We review the Vauxhall Astra from price to economy and all its features
The current model is good – but not quite good enough to beat either the Ford Focus or the VW Golf at the top of the family hatchback class.
So can it be different this time? Have Vauxhall produced a car that can actually be the Number One?
THE Astra has always been the challenger, never the champ.
Well, it gets off to a flyer because the first thing that strikes you about the new Astra is just how great it looks.
It makes the Focus and Golf look a bit conservative and boasts a road presence few Vauxhalls have matched.
It gets a more steeply raked windscreen and a side profile that highlights the sloping rear roof line, flared wheel arches and the “reverse” blade line feature that cuts into the rear door.
But it’s the curvy rear view that is the most dramatic, with its distinctive tail lights that give it a very individual look.
The Astra looks more like a premium hatchback you’d expect from one of the German executive brands. It’s the same on the inside, where owners will experience a big leap up the quality ladder.
Considering the car I was driving was a pre-production model, the standard of the fit and finish of the materials was close to a VW Golf.
But it’s the sporty, flowing lines of the cabin that wraps around the driver, particularly the deep-set main instrument panels and the sloping centre console, that make the Astra feel a class above.
Vauxhall have also gone to great lengths to upgrade the quality of the fabrics and there is more space inside.
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A 6ft passenger can sit comfortably in the back behind a similar-sized driver.
The firm have worked hard at not simply adding lots of space.
They compiled a list of the 20 most common items customers stored in cars, from mobiles, CDs and sunglasses to drinks bottles and newspapers, then created the ideal stowage space for them.
Now it is time to get down to the nitty-gritty – how does it drive? The answer is smooth and sporty.
The engineers tell me this is largely because of a revised rear axle and something called a Watt’s linkage.
Don’t ask me to go into details, it’s too complex, but basically the linkage makes the rear end more stable in cornering and the steering response sharper. New technology enhances the refinement and cuts the road noise inside the cabin.
The result is the best-handling Vauxhall I’ve ever driven, as well as the most comfortable.
The car I tested had the optional Flexride adaptive damping system that allows you to switch from normal to relaxed touring or sport mode.
Hit the sport button and the steering becomes heavier and more responsive and you get a sharper throttle response. I drove the tried-and-tested 1.7litre turbo diesel that will be one of the big sellers.
It’s a sound, gutsy engine capable of 56mpg, and Vauxhall plan an ecoFlex version that will push that figure up to 62.8mpg and reduce CO2 to 119g/km and tax to £35 a year.
Under hard cornering at high speeds, the Astra felt rock solid and it has the ability to switch easily from hard driving to very comfortable motorway cruising.
My early impressions of the Astra are these – one, it’s the best Vauxhall they’ve built, better than the very good Insignia, because this is a car from the class below.
And two, it is definitely good enough to be a serious challenger to the Golf and the Focus – a longer test of a final production car will tell if it’s the new champ.
What to look out for when buying a used Vauxhall Astra Mk5
The 1.9 CDTi is arguably the best engine but tends to be the most troublesome. The water pump can fail, leading to the timing belt being thrown off, wrecking the engine. It suffers fuel injection problems, too, which can be costly to fix.
Also watch out for clutch judder on 1.6 and 1.8-litre petrol cars; the rear crankshaft oil seal fails, throwing oil onto the clutch. Handbrakes fail, suspension bushes wear out, the front suspension turrets corrode and electrical issues are far from rare, so check that everything works.
This generation of Astra (known as the Astra H) has been recalled just three times, which isn’t bad for such an old design. Two of the recalls were because of steering problems, while the most recent was because oil could leak onto the exhaust manifold, potentially setting fire to the car.