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[New POD]

So. I needed a new daily driver. The 3.2 MV6 isn't goingnto cut it with my new commute.
I only had 3 requirements, provided by all the stakeholders.
Auto. Cruise. And very low miles.
To this I added, not as slow as a mk6 1.6 automatic Astra. LAnd no rust. And comfy. And good cross country.
So eventually, I'm buying an automatic Astra.
A 1.4 turbo auto. 65 plate. SRI trim. Massive alloys. Half leather trim. Appliance white.
It's going to be funny. Wifes got a poverty spec 11 plate 1.6 auto Astra in piss green.

[Andy B]

isn't piss normally yellow? 

[omegod]

isn't piss normally yellow? 

Depends on which STD you have

[TheBoy]

1.6 auto Astra in piss green.

Didn't STEMO have one like that?

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

1.6 auto Astra in piss green.

Didn't STEMO have one like that?

Not piss green but projectile vomit green.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

isn't piss normally yellow? 

Only in snow......should be reasonably clear.☺☺

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

So. I needed a new daily driver. The 3.2 MV6 isn't goingnto cut it with my new commute.
I only had 3 requirements, provided by all the stakeholders.
Auto. Cruise. And very low miles.
To this I added, not as slow as a mk6 1.6 automatic Astra. LAnd no rust. And comfy. And good cross country.
So eventually, I'm buying an automatic Astra.
A 1.4 turbo auto. 65 plate. SRI trim. Massive alloys. Half leather trim. Appliance white.
It's going to be funny. Wifes got a poverty spec 11 plate 1.6 auto Astra in piss green.

As you come from 'Miseryside' how about a picture or three before it gets stolen.

[dave the builder]

I think the "massive alloys" AKA low profile tyres will do your head in ,and your back  over 75K 3 years  compared to the comfy motorised armchair that is the Omega 
i quite like astras though    we.ve 5 in the family

[New POD]

So. I needed a new daily driver. The 3.2 MV6 isn't goingnto cut it with my new commute.
I only had 3 requirements, provided by all the stakeholders.
Auto. Cruise. And very low miles.
To this I added, not as slow as a mk6 1.6 automatic Astra. LAnd no rust. And comfy. And good cross country.
So eventually, I'm buying an automatic Astra.
A 1.4 turbo auto. 65 plate. SRI trim. Massive alloys. Half leather trim. Appliance white.
It's going to be funny. Wifes got a poverty spec 11 plate 1.6 auto Astra in piss green.

As you come from 'Miseryside' how about a picture or three before it gets stolen.

The 3 places it will be parked are a cup de sac in Formby, where there are far more expensive cars, a main road in Uttoxeter, and the works car park in Aston, almost under Spagetti Junction.

Not wanting to be complacent, but, I can't see it.

[New POD]

I think the "massive alloys" AKA low profile tyres will do your head in ,and your back  over 75K 3 years  compared to the comfy motorised armchair that is the Omega 
i quite like astras though    we.ve 5 in the family

The other car I seriously considered was an SLK.
But we've got a 2 seater convertible in the garage.

Given its the same fitment of wheel as the 16 inch steel wheels on wife's Astra, I wonder if she would notice.

I once had a mk4 Astra sport and that was a little hard, and the seats particularly firm. But worse was having a clutch and no cruise control.

I'm looking forward to the countryside part of my commute.  Uttoxeter to the A38 south of Burton on Trent. Some lovely long overtaking straights and a few interesting bends.
Once on the A38 it's cruise control on.  There's just a few too many round abouts.
The Friday afternoon bullshit going North on the M6 will be where the auto proves to be the right choice.

At one point i started looking at manuals, especially when you realise a VXR is the same price.
Yesterday was particularly bad/normal. 3 hours. Using the toll road would have cut out 50 mins of that. I only got cross once. That was when the omega, ripped my favourite 80s mix tape, into shreads. If you were on the M6 near the Walsall turn off, you woukd have seen me launch that tape out of the car window, in a fit of anger.  It made me feel better, but I apologise for the litter I left.  Had that tape since 1984. Recorded off the radio.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

The Omega was doing you a favour. 80,s music was 99 % shite. 

