Understeer Control Logic (UCL)
If understeer occurs, speed is first reduced by closing the throttle and then by braking the front wheels. When the ESP control range is reached, braking pressure decreases at the outer front wheel and simultaneously increases at the inner rear wheel until the car is back on track again.

Xenon Headlamps
Gas-discharge lamps use a spark between two electrodes to ionize the inert gas xenon. Lamps are illuminated by the resulting flowing electrical current. Advantages include long service life, high light intensity and low packaging requirements. In the Astra TwinTop, bi-xenon headlamps are used in Adaptive Forward Lighting AFL, whereby both low and high beams are xenon technology.



Vauxhall Astra TwinTop - Fleet
 
Vauxhall Astra TwinTop is certain to have real user-chooser appeal in the fleet market due to a diesel engine option, frugal, tax-efficient petrol engines and very competitive list prices. As a genuine hard-top, it's also far more likely to appear on fleet choice lists than the more traditional soft-top convertible.

And the fact that the car costs from as little as UKP 16,995 - making it the best value hard top convertible in the fleet market - means that the taxman won't be taking too large a slice of company-car driver's pay packets in benefit-in-kind.

The entry level 105PS TwinTop 1.6i 16v, with the latest Twinport technology, has a P11D value price of just UKP 16,807 and, with CO2 emissions of 165gm/km putting it into the 20 percent tax band, means that for a 22 percent tax payer, the monthly tax charge is just UKP 61.62.

For the diesel enthusiast - and the majority of fleet purchases are now derv models - the TwinTop offers the driving excitement and exhilarating performance of Vauxhall's highly acclaimed 150PS 1.9CDTi powerplant. With many fleets stipulating a diesel only policy this model widens driver choice in a new market segment.

The TwinTop 1.9 CDTi provides frugal fuel consumption with a combined figure of 46.3 mpg, meaning it also falls into the 23 percent BIK tax bracket. A 22% tax payer, for example, would pay UKP 83.58 per month for the 1.9CDTi Sport model which has a P11D value of UKP 19,822.

Other engine choices include the all-new, fuel-efficient 1.8-litre 140PS unit. With competitive carbon dioxide emission figures, this engine may well be the answer for company car drivers put off by the 3% tax loading that all diesels suffered from January.

The 1.8i 16v Sport, for example, has a P11D value of UKP 18,107, and with carbon dioxide emissions of 185gm/km putting it into the 24% tax band, that equates to a monthly tax bill of UKP 79.67 for a 22% tax payer.

Completing the powertrain line-up is a flagship model using the storming 200PS 2.0-litre Turbo from the Astra SRi.

Fleet managers will get their first chance to drive the new models in May and June when - hopefully - the early UK summer weather will allow them to appreciate the full benefit of the car's retractable roof.

Total sales for the remaining eight months of 2006 are expected to be around 3,500 with around one-third of those going into the fleet market, primarily to drivers who have a free choice element within their company's car fleet policy.

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