The second car of our double Astra feature belongs to Ste, aka 16v ecotec on our forum. The car is a Mk IV Vauxhall Astra 1.6 16v CD which packs some serious ICE. With a standard engine the car is capable of a lowly 18.1 second quarter mile. The weight penalty of half a ton of audio gear puts a strain on the 1.6l engine. Ste knows his car isn't much competition on the tarmac drag strip (even though it sees one every now and again!) but he doesn't care because his car has a winning track record at the dB drag. With a proven 141.1dB its the dB drag equivalent of a Top Fuel Funny car.....

If you haven't seen this car you have probably heard it! The rear seats have been removed and the huge boot space is dominated by an Autobahn AWIS 15P 2250W (RMS) sub.

A pair of ports in the boot floor tune the bass output to the required frequency.

Across the back of the install are a crescent of four JBL GT410 250W (RMS) subs.

The JVC KDH headunit powers a JBL GTO 2000 400W amp and two Sony Pentagon 1600W amps. A split charging system and two batteries power the install.

In the sides of the install are a pair of JBL 5in components, and in the door cards up front are four 5in Pioneer speakers.

This ICE combination adds up to a prize winning car,

winning 2nd in the performance Vauxhall 2007 Bass Race with 141.1dB,

2nd in the Modified Nationals 2007 Super Street 5+ dB drag with 140.6dB.

and winning the Cruise Fest North West 2006 prize for best lit car.

There's plenty to see outside the boot too, a custom modified Reiger bodykit improves the cars appearance.

A custom front grille, modified front bumper, quad driving lamps and eyebrows give it a unique look.

Lowered 40mm....

....and on BK Racing 328 17in alloys there's not a lot of room to clear speed bumps.

Round the back a set of Hella LED rear lights have been added,

and inside the dash has been colour coded and the door cards re-trimmed to match the boot install.

Not a lot has changed under the bonnet yet, the standard 1.6 16v engine puts in a 0 to 60 of 9.5 seconds and does the quarter mile in 18.1 seconds.

A lot has changed on the car in the last year or so, it spent a long time with the bodywork almost standard.

It took a lot of hard graft and filler to get the front of the car.....

.....and the back of the car looking just the way Ste wanted them to.

141.1db is not enough for Ste, he has plans for more in the future. He also has plans for a more powerful engine. We are not quite sure if this is to make the car any faster, or if it's just so there is enough juice to power an earth shaking monster ICE setup that will knock people off their feet.