[Nick W]

The Omega was doing you a favour. 80,s music was 99 % shite. 

If it was recorded off the radio in 1984, surely most of the music would have been 70s or older?

[dave the builder]

I'm not knocking your choice ,the astra is a good car .
if you are looking at the astra purely as a commute vehicle then you could always swap wheels and seat . but it sounds like you could have fun with the agility of a little astra to sling round 
when your tyres need replacing you could probably pick up a set of 205/55/16  (or whatever the comparable rolling radius is) wheels and tyres for what just low profile tyres would cost .
and replace the driver seat with a used softer seat from a base model .if the ride is too harsh
(store the original wheels and seat for when you retire the astra)

that said, if you are driving motorway and dual carriageway 99% of the time then the ride might be fine anyway hopefully 

it's more  low speed, local driving with pot holes and speed bumps that shake the old bones .

as for the cassette...... technology has moved on and you can stick 1000 songs on a micro SD the size of a fingernail 

[Andy B]

....
 where the auto proves to be the right choice.
 ......

Auto is ALWAYS the right choice 

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

The Omega was doing you a favour. 80,s music was 99 % shite. 

If it was recorded off the radio in 1984, surely most of the music would have been 70s or older?

Unless it was Radio 1. Then, wall to wall Duran Duran. Bananarama etc. etc........So utter shite. 

On the other hand Stevie Ray Vaghan, or some of the less well know Prince tracks, then it doenst get much better. 

[Shackeng]

I think the "massive alloys" AKA low profile tyres will do your head in ,and your back  over 75K 3 years  compared to the comfy motorised armchair that is the Omega 
i quite like astras though    we.ve 5 in the family

First thing I did with the 3.2 was swap the wheels 18 -17,, or was it 17 - 16, anyway it made for a more comfortable ride. I hate the ride in the Mondeo, wheels are too big, but I'm too mean to buy smaller as fitted to poverty spec models. Omega wheels plus tyres were readily avlbl back in the day. First thing the  3.2 buyer did was swap them back! Each to his own. 
Next car will be chosen solely on comfort, so recommendations from other old farts considered.

[Rangie]

From one old fart to another the Range Rover is without any doubt the most comfortable car I've ever driven, can drive hundreds of miles in it without any pains or aches at all, the Mercedes E 430 I bought after I sold the  Omega was okay but not as good as the mig.I expect the usual derogatory comments we get on here but this is purely my findings.

[ronnyd]

From one old fart to another the Range Rover is without any doubt the most comfortable car I've ever driven, can drive hundreds of miles in it without any pains or aches at all, the Mercedes E 430 I bought after I sold the  Omega was okay but not as good as the mig.I expect the usual derogatory comments we get on here but this is purely my findings.

Are you allowed to NOT mention a Jaaaag on here? 

[Doctor Gollum]

I think the "massive alloys" AKA low profile tyres will do your head in ,and your back  over 75K 3 years  compared to the comfy motorised armchair that is the Omega 
i quite like astras though    we.ve 5 in the family

First thing I did with the 3.2 was swap the wheels 18 -17,, or was it 17 - 16, anyway it made for a more comfortable ride. I hate the ride in the Mondeo, wheels are too big, but I'm too mean to buy smaller as fitted to poverty spec models. Omega wheels plus tyres were readily avlbl back in the day. First thing the  3.2 buyer did was swap them back! Each to his own. 
Next car will be chosen solely on comfort, so recommendations from other old farts considered.

Some 'performance' models have bigger brakes and smaller wheels won't fit.

I vaguely recall Ford making noises about fitting 14" wheels on the facelift Sierra, and again jumping from 14"-15" on the Mk2 Mundeo and again to 16" on the Mk3 Mundeo in order to accommodate the larger brakes.

Conversely, all Omegas can use a 15" wheel.

Mercedes had 16" as a standard wheel diameter, increasing disc thickness and using four pot fixed calipers (as opposed to bulkier floating ones) to uprate the brakes for bigger engines. The wheel width being the only real variation.

