Opel Astra TwinTop (2007)

Opel Astra TwinTop

The Astra TwinTop is the dynamic, elegant coupé among cabrios. Launched in May 2006, it is one of the first cars in this class to feature an innovative three-part roof system. It opens and closes at the touch of a button in less than 30 seconds, and can be operated while the car is in motion (up to 30 km/h). Thanks to its intelligent, space-saving design, the Astra TwinTop provides passengers more room and a luggage compartment of up to 440 liters. Unique in this vehicle segment is the power operated "Easy Load" system, which allows bulky luggage to be easily loaded and unloaded, even with the roof open. In addition to ESPPlus, one of the Astra TwinTop's standard safety features is the active roll-over protection system. The fully-fledged four-seater is available with five gasoline engines (77 kW/105 hp to 147 kW/200 hp) and the especially powerful 1.9 CDTI common-rail turbo-diesel unit (110 kW/150 hp) with diesel particulate filter as standard.

New in model year 2007

The Astra TwinTop boasts two new, highly efficient 1.6-liter gasoline units in model year 2007, the 85 kW/115 hp and the 132 kW/180 hp engine. Both achieve the balance of more power with lower fuel consumption. For the exterior, the headlamp housings in stylish chrome look also convey an additional sense of quality. The Astra TwinTop Edition, as well as the versions with xenon or curve and cornering light are recognizable by their dark-tinted headlamp housings. Distinctive design elements in the cabrio-coupé's cockpit include the additional chrome rings for the air conditioning and radio controls. The top Cosmo variant features décor trim and inlays made from luxurious piano lacquer surfaces.

Design and Packaging

The Astra TwinTop is a slimline four-seat cabrio-coupé almost 4.5 meters long with a wheelbase of 2.61 meters. These dimensions create a spacious interior and enable best-in-class shoulder and knee room. Engineers made this possible through the realization of an innovative three-part retractable roof system. This also is of benefit when it comes to luggage volume, providing an ample 440 liters as a coupé and 205 liters with the top down. The inventive, power operated loading system "Easy Load" makes the trunk easily accessible. At the touch of a button, the horizontally stacked roof parts in the car trunk are raised by around 25 centimeters. The optional leather upholstery in stylish saddle brown look ideally suits the sporty elegant ambience, and is available for the Cosmo variant.

Passive safety

The Astra TwinTop features a solid windshield frame and active roll-over protection system as standard. A special sensor in the airbag control system recognizes sudden vehicle turning motions. In the event of an impending roll-over, the control system activates the seat-belt tensioners. Simultaneously, two solid aluminum safety roll bars behind the rear seats deploy upwards and lock tight within 0.2 seconds. The mechanism works with the roof open or closed.

The Astra TwinTop body and underbody were reinforced to meet the particular demands of a cabriolet. Opel engineers were therefore able to increase the torsional rigidity that is important for precise chassis tuning. Compared to a similar cabrio with conventional design, an improvement of 30 percent was achieved.

Other passive safety elements of the extensive Opel SAFETEC system include two-stage front airbags for driver and front passenger, thorax/pelvis side airbags in front, which also protect the hip area, and three-point safety belts for all four passengers.

Active head restraints in front are standard, as are the automatic hazard light function, decoupling pedals Pedal Release System (PRS) and door unlocking after the airbags or seat-belt tensioners have activated.