It was back in July when Opel officially unveiled the new Astra hatchback and now its wagon sibling is following suit by adopting the same sharp design and underpinnings wrapped in a more practical package. Both the five-door and the Sports Tourer are mechanically related to the Peugeot 308, also available in the same two body styles.
That means it should not come as a surprise the German marque will be selling the Astra estate with a choice between two plug-in hybrid powertrains to mirror the 308. At launch, only the base PHEV setup will be available, combining a turbocharged, four-cylinder 1.6-liter gasoline engine with an electric motor to extract a healthy 180 horsepower and 266 pound-feet (360 Newton-meters) of torque. Later on, a more potent electrified powertrain will unlock 225 hp while retaining the same amount of torque.
Opel is remaining tight-lipped about the rest of the specifications concerning the plug-in hybrid, but we are expecting the Astra Sports Tourer to use the same 12.4-kWh battery pack and eight-speed automatic transmission as the equivalent Peugeot model. The purely electric range should revolve around 37 miles (60 kilometers) based on the WLTP cycle.
Alternatively, the Rüsselsheim-based company will sell the new Astra with a gasoline 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine in different states of tune, joined by a 1.5-liter turbodiesel mill. It will effectively be the last Astra ever to offer combustion engines in Europe since Opel has announced it will become an EV brand on the Old Continent by 2028.
Meanwhile, it’s worth pointing out that either of the two PHEV versions of the new Astra Sports Tourer will lose some of the cargo capacity compared to a conventionally powered model. Specifically, the luggage volume with the rear seats in place will drop from 608 to 548 liters. Fold the rear bench and the capacity grows to 1,574 liters, which is lower than the 1,634 liters available for a gasoline-only wagon.
One of the 14 brands of Stellantis, Opel will have the Astra with a long roof on sale in 2022 with the same wide array of goodies available for the hatchback. We include here the firm’s latest head-up display and matrix LED headlights, plus some wagon-only goodies like the adjustable load floor and a retractable cover you can alternatively store behind the floor for a greater load height.
Source: Opel
