Welcome to the US Astra forums!

[j0n]

My name is Jon and I listen to people bitch and moan on the phone all day(my chest hurts, my boyfriend hit me, my son pulled a gun on me)... frickin crybabies I tell ya...

[car48rules]

I was able to get on Gm Global Connect and our dealership is not allocated any 09 Astras until Feb 27th we currently have 25 08's on our lot that have been in inventory for almost a year!

[marx404]

My sister got bit by a Moose!

[mr corsa]

hi guys way over from aust but still drive a 1.8l ecotec

[xVAMPx]

   Hello all, I am a new owner of a 2008 Salsa Red Astra XR Automatic and couldn't be happier.

I have loads of questions and all sorts of goodies to share.

I come from a long background of cars growing up w/ my dad Dragracing and then the past 7 years I've been very active w/ my Ford Focus ZX3's *i've owned 2 of them. Was an assistant admin to a forum and Mods to others. I was also local organizer for the Northern New England groups who had regular g2g's for various reasons, but mostly just to hang out w/ great ppl and swap stories and info.

I'd love to hear from ppl in Maine, NH, and MA who would be willing to meet up from time to time to do some fun stuff. We used to do an annual drive up Mt. Washington and we'd do mod meets and detailing meets.

I'm looking forward to a long life out of my Astra and couldn't be happier for buying it. 

[Nirm74]

Hey All,

  From the great white north Canada.  I have a 2009 Saturn Astra XR 5 Dr, 5 Speed Manuel,  Sun Roof.  So far I am loving it.  I have been looking to do upgrades but finding it hard to find things for the car up here in Canada.  I want to do the air intake and the exhaust for starters.

Nirm74

[SaturnRaycer]

There are a number of people who have removed the restrictions from the airbox. There is a restrictor pipe inside the air box that can be pulled out easily. It leaves a couple holes that most of us have patched with steel tape (real furnace duct tape). The next most popular mod is to remove the factory intake snorkel and replace it with either some 2" PVC pipe or the VXR intake snorkel.  These two mods cost me less than $10US.  There are posts with pictures on SaturnFans.com

Some of us have also replaced the exhaust from the cat back with larger piping and free flowing mufflers.  Magnaflow is the popular choice.  The two most common sizes are 2" pipe or 2.25" pipe.  Any larger and it doesn't help unless you've done a lot more work. 

The factory header is tubular steel and is a 4 into 1 design.  All the piping through the converters is 1.75", so unless you can find (or make) a larger header and find larger diameter converters, you're still exhaling through a fairly small pipe.  Since our cars are OBD II, larger ID converters may mess with the ECU and throw codes.  It most certainly will affect your warranty.

[Nirm74]

Thanks for the info.  SaturnRaycer

[xVAMPx]

There are a number of people who have removed the restrictions from the airbox. There is a restrictor pipe inside the air box that can be pulled out easily. It leaves a couple holes that most of us have patched with steel tape (real furnace duct tape). The next most popular mod is to remove the factory intake snorkel and replace it with either some 2" PVC pipe or the VXR intake snorkel.  These two mods cost me less than $10US.  There are posts with pictures on SaturnFans.com

As my budget allows however, I like the intake bit...I need cheep and chipper. When I added my cai to my former Focus ZX3 *had the 2.3L in it...cai woke her up, torque-ie low end and could feel...and hear the air coming in. Improved my mpg noticeably.

I'm going to go spend some time in the tuning threads, thanks guys 'n girlz.

[Larry_va]

Just want to thank you for creating this site. I love my XR and plan on doing some mods. Nice to see and meet others doing the same and sharing info.

Welcome to the new forum, made just for the US version of one of the world's most popular cars; the Astra. Our goal is to get as much information available in one place as possible about the Astra. We're here to help others and have fun as the same time, so have at it!

[Larry_va]

Hello everyone. My name is Larry. I'm from Va. Beach, Va. I've had my 3dr XR for a year now and have clocked 38,000 miles on it so far. I used the car work work making deliveries. I've now purchased a hooptie to do that so I can concentrate on fixing up my Astra.
I've already put 20" Enkei AKP's with 225/35ZR20 Falken FK452 series tires. I've also added the Eibach Pro Spring kit.
I work doing deliveries and then Part time at a 4X4/wheel & tire shop. If anyone needs wheel info let me know.
I love the fact that I do not see many of my car driving around. I have removed most of the Saturn badging and people are always asking "What kinda car is that?". LOVE IT!!!
Can't wait to meet new friends here