click for a high res gallery of the teasers

We're still a month away from the Paris Motor Show which alternates every other year with the Frankfurt Motor Show. Nonetheless, GM has released some teaser images of the next-generation Astra which won't appear until Frankfurt in 2009. We've been seeing spy shots of the new Astra for some time now, but GM has managed to keep much of the surface development covered up thus far. According to the press release accompanying the images, the final version will be seeing more of the features that have appeared on the new mid-size Insignia along with recent Opel concepts like the GTC and Flextreme. Among those are the sculpted side blade and the wrap-around interior. The sketch above also shows a shoulder character line above the rear wheels that has appeared on the other cars. The Astra shares the next-generation Delta compact car platform with the new Chevy Cruze and Volt and it is expected to be built in North America in addition to Europe. That will be the key to making it a profitable enterprise for Saturn. The current Astra has been a commercial failure due to its relatively high price and limited changes from the European version; it still loses money for GM.


[Source: General Motors]

Click the Astra Turbo for a high res gallery

One of the vehicles that General Motors provided for evaluation during their Powertrain Technology briefing was an Opel Astra equipped with a new 1.4L turbocharged four cylinder. This engine is a result of work that GM is doing to develop downsized turbocharged engines that can maintain reasonable levels of performance while improving fuel economy. This is a similar approach to that being taken by Volkswagen with their TSI and Ford with their upcoming Twin-Force engines.

The 1.4L turbo had an output of 140 hp paired up with a six-speed automatic transmission. Unlike the VW and Ford engines, GM stuck with multi-port fuel injection on this engine instead of switching to direct injection. Nonetheless the engine produces as much power as the current 1.8L normally aspirated engine. On a short test loop that included highway speeds and a simulated urban environment, the engine proved to be very responsive with no noticeable lag.

The Astra itself is pretty much the car that will be appearing in Saturn dealerships this fall. Even though the Astra will be the entry-level model for Saturn, it will have a high level of standard equipment including both thorax and curtain airbags and ABS and traction control. From this quick drive it was clear that the Astra will probably be the best small car that GM has ever offered in the North American market. If they add direct injection it would be even better. No production date was stated for these small displacement turbocharged engines, but it seems safe to assume that they will appear in the next couple of years.

Related:

• ABG Driving Impression: 2008 Saab 9-3 Diesel
• ABG Tech analysis and driving impression: GM's HCCI Engine

General Motors has just released a pair of new diesel engines for the Opel Astra which may or may not eventually show up in the Saturn version as well. The engine comes in two variants with 110hp or 125hp which emit 140g/km and 146g/km of CO2 respectively. Fuel economy is rated at 45.2mpg and 43.6mpg in US gallons and both engines are equipped with maintenance-free particulate filters.

Torque of the engines is rated at 192Nm for the lesser engine and 207Nm for the 125hp variant which means that they should get pretty respectable performance. Both new engines come standard with a six-speed manual gearbox. It doesn't appear that that the engines have any kind of NOx treatment system so that would need to be added before they could be made available to American drivers. If new fuel economy regulations are enacted here, and GM does kill their rear wheel drive plans, these new diesels could make a good replacement. All the details on the engines are after the jump.

[Source: General Motors]