18pm: Exactly what I've been telling everyone that's been in mine! A sixth gear would probably get the freeway miles up to at least 40mpg (that's my opinion anyways). I like the fact that I don't have to downshift to pass people though. Still a great car!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Boudj on September 25, 2008 at 2:57pm: Good point! Now if ONLY we had the Autobahn here in North America! Hahaha!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Chris Schmidt on September 25, 2008 at 11:35am: Same here. It's not a problem really at all. The gearbox is nicely matched to the torque band of the engine. You dip into the throttle and she pulls away clean. Rarely do I need to downshift to get the speed I need for passing. Hills have not been a problem either.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Boudj on September 27, 2008 at 11:01pm: If you don't want to be insanely jealous of our European counterparts, don't dig into the Vauxhall and Opel versions of the Astra where they have stick available in six gear!! It would be nice if Saturn would bring that over here with the 2010 redesign!

Btw, they also have a nice variety of engines including the ecoflex (diesel), bigger variety of audio adding the cd70 navi and dvd90 navi (both featuring colour LCD instead of the orange LCD), Xenon lights, Bluetooth and MP3 connector, the silver accent dash colour is available also in piano black and gold/bronze finish and 7 different upholstery options!

I wonder if the Saturn Astra was rushed over without them having done a proper marketing analysis... Hmmm, hopefully Saturn fixes the oversights in 2010!

Link below...

https://secure.opel.de/res/download/pdf/0T_48_brochure_main.pdf; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Joe Astra on September 28, 2008 at 12:01pm: Hello Boudj,

Thank you for posting the link. That was a great find! Did you notice on slide 10 it looks like the Opel Astra has a built in navigation system?

Here is something to think about when looking at all of the European features and options - $25,000 to $35,000. That is the Euro conversion to Dollars I have seen in several articles. When I bought my Saturn Astra I was only shopping cars up to $20,000. The only feature I would be willing to stretch my budget on is the 6 speed manual. Otherwise, I am very content with my Astra XR Coupe with all of the U.S. available options just as it is.

Joe Astra; ▶ Reply to This