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A few years ago, Japanese cars were perceived as a special category of vehicles - high-tech, practical, with affordable prices, but boring in appearance and not bringing any joy from driving, with rare exceptions. But now the situation has changed - to understand this, just look at the new eleventh generation Toyota Corolla, which has a stylish appearance that can overshadow most of its competitors. Although we must pay tribute to the Europeans - for example, Opel Astra also received another update, as a result of which the car began to attract the attention of others in the urban traffic flow. And how are things with their driver qualities? After all, before any of the cars claimed to be the leader in terms of ease of operation or dynamics. To answer the question, which car is more suitable for the active driver - Opel Astra or Toyota Corolla, only their complex comparison will help.

Cars Toyota Corolla and Opel Astra - another confrontation of Japanese innovation and German quality

City competition

Comfort and control

I remember that the Toyota Corolla of the tenth generation could not inspire even the most hazardous driver to actively drive - the connection between the steering wheel and the wheels was too weak and the settings of the damper limiting the pressure of the gas pedal were too strict. Therefore, it is worth starting the comparison with controllability - the benefit is that, judging by the reviews, the new Corolla has a completely changed character. In fact, after carefully working on the settings of the electric power steering, the Japanese from Toyota made a real miracle. The car is very sensitive to the driver's commands, and also provides tangible feedback, expressed in the change of the required effort with increasing angle of rotation.Thanks to this, the eleventh generation Toyota Corolla will surely please those for whom driving is not just moving between two points, but a fascinating process that allows you to give free rein to your emotions and enjoy the pleasure of driving.

Читать далее о сравнении автомобилей Toyota Corolla и Opel Astra-->При движении на большой скорости подвеска Toyota может допускать ощутимые колебания, которые становятся достаточно неприятными при проезде длинных волн на асфальтовом полотне. Кроме того, во время старта и торможения Corolla «клюёт носом», то есть допускает продольную раскачку. Однако на этом минусы ходовой части Toyota Corolla заканчиваются — в остальном её можно сравнивать даже с признанными лидерами C-класса. Автомобиль уверенно проезжает мелкие и средние неровности, не допуская проникновения в салон шумов и серьёзных ударов, однако излишне мягким его не назовёшь. Чувствуется, что благодаря стараниям специалистов фирмы Toyota подвеска получила значительную энергоёмкость, позволяющую ей получить имидж настоящего «драйверского автомобиля».

Specifications

Car model:	Opel Astra	Toyota Corolla
Producing country:	Germany (Assembly - Russia, St. Petersburg)	Japan (Build - Turkey)
Body Type:	Sedan	Sedan
Number of places:	5	5
Number of doors:	4	4
Engine capacity, cubic cm:	1364	1598
Power, l. c./about min .:	140/6000	122/6000
Maximum speed, km / h:	207	195
Acceleration to 100 km / h, from:	10,2	10,5
Type of drive:	Front	Front
CAT:	6 automatic transmission	Variable speed drive
Fuel type:	Petrol AI-95	Petrol AI-95
Consumption per 100 km:	In the city of 8.9 / Out of town 5,2	In the city of 8.2 / Outside the city of 5.3
Length, mm:	4658	4620
Width, mm:	1814	1775
Height, mm:	1500	1465
Clearance, mm:	165	150
Tire size:	205/60 R16	195/65 R15
Curb weight, kg:	1373	1290
Full weight, kg:	1870	1760
Fuel tank capacity:	56	55

If you make a choice between the Corolla and the Astra, the German sedan is far from the best. Of course, at low speeds, the Opel Astra is just perfect for driving in the city - the steering wheel with little effort, instantaneous reactions to its turn, the ability to perform active maneuvers please the owner of the car and make it easier to move between home and place of work. However, it is worth only a little to go beyond the limits of city speeds, as the pluses of the Astra instantly turn into minuses. The lack of significant effort on the steering wheel does not allow to control the direction of movement of the Opel Astra - To avoid strong fluctuations in exchange rate stability, it is necessary to constantly adjust the position of the wheels. In addition, before each significant unevenness, the Astra driver is better to hold onto the “steering wheel” - strong blows immediately knock the car off the initial course, which can cause an emergency.

The Opel Astra is far from ideal and comfortable on the go - the suspension is somewhat soft, which makes the car roll hard enough in corners, and also miss tangible bumps acting on the nerves of passengers when driving on bad roads. Although, in general, Opel Astra has nothing to scold for - if you keep a reasonable pace of movement that is consistent with the quality of the road, the car will not cause you any negative reactions.

