Hi there, this is a bit of an odd introduction as I dont actually have the car just yet!
Little background, Ive been driving a MG TF160 for the last 11 months but during this time its been garaged for 3.5 months due to various faults, I've finally rejected the car and looking to settle on an exchange vehicle from the dealer, this vehicle I had hoped would be a Clio 182 but due to the cost of what they have in stock this is not possible. This has led me to a 2004 Astra SRi 2.2 16v with 37k on the clock that they will basically be giving me.
I have never owned a Vauxhall but recently had the mk5 astra 1.6 on loan from work and was very impressed, I hope the mk4 is as rewarding to drive!
I don't know if I will be keeping the Astra long or not, it really does depend on how it goes over the winter. If it is flawless it may stay otherwise I'll probably look at changing it for a celica or supra.
This probably gets asked all the time but does the Astra 2.2 SRi have any weaknesses? any known problems? I see reference to an oil thing for the cam chain, was this a recall job and if so what MY cars did it affect?
I have been told the 2.2 is not a good engine for modifying but see some on here running 170-200bhp, is this engine strong enough to take that level of increase on stock internals? Can the engine be turbo/supercharged without changing internals?
Sorry I have lots of questions, I run my own performance car club and come from a background in engine building, I now work on jet engines 🙂
Many thanks for your time and I hope I'm welcome in here! going to go read up thru the various sections now!