New Astra gets Encased in Gigantic Snow Shaker

We've seen a lot neat stuff over the years but this is a first. The folks over at Opel's sister company Vauxhall outdid themselves with the creation of a giant snow globe that was made especially for the Vauxhall Ice Skate event that will take place in London on Thursday, January 28.

The one-of-a-kind snow shaker measures five-meters in diameter (16.4 feet) and according to the organizers, it will be filled with some 50 bags of artificial snow for the ice skating disco event.

In addition to the Astra snow globe, Vauxhall plans to bring a Gingerbread car and the so-called, Car-aoke Corsa to the happening.

If you're interested to find out more about the event, head over to the dedicated minisite at www.vauxhalliceskate.co.uk.

New Astra ecoFLEX with 67.3mpg UK to Join Vauxhall's Range

The most fuel-efficient version of the recently launch Astra, which bears the 'ecoFLEX' badge, will hit UK showrooms in April with a starting price of £17,920, the company announced today. Powered by a new 1.3-liter turbo diesel, the Astra ecoFlex returns a combined fuel consumption of 67.3mpg UK, which is the equivalent of 4.2 lt/100km or 56.0mpg US, with CO2 emissions of just 109g/km.

To achieve these figures, Opel/Vauxhall's engineers swung an army of mechanical and aero improvements into action.

First of all, the newly developed 1.3 CDTi 95-horsepower diesel engine, which recently made its debut on the 2010 Corsa, features a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) and re-programmed engine control settings, while the standard five-speed manual gearbox has received new ratios to optimise economy.

To better airflow around the vehicle, there's a new active aero shutter that opens to allow air past the engine at low vehicle speeds, and then automatically closes at higher speeds to smooth airflow at the front of the car.

Other improvements include re-tuned aerodynamics on the underside of the car, low resistance tires, and to help drivers take advantage of these changes, there's a gear change-up light on the instrument panel.

The new Astra ecoFLEX will be available in S, Exclusiv and SE grades, and for the first time, in a sportier SRi trim also.

______________________________________________________________________