Opel unveils the new Astra Sport Tourer

The Astra Sport Tourer is set to be officially launched at the Paris Motor Show this October, and go on sale shortly after, but Opel has elected to release pictures of the car almost six months before it is due to go on sale.

The new Astra Sport Tourer contains styling cues from the bigger Insignia Sports Tourer, and Opel's styling chief Mark Adams opted for a much more 'lifestyle estate' design with a more raked roofline and a less perpendicular tailgate. The Sports Tourer shares the same 2685mm wheelbase as the five-door hatch, and the front and rear tracks measure 1544 and 1558 mm respectively.

Opel has not released pictures of the Astra Sport Tourer's interior, but it is expected to be the same as the hatchback variants. Opel also said that the new car has 75 litre of storage space or 50 percent more than the previous estate. There is a new FlexFold Rear Seat system which allows each section of the
60/40 split-fold rear seatbacks to be lowered at the press of a button located in
the side walls of the cargo compartment.

With the rear seats lowered, the boot's load length is increased to 1835mm, 28mm more than the outgoing Astra Estate. Opel says that the load volume of the new Sport Tourer can be adjusted between 500 and 1550 litres. For comparison, the Golf Variant estate provides between 560 and 1,550 litres of load space.

Opel will offer up to eight different petrol and diesel engines for the Astra Sport Tourer in Europe, with power output ranging from 95bhp to 180bhp. Among them is a 1.4-litre Turbo petrol that produces 140bhp, as well as a 2.0-litre turbo diesel with 160bhp.