Dynamics

If you choose between the Opel Astra and Toyota Corolla, you must pay attention to fundamentally different approaches to the organization of power lines. In particular, Corolla proposes to use a combination of a proven engine with a volume of 1.6 liters and the latest stepless variator. It would seem that there can be no serious speech dynamics - however Toyota Corolla surprises with its confident acceleration and the ability to actively accelerate even after 100-120 km / h. The reason lies in the optimal settings - this applies to both the variator itself and the gas pedal damper, which has become almost weightless compared to the previous generation of the car. As a result, the Corolla is able to perform even very complex maneuvers, transforming them from risky to quite safe and reasonable.

Test drive a car Toyota Corolla:

Therefore, from Opel Astra you need to wait even more - because it uses a modern turbo engine with a capacity of 140 horsepower and a six-speed hydromechanical “automatic”. However, expectations are very far from reality - it seems that the only priority on which the specialists of the German company were oriented was efficiency. The Astra engine begins to produce good traction immediately after the start, but with an increase in the rotational speed of the crankshaft, there is no significant increase in potential - the car continues to accelerate at a steady slow pace. In addition, the automatic transmission Opel Astra has “stretched” gears, which significantly limit the dynamics, forcing the engine to constantly operate at low revs. If you like to make quite sharp and fast maneuvers, better pay your attention to the Toyota Corolla, and not the Opel Astra - the German car will make you wait a couple of seconds before you feel a real response to the strong acceleration of the gas pedal.

Test drive car Opel Astra:

Design

Appearance

And again it is worth remembering about the past generations of both cars, which did not differ in beauty either outside or in the cabin. Now the situation has changed radically - for example, Toyota Corolla has such a bright appearance that I want to look at it without looking away. Headlights are very well combined with the grille due to the presence in them of small LED strips of daytime lights, as if being a continuation of the horizontal chrome strips. In general, Toyota designers completely abandoned the use of soft and smooth lines - now the Corolla body is very similar to a faceted gem, pleasing the eye with numerous reflections of a surface with a complex shape. Even when viewed from the side there are no associations with the former odious Corolla - thanks to the original shape of the corner in the back of the window line, the car now looks more like a dynamic Mazda than a Toyota product.

If we talk about who has a brighter and more presentable appearance - Corolla or Astra, then to determine the clear leader just will not work. After the next update, the Opel Astra received such elegant body shapes that they look equally good both in motion and in the parking lot in front of the office center. However, the approach is not at all the same as that of Toyota - instead of sharp edges, only smooth lines are used, which are clearly seen in the front and rear lighting, the design of the front bumper and the grille. Even the roofline has become very smooth and devoid of the former angularity. Especially it is recommended to pay attention to the rear view of the Opel Astra, when a small podshtampovka on the trunk lid, which plays the role of a spoiler, becomes clearly visible.

Interior

It is noteworthy that the interior design of cars is a kind of continuation of the design concepts chosen for the exterior. So, in Toyota Corolla, the driver is faced with the rigor and minimalism inherent in the work of the company's designers in the past few years. Among the distinctive features of the interior Corolla include:

• The abundance of straight lines.
• A small number of buttons and other controls.
• Covering a large area of ​​the front panel with a glossy varnish.

Toyota Corolla devices may seem a bit rustic, but they compensate for this minus with perfect information and the absence of annoying backlight. The seats are comfortable, although the rear passengers will be faced with excessive backrest, forcing them to raise their knees high, as well as some lack of distance to the front seats.

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In Opel Astra, everything is different - one gets the impression that the specialists of the German company are addicted to “biodesign”, which became widespread in the mid and late 90s. Particularly impressive is the Astra center console, which is equipped not only with a large display, but also with an incredible number of buttons - but in practice it turns out to be very inconvenient, since it is difficult to find the one you need at the placer of control elements, and the monitor is heavily lit by the day sun. No doubt Opel Astra devices are very beautiful - but at night you will have to wear glasses with darkened lenses, as less than an hour passes, as their bright blue backlight begins to annoy the driver, distracting him from the road. There are no special complaints about the seats - on the contrary, I want to praise them for the original design, which always attracts attention when opening the door. However, the rear in the Opel Astra is even more closely than in the Toyota Corolla - passengers are hampered by the small distance between the rows of seats and the low ceiling.

To each according to his needs

Indeed, cars exchanged priorities - if German cars have always been considered a model of “driver” technology, then the current Opel Astra is intended more for people who care about the state of their budget. But the Toyota Corolla, on the contrary, has become much more comfortable to drive and at the same time has a presentable appearance. In addition, it does not lose Opel neither in dynamics nor in terms of economy. As a result, the Opel Astra can be recommended only to fans of the design style used in it, while the Toyota Corolla remains a universal option, well suited to all drivers.