2009-09-29

Text in MS Word

Plain Text

Interior space - Wellness

The Feel Good Experience

• Increased passenger space and wellness through the car
• Exclusive storage solutions FlexFloor and FlexFix new to Astra
• Best-in-class, independently certified AGR ergonomic sport seats in front
• Optimized acoustic insulation improve driving comfort

Rüsselsheim. As a result of close collaboration between the interior engineering and design teams, the Astra has a roomier cabin, offering greater occupant space, increased onboard storage facilities and gains in crash safety that benefit both occupants and pedestrians. Together, this gives new Astra customers a pleasant feel and superb experience.

In order to achieve this, the team took a real-life engineering approach and started with requirements they derived from customer feedback. Their aim was to provide an interior that meets occupants’ needs in terms of space, ergonomics, comfort and well-being.

The wellness factor begins with the interior. The Astra’s footprint increased, incorporating a 71 mm longer wheelbase. The surprising size of the Astra’s generous rear passenger space is revealed upon opening the rear doors. Shoulder width front and rear is increased by 29 mm and 2 mm respectively, while hip room front and rear is up by 50 mm and 13 mm.

The cab-forward layout of the Astra gives the driver and passengers an open and airy feel. The interior offers a great sense of friendliness as well as increased space and practicality. To support the quality feel, much attention has been paid to detail. The wing-shaped, wrap-around upper edge of the fascia is made of a soft, low reflection tactile material and the sense of space is enhanced by the fact that the base of the steeply raked windscreen is pushed forward, far from the driver. The welcoming nature of the wrap around interior is accentuated by ambient lighting in the Sport and Cosmo versions. At night, red diffused light nicely illuminates the base of the center stack and the front door panels.

Best in class storage

Flexible, convenient and fitting storage is a major asset on the new Astra. No other sedan in the segment offers as much accessible storage space. Opel engineers surveyed customers and potential customers throughout Europe, asking them exactly what items they normally carried or wanted to carry in their cars and where they would like to have them stored. These “right intuitive places” for the 20 most requested items – like pens, coins, sunglasses, wallet or a mobile phone – were packaged into the new Astra interior before it was actually designed. The result is a natural symbiosis of aesthetically pleasing and easily accessible storage.
 
To take a few examples: The base center console carries six CDs in the rear bin, two cup-holders and an optional waste can. Replacing the conventional parking brake with an optional Electric Parking Brake (EPB) also frees up extra storage space in the center console and is most convenient to operate.

This console offers the flexibility to choose store two cup-holders -- which are nicely covered -- a double floored storage and even a 1-liter bottle without compromising the comfort position of the armrest. A waste can, increased CD storage below the armrest, a flip out 12V socket and a small storage bin for the rear passengers complete the versatility of the FlexConsole.

The driver has a pull-out storage tray large enough to carry a wallet and glasses case. A space in the center stack can accommodate mobile phones or MP3 players and provides 12V/AUX-In and optional USB sockets. The Astra glove box offers variable space with a removable divider and useful features as pen-, coin- and credit card holders. The appealing door pockets take large bottles up to 1.5-liter in the front and up to 1-liter bottles in the rear.

In the front an optional drawer fits underneath the passenger seat which accommodates a road map, women’s high heels or a netbook.

In the rear, owners can choose the FlexFloor, for clever trunk storage configuration and FlexFix, the integrated onboard bike carrier.

The 40/60, folding seat-back offers up to 795 liters load capacity and can be supplemented by an interior versatility pack, which includes a ski hatch and a center armrest with storage space and two cup holders. 

FlexFloor, the flexible trunk floor

Adaptable stowage for a wide range of cargo – from shopping bags to large boxes or sports gear – is provided by the easy-to-use FlexFloor feature. The trunk floor is moveable and can be positioned at three levels by engaging ergonomically designed slots near each corner of the trunk. In any position, the floor can hold up to 100 kilograms of weight.

• In its highest position, FlexFloor brings the height of the trunk floor up to bumper level, making it easy to load and unload heavy items with minimal effort and reduced risk of back injuries. In this position, it also provides a separated storage compartment, 157 mm deep (126 liters), located under the visible floor level.
• In its middle position, the trunk floor nicely aligns with the height of the folded rear seat backs, providing a flat-bed cargo area for ease of use. Underneath, a 55 mm deep stowage area (52 liters) is available for slimmer items, such as sports clothing and kit, or the removable back shelf.
• In its lowest position, the FlexFloor fits directly on top of the fixed floor and unveils its large load compartment.
• This flexible floor can also be used as a practical cargo space divider.

FlexFix, the exclusive integrated bike carrier

Opel’s innovative FlexFix bike carrier is integrated behind the rear bumper. This exclusive feature in the segment can be ordered as an option in the new Astra hatchback. Following Opel philosophy to provide customers with optimal on-board versatility, FlexFix makes transporting bikes easy and convenient, eliminating the need to fit a rack on the tow hitch or lift bikes onto the car roof. The FlexFix carrier can carry up to two bikes and slides out from the rear bumper like a drawer when a release lever near the lip of the trunk is pulled. Maximum weight capacity of the carrier is 40 kilograms. It can accommodate bikes with wheel sizes up to 28 inches. No fixing tools or special parts are required and, when not in use, FlexFix is pushed back to stow almost invisibly behind the bumper.

Seat technology

The seat engineers in Rüsselsheim have designed the seats of the new Astra to be the best in the compact class. They’re more comfortable, better for the back and safer than ever before.