Certainly any increases in wheel size from one generation to the next was necessitated by an increase in brake size rather than for styling purposes.

[Shackeng]

From one old fart to another the Range Rover is without any doubt the most comfortable car I've ever driven, can drive hundreds of miles in it without any pains or aches at all, the Mercedes E 430 I bought after I sold the  Omega was okay but not as good as the mig.I expect the usual derogatory comments we get on here but this is purely my findings.

Forgot to mention, has to comfortably take golf clubs and trolley in the boot without fiddling with seats etc. 

[BazaJT]

If you're not bothered which wheels drive the car a V70 all day long or if budget allows[and assuming they're as comfortable a V90.

[Rangie]

From one old fart to another the Range Rover is without any doubt the most comfortable car I've ever driven, can drive hundreds of miles in it without any pains or aches at all, the Mercedes E 430 I bought after I sold the  Omega was okay but not as good as the mig.I expect the usual derogatory comments we get on here but this is purely my findings.

Forgot to mention, has to comfortably take golf clubs and trolley in the boot without fiddling with seats etc. 

.

They'd fit in okay but lifting in may be too high, depends how fit & able you are

[Shackeng]

I’ve never been keen on SUV’s for that reason. Prefer large estates, my Omega estate was perfect, but DIY is not so easy now as I am a full time carer, hence the Mondeo Estate. A big Volvo might do. 

[Doctor Gollum]

XC70 could be a good choice, all the attributes of a V70 but just enough of a lift to make them easier to get into... A couple or three inches higher than a dining chair 

[New POD]

The Omega was doing you a favour. 80,s music was 99 % shite. 

At the actual time, it obviously decided to kill my love of Depeche Mode.
But it's fine with the Stone Roses and Echo and the Bunnymen. (Both tapes picked up in a charity shop for 10p each)

[New POD]

I think the "massive alloys" AKA low profile tyres will do your head in ,and your back  over 75K 3 years  compared to the comfy motorised armchair that is the Omega 
i quite like astras though    we.ve 5 in the family

First thing I did with the 3.2 was swap the wheels 18 -17,, or was it 17 - 16, anyway it made for a more comfortable ride. I hate the ride in the Mondeo, wheels are too big, but I'm too mean to buy smaller as fitted to poverty spec models. Omega wheels plus tyres were readily avlbl back in the day. First thing the  3.2 buyer did was swap them back! Each to his own. 
Next car will be chosen solely on comfort, so recommendations from other old farts considered.

Not so clear cut on the Astra J.
New car has no spare wheel, which I can't live with.
I was initially wondering if the spare wheels I've got in the shed for the omega would do as a spare for the Astra and they won't.
But worse, the wheels off bigger engineed models have a different bolt pcd and centre bore size.

https://www.wheel-size.com/size/opel/astra/

On the plus side my wife's poverty spec 1.6 auto has wheels that fit my new car.
For some reason I seem to have 4 cavalier wheels on top of the garage roof. I know they fit my son's mk4 Astra, so that's probably why I kept them.

[New POD]

Some 'performance' models have bigger brakes and smaller wheels won't fit.

I fitted mk3 cavalier GSi front brakes (15 inch wheel)  to a mk2 cavalier CalibrE once. (14 inch wheel) They fit..with a fag-paper gap to spare. 

[Sir Tigger KC]

If you're not bothered which wheels drive the car a V70 all day long or if budget allows[and assuming they're as comfortable a V90.

I've stuffed two big builders aggregate bags full of hedge clippings in the back of my V70 today to take to the tip, and I doubt I'd have been able to lift them into the back of an SUV on my own as they were heavy. 

The V70 is quite low, so if you've got knackered hips can be awkward to get into. 

[Doctor Gollum]

If you're not bothered which wheels drive the car a V70 all day long or if budget allows[and assuming they're as comfortable a V90.

I've stuffed two big builders aggregate bags full of hedge clippings in the back of my V70 today to take to the tip, and I doubt I'd have been able to lift them into the back of an SUV on my own as they were heavy. 

The V70 is quite low, so if you've got knackered hips can be awkward to get into. 

XC70 it is then