Holden Astra SRi Turbo 2003 review

Holden has completed its "performance suite" with the arrival of a pair of turbo-boosted Astras.

The SRi Turbo three-door hatch and its topless sibling will join the fleet from this weekend to satisfy a promise Holden boss Peter Hanenberger made four years ago.

"You may remember that when I returned to Holden in 1999 I was keen to make sure every car line had a performance vehicle in its range," he says this week.

"Today sees this vision fully realised."

Hanenberger says the decision to add a turbo performance model to the Astra range ¿ which already boasts 18 derivatives ¿ was not a difficult one.

"Our customers tell us they want cars that meet specific motoring needs, hence the implementation of a Holden niche vehicle strategy . . . the Astra SRi Turbo hatch has a power-to-weight ratio that places it at the serious end of four-cylinder turbo performance."

The three-door will sell at $36,990, a premium of $8000 over the SRi, while the convertible is ticketed at $49,990 ¿ $4000 over the naturally aspirated model.

The apparent disparity in the price is explained by the hatch picking up a host of additional features such as full leather, a switchable electronic stability program, a sports body kit and trip computer.

Both models add unique 17-inch alloys (full-sized steel spare) and low-profile 215/40 ZR17 Dunlop rubber.

The Turbos' 147kW and 250Nm is squeezed from the 2.0-litre ECOTEC engine using a KO3 Borg Warner turbocharger running 0.85 bar of boost.

Holden claims a top speed of 240km/h ¿ maybe, but that would be at the end of a long downhill straight.

More real-world friendly is the table-flat torque delivery, which arrives in full at 1950rpm and hangs around right through to 5600rpm.

It is no coincidence that the 5600rpm point is also peak power but the engine can spin up to 6400rpm in fourth and fifth gears and 6800rpm for a short stint in second and third.

Holden is predicting sales of the twin Astra Turbos to be split fairly close to even, with 600 hatches and 500 convertibles expected for the remainder of this year.

The company is also calling a 50:50 split on male to female buyers despite the cars not being available with an automatic option.

Holden's marketing manager for small and medium cars, Andrew Rau, says the Astra Turbos would be able to draw conquest sales from shoppers in the small and sports segments.

"In general, turbo buyers are people who love to drive at the limit," Rau says.

The Astra Turbo would appear to have plenty of natural competitors in the likes of Subaru WRX, Toyota Corolla Sportivo, Clio Sport, Focus ST170, Golf Turbo, Alfa 147 GTA, Mini Cooper S and Audi A3 turbo, but the convertible's place in the market is less clear.

Says Astra product manager Emma Pinwill: "There probably isn't a real line-ball competitor for the convertible. Saab's 9-3 is possibly as close as you get feature for feature but the price difference is enormous.

"After that you are back to cars like the Renault Megane convertible, which simply doesn't match on performance."