The front seats offer the industry’s best range of adjustment. All driver and front passenger seats have a fore/aft movement of 280 mm, which benefits both front and rear occupants. The seat-backs are also 15 mm slimmer than before, further benefiting rear legroom.

With a seat height adjustment for the driver of 65 mm and a steering wheel adjustable for height and reach, the new Astra offers an ideal seating position for virtually all drivers, regardless of their size.

Apart from excellent comfort and support, the new Astra’s seats also provide a high level of safety. Latest generation active head restraints, offering protection against whiplash neck injury, come as standard for the front seats in all trim levels except Essentia. High-strength steel in the seat frames also increases rigidity and reduces weight, saving up to three kilograms per car.

The floor mounting rails also offer a more secure front seat location. Asymmetrically arranged, spring-loaded pins always lock the seat correctly in position and are designed to prevent the possibility of the seat not being fully locked after adjustment.

Medically approved AGR ergonomic sport front seats

Ergonomic Sport Seats are offered as an option for all trim levels, with powered lumbar support. The driver’s seat features a 6-way adjustment (fore/aft, up/down and cushion tilt), a 4-way power adjustment of the lumbar support and an extendable seat cushion, together with seat-back rake adjustment. The front passenger seat offers the same range of configuration, except for seat cushion tilt.

With enhanced bolstering and whole body comfort, the driver’s seat has received a much-coveted seal of approval from Aktion Gesunder Rücken e.V. (Action for Healthy Backs, known as AGR) – an independent panel of ergonomics experts and doctors in Germany. No other car in the segment has ever managed to get this certification.

For Cosmo and Sport, AGR seats also are available in leather, together with heating for the front seats.

The sound of silence

Interior noise measurements indicate the Astra’s cabin is among the quietest in its class. The quiet interior of the new Astra was achieved by the excellent cross-functional development work of the noise and vibration experts. To achieve this high level of comfort, numerous detailed measures were implemented in all development phases.

In the early design stage, virtual engineering work was performed to define acoustic enablers with virtual models when hardware was not yet available. Later on the vehicle performance was refined by hardware testing and will continue to be up until the start of production to meet high customer expectations.

Some of these acoustic measures include:

• Body structure and engine mount optimization. Early on, engineers decided to use components, like engine mounts, normally found in the midsize segment. These help lower noise during time, for instance, when the Astra is idling or when it is driving away. In addition the design and dimension of the engine mounting and the body structure have been optimized. Local body structure stiffness at the engine mount attachment points increased up to 50 percent over the previous generation. This is a prerequisite for a much lower noise level in the interior and improved driving comfort.
• Component sound like door closure sound. The doors in the new Astra sound solid when they shut, indicating a high quality of assembly. Opel development engineers translated this sound into a kind of technical language to optimize the relevant components. The NVH experts (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) optimized the loudness and the frequency behavior of the sound to achieve the targets of a midsize vehicle like the Insignia. In addition many NVH components have been refined to match customers’ expectations of the sound quality.
• Acoustic treatment. In addition, an extraordinary package of sealing and insulationparts has been designed to support the noise impression even in the higher frequency range where the customer perceives high frequent component-, road- and engine noise. Structure sealing has been optimized by closing hollow beams and box sections with cavity fillers. The high damping performance of the body is achieved by small, melt-in pads which were optimized in order to reduce the weight of the vehicle. The acoustic transparency of the cabin is refined by polyester felt inserted in the doors as a noise absorber, by triple sealing of all door openings and by improved absorbing headlining.
• Road noise performance. In order to provide excellent road noise performance, engineers released a tire and wheel program to optimize both vehicle dynamic requirements and noise behavior. NVH experts together with the vehicle dynamic group were also able to use the new compound crank axle with Watt’s link suspension to refine the body structure excitation. This overall excellent road noise performance makes the new Opel Astra outstanding in the compact car segment.

Cool cabin and exclusive climate control systems.

The dual zone, automatic Electronic Climate Control (ECC) in the new Astra was developed in-house and represents a first in the industry. Unlike conventional air conditioning units, the Astra ECC does not operate along the principle of temperature compensation where the temperature is measured and readjusted, but along the principle of predictive and adaptive equation models. The ECC is controlled by a microprocessor which computes the onboard climate and adjusts it to match the desired values. The performance data for the equation control include more than 200 characteristics, while a conventional unit with electronic control used by competitors has about only 20 characteristics. This system saves energy while circulating large volumes of air throughout the cabin quietly and efficiently, with a balanced distribution of flow. At the same time, the cabin climate remains more stable, even under changing external conditions. Sophisticated sensing involves the measurement of ambient outside air temperature, vehicle speed, sun intensity and direction, and the interior temperature at a number of different points in the cabin.

Dual zone ECC also features air vents with a comfort setting that provides “diffused ventilation”, a refinement new to the Astra’s segment. This setting is selected by the thumbwheel at the bottom of each vent and locks the vanes of the vent in a diversified position that diffuses the airflow, eliminating any possible discomfort from air being channeled in a single direction. It is a refinement previously offered only in premium class vehicles.

Manually controlled air conditioning, with a particulate filter, is standard for Enjoy, and fan-assisted heating, with a particulate and odor filter, is standard for Essentia. All systems include rear floor heating and ventilation ducts for the rear passengers.

Contact:

Nathalie Van Impe
+ 49 6142 7 66166 (office)
+ 49 151 174 73959 (mobile)
nathalie.van.impe[at]de.opel.com 

 

Text in MS Word

Plain Text